This week | MARTIN'S QUICK BRIEFING: For more tips, alerts & awful puns, follow Martin on Twitter Slash £1,000s off your car's running costs
10 easy tricks to save motorists, bikers & van drivers big bucks Ignore the purchase price - running costs alone now make having a car many's 2nd biggest bill, at an eye-watering £3,900/yr for a new car, says the AA. To help, we've 40 Motoring Cost-Cutting Tricks, here's a starter for ten... | 1. | Has the PHOTO on your licence expired? You risk a £1,000 fine. While the licence itself may be valid, the photo needs renewing every 10yrs. 2m have expired. Check your card's section 4b date. See Driving Licence Help. | | | | 2. | 'It's a pain doing insurance comparisons but saved £450 using your list'. As msticklemagical says, our system takes a little time, but it's worth it (just think of it as an hourly rate). Use the full cheap car insurance, bike or van guides for MAX savings, yet if you really want a short-cut...
a) Combine MoneySupermarket* and Tesco Compare* for wide comparison.
b) Add the biggies they miss: Aviva* & Direct Line*.
c) If more than one car, try Admiral MultiCar*.
d) Don't think 3rd-party's always cheapest. Comprehensive can undercut it as merely by selecting it some insurers see you as a lower risk. Check both. | | | | 3. |  Private parking firms CAN'T fine you. Tickets at supermarkets or private car parks may be disguised as fines, but they're really just invoices. Like any invoice, if it's unfair, tell 'em & don't just pay. Full help: Private Parking Tickets
You've a right to appeal against unfair council tickets. If the ticket was unfair, take 'em on. 50% of those who push to the final stage win. See Fight Council Tickets. Plus print our Free Glovebox Guide. | | | | 4. | 20-year-old saved £1,050 just adding extra drivers. Young drivers can pay astronomical rates. Our Young Drivers' Car Insurance guide has tips to slash costs, eg, adding extra drivers with good records. One 20-year-old man tweeted us: "£1,600+ on my own, £550 with 2 named drivers."
To find the cheapest, first combine Confused.com* & MoneySup*, then check Aviva*, Direct Line*, and if 2+ cars in home, Admiral MultiCar*. If they're still too costly, check telematic "black box" insurers...
Pay per mile: Coverbox*. Pay how you drive: Co-op*. Pay less daytimes: iKube*. | | | | 5. | Cut petrol & diesel costs. After 4mths of gradual falls, petrol prices, now averaging £1.36/L are predicted to rise again (a shocking 81p/litre is tax). Our Cheap Petrol & Diesel guide will help you cut costs, including...
a) Make your car more efficient, eg, check tyre pressure & dejunk your trunk
b) Up to 30% can be saved with driving changes - not slower, but more gradual acceleration & move into higher gears sooner. See Fuel Efficient Driving Gains
c) Don't fill up just anywhere, use Petrolprices.com for cheapest forecourts. | | | | 6. | Get 3% cashback at petrol stations. The Santander 123* credit card pays 3% back on petrol spending (max £9/mth back), 2% in department stores, 1% supermarkets. It has a £2/mth fee but that's easily covered for big drivers - though always repay IN FULL to avoid the 22.8% rep APR.
As MRoberts71 tweeted us: "Thanks for suggesting Santander 123 credit card. Got a free tank of petrol out of it." For less frequent drivers, other cards can beat this. For full best buys, see Top Petrol Cashback Cards. | | | | 7. | AA basic £12 a year. Use a cashback site and you can effectively get AA basic for £12, RAC £17. Existing customer? Try haggling - 73% of AA customers who tried said they succeeded, eg, "Rung AA and asked to leave, now paying £57 not £115." Full best buys & help doing all this in: Cheap Breakdown Cover. | | | | 8. | Hiring a car? Act NOW (& insure up to 90% cheaper). Whether hiring in the UK or overseas, our key Cheap Car Hire guide rule is to book sooner. It's as little as £10/day via comparisons CarRentals* and Kayak*.
Plus beware of hire firms scaring you with "one scratch and you pay £500 excess" to push costly 'no excess' insurance. Use MoneyMaxim* to find similar standalone insurance at a fraction of the cost. | | | | 9. | Ditch the car for a car club? If you live in a city and don't drive often, these can beat owning and taking taxis. You pay to join and only use it when required - though watch out for extras. See Car Club Tips. | | | | 10. | Hidden council MOT centres can mean fewer fails. 40% of MOTs fail first time, often for trivialities such as bust light bulbs or poor windscreen wipers. So follow our DIY MOT pre-check to cut down on these, and save costs.
