Urgent £1,000s pension boost, 20% Aldi code, free wills, energy prices to RISE, 24mth 0% ends, FIXED price broadband

Why Martin says you're less attractive than you were, £8 veg £2, free kids' books

                                                           

01 March 2023 | View in browser

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THE TOP TIPS IN THIS EMAIL Martin: 10 ways to protect & boost your credit score: - Check for credit file errors - Take the credit score quiz - Make yourself financially fanciable Energy latest: Bills to RISE 20% despite price cap fall Beat 14% broadband hikes - '£16/month' fibre, '£24/month' superfast Martin: 'Under 6 weeks for millions to boost state pension by £10,000s' Book rail tickets by Sun to beat 6% hikes Ends Mon. 24 months' 0% spending Rare Aldi 20% off code FREE solicitor-drafted will if you're 55+ £8ish Sainsbury's fruit & veg £2 'Without your email, my friend wouldn't have got £9,800 bereavement help' £20 off trips to Kensington Palace, Yorkshire Wildlife Park and more Martin's podcast: Get £1,000s back on council tax, have you had a Money-piphany and more Klarna to charge £5 late-payment fee FREE kids' book vouchers, hidden Kindle freebies and more Used a tax rebate claims firm? Check if you're owed Martin: 'What happened to my £10 million charity pledge?' Ends Sun. Free 6,000+ mags & papers This week's best buys, including £200 bank bribe, 3.15% easy-access savings, 31 months' 0% debt shift Is OK to sell items from pound shops online for a profit? BEST BUYS & TOOLS MSE Cheap Mobile Finder Credit Club including free credit report 0% balance transfers Compare broadband deals MSE Car Insurance Compare+ Best bank accounts Top savings accounts Credit cards for bad credit Credit Card Eligibility Calculator Loans Eligibility Calculator Mortgage comparison Compare travel money Cheap Energy Club, with Pick Me A Tariff Best Sim-only deals

