admin

Reckon we can all do with a bit of magic right now when it comes to boosting our bank account. Can’t promise a magic wand for a lottery or Premium Bond win, but you may have more special money powers than you think!

Here’s my top five and how to use them…….

Credit card protection

Pay by credit card for something with a price tag of between £100 and £30,000 and you get automatic legal protection if things go wrong.

Means the law’s on your side when it comes to getting a refund, as under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act, if goods or services are faulty, or the company you buy from goes bust, you can ask your credit card company for a refund.

Always speak to the company you did the deal with first, but if they won’t play ball, or gone bust, contact your card company and ask to make a ‘Section 75’ claim.

Turbo charge your pension pot

It’s not often the coffers of HMRC open up to dish out free cash, but they do when it comes to pension savings, which can mean more money to splash out on your future dreams.

HMRC give you a bonus, (in the form of tax relief), as a reward for saving. Means another 20% in the pot for every £1 you save, if you’re a basic rate taxpayer, and more if you’re a higher rate tax payer.

In hard cash; that means for every £100 in your pot; you only need to stick in £80 and the Government pops in £20.

Six years for refunds on faulty goods

You can get your money back, or get a replacement on faulty goods, for up to six years after buying them, under the Consumer Rights Act.

However beyond the first six months, it’s down to you to prove the fault was there from the start. But not as tricky as it sounds; as if there’s recall on the product, or you get a second opinion from an independent source; this can often do the trick.

I got a full refund on our last washing machine when it packed up after less than two years work. All I did was write to the top bod at the company I’d bought it from, pointing out I hadn’t been doing the washing for our entire street each week, (just three of us), and flagging up the Consumer Rights Act, and they gave me a full refund.

You’ve got ‘back up’

Celebrities usually have a team of ‘people’ to help them out, and so do you!

Some home insurance policies include access to free legal helplines. Means you can get advice on anything from disputes with the neighbours to redundancy rights and all for free!

Another trick to get legal advice at a snip, is to ask Citizens Advice for a list of local solicitors offering ‘fixed fee’ appointments. These are usually ‘one off’ 30 minute appointments at much reduced rates.

Turn a ‘DIY’ trip into five star package protection

I’ve left this one till last, as in the current climate; holiday travel is off the cards right now.

But when you can take a trip again; there’s an easy way to bag five star protection for your trip. Though of course you should still always pack travel insurance!

Booking a package holiday means more rights if things go wrong, which you don’t get when buying all the bits separately, like flights, car hire and a place to stay.

But no need to buy an ‘off the peg’ package. You can turn a ‘flight only’ deal into a ‘package’ simply by adding in one day’s car hire, (which may even be cheaper than a taxi from the airport), or a night in a hotel.

Magic money powers checklist

• Check rules and consumer rights here.
• Ok so it’s never going to be fun bedtime reading, but worth checking your home insurance policy as you may discover benefits you didn’t know you had!
• Need to complain? Here’s a short cut to the top! Find email addresses for top bods at big name companies here. Used this myself with super speedy results!

Pets don’t have the luxury of free NHS treatment if they get sick. And even a minor visit to the vet can bring big bills.

Only 22% of us have pet insurance, but this still won’t guarantee free pet care, as it won’t cover everything and may mean paying for treatment up front, and reclaiming costs later.

In the current climate you can get valuable ‘breathing space’ with household bills like your mortgage, credit cards and car finance; but if squeezed budgets mean you’re living on a lower income; there’s ways to get free, or low cost treatment for your pet.

PDSA

The PDSA is the UK’s leading veterinary charity and been going since 1917.

To qualify for financial help, you’ll need to be claiming certain benefits like Universal Credit and live near one of the 48 PDSA hospitals.

Treatment is free or discounted, depending on your circumstances, and includes everything from vaccinations, worming and microchipping to emergency treatment.

Blue Cross

The Blue Cross animal charity has been helping sick and injured animals since 1897.

Once again you need to live near one of its centres and be claiming benefits, which include Housing Benefit, Universal Credit, Income Support and Working Tax Credit, to qualify for free or low cost treatment.