For the test itself, if you've a long-term trusted garage, great. If not, council MOT test centres generally don't do repairs, so have less incentive to fail you. Many rave about them. Forumite jemayhew says: "Huge thanks. Last year ripped off £400 repairs, today passed at council centre with only test fee to pay." | | |
Blagged for MoneySavers |
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Reclaim PPI for FREE Claims handlers aren't more successful.
Free help & templates: Reclaim PPI |
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| The Ones Not To Miss | Wed 6 Feb 2013 |
The Green Deal - pay for double glazing, etc, from energy savings
Urgent: From underfloor heating to boiler upgrades, up to £1,000 cashback for Green Deal early-adopters The Govt's huge new Green Deal's a way of paying for many home energy-efficiency measures from the 'savings' you'll make on energy bills. It's complex, so we've a big new Green Deal Mythbusting guide to help you decide. In a nutshell...  It's a loan, Jim, but not as we know it. The fact it's a loan will frighten the bejeebees out of many. Oversimpified, it's REPAID BY YOUR ENERGY FIRM from the 'savings' made as your home's more energy efficient. Ie save £200/year repay £200/year - so done right there's NO NET COST to you. See Is The Green Deal Right For You?- The Green Deal can be used for 40+ improvements. Solid & cavity wall insulation, underfloor heating, solar panels and more. You can apply for one or a combination, provided it's approved by an assessor, which costs about £120. See What The Green Deal Can Be Used For.
- Urgent big cashback - even if you don't take a loan. There's £125m of cashback to get the scheme going. Speed pays as the first tranche will get the highest cashback - £300 on boiler upgrades & double glazing, £600 on solid wall insulation. Cashback's paid even if you don't take the loan and pay upfront. See Green Deal Cashback info.
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| 50% off Sky TV codes. MSE Blagged. 2,250 codes for Sky newbies (or those who last had it 12+ mths ago) to get a year's 50% off broadband and TV packages, incl movies and sport. Plus there's a £25 M&S voucher. See Cheap Sky TV. FREE 3-mth Tastecard (RRP £80/yr). MSE Blagged. 2for1s at 1,000s of restaurants. Newbies only. Tastecard Deals 100,000 joined our free Cheap Energy Club in first 2 days - TRY IT. It checks if you’re on the cheapest now and switches you if not. Then it monitors to ensure you're PERMANENTLY on the cheapest. Join for free & please feed back. Free YSL foundation and face serum samples, worth £15ish. Just print a voucher, 200,000 available. YSL Deals |
Travel insurance £16 a YEAR
WARNING: Booked a holiday? Don't wait till you go to get insurance, as then you've no cancellation cover One in four now go abroad without cover. Don't risk it, especially as insurance can be dirt cheap. We've updated our Cheap Travel Insurance guide with the latest best buys, but for quick reference, here's the key information... - Is it worth it? A free EHIC gives medical treatment in EU state-run hospitals, although you'll pay if a local has to. Travel insurance should cover these bills, sometimes from private hospitals; also non-EU trips, plus cancellation, lost baggage, personal possessions, legal assistance and, if sadly needed, repatriation or bringing a body home.
- Over-65s travel insurance. Prices rocket as you age, but cheap deals are possible, eg, 65-69 year olds can get a year's TopDog* for £45 in Europe, £61 worldwide. See full Over-65s Travel Insurance Deals.
- FREE travel insurance for ages up to 73, with a current account. Nationwide's* no-fee account covers EU travellers up to 73. Upgrades to family or worldwide are relatively cheap, too. Do declare pre-existing conditions.
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 Valentine's deals to make your heart flutter: ♥ 12 red roses, £12 couriered. MSE Blagged. 500 avail, next cheapest £19. See Valentine's Day Roses ♥ Free £2 photo Valentine's card (well, you pay 60p postage). MSE Blagged. 5,000 more Truprint codes. Free Card Deals  ♥ Card, rose & chocs £3 deliv (norm £10). MSE Blagged. 1,000 avail. "I love you" deal.
♥ Free Valentine's 'personal gift' cheques. Costs nothing, means everything. Promise something nice (or naughty): 'massage', brekkie in bed or dinner at in-laws. Print Valentine's gift cheques. |
"We saved £660 a year with a water meter"
It's just been announced water bills are rising 3.5% in Eng & Wales & 2.8% in Scotland. Don't be a drip, sort it On 1 April, English & Welsh water bills will rise by an average 3.5%, but some by up to 5.5%. (Scotland's up 2.8% - the first time in 4 years, NI bills are included in rates.) Yet our Slash Water Bills guide can save you large. Here's a taster...  Do you have more or same number of bedrooms as people? If yes, and you're in England or Wales, big savings are possible shifting from bills to a free meter (not free in Scot). As Helen Bevington tweets: "Thanks MSE, we've water-metered. Monthly direct debit down from £80 to £25" - £660/yr less. Full help: Will I Save With A Water Meter?- Not allowed a meter? Get an assessed bill. If they say it's impractical to give you a meter (often in flats with shared pipes), ask for an assessed charge which bills you on likely usage, not on the size of your home. Great for homes with low occupancy.
