Car-finance reclaim UPDATE, new £175 bank switch, free Ideal Home Show tix, top 0% spending + £20

Plus... Aged 17-24? Beat 49% car insurance hikes, Fix energy?, 19 couples' MoneySavers, 60% off fruit

                                                           

13 February 2024 | View in browser

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THE TOP TIPS IN THIS EMAIL 19 MoneySaving tips for couples, incl: - Three BIG married tax breaks - 2for1 cinema for a year - Child Benefit state pension boost - Insurance 'free' for 17mths UPDATE: Car finance reclaim complaints Under 25? Beat 49% car insurance hikes New. British Gas launches cheap fix - should you switch? FREE Ideal Home Show tix - and a chance to see Martin! New. £175 Lloyds bank switch Shell Energy broadband customer? You're moving to TalkTalk New. Top 0% spending card + free £20 Follow Martin & MSE on social media Save £100s with hidden London travel discount 'I reclaimed £2,300 in overpaid student loans - thanks Martin' Martin's pod: 'Unusually high' call volume firms, car finance reclaim + more Last-min Valentine's deals, eg, £4 roses Sky announces 7% broadband price hikes FREE bowl of porridge + hot drink 66+ & income under £204/wk? Can you claim Pension Credit? Free postcode lotto: £200+ daily prize 60% off Abel & Cole organic fruit and veg FREE Spotify Premium for 3mths This week's best buys, including 5.9% loans, 3GB Sim '£3.20/mth', 5.15% savings Should I help my partner avoid the high-income Child Benefit charge? BEST BUYS & TOOLS MSE Cheap Mobile Finder Credit Club including free credit report 0% balance transfers Compare broadband deals MSE Compare+ Car Insurance 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

