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... 

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.

Update 30 July 2019: Martin wrote this blog back in 2013 but while the rates have changed, all the logic is still correct.

I couldn’t believe my ears. While filming in southern Spain for the new series of my show, the producer told me he’d found a cash machine offering 0% commission if you chose to withdraw in pounds. In theory, that’d mean PERFECT exchange rates.

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. 

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.

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?

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…

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...

I don’t do adverts. If you ever see one with my face or name on it, it is without my permission, and usually a scam. Admittedly some are supposedly legit firms bending the rules to imply a link (though do you really trust firms that’d do that anyway?). The latest Facebook ad plague with me in is...