This week | MARTIN'S QUICK BRIEFING: For more tips, alerts & awful puns, follow Martin on Twitter Check your savings rates NOW (they're dire)
10 tricks to boost 'em, eg, 4% on regular savings, 8% peer-to-peer Depressingly, last Nov I said savings rates were at their lowest for 300 years - they've dropped since. So we've worked hard to push it to the max for you... | 1. | Even best easy-access is only 2.1% AER. If the best is this bad, imagine what yours is paying - check. Full info in our Top Savings guide, for now...
Top payer: The Post Office (min £500) is 2.1% with unlimited no-notice withdrawals. This includes a 2% bonus for a year, so that effectively acts as a rate promise in that time (ditch & switch after).
Top if you've £50,000+: BM Savings* is 2.35%, including a 1.85% bonus. | | | | 2. | Yet earn 3% AER (plus cashback) in a CURRENT account. Bizarrely for the best easy-access savings, grab a Santander 123* bank account. New & existing cust with £3,000-£20,000 get 3% on the whole amount.
There is a £2/mth fee, though it also pays a nice 1%-3% cashback on bills such as council tax, phones and energy, which should easily cover that. Many make £10/mth or more on top. See Is Santander Worth It? | | | | 3. |  8% AER if you put money away each month. Regular savings accounts offer hot rates, but only let you save a limited amount each month. To save a lump sum, drip-feed it from a top easy-access account. See Top Regular Savers.
The top rates are often linked to bank accounts, eg, First Direct*, which has top customer service & pays switchers £125, has a linked 8% fixed Regular Saver (max £300/mth). This is closing this week, too late for newbies. It's likely to reopen in about a month, but at what rate?
So check your bank. If not, the top deal open to all is Norwich & Peterborough's 4% AER fixed for 12 months (max £250/mth). You must pay in every month, and not make more than one withdrawal in the year. | | | | 4. | The best savings rates come from repaying debts and mortgages. Think about it. £1,000 credit card debt at 18% costs £180 a year, but the same in savings, after tax, earns £15 at best. So pay off the debt with the savings and you're £165 up. If getting rid of savings feels scary, read the Repay Debt With Savings? full guide.
Is it worth overpaying your mortgage? If your mortgage rate (eg, 5%) is higher than the after-tax rate on savings (eg, 1.5%), then it makes sense. With rates so low, many are now in this category. Yet... 1) Check there are no penalties for overpaying. 2) Keep some cash as an emergency fund. See Should I Overpay My Mortgage?
As our Mortgage Overpayment Calculator shows, overpaying £100/mth on a £100,000 mortgage at 4.5% saves £18,000 interest over a 25-year term. | | | | 5. | Earn 8% interest - via lending money to others. This can work extremely well, earning some up to 15%. But there are risks which you need to understand first, see Peer-to-Peer Lending guide to see if it's right for you.
In a nutshell, your money's lent via special sites Zopa*, Funding Circle* (which lends to businesses) and Ratesetter*. They credit-check borrowers can afford to repay, and chase repayments if they fall behind. Many have earned decent returns, but unlike savings, they've got no Gov protection. | | | | 6. | Max out your tax-free cash ISA savings (get 2.5% AER). A cash ISA is just a savings account you can put £5,640 in a year where the interest's tax-free. If you've not your 2012/13 cash ISA, there's only two months left.
Boost old cash ISA rates too: The top easy-access deal is Cheshire BS's 2.5%. It also allows you to transfer in past years' cash ISAs - so check yours now, and transfer across if needed. This rate includes a 2% bonus for 18mths, so that effectively acts as a rate promise for that time (ditch & switch after).
If you can wait to access your cash, Coventry 60-Day Notice ISA pays 2.8% on balances from £1, guaranteed until Dec 2013, but it doesn't allow transfers. More options in Top Cash ISAs and Top ISA Transfers. | | | | 7. | Your kids can earn 6%. The branch-based Halifax (not in Scotland) Kids' Regular Saver pays a huge 6% AER fixed for a year (max £100/mth) if they're prepared to lock cash away. Full best buys in Top Children's Savings. | | | | 8. | Is it worth locking cash away to get 3.1%? Normally locking cash away without access gives a high fixed rate. Right now, OUCH - they're horrid. If rates drop even more they may look good, but if rates are at rock bottom it's questionable if fixes, especially longer ones, are worth it.
