Update September 2017: It’s eight years since I first braved this subject, expecting a snowstorm of protest. Instead, year after year more join in, like Julia who recently tweeted me, “@MartinSLewis, finally took your advice and told my family I can’t afford Christmas presents. What a weight off my mind. Thank you.” One year even the Archbishop of...

My inbox is my crucial self-managment tool. It’s my ‘things to do list’ as I send myself emails all the time to remind me to do stuff. On top of that I get about 200-300 emails a day, excluding my public inbox, which gets 1,000s. So as you can imagine keeping on top of it isn’t easy,...

I woke up this morning to find out that my wife is apparently pregnant – or actually she’s not, but what a weird experience… started flicking through The Independent and found a profile had been written of me… http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/martin-lewis-money-man-1829892.html (30 Nov – the ‘who is expecting her first child’ line has now kindly been taken out after...

On my way back from GMTV this morning, I called my wonderful 87 year old Grandma, as I normally do when I’ve a spare minute in the day. Sadly she struggles a bit with some concepts these days – though her protective instincts are as strong as ever – I thought the conversation may make you smile....

Well, he’s the second celebrity to come out of the closet (bought with a voucher one hopes) as being an MSE user in the last week. First there was X-factor’s Jamie Archer – and now according to the Daily Mail so is… Michael McIntyre (see the Mail’s Michael McIntyre profile). This comes as no surprise and clears...

A. I’ve been asked this question a couple of times this weekend & many times in the past. Not specifically about MSE (for that see how this site’s financed guide) but far more generically about the internet. Being someone so immersed in web culture, I always find it slightly surprising that people think that way, so I...

I’m currently sitting in the midst of a giant shopping centre, laptop on knee writing my News of the World column (or I was until I interrupted it now to write this). The place is packed with shoppers, lunchers and browsers – babies are crying, multi-lingual conversation springs from every corner – yet bizarrely I find it...

I was doing a check of Google Trends today, which I do every once in a while. It’s a great free tool as you can plot search terms or web traffic and compare different terms and sites (see my past Kate Nash v Amy Winehouse blog for how to use it). Yet when I looked at the...

Occasionally in the GMTV green room, when someone I want to meet is on air, I sit on the outside chair, so that when they come from the studio I ‘bump into them’. I was planning to do just this with Jamie Archer, one of this year’s X-factor contestants, and a major favourite of Mrs MSE and...