| | | For more tips, alerts & inevitable bad puns follow Martin: |  |  |  | | Even I've focused more on Olympics than MoneySaving (I'm due gold in the over-35 couch potato event). So you don't miss out, here's a quick catch up on biggies we've covered during the Games... | 1. | Lock in cheap energy for TWO winters. There's a gas & electricity price war. The new EDF Blue* tariff is only a few quid above the market cheapest, saving many £200+/year, and crucially the price is fixed until April 2014, so no price rises guaranteed. Plus you can leave early without any penalties.
Scottish Power's fix is similar and slightly cheaper, but the price freeze only lasts until Nov 2013, though go via this link to MoneySup's* comparison and until midnight Sun you get £70 cashback after 3mths on dual fuel switches. Full how to find your cheapest, compare & cashback in Cheap Gas & Elec. | | | | | 2. | 100 cheap & free things to do with kids this summer. Entertaining the little darlings/monsters needn't break the bank, from free swimming & footie lessons, to theme park and zoo 2for1s. See new 100 Summer Hols tips guide. | | | | | 3. |  Save £100s shifting credit cards to 5.9% FOR LIFE. The best long-term balance transfer deal for an age. Accepted new MBNA Rate for Life* customers can shift debts at a permanent 5.9% until repaid (you must repay the monthly min) with a one-off 1.5% fee.
If you can repay quicker, new Barclaycard* customers can get 22mths 0% with a one-off 2.9% fee or 21mths 0%* with a lower 2.6% fee. NatWest* is 22mths 0% with a 3.2% fee. Repay before the 0% ends or rates jump to 17.9% rep APR. Full best-buys & help in Balance Transfers (Official APRs). | | | | | 4. | Use your Tesco points at 2x value on frozen food. Tesco's summer Clubcard exchange is on, letting you swap £5 of points for £10 in-store spends on certain items. For the first time it includes stock-upable frozen food. Full info and top value rewards to use points on in Reclaim Lost Tesco Vouchers. | | | | | 5. | Unbeatable exchange rates for ALL future foreign trips. Most credit & debit cards add a hidden 3% load, so spend £100 worth of euros and it costs £103. Yet holster one of the few specialist cards that don't charge and you get unbeatable rates: Halifax Clarity*, Post Office*, Saga* (50s+) & Nationwide Select* (its custs ONLY).
If your credit score's wobbly, for easy-acceptance Aqua Reward* is also load-free and gives 3% cashback (max £100/yr), though its overseas ATM withdrawal fees are high. ALWAYS fully repay each month or the gain's eaten by 11.9%-34.9% rep APRs. Full info in Cheap Travel Cards or Find Best Foreign Cash. | | | | | 6. | New cheap holiday villa rentals guide. Villas can be half the cost of a similar hotel, especially for big families or groups. Our new Holiday Villas guide shows how to find 'em (eg, check HomeAway*, Villarenters* & TripAdvisor Rentals*), what to watch and how to cut costs. Timed right, we found a £700/wk 3-bed villa in France for £350. | | | | | 7. | Stop wasting £100s on home insurance. Many make the big mistake of covering the 'market' not 'rebuild' value which is usually much less (see Cheap Home Insurance). To find the cheapest, combine the following comparisons: Confused*, CompareTM*, Gocompare*. Then the biggies they miss: Aviva* & Direct Line*. | | | | | 8. | Top student accounts 2012/13. Our top student accounts 2012/13 analysis is out, for new and existing students. The biggest guaranteed 0% overdraft is what counts. While some headline bigger 0%s, Co-op Bank's* £1,400 in yr-1, £1,700 yr-2 & £2,000 yr-3 is definite if accepted, as is Santander's £50 free cash and stable £1,500 0% overdraft. | | | | | 9. | Protect family finances if you die. Around 1 in 20 kids lose parents before growing up, and the tragedy can be compounded by financial insecurity. We've updated our Cheap Life Insurance best buys, including how much to cover and how to save £1,000s by buying smartly. | | | | | | | 10. | Free £30 M&S or Amazon voucher (just grab a 0% card). Via this link, accepted new Amex Rewards* cardholders get 16 mths 0% on spending. Then do your normal daily spending on it, and if it's £500+ a month for 3mths you get a £30 gift voucher. Clear it before the 0% ends or it's 19.9% representative APR. Full info: Credit Card Freebies & APR Examples. | | | | | Saved? Help us spread the MSE way Please forward this email to friends and suggest they
get it themselves via moneysavingexpert.com/tips | | | |  How to get a 0% loan
Don't jump to the obvious solution. Pervert plastic to get smaller loans at fraction of the cost Even the best-buy sub-£2,000 loan is 18.6% APR. Instead, manipulate a credit card for possibly 0%. Though never borrow willy-nilly, ask if you need it, minimise it and budget for affordable repayments. All require a credit check.  16 months 0% if you can use a card to pay: New Amex Rewards* & Tesco* cardholders get 16 mths 0% spending on these cards, M&S* 15 mths 0%. Try to fully repay before the 0% ends or they jump to 15.9%-19.9% representative APR. Full help: 0% credit cards.- Cash 'loans' for 20 mths 0% or 5.9% for life. For a one-off fee, a few cards do 'money transfers', ie, pay 0% cash into your bank, but most charge a fortune. The Virgin card's 20 mths 0% and Fluid* 15 mths both with a 4% fee. After 0% ends they're 20.9% representative APR.
