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The Observer Magazine this week is dedicated to saving money!
http://www.guardian.co.uk/theobserver/magazine
Article with Martin Lewis
The top 10 swap websites
You don't need money to get what you want. Here are the best websites for swapping and bartering goods and services. You'd be surprised what you can get.
www.swapz.co.uk Swap site offering many goods and services. Current offers include a DJ who will work for you if you service his van and a woman who will dogsit in return for DVDs.
www.swapcycle.co.uk and www.swapitshop.com Goods for exchange, ranging from cars to banjos.
www.whatsmineisyours.com and www.big wardrobe.com Clothes and accessories.
www.swishing.org Shows you how to organise a clothes swap party with friends.
www.seedypeople.co.uk For gardeners who have seeds to swap.
www.readitswapit.co.uk Book-swapping site.
www.u-exchange.com Houses all over the world available for holiday exchanges.
www.letslinkuk.net Community networks which link people who want to swap their skills and goods.
www.staffshare.co.ukLets businesses swap staff members' time with specialists in other firms.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/theobserver/magazine
Article with Martin Lewis
The vast majority of good deals are for new customers, not existing customers. In, say, the financial best-buy tables, no one bank is top for any more than one product. Therefore if you're loyal and have more than one deal, you don't have the best. Loyalty does not pay.
Phillip Schofield has introduced me as "The Tightest Man In Britain". It's a nice fun line, but my philosophy is to empower people to have more, not less. Following suggestions on my website, the average working person could effectively give themselves a 25% pay rise.
Stoozing - borrowing from a credit card and holding it while interest-free in a high-interest account - is a hassle, but a well-paid hassle. I once made 6% interest in an Egg account on money Egg lent me for nothing. That's poetry!
You can get basic RAC breakdown cover for £14 with Tesco vouchers.
When I started going out with my fiancée Lara, I wanted to impress her with my haggling. In John Lewis I said to a salesman, "Look mate, I've been telling the woman over there I'm an expert haggler. Could you throw in the halogen lightbulbs with this standing lamp, otherwise it's going to be a problem for me." The lesson is, use whatever you've got.
The best time for high-street haggling is midweek in empty shops with mid-level supervisors, buying counter-cyclically - a convertible car during snow. Supermarkets do yellow-ticket discounting of perishables at 6pm, 8pm and 10pm, so the best time is after 9pm.
Only 2-5% of council tax payers prove eligible for a council tax cut and rebate, but everyone should try for it - it takes 10 minutes. And the average child care tax credit is £3,500 a year, yet hundreds of thousands still don't claim.
Almost everyone with both debts and savings is wasting a fortune.
I was in a McDonald's recently - I didn't eat but they have free wireless - and within 10 minutes I had a queue of six at my table; it became a money surgery. Once, a woman in debt recognised me and said if I didn't help she'd kill herself.
Unless they finish their studies this July, students are among the least affected by the credit crunch right now. The student loan is the cheapest long-term debt they'll ever have. If you've more or the same number of bedrooms in your house than people, you're probably better off with a water meter.
People shouldn't borrow money to start married life. Better they have a bring-a-bottle reception in the local park.
I have the ability to make a farty noise out of my ear by pressing my hand against it in the right way. If someone's feeling a bit miserable, there's nothing better.
Those who've said, "The banks aren't safe, I'm going to take my money out and keep it at home" should bear in mind that burglary is rising and home insurance only covers a grand.
I voted for a boy band on The X Factor as one of them said, "I'm going to give it 100%." It makes me mad when people say, "I'm giving it 110%" or "1m%". It's mathematically illiterate.
My hope is that, in a year, if a man doesn't pay with a restaurant voucher on a first date, she won't go with him again because she'd think he wasn't safe enough handling money.
Phillip Schofield has introduced me as "The Tightest Man In Britain". It's a nice fun line, but my philosophy is to empower people to have more, not less. Following suggestions on my website, the average working person could effectively give themselves a 25% pay rise.
Stoozing - borrowing from a credit card and holding it while interest-free in a high-interest account - is a hassle, but a well-paid hassle. I once made 6% interest in an Egg account on money Egg lent me for nothing. That's poetry!
You can get basic RAC breakdown cover for £14 with Tesco vouchers.
When I started going out with my fiancée Lara, I wanted to impress her with my haggling. In John Lewis I said to a salesman, "Look mate, I've been telling the woman over there I'm an expert haggler. Could you throw in the halogen lightbulbs with this standing lamp, otherwise it's going to be a problem for me." The lesson is, use whatever you've got.
The best time for high-street haggling is midweek in empty shops with mid-level supervisors, buying counter-cyclically - a convertible car during snow. Supermarkets do yellow-ticket discounting of perishables at 6pm, 8pm and 10pm, so the best time is after 9pm.
Only 2-5% of council tax payers prove eligible for a council tax cut and rebate, but everyone should try for it - it takes 10 minutes. And the average child care tax credit is £3,500 a year, yet hundreds of thousands still don't claim.
Almost everyone with both debts and savings is wasting a fortune.
I was in a McDonald's recently - I didn't eat but they have free wireless - and within 10 minutes I had a queue of six at my table; it became a money surgery. Once, a woman in debt recognised me and said if I didn't help she'd kill herself.
Unless they finish their studies this July, students are among the least affected by the credit crunch right now. The student loan is the cheapest long-term debt they'll ever have. If you've more or the same number of bedrooms in your house than people, you're probably better off with a water meter.
People shouldn't borrow money to start married life. Better they have a bring-a-bottle reception in the local park.
I have the ability to make a farty noise out of my ear by pressing my hand against it in the right way. If someone's feeling a bit miserable, there's nothing better.
Those who've said, "The banks aren't safe, I'm going to take my money out and keep it at home" should bear in mind that burglary is rising and home insurance only covers a grand.
I voted for a boy band on The X Factor as one of them said, "I'm going to give it 100%." It makes me mad when people say, "I'm giving it 110%" or "1m%". It's mathematically illiterate.
My hope is that, in a year, if a man doesn't pay with a restaurant voucher on a first date, she won't go with him again because she'd think he wasn't safe enough handling money.
The top 10 swap websites
You don't need money to get what you want. Here are the best websites for swapping and bartering goods and services. You'd be surprised what you can get.
www.swapz.co.uk Swap site offering many goods and services. Current offers include a DJ who will work for you if you service his van and a woman who will dogsit in return for DVDs.
www.swapcycle.co.uk and www.swapitshop.com Goods for exchange, ranging from cars to banjos.
www.whatsmineisyours.com and www.big wardrobe.com Clothes and accessories.
www.swishing.org Shows you how to organise a clothes swap party with friends.
www.seedypeople.co.uk For gardeners who have seeds to swap.
www.readitswapit.co.uk Book-swapping site.
www.u-exchange.com Houses all over the world available for holiday exchanges.
www.letslinkuk.net Community networks which link people who want to swap their skills and goods.
www.staffshare.co.ukLets businesses swap staff members' time with specialists in other firms.
