Improve Money Rules In 50 Words article discussion 30 December 2009 at 4:40PM edited 10 June 2010 at 5:20PM in Martin's blogs & appearances & MoneySavingExpert in the news 46 replies 6.6K views

Former_MSE_Wendy

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Improve Money Rules In 50 Words guide

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MORPH3US

Just wanted to post to say that I read the article and think all of the ideas are FANTASTIC.... most of them are obvious and simple and I would benefit from at least 80% of them...

Why have they not been implemented before. If the government don't act to get these in place then it just shows they don't give a damn about the customers.

456789

A lot of excellent ideas - though I wonder how many of them will get anywhere

MSE_Martin

456789 wrote: »

A lot of excellent ideas - though I wonder how many of them will get anywhere

That's always the question yet we can but push them in front of the right noses - and we've been doing that (i think consumer focus especially was quite taken by them)

Ambersuccubus

I'm not quite sure why people have an issue with the Council Tax 10 months thing - are they not aware that it is an attempt by local councils to ensure the "correct" (ie, mandated by central government) proportion of CTax is collected before March 31st, in order to avoid fines, and pushing up CTax as a whole?
Surely that's worth a little "give" in budgeting - and I know most people enjoy their 2 "months off", to help their budgets recover after Christmas etc

tacotaco

I missed the original call for ideas.

Here's one of my pet peeves that I see every time I visit the supermarket: 2 for 1 deals. Or 3 for £2 deals. Deals where you have to buy more to bring the unit cost down.

Why they do it: If the supermarket can sell more units, their supplier may give them a better price next time.

Why it is bad: It encourages waste. Consumers are incentivized to spend more money to acquire more food than they need, often perishable foods, such as meat or veg, that go off before it all can be used. The system works against small families and small-fridged families.

The solution: If a supermarket has a 2 for the price of 1 sales promotion, consumers should be able to buy just one unit for half the price. This is the norm in Canada and the US, where shoppers don't have to worry about having bought the correct multiple of items in order to get the best deal. When they arrive at the till with just one unit, the unit is rung through at half price. A 2 for 1 sale is the same as a half price sale.

MSE_Martin

tacotaco wrote: »

I missed the original call for ideas.

Here's one of my pet peeves that I see every time I visit the supermarket: 2 for 1 deals. Or 3 for £2 deals. Deals where you have to buy more to bring the unit cost down.

Why they do it: If the supermarket can sell more units, their supplier may give them a better price next time.

Why it is bad: It encourages waste. Consumers are incentivized to spend more money to acquire more food than they need, often perishable foods, such as meat or veg, that go off before it all can be used. The system works against small families and small-fridged families.

The solution: If a supermarket has a 2 for the price of 1 sales promotion, consumers should be able to buy just one unit for half the price. This is the norm in Canada and the US, where shoppers don't have to worry about having bought the correct multiple of items in order to get the best deal. When they arrive at the till with just one unit, the unit is rung through at half price. A 2 for 1 sale is the same as a half price sale.

There are always more - maybe we'll do it annually personally I wish I had done a

"Insurers should be required to put last years cost on renewal forms - so you can see how much they've increased it" too!

Rafter

Excellent initiative Martin and a great list.

It is fantastic to have 'fast track' access right to the heart of government/ future government to get practices designed to rip off consumers ended and not simply rely on consumers ability to switch providers as a competitive tool.

R.

joolsybools

This is a really excellent article, MSE has surpassed itself here!

The only one I disagree with is the offsetting savings one. I accept it needs tightening, but in an ideal world people should a) manage their finances well in the first place and b) have their savings account with a different bank to the current account thus avoiding this issue.

So come on you politicians, lets get cracking with implementing these ideas.

Sparhawke

Some of these are really great, especially the "waiters tips" argument that I remember having for weeks some months back lol

chrisnorden

I missed the original call, as well, however here goes.

If I buy a printer (in this case, Epson) surely it is my prerogative to put in whatever ink I like, not for it to go into "badger" mode because I have not bought an Epson refill, even though the printer has allowed me to print 50 pages before realising it.!!