Love it or loathe it, it's Valentine's Day - a decent excuse to show you 19 MoneySaving ways to take advantage of being in a couple BIG marriage tax breaks | 2for1 cinema | 'Free' mobile, travel & breakdown cover for 1.5 years | 5% spending cashback for 6mths Valentine's Day tomorrow is a celebration of love... on paper at least. The reality is most of you - like us - are jaded, feeling it's less a romantic celebration, more a corporate construct. In fact, in Martin's Twitter poll last week, an overwhelming 82% said that. Even so, being blunt, we're happy to use it as an excuse to talk about the ways you can use being in a couple to your financial advantage... 1. Are you one of 200,000 parents losing out for not claiming Child Benefit in the right partner's name? Child Benefit is for parents of children under 16 (or 20 in full-time education). It's worth up to £24/wk - and even if you're earning too much to get financial help, the parent named on the form gets state-pension boosting national insurance (NI) credits. So make sure the lower-earning member of the couple is the one to apply - if they're earning under £123/wk, they'll get an NI credit they wouldn't have otherwise. If you're already claiming in the higher earner's name, you could be one of 200,000 parents HM Revenue & Customs says is losing out. All you need to do is fill in a form to transfer the credits over to the lower earner. 2. Earn 1% cashback on JOINT bills PLUS each get 7% savers. If you live together, most bills are joint, so joint bills accounts are common even for those who keep the rest of their money separate. The £3/mth Santander Edge* account is great for that as if you open it jointly, you get 1% cashback on shared bills AND you can BOTH open separate Santander Edge saver accounts paying 7% on balances up to £4,000. The cashback is paid in two categories, with £20 max paid out each month: - 1% on bills: water, council tax, energy, broadband, phones, paid-for TV up to a max £10/mth. - 1% on some spending: supermarket, fuel, and train and bus travel spending, up to a max £10/mth. For households with average bills, we'd expect the gain to be around £80/yr to £100/yr. For those with bigger bills, the Edge Up account is worth a look - it costs £5/mth, but you get a max £30/mth cashback. To qualify, you need to have £500/mth paid into the Edge account or £1,500/mth into the Edge Up, and a minimum of two direct debits. 3. Get a YEAR'S 2for1 cinema together for £1. A quid may not get you much these days, but with our trick it does unlock a year's access to Meerkat Movies' 2for1 cinema tickets. This'll allow you to watch a film together at most big cinemas on Tue & Wed, but only pay for one ticket. 4. Combine spending power to get 5% cashback for SIX months. Cashback credit cards pay you for spending, and the big payer is the Amex Platinum Everyday* (best to check eligibility chances first), which gives 5% cashback for the first three months (up to a max of £100) and up to 1% after. But couples can get six months at 5%. Here's how: You apply and make your partner your second cardholder, so you get the 5% cashback for the first three months on what you both spend. Then, just before your 5% ends, your partner applies, making you a second cardholder, and gets a further three months at 5% (though you must spend £3k+/yr per card to get ANY cashback). However, DON'T use cashback as an excuse to spend more than you normally would, and ensure you set up a direct debit to repay IN FULL each month to avoid the 31% rep APR interest, which would wipe the gain. Full help and other reward cards are in Credit card rewards. Tying the knot: The BIG tax advantages of getting married (or civil partnered) 5. Married or civil partnered? Check if you qualify for a tax break worth up to £1,256. More than two million eligible couples miss out on this easy way to save on their tax bill. 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, plus you can claim back up to four tax years, as long as you were eligible during that time - backdating can net you a total of £1,256. 6. Anything left to a spouse or civil partner is EXEMPT from inheritance tax. Whether it's worth 1p or £1 million, inheritance tax won't be charged on anything you leave to your spouse or civil partner. Crucially, that's NOT the case for cohabiting couples, so tax might be due on assets you leave to your partner, depending on their total value. It's one of the BIG financial advantages to marriage, as icingsugar27 tweeted: "I've been with my partner for 34 years and we've lived together all that time. Now we're having to think about getting married, as if he died I'd face inheritance tax". For more on when a tax bill's likely, watch Martin's inheritance tax mythbuster video. 7. Shift savings to your partner to maximise your tax-free allowance. Basic-rate (20%) taxpayers can earn £1,000 in savings interest each year before paying income tax, while higher-rate (40%) taxpayers can earn £500. If you've already used your allowance but your spouse/civil partner hasn't, give them some of your savings to ensure you both max out your annual personal savings allowance. The money will legally become theirs though, so it's not a decision to be taken lightly. 8. If marriage has a nice ring to it, buy your wedding bling with boosted Clubcard vouchers. Since £5 of Tesco Clubcard vouchers is worth £10 in Goldsmiths stores, you could halve the cost of engagement or wedding rings. 