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| DON'T believe the fake ads on Facebook |
| Martin: 'I'm doing a U-turn. All savers - grab the NEW 1.5% cash ISA' Until April 2016, my constant refrain was "your money is nisa in a cash ISA" - as a cash ISA is just a savings account you can (now) put £20,000 a year in, and the interest is tax-free. Then the personal savings allowance launched, meaning 95% of people no longer pay tax on savings interest anyway. And as the top cash ISAs started paying significantly less than the equivalent normal savings, that meant most people shouldn't bother with them. Until now... Before I explain the change, it's important you understand if you pay tax on savings interest. The personal savings allowance sets an annual amount of interest that taxpayers can earn tax-free on all non-ISA savings.- Basic 20% rate taxpayers can earn £1,000/yr tax-free (equiv to interest on £66,000 at the top easy-access rate). - Higher 40% rate taxpayers can earn £500/yr tax-free (equiv to interest on £33,000 at the top easy-access rate). - Top 45% rate taxpayers (ie, those earning £150,000+/yr) don't get a PSA. Cash ISAs therefore only have an impact for the few who still pay tax on interest, as they're tax-free and DON'T count towards your PSA. As you can put £20k in each tax year, over time you can protect ever larger amounts from current and future tax. New. Coventry Building Society's 1.5% cash ISA. Finally, a cash ISA launches with a rate the same as the top comparable normal savings. As it's easy access you can withdraw when you want, and it's flexible, so if you do withdraw, you can return the money in the same tax year with no impact on your £20,000 ISA allowance. Even if you don't pay savings interest tax now, in case something changes in future, you may as well grab it if you want easy access, as the rate is the same as an equivalent non-ISA. Yet don't with fixed cash ISAs, as their rates are still lower.
Unless you pay tax on savings, don't stick with Coventry if the rate drops. Like all easy-access accounts, it's a variable rate, so it may drop in future. If it does or normal savings get significantly better, you can just move your money. Though if you're close to maxing your PSA, you may want to keep some in a cash ISA, in case interest rates rise generally, when you'll then gain from protection from taxes. Potential first-time buyer? Get a 25% savings boost. This is a no-brainer for anyone who may one day want to buy their first home. With the Lifetime ISA or Help to Buy ISA, the state will add £250 per £1,000 saved, useable towards a mortgage deposit. It can mean £1,000s free - read more via the links above. |
| It's back. Cheap British Gas tariff, £250/yr cheaper (for existing custs too - if you know how). It's cheapest of the Big 6 firms, and many also get a year's basic boiler insurance. This deal's a no-brainer for those loyal to BG, but you can't call and ask for it. It's only available via comparison sites, incl via our British Gas Energy Plus Boiler Cover March 2020 link where you also get £25 dual-fuel cashback. Click for full info and how it compares. TWO pairs of prescription specs for £16. MSE Blagged. Incl frames, lenses and free delivery. You specsy thing Martin: 'Are you owed £100s by your energy firm?' His new blog shows how to check and get the cash back. New. Buy vintage clothes by the kilo - 'I paid £14.50 for a dress and 3 blouses'. At pop-up events across Eng, Scot & Wal, pay £1.50-£3 entry, then browse through tons of retro clothes which cost £15/kg. MSE Laura H says: "I bagged a gorgeous dress and 3 blouses for just £14.50 all-in. And they're unique." Kilo clothes sales M&S up to 50% off sale. Incl women's, men's and kids' clothing + home & beauty. In stores and online. M&S sale |
