23 quick ways to save for 2023, energy price hike news, 20GB Sim £6/month, 30-month 0% debt shift, NHS worker discounts

Plus... £9.50 hols, 14 free ways to learn, rail strike refunds, Asos 80% off, cut prescription costs

                                                           

04 January 2023 | View in browser

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THE TOP TIPS IN THIS EMAIL 23 quick tips to save cash for 2023, including: - Earn 1% cashback for a year - Ditch and switch savings under 2.85% - Slash car insurance costs Martin: Energy prices to rise 20% in April, but many being hit by hikes NOW Mobile Sim price war - 20GB for '£6/month' New. 1 million overpaid for NHS prescriptions in 2022 - did you? 14 FREE ways to learn something new New. Top 30-month 0% debt shift PLUS £25 cashback Where to find £2 bus fares in England Big discounts for NHS staff Asos, John Lewis, M&S sales In rail strike hell? Your refund rights Got to fill in a tax return? You've until 31 Jan or you risk a fine 'I put £500 in Help to Save and got a £250 bonus' £9.50' hols are back - too good to be true? FREE DIY show tickets Want an MSE Charity grant? Go quick This week's best buys, including free £175 bank bribe, 108Mb Virgin broadband '£18.40/month', 4.25% fixed savings Should I pay less after my friends gave me a worse room at our New Year's getaway? BEST BUYS & TOOLS MSE Cheap Mobile Finder Credit Club including free credit report 0% balance transfers Compare broadband deals MSE Car Insurance Compare+ Best bank accounts Top savings accounts Credit cards for bad credit Credit Card Eligibility Calculator Loans Eligibility Calculator Mortgage comparison Compare travel money Cheap Energy Club, with Pick Me A Tariff Best Sim-only deals