9. Unmarried and living together? Get a will, a contract, a civil partnership or tie the knot - your relationship means nowt in law. It doesn't matter if you've lived together for six centuries and have more children than a primary school, if you're not married/civil partners, your relationship has little status under the law. So if one partner dies, the other mightn't get the house, even if they've lived in it years. That's why a will is oft crucial here - see cohabiting & no will rules. It's also worth considering a cohabitation agreement, which spells out what happens if your relationship breaks down. 10. Check your will is up to date, especially if you've since got married. An out-of-date will is almost as bad as no will. It's important to note that in Eng, Wal and NI, wills are often revoked when you get married, so you'll need a new one. See Cheap and free wills. 11. Want to leave your pension to your partner when you die? TELL YOUR PROVIDER - or it'll decide for you. Pension savings aren't covered by a will, so fail to fill in an 'expression of wishes' form and your provider decides who your pension goes to if you die - which may not be in line with your wishes. It's also crucial to update your form if your circumstances change, eg, if you've remarried, to make sure the right person/people are in line to inherit your pension. 12. 'Free' travel, breakdown and mobile insurance for almost a year and a half. For many couples, especially those with families, a packaged bank account may be a good option. You pay a monthly fee, but get insurances included, so if you'd be paying for these separately it can save you £100s. They can work well as joint accounts, as perks are often for the account holder(s), so you double the benefit without doubling fees. Here are two to consider: - Get a FREE £175 to switch to a Club Lloyds Silver* account. There's a £10/mth fee, but use the switching bonus to cover the fee and the account's effectively 'free' for 17mths. You get mobile insurance for both account holders, UK family breakdown cover and European family travel insurance. You need to pay in a min. £2,000/mth or the there's a £3/mth fee. - For more comprehensive travel and breakdown cover, there's Co-op Bank's Everyday Extra. It's £15/mth (£180/yr), but you get worldwide family travel cover, plus mobile insurance and UK & European breakdown for account holders. A couple needing it all could pay up to £400/yr separately. Full eligibility info and more options in Packaged bank accounts. 13. Saving to buy a house together? Get TWO 25% boosts of up to £1,000/year. With a Lifetime ISA, the state adds 25% on top of what you save, which can mean a free £1,000/yr. You can't open one jointly, but you CAN both open individual LISAs to double the bonus, though you'll need to use them to buy a first home costing up to £450,000. Related: While you can't open a new Help to Buy ISA, you can keep paying up to £200/mth into an existing one until Nov 2029, before claiming the 25% government bonus. 14. Shift your partner's debt to your 0% card (not a decision to take lightly). A few major lenders allow you to transfer a balance from your partner's debt on to your 0% card - useful if one of you has a better credit history, so is more likely to be accepted. One top newbies deal that allows it is Barclaycard 29mth 0% (3.45% fee). See a full list of lenders that allow partner balance transfers. Warning: If you do this, your partner's debt legally becomes yours - making it YOUR responsibility to pay off. Never feel forced into doing this - see below for more on financial abuse... Warning: Beware the dark side of financially linking up with a loved one While there can be perks, it's never a step to be taken lightly, no matter how well you think you know your other half. Financial abuse is when someone controls your finances or ability to earn money, so as to reduce your independence and force reliance. And, sadly, it's a form of abuse thousands in the UK suffer from. If a loved one is, for example, pressuring you to take out debt for them in your name, emotionally blackmailing you to pay their bills, or controlling access to your money, you could be a victim. Thankfully, financial abuse is legally recognised as a form of domestic abuse, and offenders can be prosecuted. Read Martin's Financial abuse blog for advice on how to spot the warning signs and where to get free help. 15. Couples who share car insurance often get cheaper cover. While this trick works best for young drivers and their parents (we cover this and other young driver car insurance tricks below), adding your partner to your policy can also slash costs if they're seen as lower risk by your insurer. See Cheap car insurance. 16. Get 1/3 off train fares when Two (travel) Together, plus an EXTRA £10 off. The Two Together Railcard gives the two named on the card 1/3 off fares if travelling together (after 9.30am on weekdays) - a great saving in itself. Plus buy one via Trip.com, and we've a code to get 34% off railcards - so it'll be £19.80, not £30. 17. £57/year breakdown cover for you and your other half. Newbies who get long-time MSE top pick AutoAid's* full service policy (comes with home start and onward travel) can get it for £57.28/yr via our link if the car's under 16 years old. It covers you and your spouse/partner, so long as you both live at the same address. Similar cover from the big breakdown companies can be up to £300/couple. See full info in Cheap breakdown cover. 18. Both pay full price for Spotify and Amazon Prime? STOP. Amazon Prime lets one member share their benefits for free via Amazon Household. With Spotify, instead of paying £10.99/mth each, you can get the same service for the equivalent of £7.50/mth each with Spotify Premium Duo. 19. What's mine is yours? It can be better NOT to share credit histories. No matter how deep your relationship, always be mindful when applying for a joint mortgage, loan, bank account and some utility bills, as this creates a financial link between you. If one of you has a poor credit history, this can impact the other's ability to access credit - so consider keeping finances separate. See our Credit score tips.

