UPDATE 24th November 2008: If you’re looking for information on the latest changes to tax rates announced today, please see our post on the pre-Budget report key points. Last year, in How Much Tax Will I Pay?, I wrote about SimplePound’s useful Excel spreadsheet which helped calculate how much Income Tax and National Insurance you’ll […]
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Bank Charge Case: MoneySavingExpert’s View
MoneySavingExpert Martin Lewis has just updated his site with his latest views on the bank charge situation, and despite refund claims still being on hold until 22nd May at the earliest, he believes the time is now right to put in your claim if you haven’t already done so. The reason? The six year rule: […]
Best Financial Move At University
Plonkee recently replied to a meme on her best financial move in college – I chimed in in her comments, but I thought it was something worth expanding on here. I was pretty fortunate that I was in one of the last university years who did not have to pay tuition fees, plus I also […]
Help The Planet & Your Wallet
You may have noticed that today is Earth Day – “intended to inspire awareness of and appreciation for the Earth’s environment.” Whilst I do what I can to be green, I don’t particularly go out of my way to save the planet, which is something I’m a little ashamed of. But going green needn’t be […]
HSBC Rate Matcher Mortgage Deal
HSBC’s offer to match the mortgage rate that their rivals borrowers are on when their deals finish might seem like an exciting offer on the surface, certainly bucking the current trend of increasing mortgage rates and reduced mortgage choice. But their “Rate Matcher” deal doesn’t come without caveats. The first, and possibly most important, is […]
ISA Deadline Approaching: Have You Used Your Allowance?
With just 11 days left until the end of this tax year (Saturday 5th April 2008), have you used your Individual Savings Account allowance for this year? From my experience, there will be people reading this who have no idea what an ISA is, there will be those who know what they are, but do […]
Stop Smoking, Save A Packet
Being a non-smoker, it had almost passed me by that today (12th March) is National No-Smoking Day. As everyone probably already knows, smoking is an expensive habit, and after today’s budget, it is going to get even more expensive. There are some scary stats on just how much smoking costs – a recent report suggests […]
Essential (Free) PC Software
Not so long ago I purchased a new computer (a laptop PC, to be precise). If the cost of the laptop wasn’t enough, once it had been delivered I then started looking to add all the essential software I needed. Of course, some software can be expensive, but thankfully, there are now many excellent free […]
Car Depreciation: £6,000 In First Year
Thinking about buying a brand new car soon? Then consider this – the average new car loses £6,000 of its value in the first year you own it – yes, that’s effectively £500 “down the drain” every month in year one. So it’s often worth checking out the secondhand market for your chosen vehicle to […]
Have You Succumbed To Shopping Momentum?
Following the post about my little impulse purchase of an iPod Shuffle the other day, there’s an interesting look at part of the psychology of shopping over at Get Rich Slowly. In particular, the post discusses a research report which suggests that the more you buy, the more likely you are to buy more things. […]