This week | MARTIN'S QUICK BRIEFING: For more tips, alerts & awful puns, follow Martin on Twitter Boost broadband speed & slash costs
10 tips to soup up your existing broadband or get the market's best deal Whether it's BT pushing out "free Premier League matches" or the price war for superfast fibre optic connections, broadband firms want your business. Yet should you just max out what you've already got, or switch & save? | 1. | Ends Wed. £10/mth unltd b'band AND line rental. MSE Blagged. This undercuts even the cheapest broadband-only offer. Here's how it works...
1) Eve/wknd calls & b'band. TalkTalk* is half price for 9mths. An Oct price hike means you pay £3.25 for the first month, £3.75/mth for 8mths then £7.50/mth for the rest of the 12-mth contract. B'band avail to 85% of UK.
2) Line rent. Usually £15.40/mth, within the sign-up process you can opt to pay £114 for a year upfront, equivalent to £9.50/mth.
3) Free £50 Love2shop voucher via this link. Valid at Argos, Boots, BHS, etc.
Count the voucher as cash and it's £120 over the 12mths (equiv £10/mth) or a still-cheap £16/mth equiv if you pay line rent. Monthly TalkTalk Deal | | | | 2. | Boost your speed for FREE... First do a broadband speed test*. Firms advertise 'up to' speeds, but only 10% need to actually get them. Our 11 Broadband Speed Boosters can improve what you've got. This includes using a shorter cable from socket to router, cheap household signal boosters and plugging in instead of using wi-fi for big downloads. | | | | 3. | Is 'free BT Sport' with BT broadband a good deal? New and existing customers paying for BT line rent & broadband get this. It'll show 38 Premier League games (Sky shows 116) though none where last season's top 4 play each other. Watch on your laptop, or plug an HDMI cable from that to your TV (or pay for a BT Vision box to plug into your TV).
Its cheapest deal is BT Broadband weekend calls* at £10/mth broadband plus line rent (£141 for a year upfront). Via this link you also get a £25 Sainsbury's gift card. Factor it all in and it's £19.70/mth over a year's contract, but there's only a 10GB download limit.
In itself, this is a good price, and BT's average customer service feedback is decent. Yet contrast with the current TalkTalk promo (point 1) and it's £10/mth more, so arguably, that's the effective cost of the sports package. | | | | 4. |  Are you busting your download limit? Our data use has rocketed due to catch-up TV services and movie streaming. Check your bill now for overuse charges, eg, with BT you pay £5 when you go over the limit, though this gets you a further 5GB (watching the 1hr Apprentice in HD's roughly 1GB). You will likely be better on an unlimited tariff. | | | | 5. | Superfast 30Mb fibre optic b'band £18.50/mth. MSE Blagged. It's rare for fibre deals to be this cheap and not require line rental. Ends in a week.
1) 6mths 1/2 price. Virgin Media* newbies (ONLY avail to 50% of UK) get 6mths of an 18mth contract at £11.25/mth then £22.50. Installation's £50.
2) £55 bill credit. Code MSE55 gets £55 credit on 1st bill. All-in, it's £332 for 18mths, equiv £18.50/mth. Avail on faster packages too. Virgin Media Deal | | | | 6. | Do you really need superfast? While turbo broadband sounds hot, will you really gain from it? Web surfing is as much about the site's speed as yours. So the real impact is for gamers, heavy downloaders, streamers and those where many people use it at once. See Is Superfast Worth It? | | | | 7. | Got Sky TV? Its broadband is the cheapest. This isn't a reason for signing up to Sky TV, as it's pricey. But if you're doing it anyway, or already have Sky, its broadband may be your cheapest option.
New customers signing up to Sky TV* get its unlimited broadband free if signing up to its pricey Sky Sports bundle (currently £3.75/mth otherwise), but you must pay £14.50/mth a month line rent. Existing Sky TV custs* can get it for £3.75/mth via this link. | | | | 8. | Three key checks before you switch. Switching will often save you cash, but do some key checks first:
a) Are you still under contract? If you didn't change that long ago, double-check that leaving doesn't breach your contract.
b) Are your neighbours getting better speeds? Check what speeds people near you really get with StreetStats* to see if it's worth it.
c) Are you due credit back? £millions in unclaimed credit's left when people switch. Check if you're owed credit before you do (or if you already have). | | | | 9. | FREE antivirus software. Without up-to-date computer protection, if you're defrauded, banks could argue negligence, leaving you liable. Luckily a host of professional-level Free Antivirus Software is available, including banking virus updates too. Full-service Free Office Software is possible too. | | | | 10. | Don't miss a haggle pinch point. Broadband's a mature market, so it's vital to keep hold of customers. Disconnections departments are internally called 'customer retentions' and may offer serious deals to keep you.
