18 FREEBIES (incl £200+, Amazon vouchers & Burger King), £430 vacuum £199, energy latest - stick, switch or fix?, £3 Next, Clubcard alert, 23mths 0%

Plus... Beat 30% home insurance hikes, 100GB Sim '£8/mth', £5 off B&Q, help foodbanks

                                                           

22 August 2023 | View in browser

Banking & Savings Household Bills Deals Insurance Cards & Loans Mortgages Income Reclaim

 

THE TOP TIPS IN THIS EMAIL Freebies, freebies & more freebies, including... - £25 back on £5 spend - £200 to switch bank - Get paid to play games Need to borrow? Do it INTEREST-FREE for up to 23mths Home insurance UP nearly 30% - check NOW if you can save Stick, switch or fix your energy tariff? £430 Shark cordless vacuum for £199 HOT 100GB Sim '£8.20/mth' 3m to lose Clubcard vouchers - spend 'em or extend 'em Shell launches broadband social tariff 2nd-hand Zara, Next, M&S etc clothing from £3 MSE asks Govt to change 'misleading' bereavement support info A favour for Martin... Summer deals, including £12 BBQs, cheap Pimm's, days out & more 'I saved £100 on breakdown cover thanks to MSE' Foodbank donation tips B&Q £5 off £30 MSE Charity: grants for groups supporting those experiencing life-changing events open 4 Sept This week's best buys, including £19 fibre, 30mths' 0% debt shift, 5.6% loans Is it fair I pay to fix a pipe that only supplies my neighbours? 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

Freebies, freebies & more freebies FREE Amazon vouchers, FREE Burger King, FREE £200 bank switch cash, FREE £25 to shop online & more... Everyone loves getting something for nothing, especially as so many right now are feeling the pinch. So this week we've rounded up a bumper crop of hot pay-nowt deals, including a few that even pay YOU. Some are just a quick click & grab, others need a bit more work. Let the good freebies roll... New. Get paid £25 for spending £5 online. If you're new to cashback site Quidco, this is a complete no-brainer. Sign up via our MSE Blagged link, and when you spend £5+ at a retailer via Quidco, you'll get an extra £25 cashback. Free £200+ to switch banks. Three banks currently pay you to switch to them. We've a full review of each and crucial eligibility criteria in Best bank accounts, but these are the top deals... - NatWest Reward* and RBS Reward* are top for upfront cash paying a free £200, plus £36/yr cashback. - First Direct* is top for service, pays £175 and comes with a top overseas debit card, a 7% regular saver, plus a £250 0% overdraft for many. - Halifax Reward pays a free £150, £25/mth cashback for three months + ongoing £5/mth cashback. Pay in £1,500/mth or there's a £3/mth fee. Use supermarket coupons and cashback to get free £2 Lindt choc, free £3 Little Dish kids meal, free £1 Purina dog treats and more. For discounts on groceries, scan our list of 40+ supermarket coupons - some can even bag you a total freebie. Get paid to play free games on your phone. Use your screen time to boost your coffers with MSE Sarah's quick tips and top apps to make money playing mobile games. Earn a £30 Amazon voucher for doing quick online activities. Ever popular with MoneySavers, Swagbucks is free to join and rewards you for online activities such as surveys, gaming and more. If you've not tried it before, go via our MSE Blagged link to get a free £20 Amazon voucher when you earn your first £10. Free Burger King cheeseburger, free Krispy Kreme doughnut, free Taco Bell. See how to get these, plus lots more ways to nab free food. Free £10 Amazon voucher + 4.35% easy-access savings. Newbies using this MSE Blagged link to apply for app-only bank Kroo* get a £10 Amazon voucher for opening an account and putting £50+ in. Although it's a current account, its rate is decent compared with the top savings accounts - not too far below the top 5% payer - and if you're saving under £1,500, the £10 outweighs the extra interest. You needn't switch to Kroo, there's no hard credit-check, and it has the full UK £85,000 savings safety protection. Full info in Best bank accounts. New. Stream Spotify Premium free for three months. The giant music streamer recently increased the price of its ad-free plan to £11/mth, but newbies can currently get three months' Spotify Premium for nowt, instead of the usual one month. Student? Snap up free food, free six months' Amazon Prime, 'free' up to £130 Apple gift card. See our round-up of student deals, including a FREE pizza & Coke if you're getting GCSE results on Thu. Free postcode lotto with a £200+ daily prize, which rolls over too... one MoneySaver won £3,795. It sounds too good to be true, but it's legit and costs nothing as it's funded by ads. See Pick My Postcode. Ends Fri. Free £10 cash to autosave. Autosave apps use tech to figure out what you can afford to save, then automatically move money from your bank account to savings (or investments). Newbies can get a free £10 via this MSE Blagged Plum link* - all you need to do is have at least 1p in the account 90 days after opening. See the full Plum review in Autosave apps. Kids 'eat for free' at Asda, Bill's, Fridays, M&S and more. We've rounded up dining out deals where kids eat free (or cheap), usually with a paying grown-up. Grab free audience tickets for popular TV shows. Including Family Fortunes, Live at the Apollo, A League of Their Own, Britain's Got Talent and more live. See where to register for audience tickets online. New. Planning a grand design? Get free Homebuilding & Renovating Show tickets. Includes shows in London (22 to 24 Sept), Harrogate (3 to 5 Nov) or Somerset (18 to 19 Nov). See homebuilding tickets. Watch 100s of box sets and films online for free, including Mulan (2020), Get Out, The Power of the Dog, Luther and Line of Duty. Our TV MoneySaving tips & tricks show you how to watch completely free, even if you've used up all the free streaming trials available. Free £20 shower heads & other water-saving gadgets. There are 900,000+ available and can help lower metered water bills plus save on energy costs. See how to grab free water-saving gadgets. Get PAID £13 to check your credit report & score. There are three credit agencies which hold credit reports on you: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. Lenders use them all, so it's best to check all three at least once a year. And right now, you can earn around £13 for doing so. New. Get fit for free with a three-day PureGym pass. Use a code by Mon to get three days' free access to 370+ gyms - no payment details required. See free PureGym pass. PS: You can see what free goodies other MoneySavers have found, or add one you've spotted, in the MSE Forum's Freebies board.

