Archive: MoneySavingExpert's Money Tips Email
Over 50 ways to save, incl... MSE launches AUTOSWITCH, NS&I rates slashed, covid help, £150 make-up £34, free £125, insurance rip-offs banned, cheap iPhone, BT Sport hike, free Tesco food, Hoover code
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DON'T believe the fake 'Martin Lewis' or 'MSE' ads |
State-backed NS&I had been a bastion of hope for savers. Its deals have been best buys for months as the Govt, desperate to bring in cash, tasked it with raising £35bn this tax year, up from the normal £6bn. Monday's announcement of massive rate cuts was therefore a huge shock. Chief exec Ian Ackerley justified it with: "It is time for NS&I to return to a more normal competitive position for our products." That's terrifying for savers, as its new rates are mostly just 0.01%, ie, 10p a year per £1,000 - or to put it another way - nowt. So NS&I defines normal as nowt.
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Regulator wants to 'ban' insurers charging existing customers more than newbies - and only allow 'justified' renewal hikes. The FCA's set out game-changing insurance proposals, though if they come in, it won't be till next year at the earliest. Full info in Insurance loyalty penalties to be banned? 'Secret' shoe outlets, eg, £21 Puma trainers (norm £62). Some high street chains flog slightly scuffed and ex-display footwear online at huge discounts via little-known outlets, but stock's limited. Walk this way for how to find 'em 'Can I get a refund on £9,000 tuition fees if my course is now mostly online?' Martin's video answer. We've been swamped with questions such as this, so watch Martin's 10min video briefing on it. £34 for 24-piece make-up bundle (norm £150), incl 'dupes' for Urban Decay, Tarte, Ciate and more. MSE Blagged. Incl eye shadow, lipstick, gloss and contour sticks. Lottie London deal Warning. BT Sport and BT TV customers face up-to-£72/yr hike. Up to £6/mth (£72/yr) will be added to bills for anyone who signed up before Feb + some others (though you can leave and escape penalty-free). See BT price hike rights. Biggest upfront bank switch bribes, get up to £125 FREE. Last week, HSBC Advance* began paying newbies a £125 bribe within 30 days of switching (min monthly pay-in £1,750+/mth, equiv £25,600/yr salary). Ironically, that was just days before it became embroiled in a scandal around suspicious international corporate transfers. Thankfully there are other free cash options, from Club Lloyds and RBS, though they offer a lower £100 to switch, but they include other perks. Full info on all of them, including eligibility criteria, in Best Bank Accounts. |
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9 new CORONAVIRUS financial need-to-knows, incl... UK returns to 'level 4' alert | Weddings reduced to 15 | Work-from-home tax back | £500 self-isolation payments | Self-employed grant deadline | Loans, car finance etc help | Tui refunds | Redundancy rights
Constantly updated Covid-19 help guides: Travel | Employees | Self-employed & ltd co | Finance & bills | Benefits | Lockdown life
2) Weddings reduced from 30 to 15 people in Eng from Mon (funerals still 30) - your rights. If your plans have been scuppered by the tighter restrictions, see Covid wedding rights. 3) Self-employed and business now hit by Covid? You can still try to claim the grant. The 19 Oct deadline for the 2nd Self-Employed Income Support Scheme grant is fast approaching - it's worth up to a max £6,570, made up of 3mths of income, up to 70% of your average trading profits (calculated over a period of up to 3yrs - but you can't earn more than £50,000/yr to qualify). As it's a grant you NEEDN'T PAY IT BACK, though it is taxable. To claim, you need to declare your business has been adversely affected by coronavirus since 14 Jul - you can do that even if it wasn't until now. This doesn't need to mean a total disaster - it could be, say, a reduction in trade, staff illness or extra PPE costs. See Can you declare your business is affected by coronavirus? 5) Struggling to repay loans, credit cards, car finance and more? Help's set to be extended - but additional payment hols etc WILL go on your credit report. Until 31 Oct you can request payment holidays on most regulated lending. The regulator's consulting (it's almost certainly just a formality and so will happen) that after this, 'tailored' support will be offered for those struggling, rather than a 'one size fits all' approach. And, crucially, from this point it will GO ON YOUR CREDIT REPORT. Full updates for loans, credit cards etc & car finance, plus similar plans for further overdraft help. 6) Tui promises to sort outstanding refunds by end of THIS month. It's pledged to pay out by 30 Sep, following Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Holidays' promise to clear outstanding claims by the end of Oct. See latest on Tui refunds & Virgin refunds. 