Martin: 'Sorry, but you're less attractive than you were (financially)... so protect & boost your credit score' 10 ways to ensure you get the best possible mortgage, card, loan & mobile deal as cost of living crisis bites Inflation has taken its toll on many, leaving fiscal bags under the eyes, and making many less appealing to providers of credit cards, mobile phone contracts, mortgages, bank accounts and more. This is because spiralling prices mean many... → have less disposable income → that makes you less attractive to lenders → so acceptance, especially for top rates, is tougher → which adds to your costs... so rinse and repeat. There's little we can do about rising interest, costs or poor product availability, yet you can manage your creditworthiness (if nowt else, check your credit file for free), which is crucial as many more people find themselves on the acceptance grey zone border. So here are 10 need-to-knows to boost your creditworthiness, and my tips on how to be more fanciable (how you doin'): 1. You DON'T have a credit rating. In the UK there's no such thing as a definitive credit rating or score - no single number dictates whether a lender will accept you. Instead, each lender scores you based on its own wish list of what makes a profitable customer. Usually profitability correlates to risk, but there can be specialist lenders who view it differently. Hold on geezer, I do have a credit score, I paid for it? Well, dude, [I'll stop that now], yes and no. The 'credit score' given by a credit reference agency is just a product sold that gives a useful loose indication of how a 'typical' lender may see things (see how to get paid to check your credit score). Yet it's neither definitive nor used by lenders. I often hear: "My credit score's dropped seven points because I did x, y or z. Help." In reality, little changes mean very little (it's big drops to be wary of) as each lender is different, so don't stress 'em. For example, close a credit card and your score may rise as you've less available credit, but some individual lenders may score you down, as they like signs of longevity. It's not hard and fast. 2. Your credit FILE matters. Check it for errors at least once a year, or before any big application. Credit reference agencies' files (also called a credit report) contain much of the data lenders use to assess applications. So check them regularly, preferably at all agencies, line by line. A simple error, such as an unused - but still open - credit card account at the wrong address, can kibosh applications. Even if the file's correct, checking helps you spot problems. Full info in Free credit reports, and what to do if you find an error, but to briefly check... - EXPERIAN (the biggest): Use MSE's free Credit Club - EQUIFAX: Use Clearscore* - TRANSUNION: Use Credit Karma 3. Need the best card or cheapest loan? DON'T just 'apply', that hits your file. Almost every credit application goes on your credit file. The system is effectively anti-shopping around, as get rejected or a worse rate than advertised, and you'll need to apply elsewhere, but too many applications, especially close together, is negative. Eligibility checkers show your acceptance odds before you apply, so you can hopefully home in on where you've the best chance of getting a good deal. Some lenders have their own, but for ease, ours show a whole range of products at once (& sometimes can pre-approve)... - Cheap loan eligibility calc (lowest cost personal loans) - Balance transfer credit card eligibility (shift debt to 0%) - Spending credit card eligibility (new 0% borrowing) - Money transfer credit card eligibility (pays 0% cash into bank) - Reward credit card eligibility (cashback, points etc) - Travel credit card eligibility (cheap spending overseas) Eligibility calc searches do go on your file, but only you can see them, lenders can't, so it doesn't impact your future creditworthiness. Yeah, but I've had CCJs, I've got no chance... Try the eligibility calcs. Some specialist products do allow even those with past county court judgments (CCJs), defaults and bankruptcies to be accepted, though the deals aren't table-topping. For example... For balance transfers, Virgin Money is 16mth 0%, 3% fee. For cheap overseas spending, there's 118 118 Money (always repay IN FULL or the interest's horrid). For rewards, Asda Money Select is 0.3% cashback, 1% at Asda (this isn't in our eligibility calc, but it has its own). Again, repay IN FULL or it's 34.9% rep APR. My 'would you lend to someone who' quiz If you're struggling to understand credit scoring, this may help. In the main, credit scoring is pretty intuitive (you can watch my quick video on this too). It's all about trying to predict future behaviour based on the past. So let's play... At the pub, someone's forgotten their cards, and asks you to lend 'em a tenner, saying they'll pay you back. Would ya if... a) they often do it, yet EVERY time have always promptly repaid? b) they often do it, but rarely remember to pay you back? c) they seem nice, but you've not met them before? Our instincts would be warmest to the first, and coldest to the other two. If you're similar, then you've been credit scoring like a bank as... a) is someone with a good credit history. b) is someone with a poor history. c) is someone you have too little data on, so reject. 4. The top cards to (re)build your creditworthiness. Credit scoring is a catch 22. As the quiz above shows, the two big reasons people get rejected are a) their history makes them look a bad credit citizen, and b) there's not enough data on them. In both cases, the best thing to do is get some borrowing and use it well. In other words, you need credit to get credit, but how do you get credit when you don't have credit? Our Credit (re)Build Card Eligibility Calc lists easier-to-get cards designed for this, with high interest rates (no problem if you follow my instructions below). This includes Tesco's Foundation card*, as it also rewards spending (pay it in full or it's 29.9% rep APR). Once you have one... - Do £50 to £100/mth of normal spending on it. - Never withdraw cash on it. - Repay IN FULL each month, preferably by direct debit. That way there's no interest (as if you clear the balance, you're not charged). - After up to a year or so, provided you never miss a payment (and don't have issues elsewhere), your creditworthiness should improve. More help and options in Credit (re)build cards. 