 

 

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.

 

 

 

Got a car, van, bike on PCP or Hire Purchase pre Feb 2021? You may be due £1,000s Update. Car Finance Hidden Commission Reclaiming A staggering 530,000 complaints via our FREE TOOL in week one And if you've sent your letter, what to expect next... Martin: "Last Tuesday, we launched our brand new Car finance hidden commission reclaiming guide & tool and... wow! In just seven days you've sent over 530,000 complaint emails via it. The regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), estimates 40% of finance agreements had these dodgy commission arrangements (you won't know if you did as it was hidden) and the average payout per arrangement may be £1,100. So that potentially equates to up to £234 million coming back to people. The team & I've put together a key update below..." First you've heard? A brief overview. Five weeks ago, the FCA announced a huge misconduct investigation into motor-finance discretionary commission arrangements - where lenders bunged extra commission to brokers and car dealers if they made up higher interest rates - meaning many OVERPAID WITHOUT KNOWING. We don't believe it likely the FCA would do this unless it has substantial evidence, so a payout is likely due when it reports in September. Yet as claims could be time-barred, Martin's view is the sooner you complain, the safer.   Key resources: Discover if you were one of millions impacted and complain for free The GUIDE & FREE TOOL: Our full MSE Car Finance step-by-step guide & complaint tool The TV SHOW: Watch Martin's 10-min quick explainer or the full ITVX Martin Lewis Money Show on it The PODCAST: Listen to Martin's Car finance easy reclaiming BBC podcast (also via Apple or Spotify) Ta for your feedback on the tool, we've tweaked it. We've been swamped with positive messages, such as this one from Pedro on Facebook: "Hi Martin. How easy was that! I've just used your reclaim tool. It even dictated the email claim to BMW for me. Two-minute job and I've already had the acknowledgement back. Thank you." Plus, thanks to your feedback, we've added more finance firm email addresses to the tool, changed how you input dates, and expanded the list of firms who never had discretionary commission. Complained using our tool - what happens next? This is uncharted territory. We're monitoring how different firms respond. We aim to launch a 'responses survey' next week, then publish more detailed help once we know more. Yet remember there's time, you gave the finance firm 28 days to respond. For more options, see our full complained: next steps help, which we'll add to as we hear more. For now though, our provisional thoughts are: - Not had any reply at all? This number of complaints at speed is unprecedented. Many firms simply weren't prepared. A few are setting up special departments (and have requested we change the email addresses in the tool to help). So if you haven't had a reply acknowledging delivery yet, don't panic, they're likely just swamped. - Told: "You had a discretionary commission arrangement (DCA) & we've logged your complaint." Great. You're potentially in line for a payout if and when the FCA rules in September. Your complaint is logged, you've done all needed for now (unless it requests further info). Now it's just a wait. - Told: "You didn't have a DCA." You weren't overcharged, so that's good news, though you've no payback due (that doesn't mean you weren't mis-sold car finance other ways, however). - Told: "You had a DCA but..." then a fob-off. Eg, "we don't think we've done anything wrong" and/or "complaint rejected, but you can go to the ombudsman". This tactic was long a part of the bank charges and PPI dance, designed to put people off, and a few, especially smaller, firms may be trying similar here. Our main thought is don't worry, as a) it's confirmed you've had a DCA and b) for it to close your complaint, it has to log it, so arguably you've done all you need to until the FCA reports. The letter will say you can go to the ombudsman, but right now we think it's safest to hold that until the FCA reports, though give us a few weeks to firm out tactics on that (there's no harm in delaying for now). PS: We've seen some firms' replies wrongly saying: "you've 6mths to go to the ombudsman". That's incorrect - for DCA complaints, it's 15mths, so don't feel pressured to do owt yet (we're reporting those firms for incorrect info). - Told: "We can't find your info." This is a trickier one. The FCA says firms should make serious endeavours. Yet in truth it depends how long ago you had your finance agreement. If your car finance was active within the last six years, they should have details. If it was further in the past, it's trickier, but they should try. We need to do a bit more work on this - we'll update over the next few weeks.

