Archive: MoneySavingExpert's Money Tips Email
Over 50 ways to save, incl... PayPal users warning, WINTER IS COMING, negative interest rates, Prime Day, 50% off toys, last chance self-employed help, cheap iPhone
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DON'T believe the fake 'Martin Lewis' or 'MSE' ads |
Could negative interest rates hit UK savers? A quick explainer from Martin: "There have been many reports this week of the Bank of England writing to banks to ask if, hypothetically, their tech is prepared for negative interest rates. So unsurprisingly many people have tweeted me to ask if UK savings rates will go negative - where you pay to save, rather than banks paying you. I think mainstream savings going negative is unlikely, but plausible (I explain more in this BBC 5 Live interview on negative interest rates, incl mortgages). Important: As rates are changing rapidly, all product links below go via our Top Savings guide so we can amend there if needed. All accounts have the full UK £85,000 savings safety protection.
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Warning: PayPal to charge a £12 'inactivity fee' - how to avoid it. Starts in Dec. See full PayPal fee warning. FREE £125 in time for Christmas if you switch bank now. HSBC newbies can get a free £125 by switching to its Advance account*. The cash comes 30 days after the switch completes, which means if you do it now you get it a month before Christmas. To qualify, you need to switch - incl 2+ direct debits/standing orders - within 30 days. You must pay in a min £1,750/mth - effectively this is its way of saying you need to earn equiv to a min £25,600/yr, or have that in household income if it's a joint account. We'll do a full round-up next week, or check out our Best Bank Accounts guide for full HSBC eligibility and more options. Amazon Prime Day: £19 Echo Dot, 20% off Amazon Warehouse and more. We're midway through Amazon's two-day discount promo. One highlight is the cheapest-ever Echo Dot. It's also offering 20% off Amazon Warehouse, the hidden part of its site selling returned/mildly damaged products, so you may be able to find even bigger reductions. See the deals and duds in our Prime Day analysis. 50% off toys at Morrisons (and Sainsbury's rumoured too), incl Lego, Playmobil and more. If you're planning to put away a few gifts for the 'ickle ones before Christmas, now's a good time and it helps spread the cost. Toy sales Debt threats VICTORY - Govt agrees to end distressing default letters. A campaign by Martin's charity the Money & Mental Health Policy Institute has succeeded in getting the Govt to change the law to stop forcing firms to send threatening debt letters. This should help reduce the 100,000 who try to take their own lives each year due to debt. |
Martin: Urgent Covid SELF-EMPLOYED & EMPLOYMENT news... plus what the Chancellor's finance plans reveal about life going forward
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Get £40 cashback for investing £400. MSE Blagged. If you plan to 'robo-invest' - where investments are selected for you based on your attitude to risk - then after fees, this Wealthify deal is equiv to a 9.5% head start, though you'll need to keep the investment for a MIN 6-7mths. (The fact we've included it here doesn't mean we recommend Wealthify, as we don't do investment tips - it's just if you're going to use Wealthify anyway you can get cashback.) 1,000 avail. Robo-investing cashback Save money with beauty lookalikes, eg, Anastasia Beverly Hills eyeshadow palette £46 vs Aldi's own-brand £6, saving 87%. Many stores sell own-brand items that mimic designer brands - often called 'dupes'. See what you could swap to save in our Beauty Downshift Challenge. Ends Tue. 6% boost on Tesco shopping via its 'Christmas savings' scheme. Pay in £25-£360 by Tue and in Nov you'll get it back with an up to 6% bonus on top, as Tesco vchs. You don't get savings protection though. Full info on how it works, plus similar schemes at Asda, Co-op, Iceland and Morrisons, in Supermarket Christmas Boost. Ends 11.59pm Thu. 64GB iPhone SE with 4GB data - NOWT to pay upfront. MSE Blagged. With the iPhone 12 launching, now's a good time for deals on older models. EE newbies can get the iPhone SE with 64GB storage* (via this link from Fonehouse) with unltd mins, texts and 4GB/mth of data for £21/mth. That works out as £504 over the 2yr contract, £146 less than the cheapest deal direct which has less data (though the monthly cost will rise a few quid from March as EE's announced price rises for next year). More in Cheap iPhones and Samsungs. 80% off a month's supply of 'tailored' dog food (eg, just £5 for £25 worth). MSE Blagged. Put in info about your pooch (eg, breed, age, dietary needs) and Tails.com creates a recipe for your furry friend. Newbies only. Tails doggy deal |
AT A GLANCE BEST BUYS
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Kam made massive savings, £500, SWITCHING to multicar insurance. Only one way to settle this... FIGGGHHT (or more prosaically, read on, where we take you through it)
For further help and many more cost-cutting tricks, see our Cheap Car Insurance and Under-25s' Car Insurance guides.LV* |
Tesco Clubcard warning - you've only until Jan to swap points for Avios. Full info in Tesco Avios news. SUCCESS OF THE WEEK: |
