
Discos grab-bag crisps calorie con – food labelling must improve
Inaccurate price labelling is usually my territory. Yet similar tricks are played with nutrition and I want to highlight an annoying ploy to make salt and vinegar Discos look less calorific. Buying crisps in a travel WH Smith is always frustrating, partly because they’re overpriced, but also because it only sells grab-bags. (Really Smith’s, can you not...

Sheer ignorance from financial giant Fidelity on student finance
My inbox has just been dirtied by a terrible press release from giant finance company Fidelity. It latches onto people’s misunderstandings about student finance to flog its junior ISA product. So I’ve quickly bashed out this blog to explain. Here is the release… ___________________________ £125 A MONTH FOR YOUR CHILD TO FINISH UNIVERSITY DEBT-FREE As the nation’s...

Don’t throw bank statements away after six years
The conventional wisdom is you only need to keep bank, credit card and other personal finance documents for six years. This is because HMRC (the taxman) can only ask you to go back that far if you’re being investigated for tax purposes. However, I think the landscape has changed in recent years, and therefore everyone needs to...

What’s happened to my £1m donation to Citizens Advice?
In June 2012 I pledged a £10m donation to charity. A chunk of that was £1m to the UK’s Citizens Advice service, which I followed through on very soon after. Some of you may be interested to know what it chose to do with the money. For full info on what happened to the rest, see my...

A peek inside my overseas wallet – a nerd’s guide to what to take abroad
Update note June 2016: This blog was written in 2013, though the logic still stands. The products have been updated and if you click the links it takes you through to the current write ups for each deal. I invite you to take a peek inside my overseas wallet. This is no apocryphal journalistic device, I genuinely have a second...

Dear Archbishop… why I disagree with you over Wonga
I pray the Archbishop’s laudable but blundering entrance into the payday loan debate doesn’t hurt more than it helps. The trip-up of the Church’s own investments is a side show – my concern is far more about his original soundbite: We’re not in the business of trying to legislate you (Wonga) out of existence, we’re trying to...

Three money lessons I’ll teach my daughter
Update May 2015: Baby MSE is still my baby, but it’s more accurate to say she’s probably little girl MSE at 2 and a half year’s old. Most of the lessons below are still in the future for her. Though she’s definitely getting the hang of haggling: "Just one Peppa Pig darling". "No daddy, five!" Baby MSE...

“Who can I complain to if a shop is overpricing goods?”
This question, in various guises, is one of the most common I’m asked. In a nutshell, the answer is no one. We do not (in general) have retail price rights. Stores can sell goods at any price they choose. Your right is not to buy it at that price. I’m sure some reading this are thinking "everyone...

Doing something rather brave – I won’t be working next Tuesday
I’m doing something rather brave. I’m planning not to work next Tuesday. Now that may not sound much, but since February 2003 when I set up MoneySavingExpert, I’ve done some work every Tuesday – that includes during my honeymoon and paternity leave for baby MSE. Tuesday is the day we put together and write the weekly Martin’s...

Should MoneySavingExpert encourage tax avoidance?
Update 14 November 2017: From the Paradise Papers to the Panama Papers, Jimmy Carr to David Cameron and Google to Starbucks, headlines about avoidance continue to split the nation – some view it as a moral abhorrence, others legal self-protection. So I thought it would be worth setting out mine and MSE’s view. First of all, let’s clear...
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Recent Blogs
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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. -
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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.