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DON'T believe the fake 'Martin Lewis' or 'MSE' ads |
New. US bank Chase launches hot new account deal...
Alternatively, NatWest Reward* gives accepted switchers a free £150 if they apply by 5pm on Thu, plus you gain £3/month if you use the mobile app and pay out two £2+ direct debits each month (you get £5/month, but pay a £2/month fee). So if you're prepared to play, you could switch to one of these for the free £150, then put your savings in Chase, and filter some of your cash in there to spend each month to get the cashback. Do that and you've a corking combination. Full info and eligibility criteria in our Best bank accounts guide. |
As the terrible war in Ukraine continues, here's how you can donate money or help. Is it time to get solar panels? The horrendous energy price rise makes solar panels - which let you generate energy to cover some of your usage - more viable for many who have savings to spend, especially as VAT's just been removed. See our updated Are solar panels worth it? guide. New. Try MSE's revolutionary Car Insurance Multi-Compare tool. For years we've said don't just use one comparison site - combine them, then add in key tricks. Our new Car Insurance Multi-Compare tool does as much of that for you as possible. We launched it last week, and the feedback's been great. Helen emailed: "Brilliant tool. Always dread renewal date, but I used your tool from the email and although my initial quotes came up cheap (£132), the system then pointed me to extra savings - final quote £114. Thank you." Read Martin's full explainer. Extra 20% off Amazon's already discounted 'hidden' Warehouse, including £30 blender for £16. Amazon Warehouse offers returned items at knockdown prices - and since Friday, it's now offering a further 20% off. Amazon Warehouse Ever applied for a loan / credit card and got a higher rate than advertised? Time to change that. We've launched a new campaign to shift the UK back to 'typical APRs', where at least 66% of accepted customers must get the advertised rate. In 2011, an EU rule moved us to the current 'representative rates', meaning only 51% needed to get it. The rest can be charged more, and it's not capped. This is one of a host of our recommendations, and we've significant support - see Rishi Sunak asks regulator to investigate MSE's report on unfair interest rate rules. Flight cancellations - what are your rights? This week Easyjet and BA have both cancelled flights due to staff being off with Covid. With the busy Easter period coming up, we've full details on your refund rights. On a price-capped energy tariff (most are)? Have you done a meter reading? The cap jumped a hideous 54% on Friday. Doing a meter reading now reduces the risk firms will wrongly allocate any of your pre-rise usage to the new higher cost. You've then usually got a week to submit the reading. Smart/prepay meter users don't need to (though still take a picture just in case). Key energy help: What are the price cap unit rates? | Martin's 'Why your energy bill's gone up by over 54%' video | Help if struggling to pay energy bills | Energy mythbusting | Tips to cut usage 15 'lucky dip' hanging basket plants & five packs of seeds for £9 delivered (normally £41). MSE Blagged. Includes fuchsias and petunias. 5,000 available, but not in Northern Ireland & parts of Scotland. Thompson & Morgan |
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HAPPY NEW TAX YEAR... WEDNESDAY (6 APRIL) IS THE FIRST DAY Check your new take-home pay, fill up your LISA for £1,000 free cash, grab a cash ISA? and more
Equally important is our Free Tax Code Calculator - use it to check if your 2022/23 tax code is correct. Your tax code is a series of letters and numbers (for example, 1257L) which tells your employer or pension provider what tax to deduct. However, millions of codes could be wrong, like Stephen's was: "Thanks so much for your tip to check my tax code. I had a benefit-in-kind figure affecting it after I switched from a company car five years ago, and am due a rebate of almost £5,000." FIRST-TIME BUYER (OR WANT TO BE ONE DAY)? Get a FREE £1,000. A Lifetime ISA gives first-time buyers a 25% bonus on up to £4,000 saved each tax year, meaning you can get an additional £1,000/year free. Though you'll need to be aged 18-39 to open one. Our Top LISAs guide has full info. SAVER? You've a new cash ISA allowance, but most shouldn't bother (in fact, most should ditch cash ISAs). A cash ISA is just a savings account you can put up to £20,000 per tax year in. With one, the interest is tax-free and doesn't count towards the personal savings allowance (PSA). Yet the PSA means 20% basic-rate taxpayers can earn £1,000 interest a year from all savings tax-free, and higher 40% taxpayers, £500 interest - and few people get close to that, so there's no practical cash ISA benefit for them. Instead the interest rate is what counts, and cash ISAs pay less than normal savings...
