Barclaycard REFUNDS, Martin's 22 ways to save £2,022, free Starbucks, cheapest way to spend abroad, are you missing out on benefits?

Plus... Cheapest iPhone 13, energy update, £5 off McDs, pay £10+/mth for mobile?, 2x spec £14

                                                           

19 January 2022 | View in browser

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THE TOP TIPS IN THIS EMAIL Martin's money makeover - 22 ways to save £2,022 in 2022 Holidays are back. Save £100s with the cheapest way to spend abroad Are you missing out on £1,000s in unclaimed benefits? Don't bin post from Barclaycard - some are getting £300 cheques 40+ coupons, including FREE £2.50 almond milk, £2 Starbucks Doubleshot Martin: 'Energy crisis worsening - price cap's to rise 50%, should you fix now?' Together Energy goes bust - full help Ends Sat. £5 off £15 at McDonald's Cheapest iPhone 13 contract we've seen Martin: 'Pay more than £10/mth for your mobile? You're likely burning cash' Get £40 cashback for investing £400 TWO pairs of specs for £14 delivered Martin: 'How I did 25k steps a day in 2021' £80 GHD hair straighteners via code Don't miss the 31 Jan self-assessment tax return deadline £10-£50 London theatre tickets MCE Insurance cancels 105,000 policies - full help Live in NI? FREE Open Uni courses Want an MSE Charity grant of up to £7,500 to support people with long-term challenges to learn money skills? This week's best buys, including 5GB Sim '£4.28/mth', 35mths 0%, £150 bank bribe Should I let my son buy yet another toy with his birthday money? BEST BUYS & TOOLS Cheap Energy Club, incl Pick Me A Tariff MSE Cheap Mobile Finder Credit Club incl free credit report 0% Balance Transfers Compare Broadband deals Cheap Car Insurance Best Bank Accounts Top Savings Accounts Credit Cards for Bad Credit Credit Card Eligibility Calculator Loans Eligibility Calculator Mortgage Comparison Free online complaints tool - Resolver Compare Travel Money Best Sim Only Deals