7) Loveholidays and On the Beach quit ABTA to avoid paying out refunds in full. An ABTA rule says firms should pay out in full if the Foreign Office advises against non-essential travel - to avoid that, these firms have outrageously quit ABTA. In our view, if you booked when they were ABTA members those rules should still apply. Yet it'll be a fight. See Loveholidays and On the Beach ditch ABTA to avoid refunds - full help. 8) Been told about redundancy? Tool up on your rights. Redundancies are rife as employers are being asked to contribute increasingly more under the Govt's furlough scheme until it ends (unless it's changed) in Oct. Whether you've been made redundant or are worried your job's at risk, our Redundancy Help guide covers your rights to pay, notice, holidays and more. 9) IVA payment holidays and other help now avail till next Apr. Those with individual voluntary arrangements now have until 20 Apr 2021 to ask for extra flexibility if struggling with repayments. Full info in IVA help extended. |
Free Tesco food - eg, bread, salad and fruit pots - via food-sharing app. The supermarket's giving away tons of surplus food via an app which also offers free food from Pret, Costa, local bakeries and more. See how to grab free grub. Hoover cordless vacuum cleaners 30% off via code, eg, £200 version now £140 delivered. MSE Blagged. Works on four models, but limited stock. Who you gonna call? Dust-busters Get £5 off when you recycle clothes, shoes and textiles at M&S, H&M etc. As it's 'Recycle Week', we've compiled a compendium of where you can save by recycling old clobber. Get paid to recycle New. Hot 64GB iPhone SE deal with 4GB data - with NOTHING to pay upfront. MSE Blagged. A new smartphone isn't MoneySaving, but if you'll get one anyway, at least get it for less. Via this link from reseller Fonehouse, EE newbies can get the iPhone SE with 64GB storage*, 4GB/mth of data (enough for most) + unlimited mins & texts for an initial £21/mth. But from Mar, EE will raise prices by a little more than inflation, as most firms do. Therefore, while we can't tell you the total cost over the 2yr contract as the hike is unknown, based on £21/mth, it's £504 over the 2yr contract - £338 less than the same deal direct (which would also rise in price). It's the cheapest we've seen for this phone/data combo and, unlike most contracts, there's no big upfront outlay. For more, see Cheap iPhones & Samsungs. How to get five free Bodyform sanitary pads + 13 more sanitary savers. See how to get free or cheap pads, tampons and reusables. |
AT A GLANCE BEST BUYS
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If you can't afford to clear credit or store card debt, you can't afford NOT to try to get a 0% balance transfer
How does a balance transfer work? You get a new card that pays off debt on other cards - so you owe it instead, but at 0%, so repayments clear the debt rather than servicing the interest, saving you £100s or £1,000s.
a) Never miss the min monthly repayment, or you could lose the 0% deal and it'll cost far more. |
SUCCESS OF THE WEEK: |
THIS WEEK'S POLL How do you rate your mobile network? This week, we want to find out how each firm rates both for service (how they treat you) and coverage (how strong the signal is when you need it). Tell us how you rate your mobile network. MoneySavers are more likely to have upped their pension contributions than cut them during the pandemic. Last week, we asked if you've changed your pension contributions since March, and if so, how? Just over 3,000 responded, and of those who contribute to a pension, most (66%) haven't made any change. But some 22% of you have increased contributions, with just 12% of you reducing them. See the full poll results. |
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MONEY MORAL DILEMMA Should I stop putting my brother's name on gifts we buy? My brother earns more than me, yet never pays his share for birthday gifts for our family, which I usually choose, send and contribute to, along with others from our family. He'd probably forget to send anything if I left him to his own devices. Should I stop putting his name on them? Enter the Money Moral Maze: Should I stop putting my brother's name on gifts? | Suggest an MMD | View past MMDs |
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MARTIN'S APPEARANCES (WED 23 SEP ONWARDS) Thu 24 Sep - This Morning, phone-in, ITV, 10.55am MSE TEAM APPEARANCES (SUBJECTS TBC) Mon 28 Sep - BBC Radio Manchester, Drive with Phil Trow, from 2.25pm |
'THE TOOTH FAIRY IS LOADED' - YOUR KIDS' TOP MONEYSAVING TIPS That's all for this week, but before we go... we all know kids say the funniest things (and some are wise beyond their years), so this week we asked MoneySavers to ask their children for their best MoneySaving tips. While some answers were ill-advised ("pull out your teeth - the tooth fairy is loaded") or over-ambitious ("make billions on YouTube"), others were genuinely savvy, with one urging you to "sell stuff you don't want" and a very sensible five-year-old simply advising "don't spend it, save it". See more - and let us know what your little 'uns think - on our MoneySaving kids Facebook post. We hope you save some money, |
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