Blue Cross has also teamed up with ‘PawSquad’ to offer discounted online consultations 24 hours a day. If you’re claiming benefits; this costs £12 a year, and covers unlimited online consultations for up to five pets.

RSPCA

Free or low cost treatment may be available depending on your circumstances.

Pop in your postcode to find your local RSPCA hospital, as well as a list of local vets’ practices that offer reduced treatment if you’re struggling financially.

Animal Trust

This ‘not for profit’ vet company is based around the North and covers areas including Yorkshire, Manchester and North Wales.

With this one you don’t pay consultation fees; just the cost of any treatment, and there’s a full list of costs on the website.

Bill buster check list

Call your local vet in an emergency. They can agree payment plans along with other help if your pet needs urgent treatment.

In the current climate; some of the organisations above may be unable to offer the full range of treatment; so always call ahead; don’t just turn up.

Pet insurance can potentially save big bills; but it won’t cover everything. There’s usually always an ‘excess’ to pay, and some vets may charge an admin fee, to process insurance claims, so check terms and conditions carefully.

You can save money buying pet medication, as you don’t have to buy diret from your vet. Some will charge a fee for the prescription if you don’t buy from them but I’ve saved money buying prescription medication from accredited pharmacies including Viovet and Pet Prescription in the past.

You’ll need to email a copy of the prescription and vet details. You can check for a list of accredited pet medicine online outlets here.

Most of the organisations above are charities; so any donations are much appreciated.

This week I’ve been stocking up on these gorgeous tins of Steamcream, tracking down my favourite sink cleaner for the bargain price of £1.25 and snapping up gorgeous Birthday cards for under £1.

• 

• 

• 

Steamcream As you know I do love bargains on my beauty buys and I’m a big fan of these face moisturisers.

Made from natural ingredients, they’re not tested on animals and great for sensitive skin. Oh and did I mention they come in the most gorgeous funky tins too? Totally sold on these and at £13.95 a pop they’re budget friendly too!

My ‘best buy’ sink cleaner for £1 I’ve used all sorts of stuff over the years to keep the sinks sparkling. First discovered ‘Shiny Sinks’ in Lakeland but sadly it soon disappeared from their shelves; never to be seen again.

But after tracking it down, I’ve found you can buy it on Amazon, though it’s a bit pricey at over £4 a time; spares website espares also set it for £2.48, but I’ve found it for the bargain price of £1.25 at The Range.

Gorgeous cards for under £1 Always like to stock up on fabulous cards when I find them. And let’s be honest; Birthday cards can be super expensive.

Took a teeny weeny card to the till at WH Smith once, only to find it was about £4, so put it straight back and popped along the road to Card Factory where you can find fabulous ones as well as blank ones like these two sooooooo much cheaper.

Picked up these two when I popped by last week – just 99p each!

This week I saved a whopping £60 buying my favourite perfume. And I’ll be recycling the ’empty’ so I can bag £5 at Boots with its new recycling scheme. Plus an offer to slash the price of your takeaway with a little deal I’ve spotted at Waitrose.

Saved £60 on my favourite perfume…..

I’ve been a fan of Vera Wang perfume for years. My husband first bought it for me and I’ve been hooked ever since, but as with lots of perfumes, it can be super pricey.

The ‘usual’ price of a 100ml version of Vera’s ‘Eau de Parfum’ spray is around £80. But shop around and you can find it miles cheaper, and yes I do mean the real thing, not a cheap copy.

• 

• 

• 

As you can see from the screen shots above, I could have splashed out £82 buying it from the Perfume Shop But instead I shopped around and saved nearly £60 buying the same stuff from Amazon at just £23.50. Took the pic on the right after it arrived!

Other deals I spotted included AllBeauty.com who were also selling it at £23.50 and Argos just slightly more at £27.99.

Get a fiver from Boots for recycling

You can earn £5 at Boots with its new beauty recycling scheme.

For every five empty pots, tubes and containers you recycle, you’ll get 500 Advantage card points; worth £5.

