Autumn Statement Submission 1: Unfreeze the student loan repayment threshold, stop the retrospective hike

On 23 November the new Chancellor Phillip Hammond, will present his first Autumn Statement – it’s likely to contain a range of major policy announcements. As always the Treasury has invited submissions, and this year MSE and I felt it was time to take them up on the offer – we’ve submitted two. Here’s the first (the second...

Dear Jo Johnson: Minister, it’s time to tell parents the truth about what you expect them to pay towards university costs

Parents of students starting university in England in 2016, are facing a hidden 27% rise in university costs. We’ve been working on this for a few weeks, and as part of our campaign for a more transparent system of student finance, I have today sent an open letter to Jo Johnson, Minister for Universities, asking for him...

If Santander 123 drops interest to 2% is it still worth it?

Update, 1 November: Santander has now slashed the headline rate paid from 3% to 1.5%. Read my Santander 123 slashed – should you ditch it? analysis for what to do if you’re one of its customers. The Santander 123 bank account has been my and this site’s top savings pick for four years. It pays 3% interest if...

The EU referendum’s hit the pound. Should you buy euros and other holiday currency now for the summer?

Update note 14 June 2016: I wrote this blog in March and the logic still stands (I’ve also speedily updated the products and exchange rates) and if you click the links it takes you through to the current write-ups for each deal. The pound has tanked in recent months. Last year £1 bought you as much as €1.43, now...

Tiny – the littlest elephant in the world

Story time is one of the highlights of my day – yet mini MSE won’t let me get away with just reading them out of a book. I have to make up a story on demand (or often repeat an old one she was particularly fond of). Last summer, I wrote down her favourite, my the biggest...

Is it time to ditch cash ISAs – now that all savings will be tax-free?

In two months’ time there’ll be the biggest savings shake-up for a generation. From 6 April, the new ‘Personal Savings Allowance’ means every basic-rate taxpayer will be able to earn £1,000 interest from all savings without being taxed on it (higher-rate taxpayers get £500).

The scrapping of student grants – what it means & how bad is it?

The papers are full of the row over the Government scrapping student grants. As usual when it comes to student finance, the political invective has clouded the actual practical financial impact on students and there’s huge confusion and panic among students and parents.

Why you now need to ‘join’ to get a super-cheap MSE collective energy switch deal

On Tue 2 February, we’re launching our new ‘Big Winter Energy Collective Switch event’, but we’re having to change the way our collective switches operate, so I wanted to bash out a quick blog to explain why.

Open letter to David Cameron about the retrospective student loan hike

Alongside hiring lawyers to look at whether the Government’s decision to retrospectively change student loan repayments for all students who have started university since 2012 can be legally challenged, I have sent the letter below to the Prime Minister asking for a meeting to discuss the moral issues of the change.

Santander 123 fee’s more than doubling – should you ditch it?

'Greed, pure greed!' Last September when Santander announced it would hike the fee on its hugely popular 123 account, many glued the horns of Beelzebub on it. Now the dust has settled, and the fee hike is nearly here – it hits next Monday 11 January – I want to do an updated number crunch to answer the most common question I'm getting, "Should I ditch it?"