Archive: MoneySavingExpert's Money Tips Email
Over 50 ways to save, incl...23 quick ways to save for 2023, energy price hike news, 20GB Sim £6/month, 30-month 0% debt shift, NHS worker discounts, £9.50 hols?, 14 free ways to learn, rail strike refunds, Asos 80% off, how to cut prescription costs.
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DON'T believe the fake 'Martin Lewis' or 'MSE' ads |
Martin's important New Year energy updates
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New. Are you one of over 1 million people who overpaid for NHS prescriptions in 2022? If you pay for prescriptions (so you're in England), check if you missed out on a prescription 'season ticket' so you don't overpay this year. 14 FREE ways to learn something new in 2023, such as languages, coding and history. If you plan to boost your skills this year, see our Ways to learn skills for free blog. New. Top 30-month 0% credit card balance transfer plus £25 cashback. If you've got credit card debt, a balance transfer's where you get a new card that pays debts on old cards for you, so you owe it instead, but interest-free for a set time. Barclaycard* now offers accepted newbies up to 30 months 0% for a one-off 2.98% fee, and via that link gives £25 cashback if you transfer £2,500+ within 60 days. If you're shifting less, Sainsbury's or NatWest are likely cheaper. Will you get it? Always use our 0% Eligibility Calculator first to see your chances of being accepted for these, plus other cards. Golden rules: Repay at least the monthly minimum, and clear the card before the 0% period ends, or it's 22.9% rep APR interest. Full help in Top balance transfers. Thousands of single bus journeys in England capped at £2 a fare. Applied automatically from now until 31 March 2023, on over 4,600 routes. See if your bus operator is taking part. Discounts for NHS staff, care workers and the emergency services, including 10% off Asda, 25% off Pizza Hut, 20% off Nando's. See NHS and care worker discounts. Asos, John Lewis, M&S sales continue - some up to 80% off already. See our full sales round-up and boost predictions. Rail strike travel and refund rights. Industrial action is due 3 to 7 Jan - see Train and Tube strike rights. |
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Mobile Sim price war - deals just keep getting cheaper Our Cheap Mobile Finder tool is swamped with lower prices at the moment. You can find reduced price handsets, but the hottest deals are on Sims (the chip in your phone that dictates your data, calls & texts allowance). If you're one of millions out of contract on their mobile, switching to a new Sim-only deal could save you £100s, without changing signal. All deals are in our Cheap Sim comparison, but we've a summary below...
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Got to fill in your tax return? You've until 31 Jan or you risk a £100 fine. Anyone told to do a tax return must do it (usually the self-employed or high earners), and some with complex affairs will need to as well. So beware: the self-assessment tax deadline approaches. 'I put £500 in Help to Save and got a £250 bonus.' Our success of the week comes from Rebecca, who emailed about the savings scheme for many on lower incomes: "Thank you so much for the Help to Save info. Nobody ever tells you that you're eligible for these things. I've been saving the maximum £50 a month and my balance is already £500, plus a £250 bonus. I intend to keep it up for the whole four years if I can, when I could receive a huge £1,200 on top of the £2,400 saved. Thank you MSE." If we've helped you save money (on this, or anything else), please send us your MoneySaving successes. The Sun '£9.50' holidays are back... but are they ever really £9.50? Our analysis suggests otherwise, though savings are still possible. For travel between February and November. See Sun holidays. FREE Homebuilding & Renovating Show tickets. Includes Surrey, Glasgow, Birmingham and London shows. Various dates from January to November. Tickets normally cost up to £14. Free tickets Want an MSE Charity grant? Go quick. Our latest round of grant-giving has just opened but closes once 40 applications are accepted (or on Tue 31 Jan). Grants of up to £7,500 are available to organisations that can teach vital financial life skills to children, young people and families. Interested? Check if your group qualifies and apply direct. ----------------------- PS: Back to Martin - why did the energy price guarantee rate change on 1 Jan? I promised I'd explain this to those of a nerdy disposition (always a compliment from me) - but didn't want to get in the way of the practicals. So let's do it here... The old energy price-cap price that moved every few months based on wholesale prices and other costs (eg, energy network costs or firms that've gone bust) isn't gone, it still exists, it's still calculated and published by Ofgem and is still very important as it dictates the prices energy firms charge. Yet the energy price guarantee means the state pays a chunk of it to subsidise the unit rate, so consumers pay less, and this is calculated to reduce the average direct debit cost for a home with typical usage to £2,500/year. On 1 Jan, the latest price cap rate was increased by an average 20.5%, so the state now pays a bigger subsidy to keep direct debit prices at the same level. That same subsidy is then applied regionally / for different payment methods and because Ofgem's underlying price cap rate's changed, they move too. It's meant to be a tweak, but for those not on direct debit it can be more significant if Ofgem has shifted those costs more significantly than direct debit costs. |
AT A GLANCE BEST BUYS
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THIS WEEK'S POLL How do you rate your mobile network? We want to find out how each provider rates for service (how it treats you) and coverage (how strong the signal is when you need it). In truth, there are only four main networks providing signals - the rest use these, but under their own brands (see our Mobile networks guide for who piggybacks on who). Please rate the firm that sends your bills (if you've switched recently, rate the network you were with the longest over the last year). Vote in this week's poll. It's a Wonderful Life is MoneySavers' favourite Christmas film. Last week, we asked for your favourite festive flick and top of the list was the 1946 classic It's a Wonderful Life starring James Stewart, which got 13.2% of the 10,334 votes. Love Actually was second with almost 11% of the votes, while Elf was third. See full Christmas movie poll results. |
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MONEY MORAL DILEMMA Should I pay less after my friends gave me a worse room at our New Year's getaway? Some friends and I booked to stay in a nice house over New Year's, with me the only single person going. At the last minute, another couple joined us, and it was decided that they'd get my double room overlooking a lake as they're a couple, and I'd sleep on the sofa bed in the TV room as I'm single. I didn't want to kick off about it and spoil the stay, and I did have a good time, but since then no one has mentioned compensating me for not getting the room I paid for. Should I say something? Enter the Money Moral Maze: Should I pay less after I got a worse room? | Suggest a Money Moral Dilemma |
MARTIN'S APPEARANCES (WED 4 JAN ONWARDS) Wed 4 Jan - Ask Martin Lewis, BBC Radio 5 Live, 1pm MSE TEAM APPEARANCES (MOST SUBJECTS TBC) Wed 4 Jan - BBC Radio Oxford, Mid-morning with Kat Orman, from 11.35am |
'STOP BUYING TAT' AND 'OVERPAY THE MORTGAGE'... YOUR MONEYSAVING RESOLUTIONS IN THREE WORDS That's all for this week, but before we go... we asked MSE Forumites for their MoneySaving New Year's resolutions, but challenged them to use just three words. Many aspire to cut out unnecessary luxuries in 2023, saying "no more takeaways", "stop buying tat" and "think before spending". Anticipating further financial turmoil this year with rising interest rates, one committed to "overpay the mortgage". Others plan to do and make more: "grow more veg", do "more batch cooking" and "use the library". And for some it's about getting rid of unneeded stuff - "sell my spares", "clear the clutter" and "use up stashes". But all of these can be nicely summed up by one MSE Forumite's resolution (chant it with us now): "Save, save, save." Add your resolution in the your MoneySaving aims - in three words MSE Forum discussion. We hope you save some money, stay safe, |
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