 

 

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.

 

 

 

Need to borrow? Do it INTEREST-FREE for up to 23 months with the top 0% spending cards Deals are getting shorter - if you've a big planned purchase, consider doing it now Credit cards are like fire. Used right, they're a useful tool, but used wrong, they'll burn. If you need to borrow, then top 0% spending credit cards give you interest-free debt for around two years - unbeatable over that time period. Yet the market for these cards, as with balance transfers, is changing. NatWest recently cut its previously market-leading deal from 23mths at 0% to 21mths, and we don't know how long these current best buys will be around - so consider acting quick. But first, a warning... Only use these cards for planned, affordable, one-off expenditures. Be careful - you'll need to be able to make at least the minimum monthly repayments, and pay it off within the 0% period or you'll pay 23%+ interest. If in doubt, don't do it. - What if I need to borrow to cover gaps in income? It's never a good idea to do this, as it's not a long-term solution - think about what's likely to change in the next two years that'll mean you can pay the debt then. If you've no answer, it's likely borrowing will only compound the problem. Yet times are tough, and if it's the only option, this type of borrowing's at least cheaper than a lot of others. If you're already struggling with debt, don't borrow more - see below for help. Will you be accepted? Don't just apply. It's better to use our 0% Purchase Card Eligibility Calc to find which cards you've the best chance of getting without hitting your credit score. It includes the best buys below... TOP-PICK NEW CARDHOLDER 0% SPENDING CARDS Barclaycard - up to 23mths 0% (link via eligibility calc, or apply*) Longest 0% deal, but it's an 'up to', so some could get fewer months at 0%. You'll get the headline deal if you're 'pre-approved' in our eligibility calculator, otherwise you could get just 11mths 0%. It's 24.9% rep APR after the 0%. NatWest - 21mths 0% (link via eligibility calc, or apply*)  Longest definite 0% deal. All accepted by NatWest get the full 21mths at 0%. The card's also offered by sister banks RBS* and Ulster, though we can't check your eligibility for those. It's 23.9% rep APR after the 0%. Stop press. Just as we were about to send this email, NatWest, RBS & Ulster started maintenance on their credit card application pages (which means our eligibility check won't work either). If it's the right card for you, the banks advise you try again tomorrow morning (Wed). We'll update this message on the website/app versions of our email when we have more info. M&S Bank - 18mths 0% (link via eligibility calc, or apply*) Longest 0% card that also pays rewards on spending. All accepted get the headline 18mth deal. Plus you get one point (worth 1p) for every £1 spent in M&S (so 1% back) and every £5 elsewhere (0.2%). It's 23.9% rep APR after the 0%. Need to borrow to buy something but the store won't take credit card? If so, you'll need a 0% money transfer card, or if it's for £3,000+, see Cheap loans. Follow the 0% Card Golden Rules. Full info in 0% credit cards, but in brief... a) Always pay at least the set monthly minimum and stick within the credit limit, or you can lose the 0% offer. b) These cards are usually only top picks for spending - avoid cash withdrawals or shifting debt to them. c) Plan to clear the card (or balance-transfer away) before the 0% period ends, or the rate jumps to the rep APR. In debt crisis? Get free debt help. The info above is for those that can afford repayments. But if you're having sleepless nights or depression/anxiety over debt, struggling to meet monthly repayments or your total debt (excluding mortgage/student loan) is over a year's salary, you're at risk of debt crisis. The best thing to do is get free, one-to-one debt counselling help from Citizens Advice, StepChange or National Debtline. And if you need emotional support, try CAP. They're there to help, not judge. The most common thing we hear after is: "I finally got a good night's sleep." And don't feel alone, there's no stigma, you can sort this. Read inspiring stories in our Debt-free wannabe forum, and see our Mental health & debt and Debt crisis help guides.

