This week | MARTIN'S QUICK BRIEFING: For more tips, alerts & awful puns, follow Martin on Twitter Last chance: Cash ISA year ends FRIDAY
Got any savings? Get up to 3.1% TAX-FREE interest. Use it or lose it Only hours left for any UK over-16 to use their £5,640 tax-free 2012/13 savings allowance. Cash ISAs are just savings accounts where the interest isn't taxed, so you get more - a 3% cash ISA returns as much as a 3.75% savings account for a basic rate taxpayer, 5% for higher rate. The need-to-knows... | 1. | Why every saver who hasn't should do it NOW. Once savings are in an ISA, they remain tax-free year after year. Therefore, use your allowance each year and ever more of your cash is protected from the taxman (some who filled it each year now have £70,000 saved tax-free).
The tax year ends as midnight bongs on Friday night, and if you don't use this year's, you lose it. Yet getting the money in by then can take time. Some best buys shut their doors earlier for admin reasons. If you've savings and haven't opened a cash ISA this tax year, do it now, don't delay. | | | | | 2. | Easy access best buys: Up to 2.5% AER. The following 'variable rate' cash ISAs let you withdraw cash any time without penalties. See: Top Cash ISAs
2.5% min £2,500: Santander is the highest payer, though its rate is likely to drop like a stone in a year, and could drop earlier, so monitor and transfer when it does. Apply by: 11.59pm Thurs online, in branch till Fri. Either way you open it you must pay in money online by Thurs, or branch by Fri.
Urgent: 2.3%, min £1,000 and rate 'guarantee' til Oct 2014. For those looking for a more consistent rate for longer, Cheshire BS's* (part of Nationwide) 2.3% AER includes a 1.8% bonus until Oct 2014. So while the rate will plummet then, meanwhile it should effectively work as a 1.8% min. Apply by: 5pm tonight (Wed) and post cheque to ARRIVE by Fri.
2.3%, min £1. Tesco is also 2.3% AER, with a year-long 0.3% intro bonus. Apply by: 11.30pm Fri, pay in by debit card or faster payment. | | | | | 3. | Best buy fixed rates: Up to 3.1% AER. You can earn more with a fixed rate if you're prepared to lock cash away. Full info: Top Fixed Cash ISAs.
3 years 3% fix min £500: Halifax* offers 3% fixed for 3 years or 3.1% for five - though at current paltry rates, tying up for two years longer for a smidgeon more interest is questionable. Apply by: 11.59pm Fri.
2 years 2.8% min £1: Santander's Major ISA is 2yrs 2.8% (Santander 123 customers 3%). Plus a gimmicky, one-off 0.1% bonus if Rory McIlroy wins a golf major in the next 2yrs. Apply by: 11.59pm Thurs online / by branch Fri. | | | | | 4. |  Why bother? ISAs stay tax-free, year after year. While rates may be low now, the key to getting a cash ISA is once the money is in, it stays tax-free YEAR AFTER YEAR. So by using this year's allowance, you can ensure more of your cash is protected from the taxman. |
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| | 5. | Struggling to get it in? Just put it anywhere. An adage for life! If you miss the best buys or want to be safe about getting the money in, just go for your own bank's ISA then TRANSFER IT next week to a best buy. To do this, you'll need to ensure it's easy access. For help, see our full bank-by-bank cash ISA deadline list. | | | | | 6. | Consolidate old and new ISAs to boost rates. Many old ISAs now pay disgusting, spitworthily low rates. Yet you've a RIGHT TO TRANSFER to boost them. Combining new & old together makes it easier to transfer again when needed in future, and those with big cash ISAs get better rates.
Those who bank with First Direct* and have £40k+ in an ISA get its 3% AER easy-access Cash ISA. Yet don't withdraw the cash, it'd no longer be in an ISA, instead tell First Direct to transfer it across for you. See ISA Transfers. | | | | | 7. | Why rush, I get £5,760 next year - that's more than enough? Fair enough, but be aware by not bothering with this year's allowance, it means if you have an unexpected windfall next year, and have filled next year's allowance you're missing out on tax-free savings. To play safe, do it now. | | | | | 8. | Everyone gets a NEW £5,760 cash ISA allowance Sat 12.01am. It all starts again on Sat. The earlier it's open, the earlier your savings are tax-free.
