Money advice archive
Scroll down to find Martin Lewis' money-saving advice articles for the News of the World in date order.
01/11/09
GET A CORKING RATE OF INTEREST
WE have become a nation of losers. With many accounts and cash ISAs paying under one per cent interest, losings feels a better description than savings.
25/1-/09
WRONG NUMBER!
WHAT'S the difference between direct debits and regular payments from a debit or credit card? If you don't know, BEWARE! You could end up with payments you've NO RIGHT TO CANCEL.
18/10/09
BANGER OUT OF ORDER
If your M.O.T. is an S.O.B. that drives your car repair bills through the roof, then try "hidden" council-run MOT test centres
11/10/09
CARD-JACKED!
Credit card companies are imposing horror HIKES of up to 10 per cent on people's APRs
04/10/09
BONG! Welcome to the Money Saving News.
There have been major developments to some of the issues I've covered over the past six months - so here are the headlines.
27/09/09
Your wishes granted!
Fancy some free money? Hey presto!
20/09/09
It's a nightmare!
How to deal with Tax Credits demands
13/09/09
How to shoot down parking cowboys
Deal with those unwanted parking fines.
06/09/09
Save a fortune from your phone bills
ALARM CALL ... how to save £££s on your phone bills.
30/08/2009
The incredible shrinking loans
Study my student loans guide and learn about the incredible shrinking debts.
23/08/2009
How to pick the best mortgage
SAYING interest rates are low right now is a touch like saying Stilton tastes cheesy ...
16/08/2009
Dodge high energy bills
THIS is an urgent warning to the huge number of people who grabbed a capped gas and electricity tariff a year ago . . . many are about to end, so swift action is needed to avoid bills jumping by £100s.
09/08/2009
How to avoid hidden costs of budget airlines
BUDGET airlines are now charging hundreds of pounds for so- called "extras" such as taking baggage, checking in and even PAYING for your flight. What's next, a clothing charge so only those in birthday suits get on the plane for free?
03/08/2009
How to save a fortune by shuffling your credit cards
IT is possible to borrow money without paying a penny in interest. Yet you need to be a tart - a CREDIT CARD tart, that is. Keeping up-to-date with 0% deals and swapping to them can save you a fortune.
26/07/2009
Make the most of loyalty cards
LOYALTY is a precious virtue . . . except in the case of loyalty CARDS, that is. Because when it comes to this kind of plastic, it PAYS to do a bit of two-timing.
19/07/2009
Get childcare help. Working mums and dads can claim £1,000s for childcare
WHETHER your child is a cute toddler or a stubbly 15-year-old, if YOU are a working parent you may be missing out on thousands to help pay for childcare.
12/07/2009
Stop banks from picking your pocket
I expose 10 of their major hustles, and arm you with counter-moves that will slam the lid shut on their sticky fingers.
05/07/2009
How to bag those cheap airline deals
WHICH is the odd flight out? Venice for £1, Florida for £175 or Australia at £400? The answer is the while all of them are genuine hot deals which were available this year, Florida and Oz were all-in return prices, Venice was just one-way, so the real cost was double. Still, £2 ain't too shabby.
28/06/2009
10 top tips to get the best from your cards
I ALWAYS spend on credit cards and would never use anything else. Don't get me wrong, plastic's sometimes pernicious and has ruined many lives. Credit cards are like fire: used right they're a fantastic tool. Used badly, you'll get burnt.
21/06/2009
Veiled threat. Stop your wedding day ruined by the bank
IT'S ruined weddings, cancelled Christmases and left countless people in misery. 'Setting off' is a banking practice that infects and blights our lives.
07/06/2009
Letters special
OK you guys . . . I'm BACK . . . at the mail sack, and ready to BLOW AWAY your money worries. My weekly flood of letters from ripped-off News of the World readers always makes me very angry.
31/05/2009
20 things you SHOULD know about saving
IF you need lessons in getting a good deal - you've come to the right place. We have 20 MoneySaving tips to get you straight A's in beating ruses and rip-offs.
24/05/2009
Wake-up call for savers!
Base rates may be at an historic low, but I want to explode the MYTH that all savings are awful and show you how to grab up to SIX PER CENT interest.