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| Amazon is the ultimate personal hypocrisy company. Many rage about its low tax payments, especially compared with struggling UK high street shops, which it takes business from. Yet most tut and carry on, as new research shows 90% in the UK used it in the past year. It's your choice whether to shop there. If you do, our job is to show you how to slash costs, and we've 24 Amazon tricks - here are seven to whet your appetite. Free 'Amazon delivery trick' tool. Delivery's free if you spend £20+, but if just under, instead of spending up to £4.50 on standard delivery, a handy tool finds cheap items (eg, for 30p) to take you over, so it's free. Free Amazon delivery tool Amazon's 'Take a pic, find the price' button. Spot a product, whether at a friend's home or another store, and Amazon's app allows you to take a pic of it or its barcode. It then finds the item and tells you how much Amazon charges. It doesn't always find identical stuff, but it's a neat tool for benchmarking price and availability. See Amazon photo tool. Easy free £5 to spend at Amazon, or £15 with a bit of work. There are lots of ways to grab credit - eg, get £5 free for downloading a banking app or £15 free for doing quick online surveys. 'I made £450+ in Amazon vouchers just by snapping pics of job ads'. MSE Sarah's had big success with a site that pays you for spotting ads, grabbing nearly £500 in the last year doing it. See job spotter pocket booster. New. Never pay full price for audiobooks on Amazon's Audible. It tries to push you to subscribe. If you don't, buying one-off books can be costly, sometimes £30+. Yet it's often cheaper simply to buy the Kindle book and then opt for the audiobook as an addition. Eg, on Tue Captain Corelli's Mandolin was £4.98 (for kindle and audiobook) vs £21 buying one-off from Audible. Audiobook tricks Free tool checks Amazon's price history - is it really cheaper now? Discounted items don't always mean a bargain. A clever site lets you instantly snoop on a product's Amazon history.You're entitled to reclaim music going back 20 years. If you've bought CDs/vinyl since 1999 from Amazon, you can get 'em as downloads for free. Amazon Music reclaim |
| Halfords hack: Trade in any old helmet for up to £700 off a new bicycle. Give 'em a helmet, scooter or bike and get 20% off any new helmet, scooter or bike. Wheely good deal Unlock pub & restaurant savings just by popping down the road, eg, Wetherspoon 38% less, Harvester 14% less. Our Coupon Kid reveals some chains charge less for the same grub at different outlets. Hidden food savings New. Cheap Samsung Galaxy S10 with '3GB/mth' data. The latest smartphone is never MoneySaving, but if you'll get one, at least do it cheapest... like this. Most use sub-3GB/mth so we've blagged a deal to match. Newbies to iD Mobile (uses Three's network) can get a 128GB S10 with 1GB/mth data* + unltd mins & texts for £139.99 upfront, then £29.99/mth, using code IDMOFF10 at checkout. You also get 50GB extra to use at any point over the 2yr contract, so it's an equiv 3GB-ish/mth - and we can't find anything cheaper for this phone at that level. For more help and deals, see Cheap Samsungs. Hot Diamonds 30% EXTRA off outlet code, eg, £40 bracelet for £14. MSE Blagged. £5 del. Hot Diamonds ANY personalised A5 card £1.49 delivered, incl Mother's Day (31 Mar). MSE Blagged. See Card Factory. Martin: 'Regulator must intervene to aid 130,000 Spark Energy customers chased by debt collectors'. That's even though many have kept up with payments. See Spark Energy help. |
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| AT A GLANCE BEST BUYS
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| Cheep pet insurance: Tell me-ow to get it Whether to get pet insurance is all about your attitude to pet health - if you'd make 'em better at all costs, it's the key safety net, as there's no pet NHS. Insurance for a young, healthy dog can cost £200+/yr, yet without cover, treatment could be in the £1,000s. An X-ray can cost £200+, while chemotherapy can hit £5,000. We've full help to keep costs down in Cheap Pet Insurance - here's a litter of quick tips: Got a cat or dog? Find the cheapest prices in seconds by combining comparison sites. Here's what to do for the purr-fect result...- Got one cat or dog? Combine Confused*, MoneySupermarket*, Compare The Market* & Gocompare* for a range of quotes. They don't all cover the same insurers so try as many as you've time for. - Got multiple cats & dogs? Confused* & MoneySupermarket* include multi-pet policies. Also check the big insurers and deals comparison sites don't list, eg, Aviva* (currently gives 10% off) & Direct Line* (12mths for price of 9). See more deals comparisons miss. Got other pets, such as a horse, parrot, rabbit or reptile? There are no comparisons for them, so do it manually. But ensure you read what each covers as they won't be identical... - Horses & ponies: Try SEIB, Petplan Equine* & NFU Mutual. - Rabbits: Try Exotic Direct*, Quotezone* & Petplan*. - Others such as parrots, snakes, lizards, budgies & chinchillas: Try Exotic Direct* & British Pet Insurance. And know the Pet Insurance Golden Rules... 