Archive: MoneySavingExpert's Money Tips Email
Over 50 ways to save, incl... £100+ bank bribe war, free Muller Light, £184 Sains trick, beat Sky hikes, 5 Creme Eggs £1, CLAIM pension credit, avoid Disney+ price rise
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New. Free £184 to spend at Sainsbury's via Amex card trick You can get it via normal spending and then manipulating the British Airways and Nectar partnership We often shout about the American Express Gold card as its sign-up bonus gets you £100 in shopping vouchers, or airline/hotel points. But we've spotted a new trick to get a huge £184 of Nectar pts instead, which can be used at Sainsbury's, Argos, eBay etc. You must spend £3,000 in the first 3mths to trigger this, although don't use it as an excuse to overspend. You'll also need to navigate a few loyalty schemes, but we walk you through it here (note you won't get the bonus below if you've held a personal Amex in the past 2yrs).
You also get two free airport lounge visits a year, which may be useful when travel reopens - full help in Amex Gold analysis. And see Credit Card Rewards for more deals, eg, 5% cashback and £50-worth of Nectar pts (via a non-Amex). It also explains why it's unwise to get one of these cards if you're about to make a major credit application. |
Free Muller Light yogurt, Lindt choc, Dentalife dog chew & more via this month's top supermarket coupons. See our updated round-up of 40+ coupons to save on your weekly online or in-store shop. British Gas to hike bills for 2m+ and other biggies will follow - save £200/yr switching. Energy prices will rocket for millions in Apr as the price cap for standard tariffs rises by a typical £96/yr then. BG is the first of the major firms to confirm its rise will be in that region and others will do the same shortly. To help, we've blagged a deal that's cheapest in market, a 1yr fix from E.on which saves a typical home an avg £199/yr. E.on has also agreed to 'MSE enhanced service' if you sign up. Meanwhile, the price of another hot deal, British Gas's April 2022 fix, dropped on Fri so it's now only an avg £10/yr pricier than E.on on typical use, plus you can lock in the cheap rate for longer and it has 1yr's 'free' heating cover. Both are for newbies only. Important: if on a standard tariff, YOUR SAVINGS MAY BE UNDERESTIMATED in comparisons as not all providers have yet released exact post-Apr standard prices. Find choosing confusing? Use our Pick Me A Tariff tools. Warning. Sky to hike b'band, phone & TV prices by up to £72/yr from Apr - your rights. See Sky help. Now sold out. Shopped in-store at Tesco in recent days? Thousands may have been double-charged - full help. See Tesco overcharging. New. Cheapest 5GB Sim we've seen - '£5.24/mth' from Lebara. MSE Blagged. With this 1mth deal, newbies to Lebara* (uses Vodafone's signal) get 5GB/mth data + unlimited calls & texts. It's £2.99/mth for the first 3mths, then £5.99/mth, so it's equiv to £5.24/mth over a year, though you can cancel anytime. For more Sim-only deals, see our Cheap Mobile Finder. Disney+ is raising prices by up to £24/yr - but many can beat the hike if quick. See Disney+ help. |
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5 Creme Eggs for £1 with a Tesco Clubcard (norm £2). Excludes Express stores. Cracking Creme Egg deal 18 FREE ways to relax and feel good, incl meditation, virtual yoga and a live stream of puppies. It's a stressful and unsettling time, so MSE Becky has updated tips from her and the team to help look after yourself for free. Green Homes Grant funding slashed - check if you can get up to £5k for home improvements. The Govt scheme gives some homeowners in Eng vchs to make homes more energy efficient (eg, insulation and double-glazing). Yet the original £2bn set aside for it will not roll over to the new tax year, with only £320m available from Apr till it all ends in Mar 2022. The scheme is over-complex and poorly designed but it's worth checking if you're eligible. See Green Homes Grant help. £30 HelloFresh ingredients box for £15 - gets you six meals (three different meals for two people). MSE Blagged. It's a subscription where you sign up for a weekly box, and can actually get five (over five weeks) for £15 each. But as you can cancel any time, you could just use it the once. Newbies only, 5,000 avail. HelloFresh Ratesetter to close all investor accounts and move all loans to Metro Bank. If you've cash invested you'll get penalty-free access from Apr, while loan rates will stay the same. See Ratesetter help. Former Yorkshire Energy customers STILL waiting for credit refunds - full help. Scottish Power's taking on Yorkshire Energy's custs after it stopped trading, but many are furious about delays. See Yorkshire Energy latest. Want to work at MSE? Three jobs available: forum & community editor, senior news reporter and energy & utilities writer. To work in our London office (when we can go back). See MSE Job Opportunities. |
AT A GLANCE BEST BUYS
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SUCCESS OF THE WEEK: |
CAMPAIGN OF THE WEEK Are you excluded from the state's Covid-19 financial support? If so, the ExcludedUK campaign wants to know about how your life and work has been impacted. It's quite comprehensive at 37 questions long, but your experiences will be used to help campaign for change. Take the ExcludedUK survey. |
THIS WEEK'S POLL How do you rate your broadband provider? We can tell you which are the cheapest broadband providers, but to keep our customer service ratings updated, we need your help. How do you rate your broadband provider? Younger MoneySavers were most likely to spend on Valentine's. Last week, we asked how much you planned to spend on Valentine's Day. Some 4,000 people responded, and 38% told us they weren't celebrating it, while a further 12% said they'd celebrate without spending anything. Younger MoneySavers were most likely to spend, with 47% of under-35s budgeting £10+, compared to just 21% of the over-65s. See full Valentine's poll results. |
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MONEY MORAL DILEMMA Should I tell my struggling uncle he doesn't need to give me gifts? A couple of years ago my dad and his brother had a falling out, so I've not seen my uncle since, although we do occasionally speak. My uncle is still kind enough to send me money for birthdays and Christmas, despite not being in great shape financially and having two kids. While I appreciate the gesture, I don't need the money and I don't want my uncle to struggle, but I'm worried that if I tell him he'll think I'm ungrateful and patronising, or even that I'm trying to cut ties with him. Enter the Money Moral Maze: Should I tell my uncle he doesn't need to give me gifts? | Suggest an MMD | View past MMDs |
MARTIN'S APPEARANCES (WED 17 FEB ONWARDS) Thu 18 Feb - The Martin Lewis Money Show Live, ITV, 8.30pm MSE TEAM APPEARANCES (SUBJECTS TBC) Sun 21 Feb - BBC Radio Leicester, Mid-morning with Summaya Mughal, from 10am |
'I REUSE MY TEABAGS - ONE BAG DOES ME ALL DAY' That's all for this week, but before we go... MoneySaving is a way of life for many, but there may be that one thing you do that others don't and you just can't understand why. When we asked you for your MoneySaving hacks, many of you told us you do the standard stuff: making your own coffee, comparing insurance deals, using cashback cards, using your local library and planning meals. But some take it further, such as the MoneySaver who reuses their teabag multiple times a day. Let us know your tricks and perhaps learn from others in our MoneySaving hacks Facebook post. We hope you save some money, stay safe, |
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 hsbc.co.uk, firstdirect.com, virginmoney.com, santander.co.uk, nationwide.co.uk, americanexpress.com, lebara.com, sainsburysbank.co.uk, moneysupermarket.com, confused.com, comparethemarket.com, gocompare.com, ratesetter.com, cahoot.com, tsb.co.uk 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. |