
Using plastic overseas? Always PAY IN EUROS (even if it says 0% commission)
Update 28 June 2022: I wrote this blog back in 2013, but while it's a little dated, and the rates are wrong, the logic is still the same. However, the video is BANG UP TO DATE!

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…

Martin Lewis: A warning to every UK worker aged 22+, you’re likely about to get a pay rise, but it may cost you
On 6 April, most UK workers aged 22 or over are due a hidden pay rise – but your employer doesn’t need to tell you. This is all about the ‘auto-enrolment’ scheme – where your employer has to contribute towards your pension, and now it’s going to have to give you even more. So I wanted to...
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Recent Blogs
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Martin Lewis: Is it time to ban unnecessary Christmas presents?
5 December 2022Update 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: The one thing everyone aged over 66 needs to know
29 November 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.