 

New. British Gas launches fix that's 12% cheaper than Price Cap & guaranteed to be less than April's Price Cap. For new & existing customers. Full explanation and whether the deal adds up in Should you fix your energy? 20,000 FREE (normally £18ish) Ideal Home Show tickets, including a chance to see Martin live. From 22 March to 7 April in London. For how to get your tickets and what days Martin's on, see Free Ideal Home Show. New. FREE £175 Lloyds bank switch bribe + rewards, eg, Disney+. Bank switching deals are back - today Lloyds' FREE £175 launched, which comes with a choice of rewards, including 1yr Disney+ (standard with ads), six cinema tix, a mag subscription or a Gourmet Society membership. Full review and crucial eligibility info in Best bank accounts. Shell Energy broadband customer? You're moving to TalkTalk. Octopus bought Shell in 2023, but now it's selling the broadband business. Here's what it means for you. New. Top 0% spending card + £20 cashback. We prefer you don't borrow, but if you need to, ensure it's for a one-off, planned purchase. The cheapest way over the medium term is a 0% credit card, and one of the longest, MBNA's up to 20mths 0% (link goes via our eligibility calc), now gives accepted newbies £20 cashback if spending £1,000+ within 60 days. Note that the 0% only applies to purchases made within 60 days. Golden rules: 1) Always pay at least the min monthly payment. 2) Never withdraw cash. 3) Clear the debt before the 0% ends or pay 24.9% rep APR. Full help in 0% spending cards. Want to keep up to date with MoneySaving every day? Follow us on our social media feeds Martin (personal feed) MSE (only MoneySaving) Twitter @MartinSLewis @MoneySavingExp or @MSE_Deals for quick deals Facebook Mrmartinlewis MoneySavingExpert Instagram @martinlewismse  @moneysavingexp TikTok @martinlewismse It's just Martin on TikTok, for now Londoners: can you save £100s on Tube fares with a Railcard? See MSE Petar's Hidden TfL discount blog. 'I reclaimed £2,300 in overpaid student loans thanks to Martin and MSE.' Our success of the week comes from Laurence, who emailed: "I saw your info on how to get a refund for my student loan repayments if I didn't earn over the threshold. As a freelancer in the TV industry, I thought it was worth a check. I got just over £2,300 back, which has taken a huge weight off my shoulders. Thank you." If we've helped you reclaim or save (on this, or owt else), send us your successes. New podcast: Hidden car finance commission scandal - are you one of millions owed £1,000s? This jam-packed pod includes Martin's step-by-step help on car finance claims, plus his investigation into 'unusually high' call volumes, the latest money mastermind & more. All in the new The Martin Lewis Podcast - listen via BBC Sounds, Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you like to get your Martin fix.

 

 

BLAGGED FOR MSE - 60% off Abel & Cole fruit and veg box Ends 15 Mar	DID YOU MISS? - Boots 70% off 'end of sale clearance', eg, £20 Soap & Glory £6 - How much will your water bill rise in April? - Report 'we're experiencing unusually high call volumes' firms - Free 4mth family days-out pass for 40% off cinema tix & more - Council tax in England set to rise by 5% on 1 April

 

 