Martin's money makeover checklist - 22 ways to save you £2,022(a) in 2022 (a) number made up for effect, many will save far more, many less Childcare, bills, debt, mobiles, marriage, water, WFH, uniforms, banks, tax, savings, mortgages & more It's January, bills are coming in, and the cost of living crunch is on. So it's the perfect time to give yourself a pain-free money makeover. Pain-free as it isn't about cutting back (though some may need that too), it's about cutting costs without lifestyle change. Lynn emailed me last week: "Thank you for your brilliant website. I did the money makeover over the last two days - so far we are saving £1,595 cancelling TV channels and subscriptions and renegotiating a new mobile phone contract for Sim-only. Next job is the weekly shop." Either take a full day to do it - likely the best paid day of the year for most - or do the big & easy ones now, save this email, and the rest gradually as each bill arrives. Bag a free £150 by switching bank. A few banks PAY new customers to switch. It's easy to do. Within 7 working days they move all direct debits and standing orders for you, close your old account and all payments to it are forwarded. Full info including key eligibility criteria in Best bank accounts. Here are the big payers...  - HSBC Advance free £150*, the biggest upfront cash. - First Direct free £130*, £250 0% overdraft & TOP service. - Nationwide's FlexDirect £100 and 1yr 0% overdraft. - Virgin Money's 12 bottles of wine* or £150 experience voucher. On universal credit or tax credits? Help to Save gives an unbeatable 50% boost. There's no savings account like it, it gives a 50% boost on the highest amount you have in over two years. See Help to Save. Beat Virgin Media's price hikes (similar Sky savings too). Virgin's writing to people announcing it's hiking prices by roughly £56/yr from March. You've 30 days after it tells you to be able to leave penalty-free - a great opportunity to haggle down the price. I'm delightfully drowning in successes on this, like Bryn's email: "Following Martin's advice to haggle, I rang Virgin. Now saving £35/month - £680 over the 18-month contract. It all helps when you're a pensioner. Thanks." Full help and tips in How to haggle down your cable & satellite bill - similar techniques work for Sky too, when you're at or near your contract's end. Cut your council tax bill? There are two ways. a) Use my check & challenge system to see if you're in too high a band. b) Check if you're eligible for a discount, eg, if you're the only adult in the home, have a disability or mental impairment, are on a low income, have a carer and more. Cut ALL debt costs, many to 0%: overdrafts, cards, loans and more. I went through this in step-by-step detail in my Debt cost-cutting masterclass in last week's email, so please read that. Do your savings pay at least 0.6%? The first thing to do is ask should I pay off my debts or overpay my mortgage with savings? If not and it's paying under 0.6%, move it to where it pays most. As a minimum, shift it to the Family BS 0.72% AER (min £1,000) no-notice account, but you can only put money in until 7 February. For the top simple account from just £1, it's Goldman-Sachs owned Marcus* at 0.6% AER variable. Yet you can earn far more if you can lock money away in a 1yr fix at 1.36% or a 2yr fix at 1.62%. Far more info and options in our Top savings and Top cash ISAs guides. Employee or pensioner? Check your tax code - you could be owed £1,000s. Tax codes are the short number like 1257L that tell employers how much tax to take from you. Millions are wrong each year, and the rules say it's YOUR RESPONSIBILITY to check it's correct (not your employer's or HMRC's). So use our Tax Code Calculator to check if yours is likely right or wrong. Lesley kindly emailed to tell us: "I read Martin's advice to check your tax code. I'd never bothered to check as I was paid the same each month, but when I looked into it, for the past four years I was on the wrong code. Nice £5,000 refund on its way." Delve into your Direct Debits and scan your Standing Orders. These two, plus hidden recurring payments (where you give firms permission to take money each month from your debit or credit card) can leave money unwittingly dripping from your bank account. So view now what you're paying, check if you need to or whether you can do it cheaper, and cancel if not. Some recover £100s. Full help in How to do a direct debit audit. Every mortgage holder check NOW if you can switch and save £1,000s. UK base rates increased to 0.25% in Dec, and with inflation rocketing, more rises are likely this year. Yet the rate of the cheapest new deals hasn't yet rocketed, so it's worth every mortgage holder checking now if they're on the best deal. Our 64-page Remortgage booklet PDF has tons of help, but quickly... - Check if cheaper rates are available via a mortgage comparison. - Ask your existing lender for its cheapest deal. - Use our Ultimate Mortgage Calculator to compare deals. - Speak to a mortgage broker to find a lender likely to accept you. As Chris tweeted me in Oct: "@MartinSLewis SUCCESS - completed on our remortgage yesterday. 4.29% down to 1.48% on a 5-year fix. £200 a month saving [£2,400 a year] - all thanks to your advice, we planned ahead with our rate ending and found the best we could get on the market and lined it up ready." 'Tax-Free Childcare' means a gain of up to £2,000 a year. If you pay for childcare (and work, or are in a couple that both work), then you may be eligible for Tax-Free Childcare, which can substantially cut costs. It's also worth noting if your child is aged 3-4, you're due at least 15 FREE childcare hours a week - depending where you are in the UK. Most budgets don't work, how to do it right... In debt? Do a budget. Need to save? Do a budget. Spouse run off with a burlesque Spider-Man? Do a budget. Budgeting is seen as a financial panacea, yet most budgets fail, for two simple reasons: a) People only look at a month's spending, yet this misses out one-offs such as holidays, Christmas & broken boilers. b) People go too broad, eg, 'motoring costs', yet go line-by-line through petrol, insurance, MOTs, new tyres, breakdown cover & more. A growing number of apps out there help, or use my old school Budget Planner spreadsheet. It's best done after you've cut costs via this money makeover (though don't leave it too late). And BE HONEST, if you're eating up savings or building up debt and the planner shows you spend less than you earn, there's no point. A budget has to be based in reality, not fantasy. The tricky bit... how to stick to a budget. Done right, a budget shows you what you can and can't afford to spend. Yet