The Weekly E-mail: Your suggestions

MSE_Martin

Over 1.5million people get the weekly e-mail and we're always looking for new tips and ideas. So if you have any I'd love to hear them. This is the place to suggest them.

What I'm looking for?

• Top Tips from the forum.
  
  If you see a forum post (whether yours or someone else's you think should go in the e-mail. Then post a link to it and explain why - whether its a top bargain or piece of urgent info. Just take a look at the latest Martins Money Tips email for examples.

• Money Moral Dilemmas.
  
  Got an idea for a fun money moral dilemma? I'd love to hear it. The best ones are those which have some big issues to decide and yet the call is very fine. Examples of past MMTs include Should Donald send Huey, Duey or Louis to private school? and Should David & Victoria pocket the pizza.
  
  If you've got an idea, why not try writing it up.

• Great Hunts
  
  These are ways of tapping MoneySavers collective views and resources to find out things that simple research could never do. They include such things as Great Disguised Own Brand Hunt, Great What Shops Don't Want Us To Know Hunt, and the Great Most Economical Printers Hunt
  
  If you've got an idea for a Great Hunt, I'd love to hear it.

• MoneySaving Polls.
  
  Each week there's a poll on the site, asking MoneySavers opinions, giving a quiz or any variety. Take a look at the recent polls archive
  
  Your suggestions would be great.

How to suggest?

Simply click reply and post your suggestion. The MSE Team and I will be keeping our eye on it and we'd love to use them. The more information you give the better.

Thanks in advance.

Martin

PS. If you're a commercial company thinking of trying to plug or promote your product... don't dare. It would be a very grave mistake and you'll regret it

Lynne_Holden

Ordered a multiregion capable DVD player from Currys by telephone as the item wasn't available instore or on reserve & collect facility. Couldn't get the multiregion function work so returned DVD to local store and got refund. They wouldn't, however, refund the £6.99 delivery charge so I e-mailed Currys customer service department and requested a refund in the interests of goodwill and good customer service practice....and got a refund by return. Well worth doing.

geoffcham

I'm fed up with buying bacon or mince and finding that it has 10%, 15% or more water in it, which comes out of it when you try to cook it. This applies even to the highest-priced lines in supermarkets.

1. Since its being sold by weight, I'm being charged £1 for every 85p-worth of bacon or mince, since the water comes out when cooked.

2. It is impossible to fry. I'd like to see Jamie Oliver doing a Sainsbury's advert showing how to cook their bacon. Unless you stop every minute and drain the water from the pan and add more fat, you are BOILING the bacon or mince.

OK the water content is disclosed in small print on the back of the pack, but there is NO SUPERMARKET ALTERNATIVE - they all do it. It's a scam in which they all collude. Of course Jamie or another top TV chef would tell me to source my bacon locally, so I do, but I want to be able to buy water-free bacon in a supermarket.

Ken68

I thought that in this discussion (strted by Fairladygirl) the observations by LegalEgle seems to sggest that energy bills are not payable when addressed to 'The Occupier'.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=489301

Monks_2

I'd love to see an article or discussion on trading standards type stuff. I was at WHSmith in the summer and saw an offer posted for a cheap-ish copy of Harry Potter if I spent a certain amount on stationary, which I had. I asked for the offer, and got terrible service and a reply that I need a 'thingy', which I eventually took to mean some kind of voucher. I was really angry, there was no mention of this on the poster, but they wouldn't budge.
I complained online (directing this to their chief exec), but they claimed I didn't qualify because my goods didn't qualify (even though in store they had confirmed my goods did qualify). And all this, and they would have been getting more money from me!! I got so fed up, I dropped it and vowed not to shop there again. What are my rights here??

gardener55_2

For most unsuspecting graduates who are paying back their student loans,
the inland revenue takes payments directly from your employer in the same
way as they take tax. i.e. the more you earn the more you pay, this
includes bonuses etc. However after taking monthly amounts the inland
revenue does not pay this directly to the student loan company, instead
they wait until the end of the financial year in April and then pay the
entire year off to student loans.