Need longer? For a 4% fee, MBNA's rate for life* is 5.9% on transferred debt until repaid (you still must make min repayments). This almost always undercuts straight sub-£5,000 loans, but plan repayments over a similar time. All this needs doing carefully. Full step-by-step help in credit card loans (official card APR).
| "I won a Vegas trip & £26,000 of gadgets"
40+ insider 'comping' tips. The art of entering contests as a cash boosting hobby From cars to £20,000 cash, 5-star USA holidays to £10,000 of Tesco giftcards, MoneySavers have won it all. It's all about 'comping', a potentially profitable hobby for the lucky. Full help in the 40+ Comping Tips guide. But to seduce...  Gotta have a system. Comping's about systematically sourcing and entering 100s of the right contests using web gadgets to form-fill at speed, answer Qs & help with tie-breakers. Plus enter TV premium phone comps free via the web. See comping techniques.
While big success isn't certain, it does happen. Among the luckies is MoneySaver mrsrobertson says: "I started comping in May '11 and I've won a £3,000 Las Vegas trip and gadgets worth over £26,000. I'm hooked." - Join the MSE comping team. The site's Competitions Time forum board is full of the latest contests. It's a reciprocal community of devoted compers. The idea is you post contests and cheer others when they win.
| Reclaim PPI for FREE
Proof paying claims handler doesn't help chances | Banks agree to make reclaiming easier Banks have paid out £5bn in PPI mis-selling reclaims since 2011, and put a further £5bn aside. If you've got/had a loan, card or mortgage in the last 10 yrs you may be owed large. Step-by-step help in our Free PPI reclaiming & credit card PPI reclaiming guides.  DIY reclaiming's just as successful. PPI claims firms typically take 30% of your payout, £900 on a £3,000 reclaim. New Ombudsman stats show identical 81% success rates from DIY complaints and claims firms. Bank figures suggest DIY success rates are 3% higher than via a claims firm. Still want it done for you? See claims firm must-knows.- Unsure? Don't worry, FREE help's available. If you've not got paperwork, not sure you were mis-sold to or unsure who to complain to, there are over 60 FAQs in our PPI reclaiming guide. Or for quick questions call the Financial Ombudsman helpline on 0300 1239123.
- Banks make the process easier. The MoneySavingExpert & Which? PPI summit with the banks has so far led to all bank sites including homepage links to how to start PPI complaints. They also agreed to introduce systems to help consumers see if you had PPI in the past and info on how payouts are calculated. See PPI summit results so far.
| Time to fix your mortgage?
Fixed rates are at record lows with some 5-year deals below 3% The Bank of England base rate's been 0.5% for over three years and the Governor sees little point cutting it. Fixes are partially based on the City's long term rate predictions and the dismal economic outlook means many are at record lows, so if you've decent equity you can get 2-year and 5-year fixes now at 2.95%. So is it time to fix? - Is a fix best? With a fix the rate is, er, fixed for a set time, insuring against rises. The more stretched your finances, the more valuable this certainty (see Fixes v Discounts). Check fees too. For some, especially on smaller mortgages, the Ultimate Mortgage Calc shows a lower fee and higher rate wins.
 Will fixes get any cheaper? Best buy rates, especially for 5-year fixes, are incredibly low, so a safe option is grab 'em now; but could they get even cheaper? Broker David Hollingworth, from London & Country, says: "In the near term, there's every chance more lenders will drop rates, though we need to wait to see if the very lowest will drop more."- Time to ditch standard variable rates? Cut 1% point off Halifax & Santander's 4%ish SVRs and you save £600/year on a £100k mortgage. It's similar for recent Lloyds & Nationwide customers, though those on their old 2.5% SVR are unlikely to gain. Use the compare two mortgages calculator.
- Ditch current fix? For some on costlier fixes, the fees you'd pay to escape would normally wipe out any gain, but with rates this low a few could actually switch and save. See the Ditch your fix? calculator.
- FREE 30-page MSE remortgage book. For help & guidance Instantly download a PDF or Order Printed Guide.
| | | | | | | | | | | Thursday, 16 August
Lorraine, ITV1, between 8.30am & 9.30am. Real Deals. Shelagh Fogarty, Radio 5, 12-1pm.
Consumer Panel. Tuesday, 21 August
Daybreak, ITV1, between 7am & 8.30am. Subject tbc. | | All Martin's Appearances | | | | | | UK's Best Currency Rates | | £100 will buy you: | | Best | Worst |  | € | 126.26 | 115.13 |  | $ | 156.26 | 141.97 |  | TL | 274.70 | 246.49 | | Rates correct at 4pm Tue | Find all top currency rates
Compare travel cash | | | | | | | | Would you press a 'cancel Olympics' button?
When we asked this before London 2012, 39% said they'd press 'cancel', but you're now singing a different tune (a GB national anthem, perhaps?) with that figure dropping to 13%. Of 21,200 voters, it was great to see 15,500 across the regions loved the Olympics. See Full Results. | | | | | | | Q. Please could you advise whether tax needs to be paid on PPI repayments over a certain amount. Laurie, by email MSE Wendy's A: Payouts are usually made up of three elements: 1. A refund of the PPI premiums you paid. 2. You will also have paid interest on the PPI you paid, which you'll get back. 3. You may also get 8% statutory interest on elements 1&2. You only pay tax on this 3rd element, as it's assumed if you hadn't paid PPI, you'd have kept the cash in savings, where the interest would be taxed. Of the major banks, only RBS and NatWest automatically deduct tax. Barclays (including Barclaycard), Halifax, HSBC, Lloyds TSB and Santander don't, so contact your tax office, or call the income tax helpline on 0845 300 0627. Please suggest a Question of the Week (we can't reply to individual emails). | | | | Uncovered, an attempt to bribe film media to give positive reviews We've seen a letter by a new release film, that seems to indicate its attempting to bribe film journalists to give a five out of four star rating. Full evidence in film journalist bribe attempt. It reveals a lot. We hope you save some money, Martin & the MSE team | | |
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