Archive: MoneySavingExpert's Money Tips Email
Over 50 ways to save, incl... 16 FREEBIES (eg, £40, PG Tips & a crate of wine), £14.66/mth fibre b'band, Martin's HALVE car ins trick, £33 Diesel specs, new top savings, GNE help, DIY haircuts
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DON'T believe the fake 'Martin Lewis' or 'MSE' ads |
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Martin: 'Changing the day you apply for car insurance may nearly HALVE the cost'. Watch Martin's video and click the key links. New top easy-access savings, and it's from Nationwide. Rate cuts from rivals mean Nationwide's 0.5%* (min £1 - max three penalty-free withdrawals a year) long-standing account is the first table-topper from a biggie for a while. It's the joint-top rate with Aldermore's 0.5%, which has a higher £1k min but no restrictions on withdrawals. Both are beaten by Cynergy's 0.55% (min £1) top easy-access cash ISA. All are AER variable, incl Nationwide which only lasts 1yr, so rates can change. Full top easy-access accounts help. Prescription specs from Diesel £33 all-in (norm £120). MSE Blagged. See SpeckyFourEyes deal. Green Network Energy customers auto-transferred to EDF (Simplicity to Brit Gas) - any good? Green Network Energy, with 360,000 custs, is the biggest energy firm to go bust so far. See our Is EDF's new GNE tariff any good? analysis. And similar for Simplicity's move to British Gas. Big-name battle for energy fixes: E.on's cheaper, but Brit Gas's longer & gives £138/yr free boiler cover. With more smaller firms going bust, many want the security of big names. Right now E.on's 1yr fix is cheapest, but for only £8/yr more on avg on typical use there's Brit Gas's fix till Apr 2022, which also has 1yr's 'free' heating insurance (auto-renews after 1yr at £11.50/mth, but you can cancel anytime). Both are ONLY for newbies, ONLY avail via comparison sites, and ONLY with us do you get an extra £25 MSE dual-fuel cashback. Savings shown will typically be about £110/yr, but with an announcement that the price cap is set to rise by £90/yr on Fri, that's likely a substantial underestimate. Find choosing confusing? Use our Pick Me A Tariff tools. DIY haircut tips - vids from the pros + fun dos & don'ts from us. With salons and barbers closed again, see our DIY haircut tips round-up if you plan to brave it. RESULT. Buy now, pay later firms (Klarna, Clearpay etc) to be regulated. It's a campaign win for Martin and MSE, who have been calling for more consumer protection around this new form of debt, which has had explosive growth. It means lenders will have to do affordability checks, and you will be able to go to the ombudsman if you've a problem. See BNPL to be regulated. Exclusive: Former FCA boss Chris Woolard on why he told Treasury to regulate BNPL. |
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Pet ownership has peaked during the pandemic - now about 40% of homes have a furry friend. Yet it's important to understand that vet bills aren't cheap, and there's no pet NHS. You can pay £3,000 for cat cataract operations or £800+ to fix a dog's dodgy bones. So it is worth considering insurance, and our Cheap Pet Insurance guide has a litter (sorry) of quick tips.
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£150ish of Ciate vegan/cruelty-free nail polish & lip oil for £25 all-in - 2,000 avail. MSE Blagged. Incl 22 minis, one full-size paint pot, and one lip oil. Via surplus Christmas Advent calendars it's trying to shift. Ciate set Warning. Tax self-assessment late payment interest STILL applies. HMRC's waiving £100 fines for people who file returns after the 31 Jan deadline but by the 28 Feb cut-off. But 2.6% interest is still charged on outstanding tax from 1 Feb, so many should consider paying an estimate ASAP even if they haven't done their return, and fail to do it before 3 March there's a 5% fee on top. Self-assessment help
Now open. MSE Charity grants of up to £7,500 for a project to support under-26s. Non-profit organisations can apply for a cash boost in our charity's latest grant-giving round. It's aimed at projects that'll support the under-26s by teaching and developing financial life skills. You can check if your project qualifies and apply online. Go quick - the round closes once the MSE Charity accepts 40 applications, or on Fri 26 Feb at the latest. |
AT A GLANCE BEST BUYS
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SUCCESS OF THE WEEK: |
THIS WEEK'S POLL How do you rate your bank account's service? Every six months, we ask for your help to track the quality of customer service provided by banks. By comparing your answers with last time, we can see which have got better or worse. How do you rate your bank account's service? More than half of MoneySavers have a summer holiday booked. Last week, we asked about your summer holiday plans. Over 8,300 people responded - 44% said they've already booked a holiday abroad, while a further 12% have booked to go away in the UK. But just 16% of those with bookings were confident they'll actually be able to go, while 19% said they thought they wouldn't. See full summer holiday poll results. |
MONEY MORAL DILEMMA Should I give my friend the cash I made selling her unwanted clutter? I've been helping a friend declutter her house, and took a car load of stuff to the tip. There were some items I suggested she could get cash for if she put them up for sale, but she said she couldn't be bothered. I hate waste, so took two of the items home and, with a bit of effort, sold them online, making about £30. Should I give her the money, offer to split it with her or keep it? Enter the Money Moral Maze: Should I give my friend the cash I made from selling her unwanted clutter? | Suggest an MMD | View past MMDs |
MARTIN'S APPEARANCES (WED 3 FEB ONWARDS) Wed 3 Feb - Ask Martin Lewis, BBC Radio 5 Live, 1pm. Listen again MSE TEAM APPEARANCES (SUBJECTS TBC) Thu 4 Feb - BBC Radio Leicester, Mid-morning with Ben Jackson, from 11.35am |
WHAT'S YOUR FAVOURITE MONEYSAVING HACK? That's all for this week, but before we go... last week we asked you to share the first MoneySaving hack that came to mind. We were inundated with hundreds of great tips, which included the straightforward, eg, never auto-renew insurance and check unit pricing at supermarkets. Yet we also saw some extreme ideas, such as one MoneySaver who bought a Christmas tree with roots and used it for seven years running. Read the full list and add your own on our MoneySaving hacks Facebook post. We hope you save some money, stay safe, |
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