The effect of this is that the inland revenue hold on to your monthly
payments for up to a year earning themselves interest. During the same
period, because student loans have not received these funds, they in turn
charge the graduate interest on the outstanding amount even though it has
been paid to the inland revenue.

Bottom line is that for those in this position we pay interest to student
loans on money which has been taken from our accounts which the inland
revenue keeps and earns interest on.

There are others who have become aware of this and have started a petition
on the Downing Street website.

If you want to show your distaste for what the Inland Revenue are doing,
please sign the petition listed below.

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/Student-loans/

dave_mathews

On the ASDA shopping website a crate is listed as 10p, there are many threads on this site and others about this and i myself have ordered the maximum of 24 @ 2.40, bargain!

however I don't believe they will uphold this as in the terms on conditions it says about the price you pay is the price in the store on the day of delivery.

also i have heard this happened before with 3kg bags of pasta also at 10p and everyone got the items ok and payed 10p

:money:let us know all about it!!!!!!!!!11:money:

tesswolfhound

For many my partner and I just to struggle to thing of presents to buy each other that would be thoughfull (not too cheap but not too expensive) it resorted in us writing lists for each other which took much of the fun and suprise out of opening the presents. If fact it got to the point where there seemed littlt point even wrapping them!!!! A few years back in desparation I sid to my partner who was doing the pre Xmas countdown nag about what would you like for Xmas I told hime to go and by me something to do with nightime and spend £66.66 exactly. It kept him occupied and I had a few weird and wonderful suprises to unwrap on Xmas day (and neither did I worry that he had gone out and spent lots of money on something I wasn't going to use or wear). In fact it was such an enjoyable experience that we have done it ever since but refined the challenge.
Each year we both pick a general theme (e.g some of the themes we have had animals, water, eco-friendly, health, holidays etc.)
Then you both decide on the number of presents you would like to receive between 1 -10
The you both pick the amoun of money you would like spent on you up to £100

An example could be outdoors, 5 presents and spend £74.02

The challenge is to get the closest to the exact cost ith the correct number of presents. We have had some quite imaginative presents with quite tenuous links but it all adds to the fun.

Just thought I would share that because when I have told my friends they were in the same rut of just making lists out for each other, quite afew freinds are now doing this, not spending as much as they woul normally, not having to nag for ideas or lists and having a laugh too.

Tess:rolleyes:

beesa_boy

Hi

A quick suggestion to improve the email with just three keystrokes? Please change

STOP YOUR FRIENDS WASTING CASH! PLS SUGGEST THEY GET THIS EMAIL


to the word PLEASE. The word PLS just looks sloppy and unprofessional to me and I can't bring myself to click the link.

I'm not usually such a pedant!

Former_MSE_Andrea

Hi gardener 55

The Government has put a response on that petition explaining how the student loan payment system works.

Andrea

gardener55 wrote: »

For most unsuspecting graduates who are paying back their student loans,
the inland revenue takes payments directly from your employer in the same
way as they take tax. i.e. the more you earn the more you pay, this
includes bonuses etc. However after taking monthly amounts the inland
revenue does not pay this directly to the student loan company, instead
they wait until the end of the financial year in April and then pay the
entire year off to student loans.

The effect of this is that the inland revenue hold on to your monthly
payments for up to a year earning themselves interest. During the same
period, because student loans have not received these funds, they in turn
charge the graduate interest on the outstanding amount even though it has
been paid to the inland revenue.

Bottom line is that for those in this position we pay interest to student
loans on money which has been taken from our accounts which the inland
revenue keeps and earns interest on.

There are others who have become aware of this and have started a petition
on the Downing Street website.

If you want to show your distaste for what the Inland Revenue are doing,
please sign the petition listed below.

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/Student-loans/

Ken68

WOW...some withdrawal symptoms on the DDOS event. Felt I needed a 'Place to Assemble'.