23 quick tips to save cash for 2023 No drama, no fuss - just simple, speedy, easy ways to keep £1,000s of your cash in your pocket Happy New Year. As sadly this year is looking just as financially tough as the last one, in each email in January we'll be running you through the hardcore money must-dos. Yet rather than going in straightaway with both feet, we wanted to start you off with quick, easy savings where you can take action without too much hassle. So have a scan through these... 1. Married (or in a civil partnership)? Are you due £1,242? If you're married or in a civil partnership (not just living together) then there may be a big tax break available. To qualify... - One must be a non-taxpayer (so earning less than about £12,570 a year). - The other, a basic 20% taxpayer (so earning about £12,570 to £50,270 a year in England or to £43,662 in Scotland). Then the non-taxpayer can apply to shift 10% of their tax-free allowance to their spouse - worth £252 this year, and backdatable four years, adding an extra £990. You can apply at Gov.uk though better to read full pros & cons in our Marriage tax help guide first. 2. Earn 1% cashback on all 2023 spending (can be worth £100s). Sign up for the Chase* bank account app (you don't need to switch bank, and there's no hard credit check - so it's really speedy) then use its debit card to pay and you get 1% cashback on all normal daily spending for 12 months. It also has a near-top paying linked savings account and top debit card for spending overseas. More info in Best bank accounts. 3. Household income under £40,000? Spend a few minutes to check you're not one of 7 million missing out on benefits. Martin's rule of thumb is all households earning under £40,000 should check - he's not saying you'll get it, just it's worth the time on a benefits calculator. As Forumite Jaxster69 said: "Thanks to a link I spotted in one of Martin's weekly emails, I discovered I was entitled to some universal credit to boost my income. I'm now receiving over £500/month extra - which is helping me a great deal." 4. 100,000s of free water-saving gadgets available - they help cut energy bills too. Water firms hand out free water-saving gadgets, including shower heads, tap inserts and winter insulation kits. Quickly find out if there's any you can get at Save Water Save Money (and as much of the water we use is heated, it can cut energy bills too). PS: Also check Should you switch to a water meter? - some save £100s. 5. Take two minutes to check if you can halve your broadband bill - seven million are out of contract and massively overpaying. Many on older contracts are paying £30 to £45/month for slow broadband. Yet two minutes on our broadband comparison can often find deals saving £200+/year, at faster speeds. To put that in context, you can get superfast fibre broadband for less than £19/month. 6. On universal credit or similar benefits? Check if you qualify for special social broadband deals. There are four million people eligible, but only a small proportion are on these special, long-lasting cheap deals. See our list of discounted social broadband tariffs. 7. Do your savings pay at least 2.85%? If not, ditch & switch. Rising savings rates were one of the few silver linings of 2022, yet in reality returns are still being dwarfed by inflation. So it's vital to minimise the erosion by ensuring you earn the best rate. For easy access, app-based Zopa's 2.86% AER or for online Coventry Building Society's 2.85% AER (max six free withdrawals a year, though rate rises to 3.25% on Fri 6 Jan). Many want a big name though, the top payer of which is Nationwide's 2.5% AER* (max 3 free withdrawals a year). You can earn far more though if you're prepared to lock cash away with the top one-year fix at 4.26%, two years at 4.54%. Full help in Top savings and Top cash ISAs. 8. Can you get £2,000 help with childcare costs? If you pay for childcare (and work, or you're a couple that both work), then you may be eligible for Tax-Free Childcare, where the Government gives a 20% top-up, up to a maximum of £10,000 (so an extra £2,000 from the state). While you can apply via Gov.uk, as there's a lot you should know, it's best to read our Tax-free Childcare guide first. 9. Can you save £100s on car insurance? Insurers are banned from charging existing customers more to renew than newbies, but savings are still possible by comparing and switching. Use our MSE Car Insurance Compare+ tool to fill in one questionnaire to see your cheapest insurers as a benchmark, and we'll then give you bespoke, personalised tips - such as timing your quote or adding additional drivers - to cut costs down further. 10. Save on home insurance too. Big savings can be made here too. See our cheap home insurance cost-cutting system for full help, though here are a few key tips: - Diarise 21 days pre-renewal to compare - it can shave 20% off costs. - Use a few comparison sites as they search different firms, and have exclusives and their own perks. Our order's currently: Compare The Market*, Confused* & MoneySupermarket* (see how we order). - Then add in Direct Line which isn't on comparison sites. 