systems that help with self-discipline are useful. For near decades now I've advocated a piggybanking system, some call it jam-jarring. As soon as income is paid into your bank account, pay the budgeted amount into separate accounts for things such as bills, holidays, Christmas and clothes. Now your bank account tells you what you can actually spend, and your holiday account what you can afford on that. These days, app-based banks such as Monzo and Starling* let you easily do this. Want a house one day... put at least £1 in a Lifetime ISA. A Lifetime ISA is a savings account that gives first-time buyers (aged 18-39 on opening), who are buying a sub-£450,000 residential property, a 25% boost - as long as it's been open a year. So open one with £1 now to start the clock - or if you're closer to buying, start putting real money in. Full info in Top Lifetime ISAs. Employee required to work from home, even for ONE DAY? Join the 2 million+ who've claimed up to £280. The pandemic has meant a new simple, speedy, online claims process. I go through it in detail in my Working-from-home tax back blog. Grab tax back if you wear a uniform to work (even a branded T-shirt). If you're responsible for washing your uniform, you could claim a uniform tax rebate covering up to five years of expenses. Can't afford to clear your credit card in full? You can't afford not to check if you can get 0%. A balance transfer credit card lets you shift existing debt to a new card, so you owe it instead, but interest-free. Acceptance is the problem, so spend two minutes on our balance transfer eligibility calculator to see which top cards you're most likely to be accepted for. Right now, up to 35mths 0% (2.94% fee) is available with Virgin Money*, the longest we've seen since 2018, though it's 21.9% rep APR afterwards, so do ensure you clear it before then. If you can repay quicker, you can beat it with up to 22mths 0% no-fee. Far more help and options in Top balance transfer cards. Slash broadband & line rental costs to '£12/mth' all-in. Many people are paying £30-£45 a month, yet use our Broadband Unbundled tool and you'll see how much you can cut it to in your area. It's all about short-lived deals. Currently these include... - 10Mb broadband & line: BT-owned Plusnet equiv '£12/mth' - 38Mb fibre broadband & line: Vodafone equiv '£15/mth' - 63Mb fibre broadband & line: Shell equiv '£16/mth' What a Water saving! Some can save £100s. My rule of thumb, for those in England and Wales where water meters are free, is... More or the same number of bedrooms in your house than people? Check out if you can save with a meter. To do this, use a water meter calculator to see if you'd likely save. As LordSnuff tweeted me: "@MartinSLewis My [annual] bill dropped from around £700 to £250 after fitting the meter." Can't get a meter fitted? You may be able to cut costs with an assessed charge. Full help including freebies in water saving. Breakdown, home start & onward travel for two £54/yr. Newbies going for our long-time pick AutoAid* pay £54 (after £6 auto cashback) for a year's cover for them and their partner if the car's under 16 years old. Similar from the big names is £150+/couple. More options in Cheap breakdown cover. If you want to stick with the AA/RAC, either go via cashback sites or do a breakdown haggle at renewal. Success rates of those who tried are over 80%, like Joe who emailed: "Thanks for the tips. I'd let my RAC breakdown cover cost slide for a decade. One 20-min call and I saved nearly £200." Can you halve your mobile bill but keep your signal? If you're out of contract, as nine million people are, just use our Cheapest Sim comparison to see if you can slash the cost, including the ability to filter the best deals that use the same signal as now - many can fill their boots with data for well under £10/mth. Married or in civil partnership - are you due £1,220? The marriage tax allowance allows a non-taxpaying spouse to shift 10% of their annual tax-free allowance to their basic-rate (20%) taxpaying partner. It's worth £252 this year, and backdating can net a cheque for an extra £970. As Reva emailed us a few weeks ago: "Just got a cheque for £970.59 from HMRC for backdated marriage tax allowance, I can't thank you enough. It only took about a week for the money to come through, an absolute godsend just before Christmas..." Can you save £100s on car insurance? New rules ban insurers from charging existing customers renewing more than newbies, but savings are still possible by comparing and switching. - Diarise 23 days pre-renewal to compare, it can halve your costs. - Use as many comparison sites as there's time for, as they search different firms, and do check their perks. Our order's currently: CompareTM*, Confused*, MoneySup* and Goco* (see how we order). - More than one car in the house? Will multicar win for you? As Sylvia emailed: "My car insurance renewal was £615, up nearly £250. Checked the comparison sites which I normally do, but not as early as this, and got it today for £196, plus £145 in vouchers. Thanks Martin." See our full Car insurance cost-cutting system, and Cheap young drivers guide. PS: Save £100s on home insurance too. It works just like car insurance. See the Cheap home insurance cost-cutting system too. Use over 12 prescriptions a year? Consider a 'season ticket' to cut costs. Pay for a prescription in England and it costs £9.35 a time. Yet 100,000s could save with an NHS prepay 'season ticket', where you can pay £10.81/mth over 10 months for ALL annual prescriptions. Had a PPI payout since 2017? Time's ticking to get £100s back in taxes. With successful PPI reclaims, you get what you paid back plus interest, yet the interest has 20% 'savings' tax automatically taken from it (with savings, it's not auto-taken) and as 95% of people needn't pay that, most can reclaim. As Carly tweeted me: "@MartinSLewis Hi Martin, brilliant show. Just wanted to say thank you for all your advice. Received over £16k in PPI in 2019, then just received another £680 back from tax paid on PPI." See my Reclaim PPI tax blog for help on how to do it. And finally... struggling with serious debt? Get free help ASAP. If you can't meet your minimum repayments OR your debts (not mortgage or student loan) are bigger than a year's after-tax income OR you're having sleepless nights over debt. Then please go to a free non-profit debt advice agency ASAP (though admittedly they're rammed this time of year), including... Citizens Advice, National Debtline, StepChange, which also runs an online debt advice service or, for emotional counselling too, CAP. Full info in Debt crisis help. For far more things to save on, see the full Money makeover guide.

