British Gas customers’ new £225 a year discount
British Gas is the UK’s biggest energy firm, and millions of customers stick with it through thick and thin, even if they know they can get much cheaper deals elsewhere (as I constantly nag about). Yet right now there’s a route that enables existing British Gas direct debit customers, who use dual fuel (ie, gas & electricity)...
Martin Lewis: If 83% are predicted not to repay student loans, who pays it? It doesn’t work like you think…
Student loans are a political hot potato and widely misunderstood. I recently blogged on why, bizarrely, cutting tuition fees risks hurting not helping most graduates and within the logic of that I explained it is predicted that 83% of university leavers under the newest English system won’t repay their loans in full within the 30 years before they wipe....
Martin Lewis: A warning to first time buyers – you’ve less than a week to decide if your Help to Buy ISA should become a Lifetime ISA (LISA) – some could gain £1,000s
For those saving for a first-time residential property, Help to Buy ISAs and Lifetime ISAs are no-brainers, as an unbeatable 25% bonus is added as well as interest. In other words you get an extra £250 per £1,000 saved towards any mortgage. Yet as you can only get the home-buying bonus on one of them, you need to pick which is...
Martin Lewis: Why cutting tuition fees bizarrely risks hurting not helping most students
The news again has been full of talk about cutting English tuition fees from £9,250 to, say, £6,000. While psychologically attractive – as it reduces the perceived ‘debt’ – the practical impact is to take money off universities, risking the quality of education, and handing it to very high-earning graduates. I bashed out this explanation on my...
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Recent Blogs
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Martin Lewis: Payment holidays coming to an end – but should you take one? Mortgages, credit cards, loans, payday loans, car finance and more
20 October 2020
Within the last week, we've seen the extension of coronavirus credit card, personal loan and overdraft help to 31 October 2020, with mortgage payment holidays already extended. The regulator's other help schemes are also likely to be extended too, including car finance and payday loans, yet should you do it? -
Is it time to ban Christmas presents?
14 September 2020
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: I confess, I did a 'decoy effect' experiment on my Twitter and Facebook followers… and it may be why they're buying more Jaffa Cakes
7 September 2020
Behavioural economics is a powerful science. Some retailers are undoubtedly using it to make us pay more to get less. One element is the 'decoy effect' – where a higher-priced item is sold, to make items next to it look like bargains. So I wanted to do a little experiment to test it