Top payers: 1yr Virgin Money 2.25% AER; 2yrs Virgin 2.65% AER; 3yrs First Save 2.95% AER; 5yrs Shawbrook Bank 3.1% AER. See Fixed Savings. | | | | 9. | Can't believe I'm saying this: High-rate taxpayer? Think Premium Bonds. I've never been a fan, and even had the Premium Bond Win Predictor Calc built to show how dismal returns are in reality (try it).
The current prize rate's just 1.5%, but as it's tax-free that's equivalent to 2.5% AER for higher-rate 40% taxpayers. Our Predictor Calc shows you'd still need luck to get it, but for high-rate taxpayers who've filled their ISA, the chance of beating top savings isn't bad. See Premium Bonds Worth It? | | | | 10. | A few final important savings quickies... a) Unless stated, all accounts listed here have full £85k UK savings safety protection. If you've more, consider spreading across multiple accounts. b) To cut tax, if you're a couple, put savings in the lower taxpayer's name. c) If you've kids, as some of their accounts pay higher rates, saving in their name pays. But if they earn £100+/yr interest from it, it's taxed at your rate. See Kids' Savings Tax. |
PS. On Thurs at 7.30pm, I'm presenting ITV's Tonight: "How much can you save". | |
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| Jan Money Makeover Special | Wed 30 Jan 2013 |
Top 20 online survey sites - "I made £800 in a year"
New guide to making money from online survey sites and focus groups, some earn £100s Willing to give views on One Direction, washing-up liquid or if we should quit the EU? Our new Top 20 Online Survey Sites guide shows how to make cash by filling in online surveys and attending face-to-face focus groups. Inspiration to start:  "I earned £800 last year." Committed survey-doers can get £200ish a year, but if you max it like MoneySaver funnyguy: "It takes a few years to build up enough to cash out, but I earned £800 last year in cash & vouchers. Comes in very useful." - "£160 for a half-day focus group" While you're limited to a few a year, giving views in face-to-face focus groups pays well. Suck-up forumite MartinLewisisalegend says: "I'm a massive focus groups fan and recently got £160 for half a day. It's good money for just being honest about your thoughts and you get free hot drinks and sandwiches." See Top Focus Group Agencies.
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Free Ideal Home Show tickets - 10,000+ pairs (worth up to £18.50). MSE Blagged. Code gets pairs of tickets for any day at the 15 Mar-1 Apr London Earl's Court show. How to get them: Free Ideal Home Show Tickets New. Longest EVER 0% debt shift - 25 mths. Accepted new cardholders balance-transferring existing credit card debts to Barclaycard* get 25mths 0% for a 3.2% fee. Repay or shift again before the 0% ends, otherwise it's 18.9% rep APR. FULL help and more best buys (plus eligibility checker tool) in Best Balance Transfers (and Official APR Examples). Free £2 photo Valentine's card (well, you pay 60p postage). 5,000 Truprint codes avail. Greetings Card Deals. Ends today: EXTRA 50% off code on up to 75%-off jewellery outlet. Valentine's possibility. Incl £6 John Greed wedding rings (were £27), £20 Diesel watch (£80) and £19 Swarovski bracelet (£50). John Greed Deals |
New. Can you get THE CHEAPEST way to spend abroad?
Specialist credit cards give PERFECT exchange rates everytime. New eligibility checker finds which you can get
Pocketing a specialist cheap travel money credit card if you regularly go abroad's a no-brainer. They smash bureau de change rates, giving cheapest spending in every country. The big Q - will you pass the credit check? We've a way to help. - It's all about the 'load'. Most plastic adds a hidden 3%ish 'load', so spend £100 worth of euros and your statement says £103. But a few cards are 'load-free' so you get unbeatable rates, smashing bureaux de change.
- How the eligibility checker works. Card applications hit your credit score, even if rejected. Instead, we do a pre-application 'soft' search with no impact, which lets us calculate your percentage chance of getting specific cards.