 | BOOKMARK OUR TOP CASH ISAS GUIDE, AS WE'LL BE UP TO UPDATE IT AT 00.01 THIS SAT 6 APRIL WITH ALL THE NEW 2013/14 BEST BUYS. | |
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| | 9. | STOP existing ISA direct debits now, or you'll auto-start next year's. If you're making regular payments into this year's ISA, unless you want to use the same next year, stop it now, or you'll then need to transfer to ditch it. | | | | | 10. | There are stocks and shares ISAs too. If you want to invest rather than save, you can do that in an ISA too, though the tax benefits are more limited. We don't cover investing, but the basics are in our ISA Guide. | | | |
All ISAs above have the full £85,000 per person UK savings safety guarantee. |
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| The Ones Not To Miss | Wed 3 Apr 2013 |
Free £125 'best bank' NOW available to millions more
First Direct, winner of every service poll, slashes its 'min income to get it free' and boosts free cash to £125 Don't whinge about your bank, ditch it. There's a price war on right now. Full info in Top Bank Accounts, here's a taster...  Free £125, 6% linked savings & now £13,600/yr min income. Via this link First Direct* offers accepted switchers £125 (norm £100). It's won every customer service poll we've done (91% say it's great), gives a small 0% overdraft & linked 6% AER regular savings.
Until Monday, unless you paid in £1,500+/mth, it charged a fee. That's now dropped to £1,000. This doesn't mean you need to keep that in the account, it's a way of saying you must pay in a salary of at least £13,600+ (£1,000/mth after tax). Full First Direct review.- 3% on savings and 3% cashback on bills. Min income £6,000/yr. Santander 123* pays accepted switchers 3% AER (beating best buy savings) if you've £3,000-£20,000. Plus pay phone, council tax & other bills by direct debit & it pays up to 3% cashback. Many earn over £10 a month, dwarfing its £2 monthly fee. See full Santander 123 review.
- Bank-free zone - 5% on small savings and year's 0% overdraft. Min income £13,600/yr. Nationwide* Building Society's FlexDirect pays a year's 5% interest on the first £2,500 with a year's 0% overdraft. Full FlexDirect review.
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| Until Thurs: M&S Outlet EXTRA 15% off code. Use on items already 40% below usual M&S prices. M&S Deals New easy-to-understand benefits changes MSE infographic. See how you're affected. Incl housing benefit (aka bedroom tax), universal credit (to come), council tax & more. See Benefit Infographic & 5-min Benefit Check-Up Tool. De Vere £20 room sale. Starts 8am Thu. 10k mid-market rooms in 21 hotels, Jun-Sep stays (kids free). De Vere Ben and Jerry's Free Cone Day. Grab one on Tue 9 Apr, for locations UK-wide. See Ben & Jerry's Deals. |
Superfast broadband £22/mth or standard £9 (both incl line rent)
Fibre-optic broadband, allowing much faster speed with greater consistency, is starting to get cheaper Superfast broadband's especially useful for movie downloaders, TV streamers, online gamers and those with many sharing a connection. Yet if you just web browse & email, paying more's not worth it. Full help in Cheap Broadband, in summary...  What is superfast broadband? Normal phone broadband (ADSL) speeds are usually about 8Mb. Fibre optic cable is up to 100Mb, so downloading HD films can take 6 mins rather than 180. And while phone speeds rarely match the 'up to', fibre's closer. It's only usually gettable in big cities, and even then, not always - if neither below offer you it, it's rare anyone else will.- Up to 30Mb equiv, equiv £22/mth. Virgin's* unlimited download deal is currently 6mths free, then £14.50/mth on an 18mth contract. Its cheapest line rent (required) is £120 upfront for a year, then £14.99/mth. All in, that's £384 for 18mths, equiv to £21.33/mth. You can bundle TV on too.
- Up to 76Mb unlimited, equiv £29/mth. For really fast, BT-owned Plusnet's Unlimited Fibre* has unlimited downloads. It's £10/mth for 6mths, then £20/mth on an 18mth contract. Its cheapest line rent (required) is £126 upfront for a year, then 6mths at £13.99/mth. All in, that's £516 over 18mths, equiv to £28.70/mth.
- Normal b'band AND line, equiv £9/mth. From Wed, TalkTalk's up to 14Mb Essentials broadband* (avail to 85% of UK) is £3.25/mth on a year's contract. Its cheapest line rent (required) is £114 for a year upfront. Plus you get a £50 Love2Shop voucher (for Argos, Boots, etc). Factor that as cash and it's £103 for the year, equiv to £8.60/mth.