Super simple to do. Just sign up to register, take a snap of your empties and pop them in the box in store. All the details here

Save on a Friday night curry

National Curry week starts on Monday 5th October and Waitrose has started the celebrations early with a deal on its Charlie Bigham’s Chicken Tikka Masala Comes with Pilau rice and serves two.

Usually £7.75 but now down to £6; saving £1.75 a time so works out at £3 a plateful; much cheaper than a takeaway. I’m a big fan of Charlie Bigham’s meals myself, tastes home made but without the hassle!

This week I’ve been snapping up, (and saving), on holiday souvenirs, bagging free photo prints and enjoying luxury chocolate at a discount…….

Funky mugs for under £20

We had a set of these in the kitchen at our Airbnb in Bournemouth so decided to prolong that ‘holiday feeling’ and buy a set of our own.

They’re ‘Air Cooled’, which is a range by independent artists, and you can buy these ones in different places, often at around £8.99 a mug, but I snapped these up on eBay for under £20 including postage.

Free photo prints

Been going through our holiday photos from our trip to Brownsea Island, which is where the shot below was taken. I’ve always been one to print out my snaps and pop them in albums collage style, and this time I’ve bagged my prints for free.

Here’s how you do it. Download the Freeprints app and you get 45 free ‘6 x 4’ cm prints each month. You only pay postage which starts from £1.49.

They’re great quality too plus you often get extra freebies like the option to order a free photo tile or free photo books.

Luxury chocolate with 10% off

Going to be honest here, this milk chocolate biscuit butter bar is one amazing chocolate bar but it’s super pricey choc at £6.99.

Ok so it’s probably not the stuff you’d scoff in one go, the way you’d tuck into a Twix, as it’s artisan handmade stuff and pretty rich.

I was given this as a gift, but you can get 10% off by signing up on the website and there’s heaps of other delicious bars to choose from too.

Save up to £10 on Zizzi pizza

Love Zizzi pizza? Sainsbury’s is now selling them for just £3.50 a time.

• 

Eat in at Zizzi and you can pay up to £13.10 a time to enjoy one of these, but pick them up from just £3.50 in the frozen aisle at Sainsbury’s and save nearly £10.

Discovering this gorgeous new shampoo bar, enjoying a half price lunch and escaping for a weekend away at a fabulous Airbnb.

• 

• 

• 

I’m loving this Coconut Milk Shampoo & Soap Bar – smells amazing and made by Flow Cosmetics, a company from Finland, who are big on making natural skincare stuff.

Packed this for my weekend away instead of my usual shampoo and works a treat. Ok so not cheap at £13, but if you’ve got an Amex card and buy from this website you get £5 back on spends of £10 or more with its ‘Shop Small’ deal which runs till 13th September.

Eat Out To Help Out – we booked up early for the last day of the official ‘Eat Out To Help Out’ scheme at this lovely place near St. Albans. Our first visit and thought we’d make the most of the Chancellor’s ‘meal deal’ to try somewhere new. Saved £20 between us.

And while the official scheme may be over, heaps of places are now offering their own half price deals or special discount days throughout September.

Staying Airbnb – I’m a huge fan of Airbnb. Not only do you get to stay in some great places but you meet some fabulous people too. Here’s a snap of my latest find in Lincolnshire which was a bargain at £50 a night.

This week I’ve found designer kitchen gadgets at budget prices, got a savvy trick to boost your holiday protection and spilling the beans on my best buys and freebies.

This week’s moneysaving diary

Here’s what I’ve been spending and saving on this week…………..

• 

• 

• 

Honey Scrub I love this honey and sugar body scrub which I got from Victoria’s Secret. Smells amazing, and yes it’s a body scrub, but I’ve found it doubles up as a great face scrub too. Was £15; now £5.99.

New York bathroom scales So love New York and lucky enough to have made a few trips there. The buzz never wears off so this is my way of seeing it every day from our bathroom! And soooooo much cheaper than a plane ticket! Spotted these for £14.

Free university courses Yep you heard that right. University courses usually come with a big price tag but I’ve found lots of unis around the world offering short online courses for free. Just about to start my second course on mindfulness with FutureLearn Heaps to choose from and you can learn languages, study fiction writing and psychology.