5. A perfect credit history DOESN'T mean acceptance... as you also need to be able to afford to repay. Someone who's got a good history still won't get a £200,000 loan on a £10,000 income, as they fail the affordability score. These use your income from the application form (it isn't on credit files), your available credit, and either actual or assumed outgoings to assess you. For example... - Credit history really counts for credit card acceptance. As with good history but poor affordability you'll likely still get a card, just with a low credit limit. See Cheap credit cards. - Affordability really counts for loans. As you specify the amount to borrow, a good credit score but low affordability may lead to rejection, especially for bigger borrowing. See Cheap loans and Loans eligibility. How to make yourself fiscally fitter so you're financially more fanciable - ffwoar... There are things to try to make yourself more attractive to lenders, but there's no universal fix. After all, you can't make everyone fancy you. While some like glammed up, others want stripped back (or stripped off). Yet some simple cosmetic changes work for most. - Use consistent answers on every application (eg, job title). Evidence of stability's good, so don't alter your job title or put different bank or mobile numbers down (unless they've changed). Consistency is also important for fraud scoring, where external agencies filter applications to check for inconsistencies - they can cause you problems. - You can hold hands, snog, live with or marry who you like... just be careful if you get joint products. Even marriage won't link your credit file with someone else, ONLY joint products can - like a joint mortgage, loan or even bills bank account with flatmates (credit cards are never joint, the other card is just a 2nd card on the 1st account). If joined, lenders may see their history when you're assessed, so beware joint-producting if someone has a bad history. No longer with someone you were linked to? How to de-link your finances. - Get on the electoral roll. If not, getting credit's tough, as it can cause ID and tracing issues, so sign up to the electoral roll (you can still opt out of the 'open register' to avoid junk mail). See help for foreign nationals, as that can be trickier. - Buy now, pay later (BNPL) is increasingly appearing on credit reports, so timely repayment matters. The three credit reference agencies now add data about BNPL use (eg, Klarna, Laybuy, though not all cover the same ones) to credit files to help with affordability assessments. So on-time repayments should boost your credit history, late repayments may harm it. See How BNPL works. - Never miss or be late on repayments. Use a direct debit to be sure, even if just the minimum (then manually repay more on top). - Don't withdraw cash on credit cards. It's expensive & evidence of poor money management. See What about withdrawing cash abroad? - Ensure you time it right. Major problems, such as county court judgments (CCJs), defaults or bankruptcy, stay on your file for six years. Applications for products stay on for one year. So if things will soon lapse, try holding off applying until they do. - Don't do little applications just before big ones. Too many applications too quickly can be negative, so space out and prioritise applications, eg, if you're soon applying for a mortgage, don't apply for trivial things like cashback credit cards for the month or two before. - Experian Boost can give a limited, er, boost. The free Experian Boost* add-on uses Open Banking data to show lenders you are making on-time repayments for things such as council tax, Netflix, Spotify and even regular savings transactions. It's only used by a few lenders so far though. - Payday loans can kill mortgage applications. Payday lending is less common these days, but as well as being dangerous in its own right, some mortgage lenders won't lend to anyone who's had one recently. Related: See our free First-time buyers' or Remortgage guides for full help on mortgage acceptance. 6. Know what they know and don't know about you. When assessing both your creditworthiness and affordability, lenders will look at three key pieces of information: i) Your credit report, which includes electoral roll info, products you have, court judgments and more. Yet people get confused about what's on credit files. They don't see speeding points or criminal records, for example. See the full list of what credit reference agencies know and don't know about you. ii) Any past dealings you've had with them. So a lender you've banked with knows you better. If it's good, applying there can boost acceptance. iii) Your application form. This has crucial information on it, including your salary (which credit reference reports don't have). 7. Use rent to boost your ability to get credit - which could help a mortgage application. Sadly, paying £1,000/mth rent doesn't help much to prove you can afford a £1,000/mth mortgage. Yet now at least, if you always pay rent on time, it may be able to improve your creditworthiness that can help mortgage acceptance. See rent on your credit file for full info, but in brief... - Rental Exchange Initiative*. This is only for the Experian credit file. Here bigger private landlords (500+ properties), council and social housing landlords sign up. It's free for them and you. Their incentive is it helps encourage on-time rental payments. - Canopy. Here the tenant signs up, and it's free to get it to report to Experian, or £4/mth for all three agencies. - Credit Ladder. Another tenant sign-up, then you can choose which of Experian, Equifax or TransUnion it reports to for free, or get all three from £5/mth (if paying for a full year). So if you use Canopy for Experian, you could then use Credit Ladder for one of the other two agencies, getting you 2/3 agencies free. Related help: Get 25% first-time buyers' savings boost in a LISA | First-time buyers' mortgage booklet | 50+ tips for renters 8. Low eligibility score? Don't let it scare you off applying for important products like balance transfers. I often hear: "I didn't apply. I only got a 20% chance, and didn't want to risk a rejection". Yet if your best chance is 20% and it's a crucial product, like a top balance transfer to cut your debt costs, 20% means two in 10 in your situation WILL be accepted, and you may be one of those. As Adam emailed me recently: "Hi Martin, thank you. I've been listening to your podcast for two weeks now and have already saved £3,728. First the Help to Save scheme... "Then balance transfers. I applied to the top eligibility checker result, which I'd only 20% chance, and guess what? I was accepted and offered a £3,500 limit at 0% for two years. This debt was 20% APR. I can now focus on other debts, potentially having an extra £1,328ish over the 0% period to reduce the amount owed." So if you're not sure, remember, one search on your file isn't that big a deal, and what's the point of managing and protecting your credit file if you can't use it for key products to cut your costs. 9. Get unfair defaults removed from your file. If there's a default on your file that isn't fair (eg, you were marked as paying late, even though you paid on time), it's important to get it removed - or it can kibosh most future applications. It can be tough to get rid of, so see our step-by-step unfair defaults help. And even if it is fair, see how to mitigate the damage from defaults. 10. Technology is changing credit scoring and more is to come. More lenders, especially fin-tech ones, are also using Open Banking (you let them access your feed) to assess people. It can provide more up-to-date and bespoke insights that could increase (or decrease) your ability to borrow and mean less paperwork. Expect this trend to increase over the coming years. --------------------------------------- For far more help, see my 38 tips to boost your credit file guide.