- The golden rules with these cards. 1) Set up a direct debit to repay IN FULL each month to minimise interest. 2) Spending's cheaper than ATM withdrawals. 3) For ATM withdrawals, making fewer, larger withdrawals is cheaper (but be safe). 4) If asked "pay in £ or euro", pick euros. 5) Full help: Cheap Travel Money Cards, APR Examples
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| BOOM Domino's 50% off code, plus £9.99 cashback. Effectively free, combines 2 deals. See Domino's Deals. Last chance. £125 bonus for switching to top customer service bank. New switchers to First Direct's* current account before Thurs get £125 (£100 after), though you need an income of £1,500/mth. Full help: Best Bank Accounts Hi-Tec trainers 50% off code. MSE Blagged. £25 running shoes (were £100) & walking boots (£70). Hi-Tec Deals |
Change the UK in 50 words
Your chance to suggest improvements to Cameron, Clegg and Miliband. Small changes can have a big impact. Politicians like big 'legacy' issues, but miss those little easily-implemented changes that help us all. So we want yours...
 If something bugs you, this is your chance. Tell us, in no more than 50 words, what needs changing; be it parking tickets, supermarkets, credit or more. We'll pick 50 and campaign on them - please Suggest 50-Word Money Manifesto Ideas. We prioritise non-polemic "do-ables", so "tax everyone the same" or "scrap benefits" won't make it.
- Your idea can make things change. Past manifestos directly led to Consumer Focus's super-complaint which sped up cash ISA transfers, aided Ofgem's work to improve energy statements, and Trading Standards' doorstep selling rule changes. See all 50 Words Successes.
- We'll put it under the big names' noses. With 14m users a month, they can't ignore us. Last time the PM and all party leaders read it, as did the Financial Services Authority, Ofgem, the Treasury Select Committee and more.
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| 'Free' £20 Kurt Geiger voucher in magazine. Use in-store and online, no minimum spend. Kurt Geiger Deals 6 bottles of wine and £40 cashback with cheapest energy. First Utility's dual fuel iSave v14 is the cheapest (variable rate) energy deal for many, typically saving £250/yr. Currently, switch via certain comparison sites to get £40 extra cashback on top of the usual via our special links. Dual fuel: uSwitch* 6 x wine, MoneySup* £30 cash. This week only, there's also £45 cashback on Scot Power's long term cheap fix via Energyhelpline*. Full info: Cheap Gas & Electricity
Get Sky TV for equiv £3/mth. Combine £126 cashback deal & £100 M&S vch on basic package. Sky, Virgin & BT TV 50% off photo canvases code (so A4 £14). MSE Blagged. Valid on all sizes, full info in Canvas Deals. |
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Cheapest pet insurance - as vet fees rise 12%
There's no NHS for cats and dogs. They don't go cheap (budgies do) - slash the cost if you need cover Vet bills are expected to rise 12% (source: Debenhams), a cat's cataract op alone's now £1,013, and insurance is rising too. Urgently consider if Tiddles, Fido or Tyrion needs it. If so, our Cheap Pet Insurance guide can help. Here's a taster.  Find cheapest cat & dog policies: Both Gocompare* and CompareTM* now do pet insurance comparisons, but do add missed biggies Aviva*, Direct Line* & Quotezone*.
More than one pet? Check for multi-cat or 1 cat, 1 dog discounts via Confused.com*. - Horses, snakes, rabbits, fish and more. Here, you need to do manual quotes.
Horses & ponies: Petplan Equine*, Animal Friends* and NFU Mutual.
Rabbits / budgies / chinchillas: Exotic Direct* (bunnies) Quotezone*, Petplan* & Helpucover*.
Snakes, tarantulas, etc: Exotic Direct* (as the name suggests) is the specialist. - Pet insurance golden rules: 1) Do you need it? Could you save for a pet emergency fund? Consider what you'd do if you didn't have the funds to pay. 2) Insure 'em young, cover's costlier as they age. 3) Cats are free spirits but with dogs, you're liable for damage they cause. As a minimum, consider The Dogs Trust's £25/yr third-party cover.
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| Unlimited London Midland train travel £15/day. 45,000 printable vouchers, valid 9-24 Feb 2013. Train Deals Vchs & codes: New Look 50% off shoes, Body Shop 40% off, BHS 25% off...