1) Pet insurance generally covers big issues such as broken bones & cancer, not check-ups. See what it covers. 2) Need cover but can't afford it? If you're on benefits, charity PDSA may help with vets' bills. 3) You're liable for your dog's behaviour, not your cat's. So check your policy has third-party cover. If not, Dogs Trust charges £25/yr for it (£12.50 if you're over 60). 4) If your pet's had treatment, beware switching. Most insurers won't cover previous conditions. Past conditions help 5) Could you self-insure by saving instead? See Should I self-insure my pet? 6) Get routine jabs. If you don't, it could invalidate your insurance, and leave your pet vulnerable. 7) What if it doesn't pay out when I believe it should? You have a right to take it to the free Financial Ombudsman Service. |
| £10 for two Ideal Home Show London tickets. Good if you missed last month's freebies. Ideal Home FLIGHT DELAYS - SUCCESS OF THE WEEK: |
| THIS WEEK'S POLL At what age do you realistically hope to retire? Early retirement talk was once all the rage. Now, with the state pension age rising (to 67 by 2028), retirement expectations are changing rapidly. When do you hope to give up work completely? Monzo wins our biannual banking customer service poll as First Direct is knocked off the top spot for the first time ever. Last week, we asked you to rate your bank - over 5,000 responded. Challenger bank Monzo claimed top spot with 93% of its customers rating its service 'great'. At the other end, TSB claimed the wooden spoon - perhaps unsurprising given last year's IT meltdown. See full banking service poll results. |
| MONEY MORAL DILEMMA Should I tell my friend he's underpaid me? I often buy gig tickets for my friend and he pays me back, but not always the full amount. Eg, he gave me £25 for a £28 ticket. I wouldn't mind if it was a one-off, but it's happened a few times now. Should I say something? Enter the Money Moral Maze: Should I tell my friend he's underpaid me? | Suggest an MMD | View past MMDs THE QUICKIES - Debt-Free Wannabe chat of the week: Debt management plan mutual support |
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| MARTIN'S APPEARANCES (WED 13 MAR ONWARDS) Thu 14 Mar - Good Morning Britain - Deals of the Week, ITV, 7.40am MSE TEAM APPEARANCES (MOST SUBJECTS TBC) Wed 13 Mar - BBC Radio Cumbria, Money Talks with Ben Maeder, from 6pm, unclaimed council tax |
| QUESTION OF THE WEEK Q: I bought some jeans in a sale, but I've changed my mind. Do I have a right to return them? Becca, via email. MSE Sarah's A: It all depends where you bought them. If it was in a shop, you've no LEGAL right to return something just because you've changed your mind. Some stores' policies let you return items anyway - but sometimes they change their return rules during sales, eg, limiting you to an exchange only (not a refund). You'll need to check that retailer's policy. If you bought them online, it's different. Under consumer law you have 14 days to cancel an order after receiving it and a further 14 days to send the item back, even if you've just changed your mind - and this applies whether it's a sale item or not. For full info, a few exceptions and what protection you have for faulty items, see Consumer Rights. Please suggest a question of the week (we can't reply to individual emails). |
| A VERY UNUSUAL PPI PAYOUT That's all for this week, but before we go... we've been banging on about PPI reclaiming for years, and with good reason - an estimated £34 BILLION's been paid out so far. But while many have reclaimed £1,000s (the largest we've seen is a couple who got £153,000), it's not all about the big bucks - one MoneySaver's just received a payout for the princely sum of 34p. Read Sarah's story (and let us know if you've had a smaller payout) in our 34p PPI reclaim blog. We hope you save some money, |
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