 

 

DON'T believe the fake 'Martin Lewis' or 'MSE' ads Lots of scam ads litter social media and even newspaper websites - some of these lie that we or Martin promote Bitcoin, binary trading etc. See Fake ads warning.

 

 

 

'We're now in the perverse situation that in April the Energy Price Cap will fall, but what we pay will RISE 20%' NEW April energy price calc, £400 park home payments, a switchable tariff?, and more Martin's big picture explanation (watch video of him on GMB explaining in detail)... "The Energy Price Cap is set by regulator Ofgem, based on a time-lagged assessment of the wholesale rates energy retailers pay. On Monday, it announced the April to June Cap will fall 23%, down from the current £4,279/yr to £3,280 for someone on the, rather meaningless, 'typical' bills amount (what you actually pay depends on what you use). "Yet that's still higher than the state-subsidised Energy Price Guarantee, set by the Government, that almost everyone (not N Ireland) is on. And as we pay the LOWER of the two rates, in April it's still the Guarantee rate we pay. "The Govt currently plans to increase the guarantee price by 20% in April. So, from £2,500/yr for a 'typical' bill to £3,000/yr. This means we're in the perverse situation that the Cap will fall, but the Govt will increase what people pay by 20% (see our new April price calc for the effect on you). "And as it coincides with the end of the £66/mth winter energy support payments, the effect's exaggerated. "So three weeks ago, I wrote to the Chancellor to ask him to postpone the increase. That letter's now supported by more than 85 big charities, and the industry trade body Energy UK. Reading the runes, I think it's now better than 50-50 odds this will succeed. No guarantees though. "And if you're asking why 'postpone', not cancel, well from July the Cap's likely to undercut the Guarantee, so the Guarantee will no longer be relevant, meaning it is cancelled. Yet postponing is a more winnable ask, as it defeats the 'we can't, in case wholesale rates rise again' rebuttal. Now over to the team for the practicals. PS: All this does mean we may soon, possibly in the coming weeks, see new fixed deals launch." NEW. Energy price rise calculator - what's your rise (it's not a straight 20%)? Our April price rise calculator will show what you're likely to pay. While it's set on the Guarantee rate, as that is the Cap minus a subsidy, as the Cap's changed, it can slightly shift the balance between the cost of direct debit and other ways of paying. We don't have the final rates yet, but have tried to estimate (we'll let you know when we have confirmed rates in the calc). IMPORTANT. Live in a park home, houseboat, or pay landlord for energy? If you pay someone for energy who is on a commercial contract (such as those in park homes), you can now, finally, apply for the £400 cost of living support payment (Eng, Scot, Wales) or the £600 N Ireland energy bills support payment. On heating oil or LPG and don't have an electricity supplier? If you're on heating oil (or similar 'off-grid' fuel to heat your home, for example, LPG or biomass), from next Monday (6 March) you can apply for £200 support. If you do have an electricity supplier, you should have been paid this automatically (check your elec account). See £200 heating oil payment. Time to switch? A tariff some may benefit from. Agile Octopus is a smart, elec-only tariff where the rates you pay change every half-hour based on wholesale energy prices and nationwide demand. The rates are currently lower than the EPG most of the time, but can spike rapidly - so you need to be willing to keep an eye on the rates and be able to shift as much usage as you can to cheaper, off-peak periods. See our Agile Octopus analysis for full info. Cut bills by cutting usage. First try our 70+ energy savers for pain-free savings to make your home more efficient. Then Heat the human not the home for those who sadly need to cut down usage more severely, and Energy mythbusting for what's true and what ain't, for example, "Is it cheaper to have the heating on all day?" Struggling to pay your bill? Energy hardship grants may help. See our full Struggling to pay energy bills help.