New Look 50% off shoes in paper | BHS 25% | BodyShop 40% | Aldi £5 off £40 in paper | Lidl £5 off £35. Discount Vchers Over-60s cheap car insurance. Older drivers said finding cheap cover was tough, so we've new 60+ Car Ins help. 2x 'free' Chessington tickets (RRP £86). Collect newspaper tokens from Sat. Must be flexible. Chessington Deal PS. Many of you are asking us about the new Green Deal - is it any good? We hope to launch a full, detailed assessment in next week's email.
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Restaurant vouchers | Discount vouchers & sales | Top deals |
| The Moneysaving community |
 THE GREAT HUNT:
Hello ladies - how you doin'? (er... what would you like for Valentine's?)
With Valentine's Day coming, this week we want to know what women want (there's a million-dollar question - ML). So please tell us to give men inspiration (next week: vice-versa). PS. Remember, we're a MoneySaving site. Share yours/read others': What women want for Valentine's Past topics: View all CAMPAIGN OF THE WEEK:
Are your finances stressing you out?
NHS Choices' new MoodZone wants to help us improve our mood and well-being in 2013. This week, it's focusing on finance and how to cope with related stress, anxiety and depression. Related: Mental Health and Debt Guide Spotted a campaign? This space is for MSE to support money-based work by other organisations. Send us a campaign of the week suggestion. New MSE forum video guide - from how to join, to asking questions. The MSE forum was named the UK's 7th biggest social network. It has over 1m members and is great for deals, info and motivation. If you're new to it, we've launched a new video guide to help guide you through the forum maze. Watch the Forum Intro Guide. MONEY MORAL DILEMMA:
Should I sneakily keep some of ex's deposit for cleaning?
This week's MoneySaver who wants advice asks... When I moved in with my partner, we split the £800 deposit. When she moved out, we agreed we'd sort out monies owed once I finally left and the deposit was returned. I've just got the £800 back, and my ex has forgotten how much we put in and only asked for £300. I spent ages cleaning the flat at the end of the tenancy (she didn't help) so am tempted to only give her the £300 she's asked for. Enter the Money Moral Maze: Should I keep some of ex's deposit | Suggest an MMD | View Past MMDs BOOK GIVEAWAY RESULT:
Bookkeeping for Dummies. 25 blagged. Check if you got one. CHEAP FLIGHT SALES ALERT :
Airline: Jet2 Offer: From 10% off code Ends: Mon 4 Feb 2013
Our pick this week is Jet2's 10% off code. It's on till 11.59pm Mon 4 Feb and is valid on all return flights, except 'discovery weekends' to Rejkjavik and Marrakech. Enter the promo code SALE10 at the checkout to get the discount. To find flights quickly, use the FlightChecker. Extra charges warning: Avoid payment and check-in charges - see the Budget Airline Fee Fighting guide. Related: Cheap Flights, Cheap Hotels, Spending Abroad, Cheap Currency, Travel Insurance back to top ↑ |
Quick forum tips | Freebies |
Martin's blogs | Martin's appearances 31 January
Daybreak , ITV1, 7.35-7.45am.
Deals of the Week. | 1 February
Jeremy Vine, Radio 2, 1-2pm.
Subject tbc. | 31 January
Shelagh Fogarty, Radio 5, 12-1pm.
Consumer Panel. | 4 February
This Morning, ITV1, 11.30am-12pm.
Subject tbc. | 31 January
ITV Tonight, ITV1, 7.30-8pm.
How much could you save? | | |
MSE team corner - Team appearances:
- No appearances this week.
| Board of the week Green & Ethical MoneySaving Share advice and tips on saving money while protecting the environment. Discussions include Recycling coat hangers, Palm Oil Free Chocolate Spread and Washing machine temp question. | Cheap travel money | UK's Best Currency Rates | | £100 will buy you: | | Best | Worst |  | € | 116.19 | 105.49 |  | $ | 156.68 | 141.77 |  | TL | 270.50 | 247.60 | | Rates correct at 4pm Tue | Find all top currency rates
Compare travel cash | |
This week's poll: Are you good with money? There are two core money skills, how good are you at them? | I'm a man | I'm a woman | | Good with products, poor at budgeting | Good with products, poor at budgeting | | Good with products, OK at budgeting | Good with products, OK at budgeting | | Good with products, good at budgeting | Good with products, good at budgeting | | | | | OK with products, poor at budgeting | OK with products, poor at budgeting | | OK with products, OK at budgeting | OK with products, OK at budgeting | | OK with products, good at budgeting | OK with products, good at budgeting | | | | | Poor with products, poor at budgeting | Poor with products, poor at budgeting | | Poor with products, OK at budgeting | Poor with products, OK at budgeting | | Poor with products, good at budgeting | Poor with products, good at budgeting | | Poll resultsHave you done your Christmas shopping yet?
