The taxman says three and a half million people are due a refund, but two million will have to fork out for underpaid tax.
Ten easy ways to make £100
Who says there's no such thing as easy money? These 10 painless gains could put an extra £1,000 in your pocket.
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Thanks to millions of consumers tightening their belts and cutting their spending, the UK economy is struggling to grow. Also, with inflation (the rising cost of living) growing faster than wages, our disposable incomes are being squeezed.
In these tough times, can we Brits make a few extra pounds without forking out a fortune? In other words, are there 'gains without pain' that enable us to sweep up extra cash with minimal effort?
Good news: if you're feeling the pinch and fancy a bit more cash in your pocket, then these 10 tips combined could make you well over £1,000 in return for only a few hours' work. These money-making moves have got to be better than working, agreed?
1. Bag a better bank account
Banking bungles have been big news this summer, as customers of Royal Bank of Scotland, NatWest and Ulster Bank were locked out of their accounts following a software slip-up. A month later, Nationwide BS caused havoc when it processed debit-card transactions twice, while Barclays customers are furious at the bank's manipulation of key interest rate Libor.
As a result, thousands of fed-up customers are looking to jump ship by switching their accounts away from the 'big four' banks. This can be a smart move, as smaller banks often provide superior customer service.
What's more, you could bank £100 by switching your current account to first direct, HSBC's online and telephone bank. New customers who open a first direct 1st Account, agree to pay in at least £1,500 a month and switch at least two direct debits or standing orders get a £100 bung within 28 days of meeting these conditions.
Also, if you decide to leave first direct within the first 12 months (provided you stay for at least six), then it will pay you another £100 for switching away.
2. Spice up your ISAs
Introduced in April 1999, Cash ISAs (Individual Savings Accounts) allow British savers to earn tax-free interest on cash deposits. Now the most popular tax haven in Britain, roughly 12 million cash ISAs were opened in the last tax year.
However, only around 1.3 million cash ISAs were transferred in 2011/12, so tens of millions of cash ISAs are gathering dust in low-paying accounts. Therefore, spice up your savings rates by switching from poor-paying ISAs to table-topping accounts. Gaining an extra 2% a year on £5,000 of savings will earn you an additional £100 of tax-free interest each year.
3. Prune your car insurance premium
Cashback website Quidco, which has over two million members, has a great offer for motorists looking to drive down the cost of car insurance.
Right now, new customers buying car insurance from Aviva via Quidco get 15 weeks of free car insurance, plus cashback of up to £70. Obviously no deal is best for all motorists as each insurer reserves its best deals for a certain sector of the market, such as older drivers or women. What that means is it's essential you shop around for a new quote rather than simply renewing with your insurers.
For drivers who haven't shopped around for competitive quotes for a few years, this could add up to a saving of £250 or more.
4. Benefit from 0% balance transfers
Even though the Bank of England's base rate has been stuck at a record low of 0.5% a year since March 2009, borrowing on a credit card is still horribly expensive. Today, a typical credit card charges a yearly rate of around 19% APR on purchases, plus sky-high rates on cash withdrawals. You can dodge these rip-off rates by making use of 0% balance transfers.
These allow you to move your existing balances (card debts) to a new credit card offering interest-free credit for a lengthy period. Until 9 August, the best 0% deal comes from Barclaycard, which offers 0% on balance transfers for a transfer fee of just 1.45%. Over 22 months, this offer could save you perhaps £130 for every £400 you transfer to this interest-free deal.
5. Reach for the Sky
Here's another Quidco deal for customers switching their broadband and landline to Sky. Join Sky Broadband Unlimited with Talk (without TV) and get your first six months free, £80 cashback and a £25 Marks & Spencer voucher. With this deal, you get £105 to spend, plus half a year of free internet access.
6. Buy a BT bundle
This deal from Broadband Choices is for households willing to switch their broadband and landline to BT. Apply online and you get £75 cashback and a £25 Sainsbury's gift card, as well as six months free (producing a further saving of £78).
7. Snap up a Vodafone SIM
Sign up for a Vodafone SIM on a 12-month contract to earn up to £140 cashback via Quidco. Also, by using Quidco's SIM-only discount finder, you could save up to 48%, cutting your contract cost by almost half.
8. Cash in as you splash out
I'm a big fan of my cashback credit card, which pays me a 1% cash rebate every time I swipe my 'flexible friend'. Last year, by putting all my spending on plastic, I got a cheque for £120. I did this without paying a penny in interest, as I always pay off my balance in full by direct debit.
