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| DON'T believe the fake 'Martin Lewis' or 'MSE' ads |
| Need to borrow? Do it INTEREST-FREE for up to 23 months with the top 0% spending cards 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...
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). |
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| Home insurance costs UP by nearly 30%
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
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| 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. |
| 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 |
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| 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, |
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 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. |
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