INVESTOR? You've a new stocks & shares ISA allowance. The same £20,000 ISA allowance for this tax year applies across cash AND stocks & shares, meaning you can save in one, both or neither. See Stocks & shares ISAs for help to get started. MARRIED/CIVIL-PARTNERED? Claim up to £1,250 tax back if you're eligible for marriage tax allowance. If one of you is a non-taxpayer and the other is a basic 20% taxpayer, you can transfer tax-free allowances between you, so you pay less tax as a couple. It's worth up to £252 in 2022/23, but backdate it the full four years allowed and it can be worth a further £990. While there's no urgent deadline, do it now while you remember - and once you sign up, you get it every year. Full help in our Marriage tax allowance guide. SELF-EMPLOYED/FREELANCE? Put a third of what you earn aside to pay tax. It's crucial to get tax right at the start of the year. Martin's rule of thumb is for every £100 you're paid, put about £30 aside in a separate account you never touch for tax and national insurance (hopefully this is too high, in which case you'll have saved a touch). If you don't have money aside to pay tax, it can be a nightmare when the bill comes in. Martin's warning to freelancers and the self-employed everywhere blog was written a decade ago, but it's still just as relevant today. |
Ends Thu. Got credit card debt? Pay NO INTEREST for 30 months (1.5% fee) + get £20 cashback. A balance transfer is where you get a new card that repays debt on old cards for you, so you owe it instead, but interest-free. Sainsbury's up to 30 month 0%* is the top-pick long deal for large amounts, as until 11.59pm on Thursday it gives £20 cashback if you shift £2,500+. Though it's best to use our 0% Eligibility Calculator first to see your acceptance odds for this and other top cards. Golden rules: Always repay at least the monthly minimum, and clear the card before the 0% ends or it's 19.9% rep APR interest. For more cards, including longer 0% periods, see Top balance transfers (APR examples). Stamp swap scheme starts - if you've been hoarding, you can swap 'em now. Royal Mail will scrap unbarcoded 'Queen's head' stamps, including 1st & 2nd class, by February 2023. If you won't use all yours, you can now swap 'em for free. £37 Red magazine make-up box with £205 of NARS, Illamasqua and REN in it. MSE Blagged. Normally sells for £60, but we've blagged it for you for £37 delivered. However, we worked out the make-up you get in it would cost £205 if bought separately. 1,800 available. Couldn't make (it) up New. Around 700,000 miss out on passport application fee savings - by not applying online. As Covid travel restrictions ease, here's how to cut passport costs. 24 craft beers for £27 delivered (normally £70). MSE Blagged. Newbies only, no subscription. 1,000 boxes available, though not in Northern Ireland. Flavourly (please be Drinkaware). Achoo - 180 hay fever tablets for £4.79. 'Tis the season, so see our Cheap hay fever meds round-up. |
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AT A GLANCE BEST BUYS
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THIS WEEK'S POLL Energy smart meters: great tech or a pain in the neck? More than 26 million smart meters have been installed across England, Scotland and Wales. They automatically send meter readings to your supplier, and come with in-home displays to show you your energy usage in real time - so they can help you identify where you can cut back. Yet they're not without issues - for example, older models may go 'dumb' if you switch provider. So what's your opinion of smart meters? Men are more likely to ask for a pay rise. Last week, we wanted to know if you'd ever asked for a pay rise - over 1,800 people responded. Overall, four in 10 had successfully asked for a raise, though men were more likely to request one in the first place, with 63% having done so vs 56% of women. For those who had never done it, being too nervous or not knowing how to bring it up were the biggest obstacles. See full pay rise poll results. |
MONEY MORAL DILEMMA Is it wrong to buy and sell on a lamp that may be worth more than the owner thinks? I've haggled the cost of a 'marble' lamp I found online down from £10 to £8, but what the seller thinks is marble I believe to be serpentine, and these lamps easily sell for £30 or more. Would it be wrong to buy it then sell it on for a profit without telling the seller what I think it's really made of? Enter the Money Moral Maze: Is it wrong to buy and sell on a lamp that may be worth more than the owner thinks? | Suggest an MMD |
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MARTIN'S APPEARANCES (WED 6 APR ONWARDS) Wed 6 Apr - This Morning, phone-in, ITV, 10.55am MSE TEAM APPEARANCES (MOST SUBJECTS TBC) Wed 6 Apr - BBC Radio Manchester, Mid-morning with Mike Sweeney and MSE's Gary Caffell, from 11.40am |
HUNTER WELLIES FOR A FIVER... WHAT'S THE BEST MISPRICED ITEM YOU'VE EVER BOUGHT? That's all for this week, but before we go... MoneySavers have been sharing the mispriced bargains they've bagged that were honoured by the retailer. Top bargains included a 12-bottle case of wine for the price of one bottle, a £40 armchair cover for just 1p, expensive Hunter wellies for a fiver, and even a box set of X-Files videos for £8 instead of £80 (yes, this was a while ago). There are many more on our best mispriced bargain Facebook post - and don't forget to tell us yours too. We hope you save some money, stay safe, |
Important. Please read how MoneySavingExpert.com worksWe 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 LewisWhat is MoneySavingExpert.com? Who is Martin Lewis? 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 chase.co.uk, firstdirect.com, natwest.com, sainsburysbank.co.uk, hsbc.co.uk, santander.co.uk, mbna.co.uk, novunapersonalfinance.co.uk 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. |
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