Designer kitchen gadgets without fancy prices

Love it when I find a budget version of top dollar stuff. When it comes to kitchen appliances, Smeg do make pretty funky stuff; but it comes with fancy prices. A kettle comes in at around £160 and a toaster £130.

But there’s a crafty way to save, as Aldi has just launched a super similar style version with a kettle, toaster and microwave from just £19.99.

Its retro kitchen range, which you can see here, is available for pre-order online and in stores from 23rd August. Kettle and toaster are £19.99 each and the microwave’s £44.99.

My quick trick to boost holiday protection

Still want to book a trip abroad? Here’s a quick and easy way to boost your holiday protection.

Book a package trip. Doesn’t have to be an ‘off the peg’ deal with airport transfers and a rep in the resort, as you can turn a ‘flight only’ deal into a package, just by adding in one other part. Can be car hire, (even just 24 hours to get you from the airport to where you’re staying), or a night in a hotel, and if you buy both chunks in one go, from the same company, at the same time, it counts as a package.

This then means extra protection, say if the Foreign Office changes its travel advice and warns against all but ‘essential’ travel to your destination; you should get a refund or be allowed to rebook. And do make sure you pack travel insurance too.

Eat out to help out

Have you been out and saved some cash this month?

Restaurants, pubs and cafes have dished up a whopping 35 million meals over the last two weeks with millions of us enjoying half price meals.

Here’s a quick reminder on how it works. Available Monday to Wednesday until the end of August, including bank holiday Monday. No vouchers needed to snaffle the discount as cafes, pubs and restaurants taking part flag this up on their website.

The 50% discount, (up to £10 a head), is taken off the bill automatically, and the restaurant claims its cut from the Treasury. Book ahead as lots of places are getting busy and the deal’s only on for another couple of weeks!

Way back in the early days of lockdown I went out for a walk every day, and while I’m lucky enough to live near the countryside; my daily walk over the fields and round the woods did start to feel a bit like ‘Groundhog Day’ after a while.

So once lockdown eased, I set myself the challenge of finding somewhere new every weekend. Didn’t mean driving for miles, in fact took me under an hour to get to any of the places here. Plus it doubled up as a moneysaving challenge; as most days I packed a picnic. And even paying for the occasional car park still meant days out for less than a fiver!

Here’s some of my favourite discoveries.

Grafham Water – Cambridgeshire

Ok so it may not be a proper beach but just forty minutes from home and I was on the banks of Grafham Water; England’s third largest reservoir.

You can walk all the way round, but at nine miles, we thought we’d save that for another day, so went for the picnic option as there’s heaps of picnic tables around as well as special BBQ areas.

Footpaths and tracks are traffic free and easy to follow; and you can hire, or bring your own bike, and there’s toilets, a cafe and water sports on offer.

Grafham is owned by Anglian Water, and only our spend was the car park, which cost £3.70 for three hours and up to a maximum of £6 if you stay five hours or more.

Stanwick Lakes – Northamptonshire

I got to discover lots of great places across Northamptonshire when I did a stint presenting on BBC Radio Northampton a few years back. But I certainly never found this little gem.

Stanwick Lakes has something for everyone; with a kids’ adventure playground to trails and walks round the many lakes. Follow the trails beyond the park and you can walk to Rushden Lakes one way or Irthlingborough the other.

This place is just so clean and well looked after and all thanks to Rockingham Forest Trust; the charity that manages Stanwick Lakes.

On a sunny day the kids’ play areas get busy, but just a few minutes away you can be the only one in sight walking round the lakes.

You do pay for parking, unless you arrive on foot. Costs from £3.80 for two hours to £5.80 for all day. Take a ticket at the barrier as you come in and pay at the ticket machine before leaving.

Tring Park – Hertfordshire

Tring is a lovely village with a mix of coffee shops, (don’t miss Black Goo), and gift shops that you can happily wander round for hours.

