Archive: MoneySavingExpert's Money Tips Email

15 MoneySaving successes of 2022 (so far) to inspire you, including...

- £4,800/year pension credit claim
- £9,400 tax code check reclaim 
- £1,000 water meter saving
- £740 Sky haggle saving 

In a week where we've seen the Lionesses roar to victory, and athletes from all UK nations enjoying medal success at the Commonwealth Games, we're kicking off this email by rounding up some medal-worthy successes from MoneySavers in 2022 so far. We hope to inspire you to overcome your financial hurdles and achieve your goals. Some require you to go the extra mile, others are swimmingly easy. On your marks, get set, save...

1. 'I applied for PENSION CREDIT and got £1,500 plus £185 every two weeks.' If you're over 65 and have income of less than £200 a week, it's worth checking if you're due pension credit. It can be worth £1,000s a year, but more than 800,000 eligible pensioners don't claim. Check online or call the pension credit helpline to see if you're due. If you don't qualify but know someone who might, help them check too.
   
   Jackie emailed in July: "After hearing Martin talk about pension credit I applied and was awarded a £1,500 lump sum and an extra £185 every two weeks [£4,810/year]. This has changed my life. No one tells you this is available and only thanks to your team am I now getting it."  
   
   
2. 'I saved £230 following your TRAIN TICKET MoneySaving tips.' Travelling by train can be expensive, but our Cheap train tickets guide rounds up all the ways to cut costs, from split ticketing and railcards to booking in advance and more. 
   
   Beth emailed in April after she combined tips to save over £200: "Thank you so much for all the tips - for 4 friends, I bought two Two Together Railcards (through Tesco Clubcard of course, for £20 instead of £60), so got a third off the fare, and split the ticket and got another £10 EACH off! The cost went from £510 for four tickets to £279 - amazing."
   
   
3. 'I checked my TAX CODE and found I was owed £9,400.' Legally it's up to you to check your tax code's right. Get it wrong and you can be underpaying £100s or £1,000s, and years later find you're hit with an unaffordable tax bill. Or overpaying, so missing out on money you could have now. Use our Tax Code Guide & Calculator to find out.
   
   Michele emailed in February: "I checked my tax code and discovered I was being taxed on every penny I earned. I'd previously been self-employed, but my code hadn't been updated with my employer. It took an hour on the phone to HM Revenue & Customs, but I've now been refunded £9,400. Thank you Martin and all MoneySavingExperts."
   
   
4. 'I saved £564 a year on my MOBILE BILL by switching to a Sim-only deal.' Up to nine million people are out of contract on their mobile phone - and the huge majority of them are overpaying, especially if they're still paying for a phone that's already paid off. Yet, it's simple to save £100s switching to a Cheap Sim-only deal.
   
   Jane saved large and emailed us this week: "I was paying £53 a month with EE out of contract. Thanks to your Sim-only deals page I moved to a £6 a month plan from Smarty. Incredible saving, I'm very happy. Thank you."
   
   
5. 'I claimed £240 WORKING-FROM-HOME TAX BACK.' If you were required to work from home, even for ONE DAY, between 6 April 2020 and 5 April 2022 and you are (or were) an employee, you're STILL eligible to claim tax relief worth up to £280 (depending on tax band). Full info in Martin's updated Working-from-home tax back blog.
   
   Len tweeted Martin last week after the blog update: "@MartinSLewis Boom! Applied Wednesday and got email this morning saying I had messages from HM Revenue & Customs, logged in and message says a cheque for £240 is on the way. Thanks so much."
   
   
6. 'I HAGGLED £740 a year off my Sky TV, phone and broadband bill.' The best savings usually come from switching, but if you don't want to, haggling with your existing provider can help you slash costs - full help and tips in our Service company haggling guide.
   
   Gary emailed in May about the huge discount he managed to haggle: "I was paying £65 a month for the full Sky package. It was due to rise to £109, so I phoned to see what they could offer and retentions only offered £99 so I cancelled. Within days I was offered 50% off but after further haggling got it down to £47 a month [saving £744/year]."
   
   
7. 'I saved £3,700 in interest by switching to a CHEAPER LOAN.' If you're paying off a personal loan, it's worth checking if you can switch to cut costs, especially with current rates starting from 2.7%. See our Cut existing loan costs guide for step-by-step help.
   
   Kevin got in touch in May with his saving: "Just wanted to say thanks. I read about how to cut existing loan costs in your weekly email and managed to get a much nicer 3.4% loan to pay off a pricey 11.9% one. It'll save us almost £3,700 in interest."
   