Aged 17 to 24? Car insurance for young drivers is up a whopping 49% and now averages £2,000/yr Urgently check if you can save £100s, or even £1,000s Drivers under 25 have always faced huge car insurance bills - it's the lack of experience and greater risk of accidents that give insurers the willies, so they charge more because there's a higher chance they'll have to pay out. And this year, it's got even worse, with prices up by 49%, costing over £2,000/yr on average, according to Compare The Market. Yet there are powerful tools you can use to swerve those higher costs - full info in Young drivers' car insurance (and if you know a young driver, pls share), but in brief... First combine comparison sites for 100s of quotes in minutes - and more. Whether it's the first time getting cover, or you're due for renewal, our Compare+ Car Insurance tool has helped thousands find cheaper cover... - You fill in one questionnaire. We've borrowed MoneySupermarket's so if you've used it before, it auto-fills answers. - Get MSE tips as you answer. Such as our 'best time to get insurance' analysis. - Benchmark your cheapest insurers from the comparison. But we want you to beat 'em... - Get personalised tips to try for an even bigger saving. Including paying annually not monthly and much more. - See whether other sites can slice down your costs further. We assess if Direct Line (not on comparisons) is likely to be cheaper, and give our latest comparison site order of others to try, as MoneySupermarket may not always be cheapest. Adding your mum, dad, auntie or gran to your insurance could slash costs. If you have a family member or friend who may drive the car and has a good driving record, adding them as a second driver can make you appear less risky and bring prices down. Try out different combinations - for example, add one parent to see the impact, remove them and add the other, then try both. It worked for Marc: "I renewed my 18-year-old son's car insurance and saved a whopping £450 (30%) by adding my wife as a named driver. Massive thanks." Full info in adding a responsible second driver. WARNING: Never add a parent (or someone else) as a main driver if they aren't. This is 'fronting' and it's fraud. It'll be checked if you claim and the insurance will be invalid if you're caught. You could even be prosecuted. Don't do it. Try 'black box' (or telematics) tech - prove you're a safe driver for cheaper prices. This is where you have a device fitted to your car that monitors your driving - when/where/how you drive, your braking, speed, cornering and how many miles you drive. Stick to the rules, and you could get around 15% off your renewal. Full details in telematics. It sounds odd, but comprehensive is usually cheaper than 3rd party cover. Logically, 3rd party insurance should be the cheapest, as you're getting less cover than fully comp. But selecting 3rd party makes insurers think you're higher risk and so they charge more. More info in comprehensive vs third party. More than one car at home? Try multicar. If you're living with parents, check if a multicar policy for all of you is cheaper. And if the policies start at different dates, don't worry - you start with one then add others later. See multicar cover. Other things to try... - Play around with the excess. The excess is how much you pay toward a claim. The insurer sets a compulsory amount, but you can also set a voluntary excess - usually the higher it is, the cheaper the cover, though make sure it's affordable. - Get on the electoral roll. Insurers use it as an ID check to combat fraud. If they can't find you, they may charge more. - Limit your mileage. Drive less, pay less - though be honest and realistic about how much you drive. - Buy a sensible car. Big engines and modifications can send costs soaring. And don't think old means cheap - the security, safety features and ease of replacing parts can make newer cars less expensive to insure.

 

Last-min Valentine's deals - £4 for 12 roses, £12 meal deals & more. It's tomorrow - get your skates on. With Sky for broadband? Your bill's going up 6.7% in April. It's the latest telecoms firm to announce above-inflation price hikes. Not with Sky? See what your provider's doing in our firm-by-firm round-up. FREE bowl of porridge and hot drink at Asda Café. Daily from 8am to midday. See how to get it in Asda deals. Aged 66+ with income under £204/wk, or £307/wk if in a couple? If yes to both, urgently check if you're due the Pension Credit top-up for state pensions. Apply by 5 March 2024 and if eligible, you can get an extra one-time £299 lump sum. See Pension Credit for full info. FREE postcode lotto with £200+ daily prize. It sounds too good to be true, but it's legit and costs nothing as it's funded by ads... one MoneySaver won £3,800! Pick My Postcode. Please be GambleAware. 60% off Abel & Cole organic fruit and veg box. MSE Blagged. Then 50% off your next two. Veg out New. FREE Spotify Premium for 3mths (newbies only). Listen ad-free, on demand & offline. Cancel anytime - if not, £10.99/mth after. Not a newbie? Other ways to cut costs in Spotify MoneySavers.

 

 

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AT A GLANCE BEST BUYS 0% balance transfers Longest 0%: Barclaycard (check eligibility / apply*) - up to 29mths 0%, 3.45% fee (24.9% rep APR interest) No-fee 0%: NatWest (check eligibility / apply*) - 13mths 0% (24.9% rep APR) Best bank accounts £175 to switch + rewards: Club Lloyds Top savings accounts Top easy access: Coventry BS 5.15%, min £1 Top one-year fix: SmartSave 5.21%, min £10,000 Car insurance Try our Compare+ Car Insurance tool Cheap loans Cheapest for £5,000 to £7,499: Santander (check eligibility / apply*), 7.3% rep APR Cheapest for £7,500 to £15,000: TSB (check eligibility / apply*), 5.9% rep APR Broadband top picks Fast fibre (55Mb+): Vodafone '£23.55/mth' Superfast fibre (100Mb+): Virgin Media: '£22.34/mth' On Universal Credit or similar? Check all discounted social tariffs Cheap Sims Up to 3GB data: Lebara, '£3.20/mth' for 3GB 4GB to 9GB data: Lebara, '£3.45/mth' for 5GB 10GB to 30GB data: iD Mobile, '£4.50/mth' for 30GB 31GB+ data: iD Mobile, '£5.50/mth' for 50GB

