When will your student loan be written off, cancelled, or paid off?

It’s a question I’m asked all the time. Many know that current students no longer need to repay their loans 30 years after the April following graduation, yet for those who started university before 2012, there are a variety of options. This information has been a long-term part of my Should I repay my student loan? guide (where...

Using plastic overseas? Always PAY IN EUROS (even if it says 0% commission)

Update 16 July 2024: I wrote this blog back in 2013, and uploaded a newer video in May 2022, so while the text is a little dated, and the rates in the video are slightly wrong, the logic is still exactly the same.

Martin Lewis VIDEO: Should you pay off your Plan 1 student loan?

If you started university between 1998 and 2011 in England or Wales, or since 1998 in Scotland and Northern Ireland, you'll have a Plan 1 student loan. While much is written about whether those with savings should overpay the current English Plan 2 student loans, there's little out there about Plan 1. I wanted to change that, so here's a video explaining how to decide... 

Martin Lewis: This is why I set up a charity…

Last week I got an email with the board papers for the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute (MMHPI) charity trustees board meeting (which I chair). I set up the charity in 2016, and have funded it since, with its aim to come up with policies and ideas to break the marriage made in hell between mental health problems, money and debt.

How much the Govt expects you to give your children for university

Update Note 25 May 2017: The ready reckoners below have been updated with the new 2017/2018 living loan amounts. Also since first writing this blog, and seeing the strength of feeling it attracted, I have written an open letter to the Uni Minister asking him to start telling people about this. Yet sadly received his no we won’t...

Martin Lewis: Debt desperation to happy homeowner in 8 years

No matter how dire your money situation seems, there is always hope. Things may never be perfect, but they can improve and taking action is the best way to make that happen. The team recently forwarded me an email from Jay, which exemplifies that in beautiful technicolour detail. And Jay has now kindly given me permission to reproduce it.

Martin Lewis: Are you an overdraft prisoner? How to escape it

The old adage – that banks will lend you an umbrella when the sun shines, and ask for it back when it rains – feels like a modern reality for many with overdrafts. 

Martin Lewis: Should you buy your holiday euros/dollars now or wait?

The pound is still in the doldrums. A few years ago, before the EU referendum vote, a pound bought €1.43 – since it's dropped significantly and hasn’t recovered much. Last summer it bought €1.14, and today it’s hovering around the €1.12 mark. Against the dollar, the rate is just $1.32 – about a decade ago it bought roughly $2. It’s similar with most other currencies.

Martin Lewis: Is there any point in being married?

You meet someone, fall in love, and hearts pop out of the sky when you look at them. They’re the person you want to spend the rest of your life with. But is there any point in actually being married?

Martin Lewis: Five refunds worth £1,000+ that millions are missing out on

Refund, refund, refund, (refund, refund). No I’m not stuck on repeat, I’m trying to hammer home that people are owed hundreds of millions of pounds that they’re just not claiming – most of which can be done with a quick click or phone call. Here’s what you need to do…