 

 

DON'T believe the fake 'Martin Lewis' or 'MSE' ads Lots of scam ads litter social media and even newspaper websites - some of these lie that we or Martin promote Bitcoin, binary trading etc. See Fake ads warning.

 

 

 

Holidays are back. Tool up with the cheapest way to spend abroad, even if you don't travel till summer. Save £100s Wow - how exciting. We actually may be able to mention holidays without the C word (the pandemic-related one, not the profanity obviously). It's peak summer holiday booking time, yet when spending in a foreign currency, whether that's booking online or when you're on the trip, many people should STOP PAYING TO PAY. The easy way to do that is using the right plastic, which gives you near-perfect, bureau-beating exchange rates whenever you go abroad... Option 1: Top specialist credit cards - near-perfect rates & cashback. Normally if you spend on plastic abroad, your card provider gets near-perfect rates but adds a 3%-ish 'non-sterling exchange fee', so each £100 worth of euros or dollars costs you £103. Some add even more fees on top. Specialist credit cards don't add this, so you get the same rate the bank does. Yet ONLY do it if you set up a direct debit to repay IN FULL each month or the interest dwarfs the exchange rate gain. You will need to pass a credit check. TOP PICKS: Barclaycard Rewards* (do first check eligibility chances) like others has a top exchange rate and no ATM fee. Yet it wins as, unlike most other top specialist cards, it doesn't charge interest on overseas cash withdrawals repaid in full and gives 0.25% cashback on all spending worldwide (fail to fully repay and it's 22.9% rep APR interest). These two perks mean it pips our long-term top pick Halifax Clarity* (check eligibility), which charges 19.9% rep APR if you don't clear it each month. Poor credit score? The 118 118 Money card (link is via our eligibility calculator as it improves chances) also has no ATM withdrawal fee or interest and is designed for poorer credit scorers. Yet do fully repay or it's a horrid 34% rep APR. Full info in Travel credit cards (APR examples). Beware the travel debit and credit cards from HELL... is yours one? While here we highlight the best cards to use abroad, it's worth knowing how your normal card fares - some are hideous, charging up to £1.50 per transaction.  Use our what does my card charge abroad? tool to check your card's fees. Option 2: Top overseas DEBIT cards, cashback and only a soft credit check. Here you need to apply for a new bank account, yet it's only a 'soft' credit check (provided you don't apply for an overdraft), so it won't affect your creditworthiness. You can just have them as a secondary account without switching bank, but unlike a credit card, you will need to pre-load your account before using it, which some find a pain. TOP PICKS: App-only Chase Bank's debit card has no overseas fees on spending and the first £700/month of cash withdrawals as standard (it says it may increase this if you ask). You can also activate a year's 1% cashback on most purchases worldwide for 12 months. For a higher cash withdrawal limit as standard, app-only Starling Bank's* card has no overseas fees on spending or up to £300/day in cash withdrawals. Full info and other options in Travel debit cards. Option 3: Want to lock in a rate? Get a top prepaid travel card. The cards above give you the top exchange rates when you spend. To lock in a rate, specialist prepaid cards let you convert from pounds before you go. TOP PICK: App-only Revolut* gives perfect interbank rates (marginally higher than Mastercard/Visa rates) during the week, though only on up to £1,000 exchanged per 30-day period. It charges 0.5% above this, and 1% at weekends. The card usually costs £4.99, plus you pay ATM fees on more than £200/mth. Full review in Prepaid travel cards. Option 4: Just want cash? Use TravelMoneyMax. Our travel money comparison tool lets you compare 16 online & high street bureaux de change to find the best rates.