7/05/2009
Honey, I shrunk the bills
Despite dire economic news, it's not ALL bad. It's a buyer's market so there's never been a better time to flex your consumer muscles and bag top products.
10/05/2009
Beware thieves operate in this bank!
Sneak 'thief' lenders are exploiting little known 'setting-off' laws to use the cash in your account to pay the debt WITHOUT permission and WITHOUT telling you first.
26/04/2009
If it's fixed..don't mend it.. or How to deal with mortgage envy
ACROSS the country, the phenomenon of MORTGAGE ENVY is on the rise. My mailbag is stuffed with letters from people asking the same burning question: "Should I ditch my fix?"
9/04/2009
Beat TXTing rip-off. Saving is easy via web
TEXTING is a con. It can cost 10p to send 160 simple characters via old-fashioned text. Whether you're on pay-as-you-go or contract, if you love text, this is my guide to doing it cheaper.
12/04/2009
How to prepare for the job-loss lottery
THE BITTER winds of recession are blowing a GALE across Britain, tossing thousands out of work and buffeting the jobless count to well over TWO MILLION. While most WON'T lose their jobs, in current economic climes almost everyone should be aware of the lottery effect . . . it could be YOU.
05/04/2009
Beat the Costa Crunch! Plan hols now and save cash
ARE you heading for sun, sand and seeee . . . rious COSTS? Whether it's dollars or euros, spending abroad on your hols this summer is likely to cost you a THIRD more than last year.
29/03/2009
How to pay the mortgage if you lose your job
FOR most homeowners, it's not bricks and mortar that keeps the roof over your head- it's the MORTGAGE. At the moment the situation is chilling. House prices DOWN. Repossessions UP. Incomes DOWN. Redundancies UP.
22/03/2009
Buy stamps and see dentist now - before Budget hits
NO joke, April is Price Rise Month-whether it's prescriptions, water bills, stamps or a whole lot more. Yet ACT NOW and you can sneak under the line, dipping in ahead of the cost explosion.
08/03/2009
Get FREE club class flights to Moscow
FROM Russia with love, I fly to you . . . for FREE, business class. Let James Bond's classic theme inspire you to exploit loopholes even Britain's greatest spy would be proud of.
14/02/2009
Get hols for a lot, lot less
WANT to holiday like a Windsor with the budget of a Battersby?
Well, it ain't where you stay, it's the way that you book it, and LEGAL web loopholes let you book five-star hotels at two-star prices.
08/02/2009
Put greedy parking bandits in their place
I WANT to show you how to rip-up your parking tickets! Not literally, of course. But follow these methods to cancel UNFAIR parking fines, or reclaim clamp and tow-away fees, and it's effectively the same thing.
01/02/2009
Get £67 insurance cashback
GET PAID to have home insurance. How cheap do you think you can get home insurance? Prepare for a shock, the current record is being PAID £67 to take it out.
15/03/2009
Power shift: It's time to switch
IT DOESN'T take University Challenge superbrain Gail Trimble to work out why energy companies put their prices UP with IMMEDIATE effect. But when they announce they're going to drop them it takes months before any changes are made.
25/01/2009
Don't let British Gas cut fool you into switching
FREEZE! Don't move a muscle. British Gas may be trumpeting its new plan to knock 10 per cent off gas bills in order to tempt you in, but let me shout loud: DON'T SWITCH!
18/01/2009
Battle the banks to win a better deal
YOU may have missed the funeral . . . but the old bowler-hatted caring bank manager is dead. Modern banks are there to sell not advise, push not protect-and it's time we fought back.
11/01/2009
Banks for everything Save cash with a piggy
A LITTLE piggy could save your bacon . . . by stopping you overspending. Because bank accounts lie. When you look at your statement, it doesn't tell you how much cash you've got, it's just a snapshot of information on what's there that minute.
11/01/2009
Extinguish your debt
DEBT is like fire. Know what you're doing and it's a powerful tool, get it wrong and it burns-and sadly Britain in 2009 is a nation in FLAMES.
11/01/2009
Beat the crunch with my budget planner
GOT money problems . . . then draw up a budget. That's often said-but the problem is most budgets DON'T work. They only look at a month's spending and miss too much out.