11. Are you owed £1,000s in tax? Check and reclaim. Your tax code is the short number - such as 1257L - that tells your employer 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 HM Revenue & Customs'). So use our Tax Code Calculator to check if yours is likely right or wrong. 12. Under 40 & want a house one day...? Put at least £1 in a Lifetime ISA. A Lifetime ISA lets first-time buyers (aged 18 to 39 on opening) save towards their first home (which must be under £450,000) and adds interest and a 25% boost when it does so. Yet it needs to be open for a year before you're due a bonus, so even if you're not at that stage, put a quid in one now to start the clock ticking. Find out more in Top Lifetime ISAs. 13. 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 it's interest-free for up to 30 months. 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. Aim for the longest 0% deal to pay off your debt, then look for the lowest fee. PS: Martin's planning to do a debt-cutting masterclass next week. 14. Find your cheapest petrol or diesel in seconds. Put the brakes on fuel costs by using a handy tool to find your cheapest local forecourt. For example, in Birmingham on Tuesday we found unleaded from 135.9p a litre to 151.8p a litre - a saving of almost £9 when filling a typical tank. Use PetrolPrices.com to find the cheapest fuel near you. Also read tips to drive more efficiently, which can have an even bigger impact. 15. Get £175 free cash switching banks. There's only one bank paying switchers at the moment, though we suspect more deals will come in the next few weeks - so you may want to hold to see. First Direct gives switchers £175, has a linked 7% savings account where you can save up to £300/month and regularly tops our best customer service poll. Though it's currently experiencing some processing delays, so you have to apply via its app. More help in Top bank accounts. 16. Grab tax back if you wear a uniform to work. If you're responsible for washing, repairing or replacing your uniform, you could claim a tax rebate on the expenses you incur, going back as much as five years. It's not huge but backdated can be £60 (£120 for higher-rate taxpayers). See our uniform rebate help for quick info. 17. Click into your online banking and check your direct debits and standing orders. Many people have money unnecessarily dripping out of their accounts for services they no longer use or want. Think unused streaming subscriptions, gym memberships or insurance. So it's always worth checking - it's easy to do with most online banks. More difficult to spot are hidden recurring payments (where you give firms permission to take money each month from your debit or credit card). For help, see recurring payments. 18. Go green and get paid. Recycling is something we should all be doing where we can, but did you know you can get PAID to recycle clothes, empty beauty containers, old phones and more? We've this and more in 28 quick ways to go green and save. 19. Get Demotivated to cut out non-essentials. Ever worked out how much you spend each month on takeaway coffee? The Demotivator tool will show you (and possibly frighten you) - then see How to stop spending for full tips on cutting back. 20. Can you cut £10,000s of mortgage costs by overpaying? If you've got savings and a mortgage, use our Mortgage Overpayment Calculator to see if you can save by clearing the mortgage with the spare cash.  Do always ensure there are no penalties for doing so though, leave yourself an emergency cash fund, and ensure any overpayments reduce the term rather than just reducing future repayments. More help in Should I overpay my mortgage? 21. Are you in the wrong council tax band? It's thought 100,000s of homes in England and Scotland are in the wrong band. Rebanding isn't quick, but the provisional checks to see if it's worth it are... - Neighbours check. Use Gov.uk (Eng) or Scottish Assessors (Scot) to compare your band to neighbours' in similar or identical homes. - Valuation check. If that says you may be in the wrong band, use our valuation check to work out what your home's 1991 value would be (as that's what counts for council tax). If they're looking good, it's important you read our full council tax check & challenge system to see whether it's worth you challenging your band (don't just go for it, as there are risks). 22. Do you qualify for a council tax discount? If you're the only adult in the home, have a disability, 'severe mental impairment', low income, or a carer (or you are one yourself), check our guide to see if you're eligible for a discount. 23. 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). These include Citizens Advice, National Debtline, StepChange, which also runs an online debt advice service or, for emotional counselling too, CAP.