 

Martin: 'Urgent! Under 6 weeks for millions to boost state pension by £10,000s (some can do it free).' Watch Martin's urgent state pension boost video. Tried to contact Gov helpline to boost pension? Please take our survey. Book rail fares & season tickets BEFORE Sunday to beat 6% hikes. If you've a confirmed trip, check if the price is rising and book now. Beat the rise and 20 more rail savers Ends Mon. Longest 0% spending card - get 24 months interest-free. The cheapest way to borrow over the medium term is a long 0% credit card, and through these links Barclaycard gives up to 24 months 0%* (or better still, go via our eligibility calculator), but only till Monday. Golden rules: 1) Only borrow if it's really needed, for planned, one-off, budgeted for expenditure. 2) Always pay at least the minimum monthly payment. 3) Never withdraw cash. 4) Clear the balance before the 0% ends or you pay 22.9% rep APR. Full help and options in 0% spending cards. Early-access Aldi 20% off code for garden furniture, outdoor heating, BBQs and more. Go quick, as it'll be open to all from Thu, and stock can be limited. Aldi Get a FREE solicitor-drafted will if you're 55+. Free Wills Month happens every March and October. It allows those aged 55+ to get a solicitor-drafted (or updated) will for free, in the hope you'll leave a bequest (something in your will) to one of their partner charities. This March, it's in a selection of areas across England, Wales and Scotland, and bookings open tomorrow (Wed) - though go quick, as they tend to fill up fast. Full details in Free Wills Month. £8ish Sainsbury's fruit & veg £2. 'Surplus' fruit & veg across 200 stores. Sainsbury's £2 veg. Related: Lidl's £1.50 box. 'Without your email, my friend wouldn't have got £9,800 bereavement help after her partner died.' Two weeks ago, we told you unmarried parents are now due backdated bereavement support. Our success of the week comes from Rhianne, who told her friend about it: "My friend successfully claimed £9,800 after her partner died in 2018. They were unmarried, but lived together with children for many years. As a single mother of three on a low income, this money will help so much. If I didn't get your emails, it's unlikely my friend would have known about the support. Thank you." If we've helped you claim or save money (on this, or anything else), please send us your MoneySaving successes. £20 off Visit Britain voucher (including Kensington Palace, Yorkshire Wildlife Park, Liver Building and more). £20 off 100s of UK attractions. 30,000 available. Visit Britain

 

 

BLAGGED FOR MSE - Three months' free access to 6,000+ mags & papers Ends Sun	DID YOU MISS? - Tesco's Pay+ and Clubcard apps are closing - You WON'T be allowed to vote this May unless you've ID - 30+ birthday FREEBIES, including Krispy Kreme, Greggs - O2 and Virgin Mobile to hike mobile bills by up to 17.3% in April - Struggling to afford food? There is help, don't go hungry

 

 

