MSE's weekly round-up
Martin wants your fixes for life's glitches, cut energy costs, 5% easy-access savings & more
Welcome to the best MoneySavingExpert content from the past week! See our latest top tips, hot deals and news-you-can-use, plus Martin's musings, all in a quickfire bite-sized format. Here's what you need to know from this week.
The week in brief...
We've the full round-up below, but first, here's a quick look at this week's top content:
Earn 5% on savings, cut energy costs & bag £300 FREE – from this week's Money Tips email
Hot deals: Cut-price wooden toys, £1 Costa & 'free' £50 Tesco gift card with car insurance
Free competitions, credit comebacks & MOT MoneySaving – this week in the MSE Forum
MSE's Money Tips email: Earn 5% on savings, cut energy costs, bag £300 FREE & more
Some highlights from this week's email include...
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Snag 5% easy-access savings with Starling. A top rate from the online-only bank – but be warned: it drops to 2.5% after six months.
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Cut your energy bills. If you're not on a fixed tariff, your price would have just gone up – and could rise by ANOTHER 20% come January. See how you can save now with our free tools.
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Bag a HUGE £300 bank bribe. Barclays' free £300 joins a raft of other cash bonuses paid to you for switching bank – check which ones could work for you.
Key MSE News: Car finance legal challenge set for December or February
A date is expected to be confirmed soon for the legal challenge to the regulator's car finance redress scheme.
The case is set to be heard on either 14 December 2026 OR 16 February 2027.
If the challenge fails and there is no follow-up appeal, payouts to those affected by the mis-selling could begin in 2027.
However, if the challenge is successful and the scheme is overturned, payouts could be delayed until 2028 or beyond.
Deals of the week: Cut-price wooden toys, £1 Costa & 'free' £50 Tesco gift card with car insurance
Here are just some of this week's top deals...
Bag wooden toys from £1.79. Two supermarkets have launched wooden toy sales: Aldi has 50+ toys from £3.99, while Lidl has 140+ from £1.79 (Lidl Plus members can also get an extra 10% off).
Get a £1 Costa coffee at Co-op. Available every Friday in October while stocks last, at selected stores with Costa Express machines.
Get a £50 Tesco gift card with a Tesco car insurance policy. However, don't choose this cover solely for the bonus, as it may not be cheapest – follow the steps in our guide to check other providers' prices.
The latest from Martin Lewis: Martin launches 'The Small Ideas Initiative' – submit your small fixes to life's glitches
Got a small idea that could make a big difference? Martin Lewis wants to hear it.
The MoneySavingExpert.com founder has launched the Small Ideas Initiative, an experimental charity project which is aiming to turn YOUR everyday fixes into actionable policy.
You can submit ideas for practical, low-cost ways to improve the UK, on anything from health, schools and business, to shopping, money and more.
Submit yours by Thursday 12 November, after which chosen ideas are set to be taken to government, councils and regulators, with the goal of getting them turned into action.
What's new on MSE: Read our updated free or cheap AI tools guide
Could AI save you time and hassle? Our updated guide shows how you can use AI to restore photos, create invites, sort your life admin and much more.
We include 30+ AI tools in the guide, which now includes a comparison of free vs paid chatbots, with details on what the free versions can do and costs where you do pay.
From our social channels: Cash ISA providers are vying for your savings – could you benefit?
As our recent social post highlights, cash ISA providers are competing with attractive rates, so now could be a good time to open a new account or switch cash in from an existing ISA.
Our top cash ISAs guide has all the best buys, whether you want access to your cash or to lock it away in a fix. Either way, you won't pay tax on the interest you earn.
And finally, from the MSE Forum: Free competitions, credit comebacks & MOT MoneySaving
Some highlights from the MSE Forum this week include...
This week's top comps... Prizes include a £5,000 Jet2holidays voucher, a £2,500 appliance bundle and £1,000 cash.
Rebuilding credit history with help from Martin. One forumite shares their experiences and wants to hear others' stories, too.
Poll: How do you usually find the best deal on car servicing or an MOT? Give us a steer by voting in the poll and see what other forumites do.
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