 

 

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.

 

 

 

Martin's important New Year energy updates 'Energy prices will rise 20% for almost EVERYONE in April, but some are being hit by big unexpected rises NOW. Here's what you need to know' Almost everyone reading this in Eng, Scot and Wales will have an energy bill set at the default energy price guarantee rate - if you're unsure you're likely on it unless you're fixed. That's staggering for many reasons... - Market competition and switching to save is mostly dead for the immediate future. - Energy prices are effectively now nationalised, decided not by firms, but by Government and Ofgem. - Even though the rate is on average a hideous 96% more than last winter, that is actually a state-subsidised price, without subsidy we'd be paying the price cap rate which is 71% even more expensive (over 3 times last winter's cost). Worse is to come. From April, the Govt plans to reduce the subsidy, so the rate will rise on average 20%, taking a typical bill from £2,500/year to £3,000/year, and it'll stay there for 12 months, unless the 'year-ahead wholesale rates' (not the 'spot rate' many talk about on social media) drop substantially for a long period. So that's the future, but there's lots going on NOW to know about... Energy prices changed on Sun (1 Jan) - for most it's trivial, but some are hit by rises up to 7%. The energy price guarantee rates are tweaked three-monthly ('why?' is complex and doesn't add much, so I've explain in a PS below). How much your cost changes depends on how you pay and your region, we've listed full details here... Direct debit changes | Prepayment meter changes | Pay on receipt of bills changes| Eco 7 & 10 changes, yet here's a brief summary (Ofgem doesn't publish easy stats for Eco 7 & 10, so that's our rough estimate). Before Christmas I spoke to the Energy Sec of State about prepayment meter customers, as it seems wrong that many of the poorest are paying more - sadly there's no budge. The really big Eco 7 rises have come to light since then and the MSE team and I (as well as some energy firms) are pushing on it, but the door for change seems shut. Check now if you're OVERPAYING by direct debit. The last price rise was 27% in October, but many have seen direct debits rise far more, some by double, even though they're in credit (up to two months' credit is about right at this time of year). So it's worth checking if your direct debit is set right, here's my quick how-to... a) Ensure you're giving regular meter readings (unless you have a smart meter that does them for you). b) Use our 'Is your direct debit right?' calculator which has been updated with the new January rates. c) If this shows your DD is too high, see how to ask for your direct debit to be lowered. As Janet emailed: "Having entered my annual consumption into your calculator, I rang my supplier and told them the results, and they have reduced my direct debit by £208 a month. Thank you Martin." d) If the firm won't budge, consider moving to variable direct debit (do read the pros & cons). CONFIRMED: We now know roughly when new cost of living payments are scheduled. If eligible, you'll automatically receive the money in your bank (it's possible to qualify for all three payments). - MEANS-TESTED BENEFITS: £900 for 8m homes. Paid in three instalments: £301 during 'spring' (so after 6 April), £300 during 'autumn' (prob Oct/Nov) and £299 in 'spring '24' (before 6 April). See who'll get it and how. And if you're wondering why different amounts, it's cleverly so if a payment goes missing, they can pinpoint which one. - DISABILITY BENEFITS: £150 for 6m on certain benefits. Paid 'summer 2023', see £150 disability pay help. - STATE PENSIONERS: 8m get extra £300 winter fuel payment. Paid next winter, see winter fuel top-up. This winter's £400 payment to every home (being paid as £67/month currently) WON'T happen next winter. CONFIRMED: Live in a park home or pay landlord directly? You'll be able to apply for £400 later this month. Those in Eng, Scot, Wales who live in park homes, or pay their energy bill through their landlord via a commercial contract, will have to apply for the non-repayable £400 government grant (that everyone else is already getting). We're told 'applications will open in January' - info and updates via our £400 park home grant story. CONFIRMED: Heating oil / LPG / alternative fuel £200 payment to come in Feb. Some will need to apply. Getting info on this since it was announced has been like pulling teeth. Apparently the payment will come in Feb and be automatic through your electricity supplier (how they'll work out who's got the alternative fuel is an intriguing question). If you're fully off-grid, you'll need apply. See £200 alternative fuel payment info. Can you cut your bills by cutting your usage? For many the only choice to cut bills is to cut usage, so we've compiled a huge range of resource to help: - First try our 70+ energy savers for pain-free savings to make your home more efficient. - Heat the human, not the home for those who sadly need to cut down usage more severely. - Energy mythbusting, what's true and what ain't, eg, "Is it cheaper to have the heating on all day?" CONFIRMED: Northern Ireland £600 government support 'from January'. We're waiting for exact dates but at least this is a step forward. See Northern Ireland £600 payment - what we now know. WARNING. On a traditional prepay meter? Redeem your £66 or £67 govt help vouchers ASAP. The vouchers only last three months from the date they were issued so the October ones will become invalid soon. If you haven't received them, see prepay voucher help. Struggling to pay the bill? Help may be available. Energy hardship grants worth millions are available for some, speak to your supplier if you're struggling. See our full what to do if you're struggling to pay energy bills guide.

