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DON'T believe the fake 'Martin Lewis' or 'MSE' ads |
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Council Tax: don't wait for reform that may never happen... check NOW if you can save £1,000s In too high a band? Due a discount / reduction? Are you in council tax credit? Council Tax reform is back in the spotlight after the Prime Minister Andy Burnham described the current system as "unfair". He's now ruled out scrapping it, at least in the near term, so the priority is making sure you're not paying more than you should under the current system - 100,000s are, and some could save £100s or even £1,000s a year. There are three main areas, so check if you're eligible for each...
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A mini-mini bye-bye, for now, from me (Martin). For the next few weeks, I'm taking a wee summer sabbatical to focus on family, fitness and poor golf, so I can recharge my and my laptop's batteries for a big autumn & winter coming. While I'm off, the site, this email and the next few, will be in the very capable hands of the MSE team. Ends 11.59pm TONIGHT. 5% easy-access savings (with an easy £25). Until midnight, newbies opening the free current account at app-only bank Revolut* (no need to switch) can earn a top 5% on up to £25,000 on its linked saver, (though only for 5mths till 4 Dec). Plus via this link, you can get £25 cashback when spending £20 on the debit card in the first month. Other easy-access savings options: Santander's Cahoot 5% on up to £3,000, this time for 12mths. Or Tembo pays 4.55%* on up to £20k, including a 1.55% 12mth fixed bonus (only paid if you keep the account for the full year). If saving more, a different account from Cahoot pays 4.52% on up to £500k, though again it only lasts 12mths. Or if you need an ISA, Trading 212's cash ISA 4.51%* including a 0.91% 12mth bonus. See full info in Top savings. Martin Video: Why you should check section 4b on your driving licence. See Martin's 60-second driving licence need-to-know. Plus, you can also subscribe to Martin's YouTube for more. The Biggest Stoozer: meet the MoneySavers who've made £1,000s manipulating 0% credit cards. Plus, if you're debt-free and financially disciplined, here's how you can give stoozing a go. £150 Shark Freestyle Max cordless vacuum for £85 with code. MSE Blagged. 5,500 available. Shark Ends Thu. 150Mb Sky full fibre broadband '£17/mth'. Switchers can get this 150Mb Sky broadband & digital line deal for £23/mth. You'll then be emailed your choice of a £140 prepaid Mastercard or shopping voucher within 4mths of your first bill (do check your junk folder if not received). Factor that in as a discount and it's equivalent to £17.17/mth over the 2yr contract. Sky tends to increase prices each April - if it does, you can leave penalty-free - so in reality it's likely to cost a quid or two more each month. Want other options? Use our full broadband comparison. Martin Video: Powerful consumer voodoo – it's called Section 75. See Martin's 90-second consumer self-defence lesson and read more in our Section 75 guide & template letters. It's back. 'Free' brownie, doughnut, pizza & more Lidl bakery items. Excludes N. Ireland. Have a Lidl treat 'I'm stunned - I found a £19,000 pension thanks to your tracing tips.' Success of the week. After uncovering a sizeable pension he didn't know existed, Bernie emailed: "I found a piece of paper stating I'd paid £303 to a pension in 1989 for about a year. I traced it using your tips via the Government's website thinking I'd get the cash back, plus a small amount on top. Turns out I have over £19,000 - and if I leave it for two years until I'm 60, it will be worth over £20,000 and a bonus may be paid. 🤩 I'm stunned, thanks for the info." If we've helped you save or reclaim (on anything), please tell us about it. Is your old compact digital camera worth £100s? Thanks to TikTok-ers' love of 'digicams', prices for throwback cameras have shot up – many bog-standard models go for £50-£300, the most sought-after £900. How much is yours worth? Teacher? Get 30% off Disney+, 20% off Wagamama, 10% off Pret & more. School's out, savings in. |
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Three steps to slash your mobile costs... Mobile prices are a tale of two markets right now. If you're willing to switch, Sim-only deals are at rock-bottom prices, with competition pushing costs ever lower. Yet millions aren't benefiting. Around 14 million people are out of contract, meaning they're free to move, but many remain on older deals and keep paying far more than they need to. If that's you, this week's a good one to get on our Cheap Sim Finder tool and slash your costs. Let's run through it... Step 1: Can you switch & save? Check by dialling just five digits. Just text 'INFO' for free to 85075 (some providers will ask for your date of birth to help confirm your identity). The service will then tell you if there are any early termination/cancellation charges - if there aren't, you're free to move. It won't work for some on 'multiple phone' contracts, in which case if you've been with the same provider for more than two years, you're likely out of contract, though do check. As Helen emailed: "My daughter and I were paying £17.57/mth each with O2 but we're now paying £2/mth with Sky for the same package as before. I pay £2/mth for mine and they threw a second Sim in for my daughter for free. The best bit is that Sky mobile piggybacks off the O2 network. Totally saving £398/yr." Step 2: Switch to the best new Sim to save. There are actually only four mobile network operators (MNOs) in the UK - EE, O2, Three and Vodafone. All others are mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs), which piggyback on their signals and tend to be a lot cheaper. Our Cheap Sim Finder lets you filter for deals using your current network's signal if you choose. Here's an example of what's available right now on each network's signal using piggybacking.