On my last visit I set out for Tring Park, a ten minute walk from the main street. Tring isn’t a big place but this was no tiny park. It was huge; with a mix of woodland, open grassland and even cows roaming freely. It’s just one of many parks, woods and open space managed by the Woodland Trust

I parked in the town centre and nipped down the lane beside Lussmans restaurant that eventually leads you into the park, but you can often get free parking in the surrounding roads.

The Chilterns – Herts/Beds/Bucks

I live at one edge of the Chilterns and while I’ve always done lots of walks around my area; it took me till lockdown to really get out and make more effort to explore more footpaths, hills and tracks within my local patch.

My poor trainers have paid the price though, as one of the soles started to come away the other week. Ok so I’ve got a couple of new pairs, but I could walk forever in my ‘tried and tested’ Esprit ones, so a spot of super glue and I’m good to go again!

Losing your job is something you hope won’t happen, but if it does, where do you stand when it comes to redundancy rights?

Nine million of us have been on ‘furlough’ during the Coronavirus pandemic. Officially known as the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, the Government has been picking up the tab for 80% of each employee’s wages, up to £2,500 a month. But despite the billions being spent in an attempt to save jobs, in the long term, it’s sadly inevitable that redundancy will be on the cards for some of us.

So here’s a run down of what you need to know if it happens to you.

First up, you should be told why you’re being made redundant, say the company is downsizing or shutting up shop for good.

How much notice will I get?

This all depends on how long you’ve been with the company.

You should get at least one week’s notice if you’ve been working for the same company from at least one month up to two years.

And it’s one week’s notice per year, from two years up to twelve years, with a limit of twelve weeks notice if you’ve been there beyond twelve years.

Statutory Redundancy Pay

If you’re an ’employee’, and worked continuously for the same company for two years or more, you can get Statutory Redundancy Pay. This is the basic minimum payout, as some companies may pay more. And how much you get depends on your age and how long you’ve been working for the company.

How much will I get?

• You should get half a week’s pay for each full year of service if you’re under 22
• It’s one week’s pay for each full year between the ages of 22 – 40
• It’s one and a half week’s pay for each full year if you’re 41 and over.
• Worth knowing that some companies are more generous and will pay a month’s salary for each full year of service.

There are limits on how much you can get. This includes a limit on weekly redundancy pay at £538 and a cap on the maximum statutory redundancy payout at £16,140.

You can work out how much you’ll get using the Government’s Redundancy Pay Calculator

5 fact checklist…….

• If you’re being made redundant, you may be due paid time off to look for another job so ask your boss.
• Any time spent on ‘furlough’ counts towards your years of service for redundancy pay.
• Redundancy pay is tax free up to £30,000. Top this and you’ll only be liable for tax on anything over this limit.
• You can get financial help in the form of mortgage payment holidays, credit card, loan and car finance freezes so speak to your bank or lender.
• There’s more on your rights and and redundancy on the Government website and you can get free advice on redundancy issues from ACAS

Here’s my run down of some of the deals, discounts and great buys I’ve spotted this week……

Save 25% off stays at Jurys Inn & Leonardo Hotels

You can save 25% on bookings at both Jurys Inn and Leonardo Hotels right now. No discount codes needed as discount is automatically applied to your online booking.

Plus you get free 48 hour cancellation; so if your plans change you don’t lose out. There’s 48 locations across the UK from Brighton to Edinburgh to choose from.

Save 30% at Moonpig

You can save 30% on your first card order when you download the Moonpig app and pop in code ‘APP30OFF’.

Savings depend on how much you spend. Email cards cost from around 99p with giant cards around £9.99 so you could stack up quite a saving with this.

Dump your basket at the checkout

Leaving your shopping basket at the online checkout overnight can be a fast track to a discount. I’ve often done this and saved some cash this week thanks to surf clothing company Saltrock.

Popped this t shirt and some sunglasses in my basket, but got sidetracked & didn’t check out. Next morning up popped an email offering me a 5% discount code as the folks at Saltrock spotted I didn’t check out…….

Ok so not a mega discount but worth having especially as I’d already searched for a voucher code and couldn’t find one this time round.