 

New. Are you one of over 1 million people who overpaid for NHS prescriptions in 2022? If you pay for prescriptions (so you're in England), check if you missed out on a prescription 'season ticket' so you don't overpay this year. 14 FREE ways to learn something new in 2023, such as languages, coding and history. If you plan to boost your skills this year, see our Ways to learn skills for free blog. New. Top 30-month 0% credit card balance transfer plus £25 cashback. If you've got credit card debt, a balance transfer's where you get a new card that pays debts on old cards for you, so you owe it instead, but interest-free for a set time. Barclaycard* now offers accepted newbies up to 30 months 0% for a one-off 2.98% fee, and via that link gives £25 cashback if you transfer £2,500+ within 60 days. If you're shifting less, Sainsbury's or NatWest are likely cheaper. Will you get it? Always use our 0% Eligibility Calculator first to see your chances of being accepted for these, plus other cards. Golden rules: Repay at least the monthly minimum, and clear the card before the 0% period ends, or it's 22.9% rep APR interest. Full help in Top balance transfers. Thousands of single bus journeys in England capped at £2 a fare. Applied automatically from now until 31 March 2023, on over 4,600 routes. See if your bus operator is taking part. Discounts for NHS staff, care workers and the emergency services, including 10% off Asda, 25% off Pizza Hut, 20% off Nando's. See NHS and care worker discounts. Asos, John Lewis, M&S sales continue - some up to 80% off already. See our full sales round-up and boost predictions. Rail strike travel and refund rights. Industrial action is due 3 to 7 Jan - see Train and Tube strike rights.

 

 

BLAGGED FOR MSE - Lycamobile (O2) '£2.40/month' 4GB Sim Ends 11.59pm Thu - Lebara (Vodafone) '£4.20/month' 12GB Sim Ends midday Thu	DID YOU MISS? - Earn a £30 Amazon voucher for doing online surveys - Can you save £600+ in 2023 with the 1p Savings Challenge? - How to get face-to-face banking if your branch is closing - Enrol for the FREE MSE Academy of Money course - Crafts, comping, cute pets - it's MSE Forum's 2022

 

 

Mobile Sim price war - deals just keep getting cheaper New. Two firms now offer 20GB of data for under '£6/month' Our Cheap Mobile Finder tool is swamped with lower prices at the moment. You can find reduced price handsets, but the hottest deals are on Sims (the chip in your phone that dictates your data, calls & texts allowance). If you're one of millions out of contract on their mobile, switching to a new Sim-only deal could save you £100s, without changing signal. All deals are in our Cheap Sim comparison, but we've a summary below... To keep your number just text 'PAC' to 65075 and you'll be sent a code, to give to your new provider within 30 days. It's then normally transferred over within one working day. Top Sim-only deals for newbies All are UNLIMITED calls & texts to UK mobiles and landlines. Plus unless stated they include EU roaming at no extra charge. Data is the differentiator - use our Data Calculator if you're unsure how much you use. Provider (network) Data and equivalent cost Ends Thu. MSE Blagged  Lycamobile (on O2 signal) 4GB for '£2.40 a month': You pay 5p/month for six months, then £4.75/month, so an average of £2.40/month over a year. But it's a rolling one-month contract, so you can cancel at any time. Ends midday Thu. MSE Blagged  Lebara (on Vodafone signal) 12GB for '£4.20/month': You pay £1.49/month for six months, then £6.90/month, so an average of £4.20/month over a year. But it's a rolling one-month contract, so you can cancel at any time. Ends Fri.  iD Mobile (on Three signal) 15GB for '£4.25/month': You pay £8/month, but you can CLAIM a £45 Amazon, Tesco or Uber Eats voucher. Factor that in and it's equivalent to £4.25/month over the 12-month contract. Virgin Mobile (on O2 signal) Ends Mon 9 Jan 20GB for '£5.50/month': You pay £8/month, but you can CLAIM a £30 Amazon voucher. Factor that in and it's equivalent to £5.50/month over the 12-month contract. TalkMobile (on Vodafone signal) Ends Tue 17 Jan 20GB for '£5.87/month': You pay £7.95/month, but you can CLAIM a £25 Amazon voucher. Factor that in and it's equivalent to £5.87/month over the 12-month contract. Three 100GB for '£10/month': You pay £15/month, but you'll automatically get £60 cashback. Factor that in and it's equivalent to £10/month over the 12-month contract. Here there's an extra charge of £2/day for EU roaming. Want to keep your signal? You can still switch. Smaller networks 'piggyback' on the signals of the big four: Vodafone, Three, O2 and EE. So you can move to a cheaper provider and keep the same signal. Though do note not all smaller firms offer 5G, Wi-Fi calling or 4G calling, so do check what's included. Our Cheap Sims tool allows you to filter by network and flags up what services each provider offers. More Sim-switching need-to-knows... - Unlock your phone for free. If you're out of contract, your network must let you do this at no cost. See Mobile unlocking. - Don't want to switch? Haggle. Mobile firms are among the easiest to haggle with. Full info in Mobile haggling. - Need mobile roaming help? See our Cheap mobile roaming guide.