- If it's yellow, would you let it mellow? If you're on a meter, using less water saves you (even if not, as a lot of water's heated, it can cut energy bills). We've 30+ Water Saving Tips from the extreme "if it's yellow let it mellow; if it's brown, flush it down" to just grabbing Water Saving Freebies, eg, a shower head which increases pressure, not water use.
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| Ends Thurs. Broadband & line rent equiv £9/mth (BT line alone £15). With TalkTalk Essentials* for £3.25/mth you get 12mths' half-price b'band, eve & wknd calls, and a year's line rent for £114. Add it all up and it's £153/yr. Yet via this link you get a £50 Love2Shop voucher (for Argos, B&Q, etc). All in, it's equiv £9/mth. Cheap B'band New top 2% easy access savings from 'Nationwide'. Rates keep dropping, leaving the top no-notice deal Derbyshire BS* (Nationwide sub-brand) at 2% AER. Includes a yr-long bonus, diarise to switch after. Full info: Top Savings Forum Hottie. 20p Life of Pi, The 100-Yr-Old Man & more e-books. Kindle, mobile, PC, etc. 20p E-books 'Free' Odeon family ticket. Get newspaper tokens. Incls Ice Age 4, Life of Pi, Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Odeon Deals
'Free' £6.50 cheeseburger & chips at Yates's. Sign up, print voucher, but you must buy a drink. See Yates's Deals. 'Free' mobile b'band with £1 Sim. MSE Blagged. Use code MSE1 to get a Samba* Sim for £1 (norm £5). It gives free mobile broadband for laptops/tablets if you watch brief ads online. Feedback's good. See Cheap Mobile Broadband. |
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5% cashback everywhere, PLUS £25 at Gap, House of Fraser, etc
New AND existing American Express cardholders can get a cashback bonanza with a parade of short-term deals Pay off a credit card IN FULL each month, preferably by direct debit so there's no interest, and you effectively turn it into a debit card. Choose one with cashback, then use for normal spending and you're quids in. Right now, there's a corker...  New cardholders: 5% cashback on ALL spending. Accepted new Amex Everyday* cardholders get a big 5% cashback (max £100) for the first 3mths & up to 1.25% after. Fail to fully repay each month & it's 19.9% rep APR. More in our new Amex Guide.- All cardholders: £25 back on £50 at Gap, HofF, Banana Rep, Harrods & more. Just sign up to free smartphone app Foursquare. Full how-to and stores list in our American Express Deals guide. Most of the deals end on Thu 28 Feb. If you're applying for an Amex it typically takes two weeks, so hurry and you should get one in time.
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| FREE knight at Spamalot. Dress as a knight "ni" for free tix (RRP £15-£65) to West End show. See Spamalot Deals. Wallis £10 off £50 code, Dotty P £5 off, Body Shop 35% & more...
Wallis £10 off £50 code | Warehouse 25% off code & vch in mag | Body Shop 35% off + free del code
Paperchase 15% off £15 vch | Brantano 20% off code | Dorothy Perkins £5 off £30 code. Full list: Discount Vouchers Forum Hottie. 50 free Nectar pts. Do a survey for points - only worth 25p but forumites are buzzing. Nectar Deals
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Restaurant vouchers | Discount vouchers | Top deals |
| The Moneysaving community |
 CAMPAIGN OF THE WEEK:
What are the most littered brands?
Keep Britain Tidy's Great Litter Count needs volunteers to report the most littered brands. From fast food, to soft drink, to sweet wrappers, tell it what you've found near you so it can encourage companies to improve. Spotted a campaign? This space is for MSE to support money-based work by other organisations. Send us a campaign of the week suggestion. BOOK GIVEAWAY:
The Clangers craft book. 25 blagged for MoneySavers. Want one? THE GREAT HUNT:
Men - what do you want for Valentine's?