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"The Martin Lewis Money Show" NOW ON EVERY FRI, 8PM
This Fri: ISA special - for end of this ISA year & start of next (see ML as 'ISA Man')
Last week: Reclaim flight delay cash, save £100s on direct debits & more - watch again. |  |
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| EXTRA 50% off code on up to 70%-off jewellery outlet. Incl Calvin Klein ring £12.50 (was £50), Storm cufflinks £12.50 (£50) and Religion chain £9 (£45). See John Greed Deals. Find biggest discounts with our Outlet Discount Finder. Domino's 40% off £35 ANY day code. MSE Blagged. Collection & delivery, usually incl drinks. Domino's Deals What'll you take home this new tax year? The new tax year starts on Sat, which means income tax limits change. Those earning under £43,000 are especially likely to see MORE in their pay packets. Check yours with our Income Tax Calc. Debenhams 70% off Blue Cross sale starts today (Wed). Online & in-store. See Debenhams Sale info. |
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10,000 free Grand Designs tix. MSE Blagged. Code gets free London show tix, face value £16-£19. Grand Designs Evans FLASH 24-hour 24% off EVERYTHING online sale. Thur noon-Fri noon on all full-price items. Evans Sale |
Shift debts to 18mth 0%, even with POORER CREDIT
New balance transfer deal can save poorer credit scorers £100s. Our eligibility checker points to YOUR best If you've existing credit card debts, a balance transfer's where you get a new card that pays off debts on other cards, so you owe the new card at a lower rate. The difficulty's getting one if your credit score's less than perfect, but that's easing... - Get YOUR top 0% deal. Those with great credit histories should go for the top cards, but past CCJs/defaults or a lack of credit history may mean you fail the credit check. For those with long-ago problems, there are now some decent deals available. Our Eligibility Checker shows the cards you're likely to get (and unlike applying, doesn't mark your credit file).
- Golden rules: a) Repay at least the monthly min, or you may lose the 0%. b) Aim to clear the debt or shift again before the 0% ends, or rates rocket. c) Don't spend on these, it's not usually at a cheap rate. d) Use our Which Card Is Cheapest? tool.
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| P&O Ferries £23 car day return + 6 free bottles of wine. This and other cheap ferry deals in France Trips. Codes - Tesco Clothing £10 off £40, Brantano 20% off and more...
Brantano 20% off everything (incl Clarks shoes, Nike, etc) | Tesco Clothing £10 off £40 | Nike extra 10% off sale
White Company extra 10% off sale | Sainsbury's £10 off £50 new custs only | Full list: Discount Vouchers Urgent. Is your energy fix ending? Switch now. Npower's Go Fix 10 and EDF's Energy Fix are ending. Do nowt and be shifted to pricey standard tariffs. Join the free Cheap Energy Club to find the cheapest & not be caught out again. |
New baby checklist - 50 tricks to save. New guide
Whether planning, preggers or pram-pushing already, we've a speedy new ABC of baby MoneySaving It's easy to go gaga over costs. While it'll never be truly cheap, our new 50+ Baby MoneySaving Tricks may help. A taster...  - Nab £10 off £50 on Amazon Family. Sign up for its trial scheme (you can then cancel).
- Urgently check child tax credit & childcare voucher entitlement. Can be worth £1,000s.
- Ensure you've life insurance and a will. Arrange who'd look after kids if the worst happened.
- Plan to have more? Buy gender-neutral clothes (eg, green, yellow or white) and reuse.
- Early Learning Centre, Boots and others have hidden baby discounts.
- Odeon and Cineworld let tots go free, plus special morning screenings for bubbas.
- Don't be afraid to ask for extra help - special helplines for breastfeeding, SIDS and more.
- Bag free baby gear on giveaway sites. Forumites report everything from baby monitors to toys for nowt.
- There's a booming secondhand baby market on eBay and Gumtree - buy cheap and flog on when you're done. back to top ↑ |
| 'Free' Kiehl's £6 skincare with £2 mag. Includes mini moisturiser, mask and BB cream. See Beauty Deals. Forum Hottie. Superdrug 10p bubble bath & hairbands. Forumites love this. Can you find them?
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Restaurant vouchers | Discount vouchers | Top deals |
| The Moneysaving community |
 CAMPAIGN OF THE WEEK:
Tell the NEW regulator what you think about financial services
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) took on the task of consumer protection on Monday. It wants to hear your thoughts on banking, credit cards, loans, insurance, mortgages or savings. Now's your chance to tell it your tales. Post in the FCA's Listening thread on our forum and we'll send it your stories. Suggest a campaign: This is for MSE to support work by other charities, groups and campaigners. Send your campaign of the week suggestion. MONEY MORAL DILEMMA:
Hen do, or hen don't?