   
8. 'I got a £970 cheque by claiming MARRIAGE TAX ALLOWANCE.' More than two million eligible couples miss out on this easy tax break, worth £252 this tax year, paid via your tax code. You can also backdate it by four tax years if you were eligible, which can net you a cheque for up to £970 on top of this year's gain. See our Marriage tax allowance guide for who qualifies and how to claim.
   
   Ian emailed us back in March: "Many thanks for recommending we apply for the marriage tax allowance. It's resulted in a cheque from the tax office for £968 plus further tax savings each year. It was simple to do and the money is most welcome during these difficult times."
   
   
9. 'I'm saving over £1,000 a year after switching to a WATER METER.' As a rule of thumb, if you're in England or Wales and there are more bedrooms in your home than people, or the same number, it's worth checking if you'd save with a free water meter.
   
   Angela emailed us her HUGE saving in April after she pulled the plug on overpaying: "Following your tips, we switched to a water meter now our children have left home and our bills went from £1,360 a year to £325 - saving over £1,000 a year. Thank you."
   
   
10. 'I got a £575 SAVINGS bonus from the Government's Help to Save scheme.' Are you on universal credit or tax credits? If so, it's worth checking if you qualify for an unbeatable 50% savings bonus via Help to Save.
    
    Charlotte emailed Martin in May: "I saw one of your shows a while back where you told us about the Government's Help to Save scheme. I set it up and have been paying in the max £50/month and have just received my £575 bonus. Thanks."
    
    
11. 'I reclaimed £6,800 in PACKAGED BANK ACCOUNT fees.' These accounts are where you pay a monthly fee for extras such as travel, mobile and breakdown insurance. They're great value for some, but were mis-sold on a mass scale to others. If you've been a victim, our packaged bank account reclaim tool in conjunction with complaints site Resolver can help.
    
    Chris used it and emailed in March to tell us about his massive reclaim: "I am writing to thank you and Resolver - I got a refund of over £6,800 in charges for my packaged bank account from NatWest. They twice refused my claim, but I was not prepared to give up and after several emails and phone calls I received my refund."
    
    
12. 'I made £1,100 SELLING a non-working motorbike.' The phrase 'One man's trash is another man's treasure' has never been truer. Many of us have £100s' or £1,000s' worth of items sitting in our homes that we don't use enough to justify keeping. And you might be surprised by what others are willing to pay for. We've rounded up our top tips in our eBay selling guide.
    
    Shardlake tweeted in April after we asked for people's selling successes: "@MoneySavingExp Sold a non-working motorbike, bidding war, went for £1,100 - had been offered £50 by a scrap dealer..."
    
    
13. 'I got £1,200 of BANK OVERDRAFT FEES back.' If historic overdraft charges put you into financial hardship, or made your situation worse, check if you're eligible to get them back.
    
    Just last week, Sue got in touch: "I've been successful in claiming £1,200 for bank overdraft fees. I wrote to Santander claiming their overdraft fees were unfair as the fee itself often took me over the limit. The reply came back negative, but I persevered and wrote to the ombudsman - and after 12 months, the money was credited to my account. My sincere thanks to all of the MSE team."
    
    
14. 'I saved £280 buying my laptop via AMAZON WAREHOUSE.' This is the less well-known part of Amazon that flogs returned or slightly damaged items for a fraction of the price. See our Amazon Warehouse blog on how you can use it to bag a discount on something you were planning to buy anyway.
    
    It worked for Larry, who tweeted us in April: "@MSE_Deals Got my laptop for £320 instead of £600 from Amazon Warehouse."
    
    
15. 'I got an extra £1,400 back by reclaiming TAX ON MY PPI PAYOUT.' With successful PPI reclaims, you didn't just get back what you paid - lenders and insurers also needed to add annual 8% statutory interest on top.
    
    This counts as savings interest, but unlike savings, 20% tax is automatically deducted from interest on PPI reclaims. As most can earn £1,000/year interest without paying tax, if you got a PPI reclaim payout since April 2018, you may be due some back - Martin's Reclaim PPI tax blog shows who can claim and how to do it.
    
    Emma emailed Martin in May: "I wanted to thank you. After watching your programme in 2019 and listening to your advice I claimed a PPI refund and got £17,000 back. Now today I have claimed the tax I paid back - another £1,400."
    

PS: If these success stories have inspired you, please tell us how much you saved, made or reclaimed.