So call and ask for your "MAC code", which can be helpful when switching. This will prompt a "why are you leaving?" conversation. Explain it's for a better deal and it'll often try to match or beat it. Forumite alanrp123 said:
"Called to cancel, offered a year's 1/2 price line rent & 6mths' fibre b'band, plus free installation & router. Worth a phone call." See: How To Haggle
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| The Ones Not To Miss | Wed 14 Aug 2013 |
New. Free case of wine with 26-month 0% debt shift
Slash the cost of existing debts and get SIX bottles of wine (or an experience day for non-drinkers) free on top A balance transfer is when you get a new card that repays debts on other cards for you, so you owe it instead at a lower rate - meaning more of your money goes to repay the actual debt than servicing interest, getting you debt-free quicker.  Free wine with 26mths 0% deal. This month, accepted new Virgin Money* cardholders now get 26 months 0% balance transfers for a 2.99% fee - very close to the top deal on the market - plus a mixed case of six bottles of wine (RRP £55, please be Drinkaware) or an experience day such as a fashion makeover, paintballing for two or learning to surf (the link has details).
In fact, the freebie's just for being accepted for the card, but as any application for credit marks your file, doing it and cutting debt costs at the same time is a win-win. Here's how it compares...
- Will you get accepted for these cards? Top deals are great, but only if you can get them. That involves passing a credit score. To see which cards you're most likely to be accepted for, try our Balance Transfer Eligibility Checker.
- The balance transfer golden rules. a) Repay at least the set monthly minimum, 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 isn't usually at the cheap rate. d) To help decide, see our Which Card's Cheapest? tool. e) FULL info & FAQs in Best Balance Transfers.
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| Reclaim 14 YEARS of lost music. Buy CDs/vinyl from Amazon and you now get the MP3s for nowt. Yet did you know this works for anything bought since 1999? MSE Darryl found 150 albums going back 13 years. Check for lost music. Now FREE £125 from no.1 bank account. First Direct* won our customer service poll by a landslide again. 93% say it's great, & new switchers get a £125 sign-up bribe (norm £100). Needs £1,000/mth income. Best Bank Accounts. Free £40 Clinique face serum samples. Go in twice & ask. Get 2x 15ml samples (30ml usually £40). Beauty Deals 50%-off code for John Greed designer jewellery outlet. MSE Blagged. Online-only items incl Unique necklace £5 (was £21), Swatch watch £14 (was £32) and Calvin Klein ring £12 (was £26). See John Greed Deals. |
Low interest rates now here until 2016
Urgently check your SAVINGS, MORTGAGE and RETIREMENT strategy to protect yourself after this announcement New Bank of England boss Mark Carney has made the unprecedented announcement the base rate is unlikely to move from its 0.5% low till less than 7% of the workforce is unemployed (currently 7.8%). He predicts it won't happen until 2016...  Lock in higher savings rates? Many have avoided fixed savings at today's spitworthily low rates, hoping things will bounce back. The copper lining to the Bank's tragic news for savers is we now know rates are unlikely to improve, and can plan accordingly. As the top fixes beat easy access, if you can lock cash away, you can boost your rate...
Top easy access: Britannia 1.75% AER. Fixes: Britannia 1yr 2.03%, Hanley BS 2yr 2.35%, ICICI 3yr 2.55%, Saga 3yr 2.55%. Top current account: Santander 3%. Full info: Top Savings - Fix your mortgage? Low rates for the next 3 yrs may make you think it's worth getting a cheap tracker mortgage (moving with UK base rates). But right now, record cheap fixes often match or beat the cheapest trackers. The cheapest 2-yr deals with similar fees are 2.49% tracker and 1.99% fixed; 5yrs 2.59% tracker (rare), 2.59% fixed.