 

New. Should you stick, switch or fix your energy tariff? There are now fixed tariffs worth considering for both existing and new customers, and even new firms launching. As the energy market slowly comes back to life, there are choices available. To help you make a decision, read our new Stick, switch or fix energy? guide. £199 Shark cordless vacuum (normally £430). MSE Blagged. Via code. 6,000 available. Shark New. HOT 100GB Sim just '£8.20/mth'. This TalkMobile (Vodafone's no-frills network) Sim is £11.95/mth, but you can CLAIM a £45 Amazon voucher within 4mths. Factor that in over the 12mth contract and it's equivalent to £8.20/mth. Want less data or a different network? Use Cheap Mobile Finder. Are you one of three million Tesco shoppers with expiring Clubcard vouchers? There's a trick to extend 'em. The deadline is Thu 31 Aug. Full help in Tesco alert. On Universal Credit or similar? Shell launches broadband 'social tariff', joining BT, Vodafone & others. For those on certain benefits there are now a growing number of 'social tariffs', which give long-term cheap broadband prices. Shell has launched a deal starting from £15/mth. Use our Broadband Unbundled comparison to see how it stacks up against other social tariffs and the cheapest standard deals, or see the full social tariffs list. Up to 80% off second-hand Zara, Next, M&S and more clothing. Second-hand site Thrift+ has a sale on, with prices from £3 on 100,000+ items of women's and men's fashion. Delivery's £6. Thrift+ sale MSE calls on Gov.uk to change 'misleading' info on bereavement support. Since Feb 2023, a law change means many unmarried bereaved parents now qualify for £10,000s in help. But due to unclear info on Gov.uk, some are wrongly claiming, only to get the upsetting response they're not eligible, while others have missed out on getting more. We've urged the Government to change it - see bereaved help. A favour for Martin... He's on hols but has been shortlisted in two National Television Awards categories. So if he's ever helped you save, please vote for Martin on pages 5 & 6 (click through to the end or it won't count).

 

 

BLAGGED FOR MSE - Quidco £25 cashback for £5 spend Ends 21 Sept - Swagbucks £30 Amazon voucher Ongoing newbies offer - £10 Amazon voucher with Kroo account Ends 31 Aug - Get paid £10 to autosave Ends Fri - £430 Shark for £199 code 6,000 available	DID YOU MISS? - How to beat the Disney+ £36/yr price hike - Get 25% off at 2,500 coffee shops, including Caffè Nero - FREE museums & galleries - Top student 0% overdraft accounts 2023/24 - 20 free ways to feel good, including meditation apps

 

 