Summer mocktails – 3 for £3.99

Ok so they’re the candle version not the drink variety but you can snap up a set of three of these delicious smelling candles for £3.99 at Card Factory. They’re slightly smaller versions of the individual ones that sell for £2.99 each and set includes Summer Punch (above), Strawberry Fizz and Pink Lemonade. Great for gifts or just enjoy yourself!

Think of holidays and right now bet it’s the beach one you’re dreaming of. But if you’re strapped for cash in the current climate, taking a ‘mortgage payment holiday’ can help ease the financial strain.

What is a ‘mortgage payment holiday’?

It’s like pressing the ‘pause’ button on your mortgage, so you can stop making monthly repayments. If you’ve got a good track record with paying on time; most mortgage lenders will let you do this for a limited time if you ask.

However with many people struggling financially due to the Coronavirus pandemic, the Chancellor announced back in March that homeowners and ‘buy to let’ landlords can apply for a three month mortgage break.

How does it work?

You need to contact your lender to agree this; so don’t just stop making payments. Once your lender gives you the thumbs up; means you won’t need to make payments for three months.

But it’s not free cash with the slate wiped clean. You will need the repay the money, plus interest, further down the line.

In most cases, the chunk of cash you owe, can be added to your mortgage, which means future payments will go up a bit.

How can I get one?

Mortgage payment holidays are proving popular. Nearly two million of us are taking one; which works out at one in six mortgages.

Most lenders want you to apply online. You’ll find special ‘Coronavirus’ advice sections on their websites with details on how to apply.

If you’re already on one; and nearing the end; you can ask for a three month extension if you need it. And if you’re applying for the first time; you’ve got until 31st October to do so.

Quick 5 point recap

1. It’s not free cash.
2. It’s like pressing the ‘pause’ button on your mortgage.
3. You will need to repay those ‘missed’ payments plus interest.
4. Check how much this will add to future monthly payments.
5. Don’t just stop paying. Speak to your lender first.

You’ve forked out for your wheels but keeping them on the road can be costly. By the time you’ve totted up insurance, tax, fuel and the cost of those often ‘unexpected’ repairs, you can find you’re stumping up an average of £2,000 a year.

Here’s five easy ways to save some cash without walking………

• 

Buy insurance early

You get your renewal quote and mean to shop around. But one in three of us only get around to it the day before our policy runs out. Buying last minute can cost you up to £338 more as policy prices can chop and change according to Comparethemarket.com

Cut the cost of car insurance by comparing policies. Yes it’s tempting to want to go for the cheapest deal, but check what you get for your money, and buy insurance three weeks before your current policy ends to save paying over the odds.

Master the MOT

You can pay up to £54.85 for an MOT test, but some garages advertise ‘cheaper’ prices. All well and good if you totally trust them but I’m always cynical of garages offering ‘cheap’ tests to lure you in, especially if they do repairs too.

So why not track down your local council run MOT centre? It’s where they ‘MOT’ buses and council vans so while you’ll pay full whack for the MOT, most don’t do repairs, so there’s no incentive for them to ‘find faults’ to fix.

Add another driver

Ok so I’m not suggesting you add a random person you’ve just met in the street to your insurance, but adding a second ‘experienced’ driver can save money. Insurance is all about ‘risk’ and in an insurer’s eyes, having more than one driver can be seen to cut the ‘risk’ factor.

Often works for younger drivers, if they add parents as ‘other drivers’ on their policy, and older drivers may find a saving if they add an experienced son or daughter. Doesn’t matter if the ‘other driver’ never actually drives your car, but adding them on can save money.

Haggle for breakdown cover

I saved £150 with the AA simply by haggling down the price of our family breakdown cover when the renewal price shot up after the first year. Lots of companies offer super discounted deals to hook you in but the price can sky rocket the next year.

Ring up and haggle at renewal if you want to stick with the same provider or if you’re happy to switch, then shop around on comparison sites.

Save at the pump

Find the cheapest fuel in your area by signing up to petrolprices.com Can save up to £220 a year. And forget paying more for ‘super fuel’ which can boost your bill by 10p a litre.