 

Got to fill in your tax return? You've until 31 Jan or you risk a £100 fine. Anyone told to do a tax return must do it (usually the self-employed or high earners), and some with complex affairs will need to as well. So beware: the self-assessment tax deadline approaches. 'I put £500 in Help to Save and got a £250 bonus.' Our success of the week comes from Rebecca, who emailed about the savings scheme for many on lower incomes: "Thank you so much for the Help to Save info. Nobody ever tells you that you're eligible for these things. I've been saving the maximum £50 a month and my balance is already £500, plus a £250 bonus. I intend to keep it up for the whole four years if I can, when I could receive a huge £1,200 on top of the £2,400 saved. Thank you MSE." If we've helped you save money (on this, or anything else), please send us your MoneySaving successes. The Sun '£9.50' holidays are back... but are they ever really £9.50? Our analysis suggests otherwise, though savings are still possible. For travel between February and November. See Sun holidays. FREE Homebuilding & Renovating Show tickets. Includes Surrey, Glasgow, Birmingham and London shows. Various dates from January to November. Tickets normally cost up to £14. Free tickets Want an MSE Charity grant? Go quick. Our latest round of grant-giving has just opened but closes once 40 applications are accepted (or on Tue 31 Jan). Grants of up to £7,500 are available to organisations that can teach vital financial life skills to children, young people and families. Interested? Check if your group qualifies and apply direct. ----------------------- PS: Back to Martin - why did the energy price guarantee rate change on 1 Jan? I promised I'd explain this to those of a nerdy disposition (always a compliment from me) - but didn't want to get in the way of the practicals. So let's do it here...  The old energy price-cap price that moved every few months based on wholesale prices and other costs (eg, energy network costs or firms that've gone bust) isn't gone, it still exists, it's still calculated and published by Ofgem and is still very important as it dictates the prices energy firms charge. Yet the energy price guarantee means the state pays a chunk of it to subsidise the unit rate, so consumers pay less, and this is calculated to reduce the average direct debit cost for a home with typical usage to £2,500/year. On 1 Jan, the latest price cap rate was increased by an average 20.5%, so the state now pays a bigger subsidy to keep direct debit prices at the same level. That same subsidy is then applied regionally / for different payment methods and because Ofgem's underlying price cap rate's changed, they move too. It's meant to be a tweak, but for those not on direct debit it can be more significant if Ofgem has shifted those costs more significantly than direct debit costs.

 

 