Just under half have already begun Christmas shopping.
- 44% have started to buy at least some Christmas presents, cards, decorations or gift wrap.
- 47% have bought nothing.
- 4% have done it all already.
11,261 voted. See Full Results. |
Question of the week Q. What happens to the extra warranty we've purchased with a new electrical item if the store goes into administration? Is it still valid and, if so, who with? Where do we go if we need to claim? Craig, by email. MSE Helen K's A. If it's an extended warranty, this is usually an insurance contract with an insurance company so it should still be valid, regardless of the status of the store. You'd claim from the insurer. If you're unsure, if the contract says it's "regulated by the Financial Services Authority", it's probably an insurance contract. However, if the item came with a customer service promise to fix it, it is less clear. If the retailer that's gone into administration won't honour this – and legally it doesn't have to – it is no longer valid, though you could try to invoke the manufacturer's warranty. If these avenues fail, if you bought the item on plastic, you may be able to get a refund via Section 75 (for credit card purchases over £100) or chargeback (all others). Please suggest a question of the week (we can't reply to individual emails). |
 Archna's free game of the week: Candy Crush |
Map fight - do you know how much bigger Russia is than the UK? This nifty tool compares countries' sizes, and tells you the square kilometres for each. Are you ready to MapFight? We hope you save some money, Martin & the MSE team |
| Important. Please read how MoneySavingExpert.com works We 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 we 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. MSE, Money Saving Expert, MoneySavingExpert and Moneysavingexpert.com are registered trade marks belonging to MoneySavingExpert.com Limited. More about MoneySaving Expert and Martin Lewis What is MoneySavingExpert.com?
Founded in February 2003, it's now the UK's biggest consumer help website with over 6 million people getting this email and nearly 10m using the site. In September 2012 it became part of the MoneySupermarket Group PLC. Its focus is simple: how to save cash and fight for financial justice on anything and everything. The site has over 30 full time staff about half of whom are editorial researching, analysing and writing to continually find ways to save money. More info: See About MSE Who is Martin Lewis? Martin set up and runs MSE, he's an ultra-focused money saving journalist and consumer campaigner. He has regular slots on Daybreak, Lorraine, Radio 2 Vine, BBC1 Watchdog, Radio 5 Consumer panel and presents ITV Tonight. He is a columnist for amongst others the Sunday Post as well as an author. More info: See Martin Lewis' biog What do the links with a * mean? Any links with a * 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 product at all and the editorial line (the things we write) isn't changed due to it. 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 bmsavings.co.uk, santander-products.co.uk, firstdirect.com, uk.zopa.com, fundingcircle.com, ratesetter.com, barclaycard.co.uk, halifax.co.uk, nationwide.co.uk, saga.co.uk, postoffice.co.uk, uswitch.com, moneysupermarket.com, energyhelpline.com, natwest.com, tescocompare.com, directline.com, aviva.co.uk, admiral.com, sainsburysbank.co.uk, cbonline.co.uk, gocompare.com, comparethemarket.com, quotezone.co.uk, confused.com, petplanequine.co.uk, animalfriendsequine.co.uk, exoticdirect.co.uk, petplan.co.uk, helpucover.co.uk, bt.com.
Financial Services Authority (FSA) Note Referring people to insurers or insurance intermediaries can in some circumstances constitute an FSA regulated activity. For this reason, pages with links which take you to the sites of insurers or insurance intermediaries are hosted by MoneySavingExpert.com Limited on behalf of MoneySupermarket.com Group PLC. MoneySupermarket.com Financial Group Limited which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FRN: 303190). The registered office address of both MoneySupermarket.com Group PLC and MoneySupermarket.com Financial Group Limited is MoneySupermarket House, St. David’s Park, Ewloe, Chester, CH5 3UZ. To change your E-mail or stop receiving the weekly tips (unsubscribe): Go to: www.moneysavingexpert.com/tips |