04/01/2009
Savings Express - my guide to finding a fare deal
PULL the emergency cord! Train prices jumped an average 6.5 per cent this week, so you can't be blamed for wanting to get off. Instead, scythe the cost down with sneaky trainspotting tricks.
Time to take on lenders
28/12/2008
POW! Capital One fined £175,000. BAM! Egg fined £721,000. SMACK! Alliance & Leicester fined a record £7 million. Take a moment to CHEER the three clobberings given to these lenders by regulators -because it's flung the door open for YOU to reclaim THOUSANDS.
21/12/2008
Save yourself a call fortune and cut down on foreign bills
IT could be cheaper to fly to Spain than phone there this Christmas! For calling on Virgin Media's standard rate of 39p a minute works out as over £23 AN HOUR.
14/12/2008
Government must zap energy firms who siphon cash
ENERGY companies are siphoning millions of pounds from customers' bank accounts . . . and racking up massive interest for THEMSELVES. By levying direct debits that are too high, they are leaving people paying more than they should.
07/12/2008
The truth behind credit myths
IT'S myth-slayer time for credit-and I'm going into battle so you know exactly where you stand. So let me make it plain-you DON'T have a credit rating. And, like unicorns or dragons, credit blacklists DON'T exist.
30/11/2008
Beat negative equity
HOMEOWNERS are about to face a new nightmare-one that I call the EVAPORATING EQUITY trap. It's going to harm many people's ability to get cheap new mortgage deals . . . and you need to protect yourself from it.
23/11/2008
Box your way out of trouble
IT'S like standing between two boxers and being CLOBBERED from both sides. In the blue corner lurks that old bruiser Impending Recession -where people urgently need to pay off debt or cut its cost.
23/11/2008
Should you switch your mortgage
THE earthquake decision to slash the interest rate to three per cent has sent aftershocks through the property world-leaving cash-strapped borrowers unsure of where they stand. Some banks and building societies are still not passing the cut on.
16/11/2008
Do the credit card shuffle
THE credit crunch has BLIGHTED our nation. Millions are desperate to cut costs of existing debt-but get brutally rejected when applying to shift it to cheaper deals.
09/11/2008
Money-off vouchers
A NEW tribe of high street warriors are roaming the country, snaffling huge bargains in stores and restaurants. They are the VOUCHERISTAS -whose decisions about where to eat and shop are based on who's giving the biggest and best money-off voucher deals.
02/11/2008
Soften the crash
RECESSION is coming. The Bank of England boss said it, the Prime Minister's warned of it, and WE'RE about to feel it. My crash course in recession-proofing your finances carries no guarantees, but it should help you prepare better to roll with the punches.
26/10/2008
It's plastic fantastic
CREDIT cards don't usually come with a red cape or tight blue spandex suit. But there IS a secret superhero hidden within them . . . called Section 75.
22/10/2008
Give your wallet a boost
FEELING the pinch in the current financial crisis? How about making a bit on the side? With inflation sending household bills soaring, one way to ease the wallet strain is to boost the cash you've got coming in.
05/10/2008
Take a slice out of your spending
YOU can have your cake and eat it. Act NOW and you can get FIVE per cent off all your Christmas and January sales shopping. It's the PERFECT time to grab a "cashback" credit card which as it pays you to spend can easily earn you £100s a YEAR.
28/09/2008
Credit cards have teeth
THE nastiest card sharks are those who play with plastic-they're not East End gangsters but bankers in pinstripes. Your credit card carries a lethal range of hidden charges that bludgeon you with interest and leave your bank account bleeding.
21/09/2008
Don't panic! Fight back
IT'S been a bloody, bruising, nightmare week as the big boys of the money world ended up with broken noses. The way events have been reported, you can't be blamed for thinking we are facing financial Armageddon. Yet DON'T PANIC!
14/09/2008
SAVE AS YOU LEARN
IF YOUR grandparents or parents tell you "not to borrow"-don't listen. This well-meant but outdated logic risks causing damage. Student finance has changed and if you want to go to university you're going to have to borrow unless you're seriously minted.
10/09/2008
Baffled? All your questions answered
The credit crunch is biting and prices are rising, meaning I've been inundated with MoneySaving queries. So this week I've turned over the page to answer all your questions-from energy bills, to student loopholes, spending abroad and how much tax you pay.
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Email your questions to notw@moneysavingexpert.com |
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