 

Barclaycard customer? Don't bin its post - some are getting cheques worth up to £300. Without notice, some are getting refunds for wrongly charged interest & fees from before 2019 by cheque or transfer. It says the average payout is £70, but we've seen reports of some getting £300 back. Do read our Watch out for Barclaycard cheques news. 40+ coupons, including FREE £2.50 almond milk, FREE £2 Starbucks Doubleshot, FREE £1.80 crackers. See January's supermarket coupons round-up. Martin: 'Energy situation worsening - price cap's to rise 50% on 1 April, should you fix now?' Sheesh. The energy situation is worsening still. For someone on TYPICAL bills (use more it's higher, less it's lower), here's the score... Cheap fix 1yr-ish ago: c. £900/yr | Current price cap: £1,277/yr | Strongly predicted 1 Apr cap: c. £1,925/yr | Crystal ball predicted 1 Oct price cap: c. £2,240/yr | Current cheapest fix: £2,250/yr. Watch Martin's 5-min Should I fix? video explainer (recorded 10 days ago, numbers have changed, principle hasn't). Together Energy and Bristol Energy go bust - full help and what to do now. About 176,000 customers are affected. See full Together Energy help. Ends Sat. £5 off £15 at McDonald's. Or get 20% off delivery orders. Money off Macca's. Please eat responsibly. New. Cheapest iPhone 13 contract we've seen. They're not MoneySaving, but if you want the latest model, Three newbies can get a 128GB iPhone 13* with 100GB/mth of data via Affordable Mobiles. It's £170 upfront, then £30/mth, so £890 over the 2yr contract - £575 cheaper than a similar deal from Three itself. For more options, see MSE's Cheap Mobile Finder tool. Note: Three is responsible for the contract, Affordable Mobiles for the handset. Martin: 'Do you pay more than £10/mth for your mobile? You're likely burning cash'. Want to save speedily on your mobile? Watch Martin's 3-min video briefing. Get £40 cashback for investing £400. If you plan to 'robo-invest' - where investments are selected for you based on your attitude to risk - then after fees, this Wealthify deal for newbies gets you a 9.6% head start, provided you keep the full investment for a min 6-7mths. (This doesn't mean we recommend Wealthify, as we don't do investment tips - but if you're going to use it anyway, you can get cashback.) Full help in Robo-investing cashback. TWO pairs of specs for £14 delivered. MSE Blagged. We've not seen this deal for less. Cheap specs Thu 8.30pm, ITV. Benefits special: Are you one of 6m wrongly missing out on what you're entitled to? The Martin Lewis Money Show LIVE. Over to Martin: "It's a special this week, focusing on universal credit, pension credit, tax credits and more. Millions are missing out, even some earning up to £50,000. It's complex, so I've got two specialists joining me to answer questions. Plus the latest news-you-can-use. And remember we're live, so watch us, and set the VHS for the other side."