Home insurance costs UP by nearly 30% Check NOW if you can LOCK IN a price till 2024 & save £100s Latest home insurance prices have been heading only one way - and that's up. According to research firm Pearson Ham, home insurance has soared by 26% in the last year and, in its latest half-year results, big insurer Admiral has stated it's likely to continue to increase prices. So EVERYONE should check now if they can save - as if you can lock in a decent price today's, you can forestall rises until next year. Our Cheap home insurance guide shows how you can save, but here's our seven-point plan in brief... NEVER auto-renew. Always check what's out there, as your insurer's not necessarily going to have the market's cheapest policy, as Malcom emailed: "My elderly neighbour's 2023 renewal was £463 - I found her an almost identical policy for £248, a massive £215 saving! This is a great result from taking your advice from the newsletter and the TV shows." Establish what cover you need. Everyone, including renters, should consider contents insurance, but buildings insurance is usually only for freehold homeowners (otherwise it's usually the management company or landlord's responsibility, check your lease/contract). To work out what's covered by each, imagine turning your home upside down. If it falls, it's contents. If it stays, it's usually buildings. - Contents insurance: beware underinsuring. Many underinsure, thinking: "I'd never claim for everything." But if you only insure half your contents' worth, you may only get half the payout. Use a contents calculator. - Buildings insurance: beware overinsuring. Many wrongly insure for their home's market value, but what counts is how much it'd cost to rebuild if it were knocked down or gutted by fire. Use a rebuild cost calculator to find out. COMBINE comparison sites for 100s of quotes in minutes. Whichever cover you're going for, this is the route. Comparison sites zip your info to dozens of insurers and brokers at once. Yet don't just use one as a) they can cover different insurers, and b) they often have different prices for the same firm. Our current order is 1) Compare The Market*, 2) MoneySupermarket*, 3) Confused.com* (see how we order it). These sites are best for those with standard circumstances - if that's not you, and you find it tough to get quotes, see help if you're struggling to get insurance. See if you can beat your cheapest comparison site price. If you've time, adding insurers comparisons miss, promo deals and cashback sites can bag you a cheaper price. - Biggie Direct Line* doesn't appear on comparisons and can be competitive for some. - Urban Jungle* gives a £15 Amazon voucher after seven months when you use the code MSE_OFFER. - If you're a member of cashback sites Quidco or Topcashback, you can do a comparison through them, and get up to £33 back. But check prices are the same through these comparisons as the main ones. See cashback help info. Haggle. If you want to stick with your existing firm, tell it you want to stay, but ask if it can match your cheapest price from steps 2 and 3 - it will often work. See home insurance haggling help. Not at renewal? It's still worth checking if you can save. Check to see if you can find prices cheaper. If you can make a substantial saving, provided you haven't claimed this year, you can cancel your policy and usually get a pro-rata refund if you paid upfront, minus a £35ish admin fee (and you don't earn this year's no-claims discounts). Plus you forestall rises for another year. See switch home insurance mid-year for more help. Ensure the policy's right for you before buying. Go through the main terms to check you're happy, and check the firm you're buying from is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (that shouldn't usually be a problem through the methods above). And remember, if you have a claim unfairly rejected, that means you've a right to escalate any complaints to the free Financial Ombudsman if the insurer doesn't deal with them.

 

£12 BBQs, Pimm's round-up, cheap days out & more summer deals. See our 'Summer sizzlers' round-up. Please be Drinkaware. 'I saved £100 on my breakdown cover thanks to MSE's tips.' Our success of the week comes from Barry, who negotiated down his premium after reading our Breakdown haggling guide: "Thanks to your excellent guidance, I reduced my AA membership from £249 to £146 (saving £103). I had an excellent offer from another provider, which I made clear I was considering... and the AA was prepared to match it. This all took an hour, first by phone, then using its chat service, but it was worth it." If we've helped you save money (on this or owt else), please send us your MoneySaving successes. New. Foodbank donation tips. Find out what your local foodbank needs, save money on donations and more, thanks to tips from the MSE Forum and the Trussell Trust. Read our new Foodbank donation tips blog. B&Q £5 off a £30 spend. For newbies to its free loyalty scheme - ideal for bank holiday DIY. See how to get £5 off at B&Q. MSE Charity grants: for non-profits supporting those experiencing life-changing events. The MSE Charity's next grant round opens at 9am on Mon 4 Sept, focused on assisting non-profits that help people through big life changes, such as bereavement or homelessness, by improving their financial capability skills. Grants of up to £8,000 are available, but only 40 applications can be accepted. Check if your group qualifies now and see how to apply.

 

 

