16 post-Christmas MoneySaving crackers, including...
- Sales galore, including Amazon, Argos and Asos (and that's just the As)
- 2.86% easy-access savings and 4.25% fixed for a year
- £18/month SUPERFAST broadband & line
- £10 champagne and lots more...
This week, the MoneySaving elves at MSE Towers have been back at work to bring you this sackful of holiday helpers, whether you're searching the sales for a bargain, making a new year's resolution to sort your debt, need some festive fizz, or you just want to return those hideous socks Santa 'kindly' brought you...
 Boxing Day sales, including Amazon, Argos, Asos, John Lewis and Next - some up to 80% off already. The festive discounts are in full swing, and we expect many to boost further over the coming days. Get the latest in our full sales round-up.
IMPORTANT: Sales are great if you need something, it's discounted and the store has the right size or model. But don't get sucked in by the hype. Before buying, remember Martin's Money Mantras: Do I need it? Can I afford it? Have I checked prices elsewhere? If the answer is no to any of those questions, DON'T buy it.
- Struggling with energy bills this winter? They're at all-time highs, and there are no meaningfully cheaper tariffs available, so you can't switch and save right now. Yet there are still ways to cut your bills...
- Can you use less energy? First go to our 60+ energy savers checklist for pain-free changes, then the Heat the human guide, and finish with Energy mythbusters (for example, is it cheaper to have the heating on low all day?).
- Are you paying the right amount? Use our Direct debit too high? calculator.
- Have you tried all help available? If you're in financial difficulty, check if you're eligible for an Energy hardship grant. Plus see our Struggling to pay for energy guide for a full list of other help.
 It's back. £18/month for 108Mb SUPERFAST fibre Virgin broadband - slash bills by £100s for the new year. More than seven million people are out of contract, often paying £30 to £45/month for slow broadband. If that's you, check if you could get faster speeds and slash costs. The best way is to pounce on short-lived promotions.
The pick of the crop right now is this 108Mb superfast Virgin broadband & line deal. You pay £23.95/month, but get an automatic £100 bill credit, so over the 18-month contract it's equivalent to £18.40/month. It's available to 55% of homes (use the postcode checker via the link to see if you can get it, or scroll down to see full details of the deal). Not available in your area? See other offers in our Broadband Unbundled comparison tool.
- Earn a £30 Amazon voucher for doing quick online surveys. Newbies to survey site Swagbucks can get an extra £20 Amazon voucher when they earn £10 through our MSE Blagged Swagbucks deal.
- Don't accept less than 2.85% interest on your savings. 2022 was the year interest rates went up, up, up - bad news for borrowers, but a rallying cry for savers to check what they're earning. If it's less than 2.85%, it's time to ditch and switch...
- Top easy-access: App-only Zopa's 2.86% AER or, for online, Coventry BS's 2.85% AER (six free withdrawals a year).
- Top one-year fixes: App-only Atom Bank's 4.25% AER (min £50) or, for online, Cahoot's 4.25% AER (min £500).
Full info, plus non-standard accounts that may pay more, in Top easy-access savings and Top fixed savings.
- £10 champers and £5 prosecco - great if you want to see in the new year with bubbly. We've rounded up corking champagne & prosecco deals, but please be Drinkaware.
 Enrol for the FREE MSE Academy of Money course, in partnership with the Open University (OU), to tool up on your financial skills. If you have some downtime this Christmas, why not join the 10,000s of others who've signed up to the online financial education course on the OU's Open Learn platform? It's free, and covers six key areas of personal finance: 1) Making good spending decisions. 2) Budgeting and taxation. 3) Borrowing money. 4) Understanding mortgages. 5) Saving and investing. 6) Planning for retirement. See 'Academoney' explained or sign up (also available in Welsh as Academi Arian).
- Festive credit card debt piling up? Shift it to 0% for 30 months. If you pay interest on credit or store card debt, put your details into our Balance Transfer Eligibility Calculator to see your odds of getting a 0% deal.
These cards pay off debt on old cards for you, so you owe the new one instead, but with zero interest for a set time. If you've a choice, go for the card with the lowest fee which has a long enough 0% period for you to pay it off. Top deals for accepted new cardholders include:
- The longest 0%: Sainsbury's Bank offers up to 30 months 0%* for a 2.89% fee, though some accepted get 22 months or a higher 4% fee. Alternatively, existing NatWest* / RBS* / Ulster Bank customers can get 33 months 0% for a 2.9% fee.