CAMPAIGN OF THE WEEK Help stop dangerous loan sharks. Government body the England Illegal Money Lending Team says it's recently seen more people turn to loan sharks, as a result of the pandemic. To fight back, it's launched an app (available for iOS and Android) that makes it easier to report illegal lenders - and to find help if you've fallen victim to one. It also has tips on how to spot a loan shark and a tool to find alternative legitimate lenders. See full info on the Stop Loan Sharks app, or how to report loan sharks in Scot, Wal & NI. |
THIS WEEK'S POLL Do you just head to Amazon when you shop online? Retail giant Amazon reportedly accounted for nearly a third of all online spending in the UK last year, suggesting it's the first port of call for many. So tell us - do you compare prices when shopping online, or head to Amazon out of habit? When it comes to customer services, MoneySavers say it's still good to talk. Last week, we asked how you prefer to contact customer services - over 6,000 of you responded. Despite many firms' call centres having been swamped recently, phone was the most popular contact method overall, with 42% of the vote, while 33% preferred live chat and 23% email. Younger MoneySavers were keener on live chat though - 58% of under-35s said it was their first choice, compared with 23% of over-50s. See full customer service poll results. |
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MONEY MORAL DILEMMA Should I share my 'free' £50 voucher with my partner? My partner and I are moving house. I look after our household bills to ensure we're always on the best deal, as my partner doesn't have a clue, though we split the costs equally. I've sorted the broadband for our new place - it's the same speed but cheaper, and includes a 'free' £50 voucher. Part of me wants to keep this to myself as I arranged the deal - part of me thinks that would be unfair. Enter the Money Moral Maze: Should I share my voucher? | Suggest an MMD | View past MMDs |
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MARTIN'S APPEARANCES (WED 14 OCT ONWARDS) Thu 15 Oct - This Morning, phone-in, ITV, 10.55am MSE TEAM APPEARANCES (SUBJECTS TBC) Mon 19 Oct - BBC Radio Manchester, Drive with Phil Trow, from 2.25pm |
WHAT'S IN YOUR ULTIMATE MONEYSAVING FRY-UP? That's all for this week, but before we go... we recently asked about burger toppings - now we've challenged MoneySavers to build the perfect full English breakfast. There's a strict £6 limit (we had to keep it MoneySaving, of course), so what will you order from the MSE cafe? So far the 50p black pudding's been a surprise hit, while many reckon the £1 beans are overpriced - and egg-cellent work from the MoneySavers who tried to haggle down the price of items. Check out the menu on our MSE Greasy Spoon Facebook post and let us know what you're having... We hope you save some money, |
Important. Please read how MoneySavingExpert.com worksWe think it's important you understand the strengths and limitations of this email and the site. We're a journalistic website, and aim to provide the best MoneySaving guides, tips, tools and techniques - but can't promise to be perfect, so do note you use the information at your own risk and we can't accept liability if things go wrong. What you need to know This info does not constitute financial advice, always do your own research on top to ensure it's right for your specific circumstances - and remember we focus on rates not service. We don't as a general policy investigate the solvency of companies mentioned, how likely they are to go bust, but there is a risk any company can struggle and it's rarely made public until it's too late (see the Section 75 guide for protection tips). We often link to other websites, but can't be responsible for their content. Always remember anyone can post on the MSE forums, so it can be very different from our opinion. Please read the Full Terms & Conditions, Privacy Policy, How This Site is Financed and Editorial Code. Martin Lewis is a registered trade mark belonging to Martin S Lewis. More about MoneySavingExpert and Martin LewisWhat is MoneySavingExpert.com? Who is Martin Lewis? What do the links with an * mean?Any links with an * by them are affiliated, which means get a product via this link and a contribution may be made to MoneySavingExpert.com, which helps it stay free to use. You shouldn't notice any difference; the links don't impact the products at all and the editorial line (the things we write) isn't changed due to them. If it isn't possible to get an affiliate link for the best product, it's still included in the same way. More info: See How This Site is Financed. As we believe transparency is important, we're including the following 'un-affiliated' web-addresses for content too: Unaffiliated web-addresses for links in this email autoaidbreakdown.co.uk, hsbc.co.uk, tsb.co.uk, santander.co.uk, admiral.com, sainsburysbank.co.uk, moneysupermarket.com, confused.com, comparethemarket.com, gocompare.com, tescobank.com, cahoot.com, aviva.co.uk, lv.com, axa.co.uk, esure.com, sheilaswheels.com, directline.com Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) Note MoneySupermarket.com Financial Group Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN: 303190). MoneySavingExpert.com Ltd is a company registered in England and Wales. Company Registration Number: 8021764. Registered office: One Dean Street, London, W1D 3RB. MoneySavingExpert.com Limited is an appointed representative of MoneySupermarket.com Financial Group Limited. To change your email or stop receiving the weekly tips (unsubscribe): Go to: www.moneysavingexpert.com/tips. |