 

CAMPAIGN OF THE WEEK Have you struggled with your mortgage over the past year? If so, you can help our campaigning work by anonymously filling in our mortgage experience survey. We'd especially like to hear from you if you have taken (or are considering taking) mortgage charter support. Take the survey here.

 

THIS WEEK'S POLL How much do you pay into your pension? A pension is a pot of cash that you pay into to support you later in life when you're no longer working. But according to new data, maintaining a 'moderate' standard of living in retirement now costs £8,000 a year more than it did in 2022/23. So we want to know how much you pay into your pension. Vote in this week's poll. Over half of under-35s use at least 5GB of mobile data a month, while most aged 65+ use 1GB or less. Last week, we asked how much mobile data you use in a month, and there was a clear demographic divide among the more than 5,000 responses. Whereas 59% of under-35s use 5GB+ each month, with nearly one in five using at least 10GB, some 46% of those aged 65+ use less than 1GB a month, and a further 9% don't use ANY. See the full mobile data usage poll results.

 

 

MSE NEWS - Top story: The Body Shop falls into administration - your shopping, refund and gift card rights explained - Ring to raise basic doorbell subscription prices by 43% - but we've a trick to beat the hikes - Scottish students to receive £2,400 boost to help with living costs - Tesco Bank customer? Barclays is set to run your credit cards, loans and savings - Barclays to shut at least 99 branches in 2024/25 - here's the full list

 

 

MONEY MORAL DILEMMA I'm helping my partner avoid the high income Child Benefit charge - should she be paying it? Over the past few years, I've been adding more and more to my workplace pension to keep my net income under £50,000, so my partner can keep receiving Child Benefit without having to repay any of it. But now I'd need to pay 26% of my salary into my pension, which I feel is too much at 39 - so I've stopped increasing it and have been repaying some Child Benefit. Yet my partner also works and the only joint thing she pays for is half of our weekly food shopping. Should I ask her to contribute to the amount I'm repaying or do I keep increasing my pension? Enter the Money Moral Maze: Should my partner contribute to us repaying Child Benefit? | Suggest a Money Moral Dilemma

 

 

MSE TEAM BLOG - MSE Forum highlights: Banknotes, bells and bins - Londoners: Could you save £100s on Tube fares with this hidden discount?

 

 

MARTIN'S APPEARANCES (TUE 13 FEB ONWARDS) Tue 20 Feb - This Morning, phone-in, ITV1, 10.20am Tue 20 Feb - The Martin Lewis Money Show Live (from Newcastle), ITV1, 8pm (watch previous episodes) MSE TEAM APPEARANCES Fri 16 Feb - BBC CWR, Mid-morning with Mollie Green, MSE Molly on savings challenges, from 10.40am

 

NETTLE PESTO AND KEEP SPRING ONIONS IN WATER - EASY AND CHEAP FOOD TRICKS That's all for this week, but before we go... social media is abuzz with a wholesome new trend: videos of amateur churners making homemade butter. So this week we asked our followers about deceptively easy and cheap food tricks they wish more people knew. Many MoneySavers sung the praises of making your own mayonnaise, stock, yogurt and bread, while more unusual recipes included nettle pesto (great if you're sting-y) and meringues made from tinned chickpea juice. We also read some savvy food-waste prevention tips, such as using unwanted bread crusts to make breadcrumbs, prolonging spring onions by keeping them in water on the windowsill, and blending orange, lemon and apple peel into a powder to use for baking. But our favourite has to be a unique recipe where you take bread, toast it and add some beans on top. Let us know your top easy food tips in our Facebook and Twitter conversations. We hope you save some money, The MSE team

 

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