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AT A GLANCE BEST BUYS 0% balance transfers Longest 0%: Barclaycard (check eligibility / apply*) - up to 30mths 0%, 3.45% fee (24.9% rep APR) No-fee 0%: NatWest (check eligibility / apply*) - 16mths 0% (23.9% rep APR) Best bank accounts £200 to switch + £36/yr cashback: NatWest / RBS £175 to switch + top service: First Direct Top savings accounts Top easy access: Furness BS 5%, min £1 Top one-year fix: SmartSave 6.01%, min £10,000 Car insurance Try our Compare+ Car Insurance tool Cheap loans Cheapest for £5,000 to £7,499: AIB (NI) (apply), 5.6% rep APR Cheapest for £7,500 to £15,000: AIB (NI) (apply), 5.6% rep APR Broadband top picks Standard (10Mb+): Shell Energy '£18.55/mth' Fibre (30Mb+): Shell Energy '£18.83/mth' Fast fibre (55Mb+): Shell Energy '£19.44/mth' Superfast fibre (100Mb+): Vodafone '£21.21/mth' On Universal Credit or similar? Check all discounted social tariffs Cheap Sims Up to 3GB data: Lebara, '£2.70/mth' for 3GB 4GB to 9GB data: Lebara, '£3.45/mth' for 5GB 10GB to 30GB data: Lebara, '£3.57/mth' for 12GB 31GB+ data: TalkMobile, '£8.20/mth' for 100GB

 

THIS WEEK'S POLL How many paid-for streaming services do you subscribe to? With the likes of Netflix clamping down on account sharing and the cost of living crisis continuing to bite, some people are cancelling subscriptions to video streaming services to save cash. So this week, we want to know what paid-for services you currently subscribe to, if you've cut back in the last 12 months and why. Vote in this week's poll. Zen eases in at number one for broadband customer service. In last week's poll, we asked what you thought of your broadband provider. Of those with over 100 responses, Zen came out on top, with 84% of its customers rating it 'great'. Next was Plusnet, with 60% 'great'. Shell took the wooden spoon again, with 49% rating it 'poor'. See the full broadband poll results.

 

 

MSE NEWS - Top story: Scam warning - beware copycat Wilko sites claiming to sell heavily discounted items - Banks to be fined if they fail to provide free access to cash under new laws - Rail fares in England to rise by less than 9% in 2024 - Barclays to close nine more branches - here's the full list and alternatives

 

 

MONEY MORAL DILEMMA Is it fair I pay to repair a leaking water pipe that only supplies our neighbours? I live in a semi-detached house where the water supply used to be shared with the house next door through a lead pipe. I put in a plastic pipe with a new stopcock to provide water to our house 25 years ago. But the lead pipe (that now only feeds the house next door) passes through my property and has developed a leak. I contacted a plumber who quoted me £650 to repair it. My neighbours are refusing to share the cost, but should I have to pay for it? Enter the Money Moral Maze: Is it fair I pay to repair a leaking water pipe that only supplies our neighbours? | Suggest a Money Moral Dilemma

 

 

MSE TEAM BLOG - Foodbank donation tips - MSE Forum highlights: Wi-Fi, weedkiller & wayward meals

 

 

BIRDBATHS, BABY GATES & BOOKCASES... WHAT HAVE YOU 'WOMBLED' FOR FREE IN 2023? That's all for this week, but before we go... on the MSE Forum, people who rescue or re-home what others chuck away are known as womblers. And often they unearth seriously useful stuff... like the wombler who got a free cast-iron patio table and chair set, complete with parasol. Other finds include a vegetable planter, an umbrella basket and a beautiful, shell-shaped birdbath (found in a skip). One MSE Forumite's husband wombled unused baby gates that his colleague was about to chuck out. But our favourite is the wombler who found a bookcase on the street and brought it home, as their husband's Lego collection "had outgrown its space". Add your own finds and read more in the What I had for free 2023 MSE Forum discussion. We hope you save some money, The MSE team

 

Important. Please read how MoneySavingExpert.com works We 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 Lewis What is MoneySavingExpert.com? Founded in February 2003, it is now the UK's biggest consumer help website, with more than 12 million users each month and about 8.5 million receiving this email. In September 2012 it became part of the MoneySupermarket Group PLC. Its focus is simple - saving cash and fighting for financial justice on anything and everything. The site has over 80 full-time staff, more than a third 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 Lewis CBE is the founder and executive chair of MSE, as well as the founder of the MMHPI charity. He's an ultra-focused MoneySaving journalist and consumer campaigner with his own prime-time ITV programme The Martin Lewis Money Show, Radio 5 Live Wednesday show Ask Martin Lewis and weekly slot on This Morning, among others. More info: See Martin Lewis' biography. 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 natwest.com, rbs.co.uk, firstdirect.com, withplum.com, kroo.com, barclaycard.co.uk, bank.marksandspencer.com, moneysupermarket.com, comparethemarket.com, confused.com, myurbanjungle.com, directline.com Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) Note MoneySupermarket.com Financial Group Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (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 MoneySupermarket.com Financial Group Limited. To change your email or stop receiving the weekly tips (unsubscribe): Go to: www.moneysavingexpert.com/tips.