As it's unlikely rates have room to drop much further, locking in now at low rates has limited downsides. For more help get a Free MSE Remortgage Help Booklet or Free MSE First Time Mortgage Booklet. Also, as most people's mortgage rates are now higher than savings, you can save serious money using spare cash to overpay your mortgage. See the Overpay My Mortgage Guide? and the Mortgage Overpay Calc. - Annuities stay low too - bad time to retire? An annuity is where you buy a regular income till death with your pension pot. The rate is roughly linked to interest rates, so now's pants. Some may be able to delay, though it's not a given it'll improve.
Everyone should follow 3 simple rules. a) Never just get it from your pension provider, some gain £10,000s going elsewhere. b) Get a medical check-up - undiagnosed conditions can boost payouts. c) If you're unsure, get advice. Free MSE Annuity Booklet: Instant PDF, Order Printed back to top ↑ |
| £100 Eyes-Lips-Face make-up bundle £28. 30 items incl blusher, eyeshadow. Only 1,000. E-L-F Deals Free Tastecard (RRP £80) with fully comp £60 breakdown cover. Get Green Flag's* high-end Recovery Plus policy incl home start, onward travel, etc from £60 - slightly cheaper than RAC/AA equivalents - and you get a Tastecard for nowt, which gets 2for1ish in 6,000+ restaurants. Europe cover also available. FULL info in Cheap Breakdown Cover. Warning: Don't throw bank statements away after six years. For why, read Martin's latest blog. |
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| 'Free' £10 East Coast train credit. Buy £2 paper for no-min-spend credit, incl Edin, Leeds, Ldn. 5,000 avail. Trains Call of Duty: Ghosts pre-order £35, but you get up to £40 Tesco Rewards. Game out 5 Nov. Tesco Deals 'Free' £4 Starbucks salad voucher in £1 mag. Gets free Starbucks salad, eg, Caesar/Thai. A not too-taxing deal |
New. Top student accounts 2013/14
All banks have now announced their packages for the new academic year. We've reviewed them to find the best Banks see students as giant pound signs. If they can win your custom now, they're likely to have gained a potential high earner for life. So make 'em pay to get you. Full help in our new Student Bank Accounts 2013/14 guide. The headlines...  Big 0% overdraft vs freebies? Sadly, most students need an overdraft (letting you spend more than you've got). Luckily, as it's 0%, it has no cost. So for safety, the bank with the biggest, longest 0% overdraft wins, unless a freebie's so valuable it beats this.
- Free 4-yr railcard & £1,500 0% for new AND existing students. Santander's Student Account has a £1,500 0% overdraft, which it says most applicants will get. While not quite the biggest, it's coupled with a 4-yr 16-25 Railcard (RRP £120) for 1/3 off rail fares. You need to pay in £500/term to qualify - all this really means is ensure you pay your student loan in.
- Railcard not for you? Get the biggest 0% overdraft. It's likely the best's the Co-op Bank, which gives a £1,400 yr-1 overdraft, £1,700 yr-2 and £2,000 yr-3 - it says the vast majority of applicants will get it. While Halifax and HSBC advertise up to £3,000 0% overdrafts, our feedback shows people rarely get close to this, especially in the 1st year. In fact they only guarantee £1,000 and £500 respectively. See a full Top 0% Overdrafts review.
- The need-to-knows. a) A Ucas offer letter & ID is enough to open an account. b) You'll be credit-scored, but as long as there are no glaring problems you'll usually get the standard offer. c) An overdraft is a loan. While it's 0% during studies, it'll jump to 10-20% after and will need repaying. d) Never bust your overdraft limit. That can cost £25 a transaction and cripple your finances. e) Forget loyalty. At graduation, switch to the new best graduate deal.