This week's MoneySaver who wants advice asks... My best friend's hen do is coming up. Though money's tight, I've managed to save the large sum it's costing for an indulgent weekend. Yet the hen's sister's just emailed, asking for more money to pay for their mum to come too. I'm not sure why she even wants to come, let alone why we should pay for her. But I feel like if I refuse, it'll get back and it'll cause tension. Should I pay up, or risk the enjoyment of a trip that's already cost so much? Enter the Money Moral Maze: Should we pay for hen's mum to come? | Suggest an MMD | View Past MMDs THE GREAT HUNT REVISITED:
Single MoneySaving
Being single has its perks - no Valentine's pressies to buy, free reign over the TV zapper, the list goes on. Yet some aspects can also be more costly for singletons, so we'd like to tap MoneySavers' collective knowledge once again on saving cash while solo. Share yours/read others': Single MoneySaving Past topics: View all CHEAP FLIGHT SALES ALERT:
Airline: Monarch Offer: £25 off code Ends: Mon 6 May 2013
Our pick this week is Monarch's £25-off code. Just enter BIG25 when booking. It's valid on scheduled flights only until Mon 6 May 2013. One discount code per booking. To find flights quickly, use the FlightChecker on a £50 one-way max search. 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 THE GREAT HUNT... REVEALED:
Unexpected items you can compost
You made some great suggestions for unusual items which can be composted. Joining hair and nail clippings were cotton nappies along with shredded sensitive info, though onion and garlic skins may slow your composting down. back to top ↑ |
Quick forum tips | Freebies |
Martin's blogs | Martin's appearances 4 April
Daybreak, ITV, 7.35-7.45am.
Deals of the Week. | 5 April
The Martin Lewis Money Show, ITV, 8pm-8.30pm.
Isa special.
PS. Missed past shows? Watch them here. | 8 April
This Morning, ITV, 11am-12pm.
Subject tbc. | | |
MSE team corner - Team blogs:
- No team blogs this week
- Team appearances:
- No team appearances this week
| Board of the week The How much have you saved? Board Share your savings success stories. Discussions include My Money/saving adventure, My Savings/Story 2013 and Race to Candy Mountain. | Cheap travel money | UK's Best Currency Rates | | £100 will buy you: | | Best | Worst |  | € | 117.45 | 107.08 |  | $ | 150.81 | 137.51 |  | TL | 267.25 | 243.63 | | Rates correct at 5pm Tue | Find all top currency rates
Compare travel cash | |
This week's poll: Have daily deals sites had their day? Sites such as Groupon, LivingSocial and KGB Deals appeared like a rash a couple of years ago, with super-hot loss-leading deals. Yet do you now feel they're just lukewarm? Which of these is closest to your view? | Poll resultsWhich companies have you best haggled with in the past year?
The AA was the top firm to haggle with according to our poll, with 67% negotiating big savings on breakdown cover. Here are those who saved big haggling.
- 67% haggling with the AA
- 47% with Sky
- 40% with Virgin Mobile
- 37% with Admiral on insurance
- 23% with Nationwide on banking
2,950 voted. See the full results. |
Question of the week Q: Can I get someone insured to drive my car for six weeks, I've a friend coming from overseas? Lesley, by email MSE Tony's A: As a rule of thumb, if the driver has a UK or EU licence, most insurers allow this, if you don't have age restrictions on your policy and the person has a good driving history. Contact your existing insurer and get quotes - both for adding them for six weeks AND for adding them permanently. Taking the latter approach could, bizarrely, work out cheaper. See Temporary Drivers Help for more details. If the driver is from outside the EU, it is down to the insurer, but most of the big players should accept them. It's also possible for additional drivers to arrange temporary insurance for up to 28 days, which won't ruin your no-claims record if they have an accident. Though if they're from outside the EU, options may be limited. Please suggest a question of the week (we can't reply to individual emails). |
 Archna's free game of the week: Ball Brothers |
New Rock, Paper, Scissors game (invented by Martin)
That's it for this week, but for those who embrace their inner geek or want a game to entertain the kids in the car - look no further. Yes Martin's invented a new Rock, Paper, Scissors game - pure nerdvana. 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 halifax.co.uk, thecheshire.co.uk, firstdirect.com, santander-products.co.uk, nationwide.co.uk, broadbandchoices.co.uk, virginmedia.com, plus.net, barclaycard.co.uk, natwest.com, confused.com, moneysupermarket.com, directline.com, aviva.co.uk, admiral.com, sainsburysbank.co.uk, nationwide.co.uk, lloydstsb.com, natwest.com, fluid.co.uk, energyhelpline.co, uswitch.com.
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