
Energy companies price hikes aren’t evil; they’re just doing their job!
It’s freezing, the heating’s on full blast, yet the bitter irony is the energy companies price rises are happening THIS WEEK. While I know many feel spit inducing anger, hold on, are you really venting it at the right people?… The timing really couldn’t have been any worse, a month ago when Scottish & Southern Energy announced...

It’s time to explain tax codes in plain English
Sharing a cab yesterday with my Uncle ‘tax’ Tony, we got onto the rather sexy topic of ‘tax codes’. While the phrase itself is normally enough to bore drying paint, these codes are the knife behind the mammoth errors in tax affecting millions (see the Tax Code Checker for whether you can reclaim), and for me one...

Money Saving SEXpert
In this week’s Viz magazine, there’s a new column called ‘Look After the Purple Pennies with Money Saving Sexpert Ingledew Botterill’, and it only gets ruder after that… I got it after a tip off from a fellow personal finance journalist who sent me this email: “Hi Martin, 1) Go to your nearest newsagent. 2) Buy issue...

Jessica Ennis, the universities minister & a man bending his head through a tennis racket
One day, when I’m old and grey, I’ll read back this blog and think – was my life always like that? On paper it seems much more surreal than the reality – most of it took place in the Daybreak green room… Ban Christmas Presents! I was on the show to discuss my ban Christmas presents campaign, which...

The official top of the (online) shops chart…
The fight to be King of the virtual high street gets tougher each year, with e-tailers bashing up against longstanding bricks and clicks players. So as a list junky, I must admit a frisson of excitement when the official top 50 contained in the email below popped into my inbox…. The following is a press release from...

MSE users are Bactrian camels
Not an insult, just a usage fact. Recently we got new software which allows us to see how many people are on the site at different times in the day, and like a Bactrian there’s a very distinct double hump… I thought some of you stats nerds may be interested to see how it works (I’m obsessed...

Council Tax 6 month rule: proposing a halfway house to the Minister
Popped over to No.1 Parliament Street yesterday with MSE Guy for a meeting with Council Tax Minister Bob Neill MP, and was delighted to get a warm welcome from him and his advisors, who seemed genuinely interested in the idea. This all started on Radio 2 back in September. He was on explaining why the Govt. didn’t...

Banks want charge for going to the Ombudsman? P*** off
That’s what really crossed my mind last month ago when being cross examined by 10 Treasury Select Committee MPs at parliament. Now the official minutes are out (see below), and reading back it’s interesting to read the rather strange prose that appears with an accurate transcript of words designed to be said not written… These minutes are...

The MSE guide to Mental Health and debt… nearly there at last
Mental health problems can cause debts, debts can cause mental health issues and the two can feed each other. It’s been a passion of mine to produce a really strong guide to help individuals and their families/carers who suffer from these problems. We’re at the final stage now. The guide is written, we’re just waiting on the...

A warning to Mr. Cameron – information alone doesn’t solve a problem
A rather horrible vision came to me last night as I watched the ten o’clock news, about a new policy from the coalition to provide masses of information to us, the political consumer, with the objective being that we hold them to account… On the surface this doesn’t sound too bad, and it’s certainly a laudable aim,...
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Recent Blogs
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Martin Lewis: The one thing everyone aged over 66 needs to know
17 June 2022It is a national tragedy that getting on for a million pensioners, many of whom have been paying into the system for years, are missing out on a critical boost to their income. It's called pension credit, and this year it also means you get an extra £650 to help with energy bills. -
Martin Lewis: What I asked the Chancellor to do when I spoke to him on Monday...
26 May 2022With the announcement of the Government's energy cost of living plans due out at lunchtime. I thought I'd speedily bash out a note down of what (from memory) I'd asked the Chancellor for when we spoke on Monday - and the other general suggestions I've been making. -
Martin Lewis: Got a cash ISA? You should probably ditch it
24 May 2022Press the rewind button and go way back to April 2015... Possibly on the telly in the corner of your living room, I was on-air at the time urging savers as usual to use their new tax-free cash ISA allowance – because 'money was nicer in an ISA'. But things changed in 2016. -
Martin Lewis: 'UO is just as important as UX: A tip for anyone developing their website or app'
6 May 2022I set up MoneySavingExpert.com nearly 20 years ago – when arguably the modern web was still in its infancy. With an abundance of self-belief (something I had too much of then, as I realise now) I decided not to read any books, or follow prevailing wisdom on how a site should operate – and just do it my way.