More student info: 20 Student Loan Need-To-Knows | 50 Student MoneySaving Tips | Mature Student Finance Guide back to top ↑ |
£10 QHotels spa days | £20 Lastminute.com spa sale. 35 locations across UK, some with treatments. Spa Deals 'Free' £4ish Lego with paper. Lone Ranger, Star Wars, helicopter, etc, via 60p/90p papers from Sat. Lego Deals Slash the cost of airport parking. MSE Blagged. If you need to drive, book early and use these special comparison site links for extra discounts. SkyParkSecure 13-25% off* | FHR 12-18% off* | APH 10% off*. FULL help: Airport Parking £46 gets unlimited Thorpe Park entry till 4 Nov. Buy one full-price ticket, get an unlimited pass. Thorpe Park |
Cheapest pet insurance. Beware big vet fees
There's no NHS for cats and dogs so paying vet fees is no walk in the park. Yet you can cut cover costs Summer's here, Rover & Tiddles are off a-roaming. Not a bad time to ensure your pocket's protected if their health is hurt. Vet bills can cost a fortune, a cat's broken leg alone can be £4,000. Our Cheap Pet Insurance guide can help. A taster...  Find cheapest cat & dog policies: Use Gocompare* and CompareTM* pet insurance comparisons, then add missed biggies Quotezone*, Aviva* and Direct Line*.
More than one pet? You can look for multi-pet policies via Confused.com*. - Horses, snakes, rabbits, fish and more. Here, you need to do manual quotes.
Horses & ponies: Try Petplan Equine*, Animal Friends* and NFU Mutual.
Snakes, tarantulas, etc: Exotic Direct* (as the name suggests) is the specialist.
Rabbits / budgies (going cheep) / chinchillas: Exotic Direct* (all), Quotezone*, Petplan* & Helpucover* (bunnies).
- The golden rules: a) Do you need it? Instead, could you build an emergency fund? Think what you'd do if your pet was ill, but you didn't have funds to pay. It'll help you prioritise. b) Insure 'em young. Cover's costlier as they age. c) Legally cats are 'free spirits', so you're not liable for any damage caused to property or people. You are with dogs, so if no insurance, consider The Dogs Trust's £25/yr third-party cover. Full help: Cheap Pet Insurance
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| Free £60 M&S vouchers with home insurance. MSE Blagged. Use code AUGMS (M&S voucher) or AUGREST (restaurant voucher) with Legal & General* to get £60 of vouchers with its buildings & contents policy. Important: We're NOT saying it's always cheapest, compare best from Confused.com* & MoneySup* (and add Aviva* & Direct Line*). Better still, read the full Cheap Home Insurance guide. Codes: Tesco £12 off £60, Asos 10% off, Argos £20 off £100, & more...
Tesco Grocery £12 off £60 newbies' code | Burton £10 off £50/£20 off £100 code | Argos £20 off £100 newspaper vch
Paperchase 20% off code/vch | BHS 20% off code/vch in mag | Asos 10% off code | Full list: Discount Vouchers 'Free' £6 burger & chips at Yates's. Turkey or cheese burger. Sign up, print voucher. Must buy drink. Yates's Deals Want a 3-mth MoneySavingExpert.com paid internship? We've three editorial internships. MSE Jobs
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Restaurant vouchers | Discount vouchers & sales | Top deals |
| The Moneysaving community |
 THE GREAT HUNT
Leaseholders, tell us your service charge tales
Some freeholders charge £10,000s in fees for things you could do for a fraction of that. We want to hear your unfair service charge tales. Have you been overcharged or billed for something bizarre? Did you try to challenge the fees and, if so, what happened? Share yours/read others': Service charges Past topics: View all CAMPAIGN OF THE WEEK
What do you think of the Government's new childcare costs help?
The Government plans to change its childcare costs scheme in 2015 and wants to know what you think. Some will gain (if you're self-employed, or your employer doesn't offer a voucher scheme) and some will lose out (couples where only one works). Take its quick childcare survey to have your say. Find out more: Childcare winners and losers Suggest a campaign: This is for MSE to support work by other charities, groups and campaigners. Send your campaign of the week suggestion. BOOK GIVEAWAY:
Wicked Autumn. 25 blagged for MoneySavers. Find out if you got one. MONEY MORAL DILEMMA
If I'm paying rent, why should I tidy my room?