- If you can repay quicker: Sainsbury's is up to 17 months 0% with NO FEE, but some accepted get just 12 months 0% and/or a 1% fee.
Always follow the Balance Transfer Golden Rules (more deals in Best balance transfers):
a) Clear the card before the 0% ends, or they're 20%+ rep APR interest.
b) Never miss the minimum monthly repayment or you can lose the 0%.
c) Don't spend/withdraw cash. It usually isn't at the cheap rate.
d) You must usually transfer within 60 days to get the 0%.
- Struggling with debt? DON'T DELAY - get free help. If the cost of living crisis has left you feeling desperate about your finances, help is at hand. Several charities offer impartial, one-to-one help for FREE, but it's best to make contact ASAP as demand sadly always soars in January. Full info's in our Debt help guide.
- Are you paying more than a fiver a month for your mobile? This quick check can save you £100s. The cost of a Sim - the little chip in your phone which connects you to the network and dictates your allowances - has plummeted in recent times, so if you don't need a new handset, you can slash your mobile bill with a Sim-only deal.
Our Cheap Mobile Finder tool makes it easy to find the cheapest deals with different amounts of data, but right now, one of our top picks is TalkMobile (which uses Vodafone's signal). Newbies can get 20GB/month of data, unlimited minutes and texts for £7.95/month, and can then claim a £25 Amazon voucher. Factor that in and the deal's equivalent to £5.87/month over the one-year contract, making it the cheapest 20GB Sim we've ever seen.
- Crafts, comping, challenges... and cute pets - it's MSE Forum's 2022. With more than one million members, the MSE Forum is always a hive of activity. MSE Laura F's rounded up this year's highlights in her Forum retrospective.
 Haggle with Virgin Media, RAC, Sky and more: 'I'm saving £360 a year with Sky'. The results of our latest haggling poll show that breakdown, broadband/TV, mobile and insurance firms are most likely to give a discount, and that haggling worked for two-thirds of those who tried it. The savings can be huge, as Dennis found: "My Sky contract had expired and gone up to £109.50/month, so I phoned up to
challenge the increase. Now my bill is £79.50/month for the next 18 months. Absolutely worth doing as the call was answered quickly and it was all sorted within 10 minutes. Thanks MSE for reminding me to haggle." Related: 15 huge MoneySaving successes of 2022.
- Ends Saturday. One-year GoHenry kids' spending card £2.94 (normally £36). The big-name kids' prepaid card GoHenry* lets them spend, but keeps you in control. It normally costs £2.99/month, but go through this MSE Blagged link, enter code AFFMSE15 and top up £10+, and newbies get six months free and £15 credit, equivalent to the monthly cost for most of the next six (all barring £2.94). Free card: Alternatively HyperJar* is totally free, with roughly similar features, though you can't use it at ATMs. Full info in Top prepaid cards for kids.
- How to access face-to-face banking in 2023 if your local branch is one of 193 closing next year. Six big high-street banks, including HSBC, Lloyds and NatWest, plan to shut 100s more branches in 2023. See the full list, plus how to keep face-to-face banking services.
 Oh Santa, why did you get me socks again? Your gift return rights. If the big fella got you something ghastly, misjudged your size or it broke on his sleigh, you may be in luck. Technically only the buyer has rights, but many stores allow recipients to get a refund or exchange with proof of purchase (which may mean awkwardly fessing up to the buyer). Full help in our Christmas return rights guide. Here's the key info...
- You've certain rights by law, for example, if something is faulty. If it doesn't work, you're due a refund. The same usually applies if the buyer bought online, provided you/they alert the retailer within 14 days of receipt and return it within another 14 days. Yet you've no legal rights for non-faulty stuff bought in store.
- But many stores go further. They often allow you to return non-sale items in good condition for about one month after purchase, whatever the reason, though you may need to settle for an exchange or store credit.
- Can you save £600+ in 2023 with the 1p Savings Challenge? It's a popular annual activity on the MSE Forum, where you save 1p on 1 January, 2p on 2 January and so on. See MSE Molly's 1p Savings Challenge 2023 explainer for full info.
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