Do I need to show my boarding pass at airport shops? (video & guide)
It’s one of those niggling frustrations. You want to buy something at the airport and you’re badgered for your boarding pass in order to purchase. Many people ask me if they need to bother, so here’s my quick video answer…
Martin Lewis video: How to teach your kids about debt and why financial education matters
We live in one of the world’s most competitive consumer economies. Companies spend billions of pounds on advertising, marketing and teaching their staff to sell. Yet consumers don’t get buyers’ training. Financial education is crucial to address this misbalance. I was delighted to be part of the campaign that put financial education on the English national curriculum...
Should you invest in Bitcoin? Four things you need to know
Bitcoin, the cryptocurrency, continues to smash through price barriers, with one Bitcoin this week breaking through the $11,000 mark (then back to $9,000, then who knows what by the time you read this). Some early adopters have made millions and Facebook is now full of adverts to tempt the public to invest their hard-squirrelled cash in it.
Premium Bond rate boosted from 1.15% to 1.4% – should you pile in?
They’re Britain’s favourite savings product. The 21 million people with just over £70 billion saved in Premium Bonds will be delighted to hear that in under a fortnight’s time, the prize fund will increase from 1.15% to 1.4% – so your chance of winning per £1 bond will improve from 1 in 30,000 to 1 in 24,000....
British Gas customers – there’s a hidden way to cut £130+ off your bill…
British (and Scottish) Gas is the UK’s biggest energy supplier, serving over 10m homes. And no surprise for a provider still benefitting from its past monopoly advantage, it ain’t cheap! After all, why should it be – many of its customers stick with it, price hike after price hike, bill after bill. Currently though, there is a...
Is cash dead? 4 reasons you shouldn’t use it…
Cash is dead! Long live plastic (and I’m not talking about new fivers and tenners). I always try to pay on a card – as it’s like wearing a piece of invisible financial armour – and I want to urge you to consider the same. While cash feels real, and convenient, it’s risky. A woman once sent me...
A year ago Santander 123 halved its interest to 1.5% – now most should consider ditching it
Update Note: 12/12/2017. I wrote this blog just before November’s base rate rise, predicting then UK rates would rise and Santander 123 wouldn’t follow. Well UK rates did rise, and Santander’s confirmed it won’t follow. So everything below still stands. Some of the alternative accounts and rates have shifted slightly, but most are pretty similar – just click...
Warning: Parents with 2+ children who’ll go to uni, SAVE NOW, the system’s biased against you
The entire premise of our current student finance system is supposed to be “you don’t need cash to pay upfront to go to university!” Yet these days that’s simply not true. Many parents, especially those with more than one child, will need a war chest of possibly £10,000s. This isn’t about tuition fees. University fees are automatically...
The secret of how to pick your new energy provider from a list of firms you’ve not heard of
Comparing energy tariffs is easy. Yet as I’ve learnt over the last year, it’s picking your new supplier from a list of unknown names that is putting many off. So I wanted to bash out a quick blog to show you how to navigate through that. The majority of people in the UK are overspending on energy...
Are student loans broken? What I told Uni Minister Jo Johnson
If you read the papers you’d think the answer is a clear cut yes. I too agree, to an extent. Yet the most commonly quoted problems tend not to be what worries me most, and the things least mentioned can hurt. On Tuesday, MSE organised an event at the Tory party conference, where I debated this subject...
19 September 2023
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Martin: Car insurance up 41%
Home not far behind. Lock in now to save
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Cheapest ever iPhone 14 deal
As iPhone 15's launched
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12 ways to cut your food bill
Deals, tricks & tips
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FREE National Trust day pass
For a family – normally £30ish
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TWO new bank bribes launch
Get up to £210 FREE
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With E.on? Beat the Price Cap
With its new fixed-term tariff
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243 spring bulbs £15 delivered
7,500 bundles available
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Recent Blogs
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Martin Lewis: Is it time to ban unnecessary Christmas presents?
11 September 2023![]()
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... -
Martin Lewis: Five things all new English university starters should know
4 September 2023![]()
The 2023 academic year is about to start, and it'll see the biggest shake-up to student finance in England for a decade. The changes are both subtle and massive. On the surface they look like a tweak, in practice they will increase the eventual cost of going to university by over 50% for many typical graduates.