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AT A GLANCE BEST BUYS 0% balance transfers Longest 0%: Sainsbury's Bank (check eligibility / apply*) - up to 30 months 0%, 2.89% or 4% fee (21.9% rep APR) or 33 months 0% for NatWest/RBS customers No-fee 0%: Sainsbury's Bank (apply) - up to 17 months 0%, no fee or 1% fee (21.9% rep APR) or 22 months 0% for NatWest/RBS customers Best bank accounts £175 to switch, 7% savings + TOP service: First Direct 1% cashback on bills, travel & groceries: Santander Edge Top savings accounts Top easy access: Zopa 2.86%, min £1 Top one-year fix: SmartSave 4.26%, min £10,000 Car insurance Try our new Car Insurance Compare+ tool Cheap loans Cheapest for £5,000 to £7,499: AIB (NI) (apply), 5.6% rep APR Cheapest for £7,500 to £15,000: M&S Bank (check eligibility / apply*) and HSBC (apply*), both 4.9% rep APR Broadband top picks Superfast fibre (100Mb+): Virgin Media '£18.40/month' Fibre (30Mb+): Vodafone '£18.67/month' On universal credit or similar? Check discounted social tariffs Cheap Sims 4GB to 9GB data: Lycamobile, '£2.40/month' for 4GB 10GB+ data: Virgin Mobile, '£5.50/month' for 20GB

 

THIS WEEK'S POLL How do you rate your mobile network? We want to find out how each provider rates for service (how it treats you) and coverage (how strong the signal is when you need it). In truth, there are only four main networks providing signals - the rest use these, but under their own brands (see our Mobile networks guide for who piggybacks on who). Please rate the firm that sends your bills (if you've switched recently, rate the network you were with the longest over the last year). Vote in this week's poll. It's a Wonderful Life is MoneySavers' favourite Christmas film. Last week, we asked for your favourite festive flick and top of the list was the 1946 classic It's a Wonderful Life starring James Stewart, which got 13.2% of the 10,334 votes. Love Actually was second with almost 11% of the votes, while Elf was third. See full Christmas movie poll results.

 

 

MSE NEWS - Top story: Rail fares in England to jump by up to 5.9% in March - Mortgage guarantee scheme for 5% deposits extended into 2023

 

 

MONEY MORAL DILEMMA Should I pay less after my friends gave me a worse room at our New Year's getaway? Some friends and I booked to stay in a nice house over New Year's, with me the only single person going. At the last minute, another couple joined us, and it was decided that they'd get my double room overlooking a lake as they're a couple, and I'd sleep on the sofa bed in the TV room as I'm single. I didn't want to kick off about it and spoil the stay, and I did have a good time, but since then no one has mentioned compensating me for not getting the room I paid for. Should I say something? Enter the Money Moral Maze: Should I pay less after I got a worse room? | Suggest a Money Moral Dilemma

 

 

MARTIN'S APPEARANCES (WED 4 JAN ONWARDS) Wed 4 Jan - Ask Martin Lewis, BBC Radio 5 Live, 1pm Tue 10 Jan - This Morning, phone-in, ITV, 10.20am Tue 10 Jan - The Martin Lewis Money Show Live, ITV, 8pm MSE TEAM APPEARANCES (MOST SUBJECTS TBC) Wed 4 Jan - BBC Radio Oxford, Mid-morning with Kat Orman, from 11.35am Thu 5 Jan - BBC Radio Leicester, Mid-morning with Summaya Mughal, from 11.30am Tue 10 Jan - BBC Radio Cambridgeshire, Mid-morning with Jeremy Sallis, from 10.45am

 

'STOP BUYING TAT' AND 'OVERPAY THE MORTGAGE'... YOUR MONEYSAVING RESOLUTIONS IN THREE WORDS That's all for this week, but before we go... we asked MSE Forumites for their MoneySaving New Year's resolutions, but challenged them to use just three words. Many aspire to cut out unnecessary luxuries in 2023, saying "no more takeaways", "stop buying tat" and "think before spending". Anticipating further financial turmoil this year with rising interest rates, one committed to "overpay the mortgage". Others plan to do and make more: "grow more veg", do "more batch cooking" and "use the library". And for some it's about getting rid of unneeded stuff - "sell my spares", "clear the clutter" and "use up stashes". But all of these can be nicely summed up by one MSE Forumite's resolution (chant it with us now): "Save, save, save." Add your resolution in the your MoneySaving aims - in three words MSE Forum discussion. We hope you save some money, stay safe, The MSE team

 

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