Beat the coming April 14% broadband hikes - lock in a year's FIXED PRICE at £16 a month fibre, or £24 a month for 500Mb superfast speeds Almost all big broadband firms have now confirmed 8% to 14% price rises this spring, usually hitting even those mid-contract (see firm-by-firm rises). Yet seven million of you aren't in contract, so are free to leave or haggle. If you are in contract, diarise when it ends so you can act then (unless you're a Sky broadband - not TV - customer, or with Virgin Broadband, as you can leave penalty-free within 30 days of it notifying you of the rise). So here are the top broadband tariffs, all of which offer FIXED prices (so no rise this year) until at least spring 2024... Top switchers' 'FIXED UNTIL SPRING 2024' broadband & line deals Deals are postcode dependent, so links go to our broadband tool, which shows if you can get 'em Ends Sun 5 Mar Shell Energy (18-month contract) - 38Mb fibre & line '£15.53/mth' - 67Mb fibre & line '£17.14/mth' No price rise this year, but it will increase in April 2024 Cheapest fibre & fast fibre. These Shell 38Mb (Shell 67Mb) links (through Broadbandchoices) mean you pay £5.57 upfront, then £21.99/mth for 38Mb (£23.99/mth for 67Mb). You can then CLAIM - don't forget - a £100 (£105) Amazon voucher within four months AND get one month free through bill credit. Factor it all in over the 18-month contract before calls, and it's equivalent to £15.53/month (£17.14/mth). Shell's customer service rating from our poll is 'poor'. Ends Sun 5 Mar Vodafone (24-month contract) - 67Mb fibre & line '£18.96/mth' No price rise this year, but it will increase in April 2024 Cheap fast fibre. Apply through this Vodafone 67Mb link (through Broadbandchoices) and you'll pay £25/mth, but you can CLAIM - don't forget - a £145 Amazon, Tesco, Sainsbury's or M&S voucher within four months. If you'd have spent there anyway, factor it in and it's equivalent to £18.96/mth over the 24-month contract. Vodafone was rated 'OK' in our last service poll. Ends Sun 5 Mar Vodafone (24-month contract) - 500Mb fibre & line '£24.38/mth' No price rise this year, but it will increase in April 2024 Cheapest superfast fibre. This is a very good price for really really fast broadband. Apply through this Vodafone 500Mb link (through Broadbandchoices) and you'll pay £30/mth, but you can CLAIM - don't forget - a £135 Amazon, Tesco, Sainsbury's or M&S voucher within four months. If you'd have spent there anyway, factor it in and it's equivalent to £24.38/mth over the 24-month contract. As above, Vodafone's rated 'OK' for service. On universal credit or similar benefits? Try a social tariff. Many providers offer special discounted social broadband tariffs which give long-term cheap prices. Click the link for a full rundown of what's available.  We use 'equivalent costs', adding all costs, except calls, deducting promo credits & averaging over the contract. (1) Broadband service ratings tend to be worse than other sectors, so all scores are lower. See our broadband service poll results page. Don't want to switch? Haggle. If you're free to move (so out of contract, nearing the end, or allowed to go within contract), you're in a powerful position to haggle, so use the price rises as a clarion call to take action. In our December poll, the vast majority of those who'd haggled with the big broadband firms were successful. So use the deals above as a benchmark price to help you get your costs down. Not sure how? Read full Broadband haggling tips. Slow broadband? Test your speed - is it the Wi-Fi or the connection? Do a broadband speed check - first when using Wi-Fi, and then plugging your device into the router (if you can). If Wi-Fi's a lot slower, try our eight speed-boosters. At least 50% of customers must get the advertised speeds at peak times. All providers above also tell you the estimated max speed you're likely to get before you sign up. Switching usually only means about two hours' downtime. You're told the switch time, and most don't need an engineer to set it up - though some leaving Virgin may need an Openreach engineer. Members of cashback sites can sometimes undercut deals. In some cases, the cashback can mean these sites undercut promos elsewhere, though sometimes the deal differs - so check carefully. More in Top cashback sites.

 

Get £1,000s back on council tax, have you had a Money-piphany and more. All in the new The Martin Lewis Podcast - listen through BBC Sounds | Apple | Spotify and more. Buy now, pay later firm Klarna to CHARGE £5 FEE if you pay it late. Starting from 16 March. Klarna FREE kids' book vouchers, hidden Kindle freebies, 10 picture books £10 and more. We've updated our Cheap kids' books tricks blog for World Book Day. Check if you're owed a refund after MSE investigation helps HMRC shut down Tax Credits Ltd. The tax rebate firm took a 48% fee on money owed to claimants by HM Revenue & Customs. See Tax agent clampdown. Martin: 'What happened to my £10 million charity pledge? (Spoiler: it's now well over £20 million).' As it was a public pledge, Martin does this update every year or two for transparency. Find out who benefits and how he decides. Ends Sun. Three months' free access to 6,000+ magazines & papers, including Hello!, The Guardian, Gardeners' World. MSE Blagged. For Readly newbies till this Sunday (5 March). Mag-nificent

 

 