Let's face it, Valentine's often focuses on men doing the wooing. But what about the other way around? Men, this is your chance to have your say, to give ideas to loved ones. Share yours/read others': Men - what do you want for Valentine's? Past topics: View all THE GREAT HUNT... REVEALED:
What women want for Valentine's
Last week, we asked women. In true MoneySaving style, many would be happy with a good old-fashioned smooch. Romantic meals, in or out came up a lot too, but the overwhelming answer was a gesture that shows thought & effort. See full list. Join the MSE forum via Facebook. You can now join or log into the MSE forum via your Facebook account, meaning no password to remember. Plus instantly post forum comments on your FB wall. See Forum Facebook Info. MONEY MORAL DILEMMA:
"I got £400 for finding someone a job, should I give them half?"
This week's MoneySaver who wants advice asks... My employer runs a scheme where if someone you refer gets a job, you receive £400. I recently referred a friend and, happily, she got the job and she now earns an extra £300pcm. She seems to think the £400 will be split between us and has asked me what 'we' should do with 'our' £400. Should I tell her it's actually meant for the referee alone, or just split it? Enter the Money Moral Maze: Should I split the referral bonus? | Suggest an MMD | View Past MMDs CHEAP FLIGHT SALES ALERT:
Airline: Monarch Offer: £10-£20 off code Ends: Tue 12 Feb 2013
Our pick this week is Monarch's £10-£20 off return flights code. It's on till 11.59 Tue 12 Feb and is valid on all return flights. Depending on the destination, you can get £10, £15 or £20 off the price. Enter the promo code FLY4FUN 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 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 Thu 7 Feb
Daybreak , ITV1, 7.35-7.45am.
Deals of the Week. | Thu 7 Feb
Shelagh Fogarty, Radio 5, 12-1pm.
Consumer Panel.
Listen to past shows. | Mon 11 Feb
This Morning, ITV1, 11.00am-12pm.
Savings. | | |
MSE Team corner - Team appearances:
- No team appearances this week
| Board of the week The House Buying, Renting & Selling Board Share advice and tips on property-related MoneySaving. Discussions include House swap with father in law, Newbie landlord advice please and Can't see my house price listing? | Cheap travel money | UK's Best Currency Rates | | £100 will buy you: | | Best | Worst |  | € | 116.00 | 105.11 |  | $ | 156.51 | 142.04 |  | TL | 269.25 | 247.71 | | Rates correct at 4pm Tue | Find all top currency rates
Compare travel cash | |
This week's poll: How do you rate your bank account's service? We run this poll on big banks every six months. Please vote on CUSTOMER SERVICE for your main CURRENT account over the last 6 MONTHS (ignore rates, other products or older service). | Poll resultsAre you good with money?
MoneySavers are confident with both products and budgeting - but if there's a weak spot, it's in keeping a tight budget.
- 48% of men and 42% of women are good with products and budgeting.
- 11% of men and 10% of women are good with products and poor with budgeting.
- 3% of women and 2% of men are poor with products, but good with budgeting.
10,979 voted. See the full results. |
Question of the week Q. Can I open an account to save money for my grandchild, in his own name, even though he was born and lives in Australia? Geoff, by email MSE Sally's A. It's not easy. HMRC confirms there's legally nothing stopping you. But in practice, many banks will state UK residency as part of their T&Cs, which'll make it difficult. In fact, even some of those who don't state it in their terms told us when we asked that it wasn't allowed, including all of our top picks in Children's Savings. Ultimately, you may want to keep the money in your name. If you're not a taxpayer, that shouldn't be a problem. Otherwise, it would be tax-free in a cash ISA - and it could stay there until you're ready to hand the cash to him. The only thing to watch for is inheritance tax issues, if you have substantial wealth. Though assuming this isn't too large an amount of money, you should be able to give it away in the future without too many problems. Please suggest a question of the week (we can't reply to individual emails). |
 Archna's free game of the week: Hexagnator |
"Macroeconomics is a funny thing"... Not an opening sentence that would encourage many grown-ups, let alone children to read on. However, this colourful website is a great way to get kids learning the basics of economic theory while having fun in the process. Keynes for Kids 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. 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 moneysupermarket.com, tescocompare.com, directline.com, aviva.co.uk, admiral.com, confused.com, directline.com, co-operativebank.co.uk, coverbox.co.uk, santander-products.co.uk, kayak.co.uk, moneymaxim.co.uk, travel-guard.co.uk, holidaysafe.co.uk, protectyourbubble.com, direct-travel.co.uk, nationwide.co.uk, topdoginsurance.co.uk, barclaycard.co.uk, natwest.com, sainsburysbank.co.uk, cbonline.co.uk, americanexpress.com, energyhelpline.co, uswitch.com, firstdirect.com, productsandservices.bt.com.
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