In fact, sometimes when you do this, they fight to try to keep you by offering a much better deal. You could shortcut the process and try this first to see if they do (if you'd really rather stick with your current provider). For more help, see our Mobile phone haggling guide. |
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5% off a tank of petrol or diesel when you spend at Tesco. See Tesco 5% off fuel New MSE rolling news - get 'The Latest' in app. We've added a continually-refreshed stream of the latest MoneySaving news and site updates. Download the MSE app for free (obvs) via Apple | Google Play. M&S 'up to 50% off' sale. Includes Monsoon, White Stuff & more, plus own-brand items. See our M&S sale analysis. £150 cashback on 4.7% 2yr savings fix (if saving £15k+). Online savings platforms let you move money easily between different banks after filling in one form. Newbies to one of them, Raisin, can use code SUMMER150 to get £150 cashback if saving £15,000+ in a fix lasting 2yrs+ with any bank on its platform. Rates change regularly, but its current top 2yr fix is 4.7%*. That's beatable with normal savings, but if you factor in the cashback, on £15,000 over two years, it adds the equivalent of almost 0.5 percentage points. Full info in Online savings platforms. Saving less than £15k? See Top savings. Case of six wines & six craft beers £45 delivered (normally £98). MSE Blagged. Includes three bottles of red and three bottles of white. 3,000 sets available. One-off box, no sign-ups or subscriptions. Via Wine52. Pls be Drinkaware. 100 days' free access to 5,000+ digital mags & newspapers, eg, Gardeners' World, Vogue, Good Food. MSE Blagged. For Readly newbies & those who cancelled over six months ago - ideal for summer travels. Mag-nificent |
AT A GLANCE BEST BUYS
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MONEY MORAL DILEMMA Should we top up one of our kid's JISAs if they're not worth the same when they mature? My wife and I set up junior stocks & shares ISAs for our two children when they each turned one. We pay the same amount into both and invest in the same funds, as we want to treat them equally. Yet as there are four years between them, the investments will be subject to different market conditions - so one account could be worth much more by the time they each turn 18. If that happens, should we make up the difference so both children end up with the same amount? Enter the Money Moral Maze: Should we top up our kids' JISAs? | Suggest a Money Moral Dilemma (MMD) | View past MMDs |
Important. Please read how MoneySavingExpert.com worksWe 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 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 MoneySavingExpert and Martin LewisWhat is MoneySavingExpert.com? Who is Martin Lewis? What do the links with an * mean?Any links with an * 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 products at all and the editorial line (the things we write) isn't changed due to them. 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 revolut.com, tembomoney.com, saga.co.uk, trading212.com, raisin.com Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) Note MONY Group Financial Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA FRN: 303190). MoneySavingExpert.com Ltd is a company registered in England and Wales. Company Registration Number: 8021764. Registered office: One Dean Street, London, W1D 3RB. MoneySavingExpert.com Limited is an appointed representative of MONY Group Financial Limited. To change your email or stop receiving the weekly tips (unsubscribe): Go to:www.moneysavingexpert.com/unsubscribe. |