This week's MoneySaver who wants advice asks... I'm 24 and I've just moved back into my parents' 4-bed house. I work full-time and pay rent, something I suggested and an amount we all agreed on. I think my room's an organised mess, but my dad thinks it's a tip, and wants it to meet his standards. Around the rest of the house I abide by my parents' rules, but this is my room and as I'm paying rent, I think my dad is being unreasonable. I could rent a small room privately for a little more per week. Enter the Money Moral Maze: Should I tidy my room? | Suggest an MMD | View past MMDs CHEAP FLIGHT SALES ALERT
Airline: Monarch Offer: £20-off code Ends: Fri 16 Aug
This week's pick is Monarch's £20-off code. Each passenger gets £20 off any return between 1 Sep and 18 Dec 2013. If four travel, that's £80, but it doesn't apply to infants. Enter code EXTRA20 at the checkout to get the discount. To find flights quickly, use the FlightChecker on a return search. Extra charges warning: Avoid payment and check-in charges - see Budget Airline Fee Fighting. Related: Cheap Flights, Cheap Hotels, Spending Abroad, Cheap Currency, Travel Insurance THE GREAT HUNT... REVEALED
Clever meal ordering techniques
Ordering items separately for a full English breakfast or a pizza is a great way to save and means you get exactly what you want. Another top ordering tip is to "super-size" a Burger King meal for an extra 50p so you (potentially) have enough fries and soft drink for two, meaning you only need to pay for one extra sandwich rather than two entire meals. back to top ↑ |
Quick forum tips | Freebies |
Martin's blogs | Martin's appearances 15 August
Daybreak, ITV, 7.35am-7.45am.
Deals of the Week. | 15 August
Shelagh Fogarty, Radio 5, 12pm-1pm.
Consumer Panel. | |
MSE team corner - Team appearances:
- No team appearances this week
| Discussion of the week What would you buy if you had the money? MSE is all about MoneySaving, but what if money was no object? On What would you buy if you had the money?, our forumites discuss new kitchens and trips to Orlando. Share your ideas on what you would do with a few extra pounds. | Cheap travel money |
This week's poll: Do you wear and return clothes to save cash? Many big stores, such as M&S, have generous no-fault return policies. Some people use this as a form of free rental - you buy the clothes, wear them once, then return them.
The legality is questionable - it depends on the terms. Yet with 14-day no-fault returns for internet goods coming into law next year, we want to see how common this behaviour is.
Which one of these is closest to your situation? | Poll resultsHow do you rate your bank account's service?
First Direct remains voters' top bank for customer service, while Santander is in an odd position where holders of its 123 account are much happier than the rest.
- 93% of First Direct customers voted it "great", up 2% from last time.
- 73% of Santander 123 customers voted it "great", up from 63% last time.
- 23% of non-123 Santander customers voted it "poor".
8,267 voted. See the full results. |
Question of the week Q: I'm trying to ascertain whether the term 'billions' is the UK or the US definition. I've written to the BBC, ITV, and George Osborne, to no avail. Which definition is used in UK politics? Brian, by email MSE Sally's A: Wherever you hear this, usually about money, a UK billion officially refers to 1,000 million (1,000,000,000) - the same as the US definition. Before 1975, the UK used one million million (1,000,000,000,000) as a billion. But the UK adopted the US billion to conform with international usage. As a result, a trillion, formerly a million million million, now refers to a million million (the old British billion), which also follows the US definition. For further clarification, please see the House of Commons Statistical Literacy Guide: What Is A Billion? Please suggest a question of the week (we can't reply to individual emails). |
 Archna's free game of the week: Blosics |
Can you do maths and English under pressure? You can't right proper English under presure. Nor can you do simple maths, apparently. See how you fare spotting mistakes and doing quick, mental maths in these timed tests to see whether you can cope: Maths & English pressure tests. We hope you save some money, Martin & the MSE team |
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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. 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 talktalk.co.uk, bt.com, virginmedia.com, sky.com, uswitch.com, virginmoney.com, barclaycard.co.uk, lloydstsb.com, bankofscotland.co.uk, natwest.com, rbs.co.uk, mbna.co.uk, capitalone.co.uk, firstdirect.com, greenflag.com, confused.com, google.co.uk, directline.com, aviva.co.uk, admiral.com, sainsburysbank.co.uk, skyparksecure.com, fhr-net.co.uk, aph.com, gocompare.com, quotezone.co.uk, petplan.co.uk, animalfriendsequine.co.uk, exoticdirect.co.uk, helpucover.co.uk, legalandgeneral.com, moneysupermarket.com, energyhelpline.com, uswitch.com, Santander.co.uk, postoffice.co.uk .
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