 

 

BLAGGED FOR MSE - Two pairs of specs for £14 delivered Ends Mon - £80 GHD hair straightener (normally £109) Ends 30 Jan	DID YOU MISS? - Cheap 'day two' travel tests from £13 - Free tool (Eng & Wales) to protect your property against fraud - FREE £4 plant-based meat and more - VEGANUARY deals - Stream a song to get £5 off £20 at Amazon - Five ways to slash BIG BILLS

 

 

Are you missing out on what you're entitled to, as Sarah was? 'Thank you. Found I was due £3,400 a year in universal credit - I'm completely blown away' Major rule changes at the end of last year to the state's universal credit welfare payments mean there are now more than one million people likely missing out - including a new clutch of 600,000 people who are now eligible but weren't before. And a further six million people are missing out on other state support - including one million pensioners eligible for pension credit who don't claim it. So if you're on a lower income, it's worth spending a bit of time to check if you're one of them... Use our free 10-minute universal credit & benefits checker tool. Our 10-min benefits calculator can help you figure out what and how much you may qualify for, whether that's universal credit, pension credit or a whole host of other benefits. Sarah checked after watching Martin's show in November, and her email to us is our Success of the Week... "Hi Martin and the MSE team. Thanks for the heads-up on universal credit on your show. I applied on 1 December and am due a [first] payment of £282 in January - I earn £34,000, have one school-age child and privately rent. Honestly, I thought I'd maybe get £50 but was blown away. That will make a huge difference - like getting a £5k pay rise. Obviously £50/mth will go into my new Help to Save account - thanks for that tip too." If you have family income under £30,000 (some under £50,000), check now. About 600,000 extra working households became eligible for universal credit in November, and many who are already eligible will get more, because the amount some could earn before universal credit drops was increased, as was the amount you can keep once you start earning over a set figure. So who should check? Our rule of thumb is that if you have less than £30,000/yr household income, especially if you have kids, use our 10-min benefits calculator (this doesn't mean you'll get it, just that it's worth investigating). But if you've two or more children or high rent, it can even be worth checking if you've household income of up to £50,000/yr. On legacy benefits such as tax credits or income support? Find out if universal credit now pays more. If you're one of the three million still claiming tax credits, income support, housing benefit, income-based jobseeker's allowance and income-related employment & support allowance, you'll eventually be moved to universal credit which replaces them all. Yet this may take years, so check if you'd be better switching now - some will, some won't. - Who's likely to be better off on universal credit? Those who work and pay rent, especially if they live in an expensive area. - Who's unlikely to be better off? Those who aren't in work | Those who work but don't pay rent | Self-employed people earning under £1,200/mth | Those with savings of more than £16,000. Read our new step-by-step Should I switch to universal credit? guide which takes you through it. But this is complex, so if it looks like moving will be a good call, speak to a benefits adviser before applying, as once you switch you can't go back if you change your mind.

 

Martin: 'How I averaged 25,437 steps (burning 3,993 calories) in 2021'. See Martin's new blog. Related: Fitbit MoneySaving tips & tricks. £80 GHD hair straightener code (normally £109). MSE Blagged. It's not MoneySaving, but if you're planning to buy anyway, it's a good time as GHD discounts this good are rare. Good hair deal Don't miss the 31 Jan self-assessment tax return deadline. While you now won't be fined for missing it, you'll pay interest from then if you've not paid what you owe. Self-assessment £10-£50 London theatre tickets, including Back to the Future, Frozen and Only Fools & Horses. 150,000 tickets for Jan/Feb shows. See London theatre sale. MCE Insurance cancels 105,000 motorbike, car and van policies - what to do if you're affected. The insurer went bust in November, but administrators are now cancelling all policies. See MCE insurance help. Live in Northern Ireland? FREE Open University courses (normally costing up to £3,000). Apply to one of 27 courses. 500 places available. Open University NI Want an MSE Charity grant of up to £7,500 to support those with long-term challenges to learn money life skills? Our charity will soon open its next grant-giving round. This time it's focusing on non-profit organisations that assist people living with long-term challenges, such as dementia, disabilities and caring responsibilities. If you have a project that could benefit, check if it qualifies now and see how to apply. The round opens at 9am on Tue 1 Feb and closes once the MSE Charity accepts 40 applications, or at 5pm on Fri 25 Feb at the latest.