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AT A GLANCE BEST BUYS 0% balance transfers Longest 0%: MBNA (check eligibility / apply*) - up to 31 months 0%, 3.49% fee (22.9% rep APR interest) No-fee 0%: NatWest - 19 months 0% (23.9% rep APR) Best bank accounts £200 to switch + £36/year cashback: NatWest / RBS £175 & £30 Amazon voucher to switch + TOP service: First Direct Top savings accounts Top easy access: Chip 3.15%, min £1 Top one-year fix: SmartSave 4.26%, min £10,000 Car insurance Try our Car Insurance Compare+ tool Cheap loans Cheapest for £5,000 to £7,499: AIB (NI) (apply), 5.6% rep APR Cheapest for £7,500 to £15,000: Sainsbury's Bank (check eligibility / apply*), 4.8% rep APR (must have Nectar card) Broadband top picks Fibre (30Mb+): Shell Energy '£15.53/month' Fast fibre (55Mb+): Shell Energy '£17.14/month' On universal credit or similar? Check discounted social tariffs Cheap Sims Up to 3GB data: Lebara, '£2.94/month' for 3GB 4GB to 9GB data: Lebara, '£3.70/month' for 5GB 10GB+ data: iD Mobile, '£4.67/month' for 15GB

 

THIS WEEK'S POLL How do you rate your broadband provider? We can tell you which broadband providers are cheapest, but to keep our customer service ratings updated, we need your help. So please let us know how you rate your broadband provider? More than one in 10 MoneySavers spend over £1,000 a year on birthdays. As it was MSE's 20th birthday last week, we asked how much you spend celebrating friends and family. Of the 4,000 people who responded, most told us they spend less than £500. Yet while a full 12% spend less than £50, a similar number splashed out more than £1,000 to celebrate their loved ones. See full birthday spend poll results.

 

 

MSE NEWS - Top story: Asda, Morrisons and Tesco among supermarkets limiting fruit and veg sales - Affected by teacher strikes? These are your work rights if you need to take time off

 

 

MONEY MORAL DILEMMA Is it OK to sell items from pound shops online for a profit? Over the last few months, I have made over £2,000 selling things online thanks to MSE's eBay & second-hand selling tips. One thing I've been doing is selling £1 items from discount stores for as much as £9.99. While this has made me a decent sum, I've received messages accusing me of profiteering. Is that fair? After all, I'm not forcing people to buy things from me. Enter the Money Moral Maze: Is it OK to sell items from pound shops online for a profit? | Suggest a Money Moral Dilemma

 

A few kids' book competitions... - Win a pair of Don't Tickle books - Win a personalised Be Held book - Win the complete Rugby Spirit series - Win the Waterstones Children's Book Prize shortlist (Ends Sun) ...from the MSE Forum - Win a 2023 Star Books bundle - Win signed books by Children's Laureate Joseph Coelho - Win a copy of Two Places to Call Home - Win five books from the Rainbow Grey/Monster Hunting series

 

 

MARTIN'S BLOG - What happened to my pledge to give £10m to charity - 2022/23 update (spoiler: it's now £20m)	MSE TEAM BLOG - MSE Forum highlights: Signs, savings & strange smells

 

 

MARTIN'S APPEARANCES (WED 1 MAR ONWARDS) Wed 1 Mar - Ask Martin Lewis, BBC Radio 5 Live, 1pm Tue 7 Mar - This Morning, phone-in, ITV, 10.20am Tue 7 Mar - The Martin Lewis Money Show Live, ITV, 8pm MSE TEAM APPEARANCES (SUBJECTS TBC) Thu 2 Mar - BBC Radio Leicester, Mid-morning with Summaya Mughal, from 11.35am Tue 7 Mar - BBC Radio Cambridgeshire, Mid-morning with Jeremy Sallis, from 10.45am

 

MSE TURNS 20 - YOUR BIGGEST MONEYSAVING SUCCESSES... FROM PPI REFUNDS TO A FREE FREEZER That's all for this week, but before we go... MoneySavingExpert turned 20 last week, and to help us celebrate, MoneySavers have been sharing the successes they've had from following our tips, including an £8,000 PPI reclaim, a £3,000 refund for a family's delayed flight, a £960 energy bill saving, £600 in bank-switch bribes, and even a free fridge freezer. We were proud to be told we've been part of several MoneySavers' journey to becoming debt-free. But particularly pleasing was one user's view of the value of the site as not just being about massive one-off savings, but the small savings over a number of areas which put together made a really significant difference to them. And we want more... so let us know your biggest MoneySaving success in our Facebook and Twitter conversations. We hope you save some money, The MSE team

 

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