Cashback deals vary from card to card, but two of the best right now are the Capital One Aspire World MasterCard (which offers an introductory 5% cashback the first 99 days, then up to 1.25% afterwards) and the American Express Platinum card (5% for three months, then 1.25%, with a £25 annual fee).
9. Go for cheaper gas and electricity
Thanks to steeply rising energy bills, a typical UK household now spends around £110 a month on gas and electricity, or £1,320 a year. By shopping around, you could reduce your bill by upwards of £20 a month. That's a yearly saving of £240. What's more, certain suppliers will offer you cashback or vouchers for signing up, meaning you pocket even more.
10. Go green and save money
Lastly, another Quidco offer aimed at keen greens who want to switch to renewable energy sources. Switch your electricity to npower Juice to use electricity from 100% renewable sources, plus get up to £100 cashback.
So there you have it, 10 deals that will make you £100 or more.
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27Comments
08/08/2012 17:09
After reading this article do you know how much better off i am?
£0.00
What an absolute load of garbage.
The car insurance example is a no brainer along with the gas and electric, im sure most people shop around for the cheapest quote.
The ISA example is only going to be beneficial if you have thousands of pounds lying around collecting dust which not many people have at the moment.
The cash back credit card you said pays back 1% for what you spend, you got a cheque for £120 meaning you must have spent TWELVE GRAND?
I thought this article was to help people save money? by the looks of it its for people who have plenty of disposable income who dont need any help.
This article has got to be one of the biggest deceiving articles msn has ever published.
Poor show msn poor show.
08/08/2012 16:00
08/08/2012 19:09
Heres 10 ways to bag a few billion
1 Bang the banks for the millions they have creamed off in fees and Quantative Easing
2 Forget ISA - more ways Banks rip you off with Mgt Fees while you lose money and they dont give a toss
3 Car Insurance - most run by Banks - look for companies that arent owned by RBS etc
4 Credit Cards - dont use them try debit card or stop over spending
5 Sky - yeah £60 a month for TV you can get on for free on Freeview and less crap US imports
6 Look anywhere for TV Broadband Mobile then here - they charged me £40 then dropped it to £20 when i kicked off
7 Vodafone - yh rite
8 0% Credit Cards - done that in 4 plus its Banks even worse American Banks ripping you off with huge interest rates
9 Bang the Utilities - price up/ charges up- prices down/ no move - huge windfall tax bill on profits
10 Dont go green burn a tree hugging eco nutter
How much saving was that ?
08/08/2012 17:51
08/08/2012 18:38
08/08/2012 18:34
08/08/2012 18:22
08/08/2012 20:51
08/08/2012 17:29
08/08/2012 19:00
08/08/2012 20:53
08/08/2012 20:00
08/08/2012 18:46
08/08/2012 20:54
08/08/2012 23:05
What a load of old TOSH. There is not one single method, piece of advice or wisdom, that will actually generate extra money without actually spending money first or taking out MORE credit cards to pay off existing debt. Wheres the advice to 1- increase your work opportunities 2- get a promotion 3- interview and CV building techniques 4- which companies are hiring 5- entrepeneur skills 6- using your brian to capatalize on existing talents and skills to MAKE money thats sustainable, short and long term, and that will make a difference - a REAL difference.
08/08/2012 22:10
13/11/2012 10:29
this is more like how people that have a load of money can save on the more than enough they already have when they should be putting the money in the economy to help small buisinesses survive so there are less unemployed this should be done by our government too, or just tax these people more in the first place! Help our country not just yourselves you greedy so and so's! There was a time when we fought together but now it's all how can i line my pockets and to hell with the others! Greed should be something of the past now!
28/12/2012 22:16
08/08/2012 22:28
08/08/2012 18:11
Some of these are not even reading the same info.
The one wanting to vote out the coalition government I totally agree, its the only way to save the country, if we don't do it soon, they will be moving the boundaries to get the votes, like Maggie did!!! What a shame the Conservativew only win elections when they move the boundaries, if you can't do it as it is, don't bother, just go.
Perhaps in future they should make it a law that no coalitions will be allowed, a further vote will be taken, cutting out the odd ball parties, and only the three main parties will be voted on, this will continue till we get ONE and only ONE Party in power.
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