 

 

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AT A GLANCE BEST BUYS 0% balance transfers Longest 0%: Virgin Money (check eligibility / apply*) 35 months 0%, 2.94% fee (21.9% rep APR) No-fee 0%: Sainsbury's Bank (check eligibility / apply*) up to 21 months 0% (20.9% rep APR) or 22mths 0% if you're a NatWest/RBS customer (21.9% rep APR)  Cheap Sims 4GB-9GB: Lebara '£4.28/mth' for 5GB, unlimited mins & texts 10GB+: iD Mobile '£4.92/mth' for 10GB, unlimited mins & texts Top savings accounts Top standard easy access: Family BS 0.72%, min £1,000 Top one-year fix: Zopa 1.36%, min £1,000 Car insurance Get comparison site quotes in this order: Compare The Market* Confused.com* MoneySupermarket.com* Gocompare* Cheap loans Cheapest, £5k-£7.5k: Sainsbury's Bank (check eligibility / apply*) - 3.3% rep APR for Nectar holders, 3.4% for others Cheapest, £7.5k-£15k: M&S Bank (check eligibility / apply*) - 2.8% rep APR Broadband top picks Standard (10Mb+): Plusnet '£11.74/mth' Fibre (30Mb+): Vodafone '£14.84/mth' Superfast fibre (55Mb+): Shell Energy '£15.74/mth' Best bank accounts £150 to switch: HSBC £130 to switch + great service: First Direct

 

THIS WEEK'S POLL Have you got a summer holiday booked? With signs of travel restrictions easing, holiday bookings are booming. So this week, we want to know if you've got a summer getaway booked and, if so, whether you expect it to go ahead as planned. Tell us if you've got a summer holiday booked. First Direct reclaims the banking service crown. Last week, we asked you to vote in our biannual banking customer service poll, and about 3,500 people responded. First Direct was back to the top of the table with 90% rating it 'great' and just 5% rating it 'poor'. Digital banks Monzo and Starling were close behind with 'great' scores of 89% and 88% respectively. Meanwhile, TSB took the wooden spoon with 42% rating its service as 'poor'. See full bank service poll results.

 

 

MONEYSAVING NEWS - Top story: Amazon shelves plans to stop accepting Visa credit cards - TV licence fee to be frozen for two years - Universal credit and other benefit claimants in Northern Ireland to get £200 towards energy bills - Nationwide pays £60 to customers affected by recent glitch - Savings app Chip shakes up its membership plans

 

 

MONEY MORAL DILEMMA Should I let my son buy yet another toy with his birthday money? It was my son's sixth birthday last week, and he got loads of new toys from family and friends. He also got £20 in a card from an elderly relative, who said it should be used to buy a toy. Should I let him choose yet another unneeded toy, as the relative asked, or put it into his savings account instead? Enter the Money Moral Maze: Should I let my son buy yet another toy with his birthday money? | Suggest an MMD

 

 

MARTIN'S APPEARANCES (WED 19 JAN ONWARDS) Wed 19 Jan - Ask Martin Lewis, BBC Radio 5 Live, 1pm. Listen to past episodes Thu 20 Jan - This Morning, phone-in, ITV, 10.45am Thu 20 Jan - The Martin Lewis Money Show Live, ITV, 8.30pm MSE TEAM APPEARANCES (SOME SUBJECTS TBC) Wed 19 Jan - BBC Radio Leicester, Breakfast with Jimmy Carpenter, from 8am, Gary Caffell on the energy crisis Thu 20 Jan - BBC Radio Wiltshire, Mid-morning with Sue Kinnear, from 10.25am, Gary Caffell on the energy crisis Tue 25 Jan - BBC Radio Cambridgeshire, Mid-morning with Jeremy Sallis, from 12.40pm

 

WHAT RETIREMENT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO THE YOUNGER YOU? That's all for this week, but before we go... MSE Forumites have been sharing what retirement planning advice they'd give to their younger selves if they had the chance. Joining a workplace pension scheme earlier and not wasting money on new cars and mobiles, which will only need replacing, were two sensible suggestions. Yet it's not just about the money - one Forumite stressed the importance of developing hobbies and friendships pre-retirement in order to enjoy them afterwards. See all the pearls of wisdom and add your own in the what advice would you give to the younger you? MSE Forum discussion. We hope you save some money, stay safe, The MSE team

 

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