Shows
Mrs Mean Money ShowEp - 100 - How to Survive FraudFraud accounts for more than 40% of all crime in England and Wales. On one Monday morning I was contacted by three different people wanting to steal my money. All of us are vulnerable, especially if you are busy and start the week with hundreds of emails waiting for you. Every day I hear from intelligent, competent people about the scammers who have tried to defraud them. If you use email, telephones or social media the fraudsters find out very quickly when you are involved in a new business or activity. 2025-04-1127 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp - 99 - Cut Bigger BillsApril is an expensive month. Water, energy, council tax, broadband and mobile bills all increase during the month. But it does not have to be a done deal. You can cut hundreds of pounds from your household budget and may actually be able to get a tax gift if you are one of the two million eligible couples who have not claimed the marriage allowance. It can be worth more than a thousand pounds.Water bills are going up but about 40% of households can save money by opting for a water meter. If your home has...2025-03-2529 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp- 98 - Get SavingIt is time to make sure we are not being ripped off by banks and building societies. There is currently around £250 billion sitting in bank and building society accounts paying no interest according to the Bank of England. And the banks use this money to bolster their profits without suggesting to customers how they could be much better off. Instant access savings accounts pay up to 4% currently and regular savings accounts pay more and help to give customers a savings habit. A savings habit can start with one penny on day one and give you £667.95 by...2025-03-1426 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp 97 - Cutting rail costsTrain fares are rising 4.6% this year on March 2. But there are still lots of ways of cutting the cost of rail travel with much cheaper Advance tickets available until minutes before the journey.A few minutes planning journeys can save hundreds of pounds.Buying two single tickets for a return journey is often cheaper.Knowing when off peak fares start is vital. Getting a train a few minutes later can cut the cost substantially.And should things go wrong you need to make a claim through Delay...2025-02-2625 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp-96 Selling your homeThe race is on to complete property transactions before the stamp duty increase in April. You need to be businesslike and make sure you do not lose money because you are concentrating so hard on beating the stamp duty deadline. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.2025-02-1630 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp-95 Selling your homeHome sellers and buyers are racing to complete their deals before the cost of stamp duty increases on April 1. The deadline makes property deals even more fraught than usual. There is no time to lose. Sellers have to be businesslike, befriend their buyers, surveyors, agents and conveyancers. Sellers only have to worry about stamp duty if they are to buy another property. And they have to make sure that the prospect of a potential stamp duty saving does not end up costing them more. There are always buyers looking to cut what they pay for a...2025-02-1430 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp 94 - Cutting the cost of energyMost households can save money on their energy bills. The price cap brought in by the Government and the energy regulator, Ofgem, to reduce bills after Ukraine was invaded is no longer the best deal for most homes.Before the energy crisis millions of us opted for fixed price energy deals to get cheaper energy bills but now more than 80% of households settle for the price cap with its £300+ standing charges before we use a single unit of gas or electricity.The savings may be more modest nowadays but most households can save at least £50 a...2025-01-2921 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp - 93 - First Time BuyersFirst time home buyers are in a race to get their first home before stamp duty increases in April. These could cost thousands extra.It is not surprising that many buyers will not be able to make it onto the property ladder without help from their families. Almost £10 billion was given by parents, grandparents and even brothers and sisters to help buyers to get their deposits together last year.The average first time buyer is now more than 30 and has to find £30,200 for a deposit. Many parents cannot afford to make such generous gifts, bu...2025-01-1731 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp - 92 - Test Your Luck Millions of pounds in unclaimed prizes is up for grabs, and savers have lost contact with billions more. Now is the time to find out whether any of it has your name or number on it. For starters nearly 2.5 million Premium Bond prizes worth more than £90 million remain unclaimed. The vast majority are £25 prizes with more than 1.75m not claimed. More exciting are the six £100,000 prizes and nine £50,000 prizes. Some of the prizes date back more than 60 years. You have less time to claim National Lottery prizes when you buy a t...2025-01-0327 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp - 91 Time to get ahead on 2025There is never time to relax when it comes to making sure you do not pay more than you should. The New Year is no exception and there are financial traps for the unwary that can cost hundreds of pounds. HMRC expects to make £1.2bn next year from late payment interest from taxpayers. Lots of us will be fined £100 for not filling out annual tax forms before January 31 and much more if they do not get round to it the following months - even if no tax was owed. More importantly some two million couples ar...2024-12-2028 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp - 90 Save Money When ShoppingShopping is no longer fun. It is hard work to make sure you do not pay too much or get misled into buying things you do not need or want.Loyalty prices add to the complications and are unfair to shoppers without smart phones or a loyalty card.Comparing prices should be easy but stores choose to provide inaccurate unit information that is difficult to compare.We need to take a list, plan our meals, check all prices are what they seem.Money can be saved and it is very satisfying...2024-12-0628 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp 89 - Beware Black FridayWe are being beseiged with Black Friday offers everywhere we look. Most of them do not deliver what they promise. But if there is something you need or really, really want make sure you do your research to make sure you are not scammed, charged too much, or sold something that is not worth what you are paying.While you are doing the research you can also prep by selling some of the items in your wardrobe, spare room, kitchen or garage that you no longer need or like. It is easier than ever before to...2024-11-2227 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp - 88 Secure Your FutureThe pandemic and cost-of-living crisis have caused many people to make very difficult decisions about their spending to be able to keep within their stretched budgets. But an alarming number of workers need to look at their spending again if they are to avoid a poor old age. Up to 25% of workers stopped paying into their pensions to increase their take home pay, according to one survey. This also had the effect of saving their employers money as well.Times are still hard. But as the state pension is the worst in the developed world...2024-11-0825 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp - 87 Time to free up moneyIt has never been more important to make our money go further. Inflation may have reduced, but we are still paying a lot more for our food,energy and homes. One way open to us all to make money is to sell stuff. It may be old clothes, old books, games, tech toys, kitchen equipment, in fact anything you have finished with.Remember we typically wear less than half the clothes we own. We have wardrobes, chests of drawers, and rooms full of items that could boost your bank balance.Every household has...2024-10-2529 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp - 86 How to Survive FraudFraud is an increasing problem in the UK made worse by the closure of thousands of bank branches. Banks are now required to pay compensation up to £85,000 within five days when criminals defraud their customers. But as banks try to reduce their potential compensation bills it is becoming more difficult to make bank transfers and open new accounts, especially if your bank has closed the local branch. It may be worth opening a second bank account that gives you local access to your money and the help of banking staff. Mobile phones, internet b...2024-10-1129 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp - 85 Stop supermarkets making bigger profitsSupermarkets make it difficult for us to get the best value for our money. They game us with their loyalty cards, special prices, extra points, yo-yo pricing and price matching.The last quarter of the year is the most profitable for them.We all need to work hard to make sure we are not made fools of by attractive displays, misleading prices and two tier pricing.Shopping takes a little longer, but you can save a lot more by checking prices and trying own and basic brands than you will by being seduced...2024-09-2728 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp - 84 Save money with flexible workingThe way we work has changed in recent years and employees are set to get more opportunities to make work work for them and their families. Compressed four-day weeks will give employees the chance to complete a full working week in four days and continue to earn their full salaries. They will also be able to save big money as they are more productive for their employers. Working from home saves big on travel costs and a four-day week allows parents to cut their child care costs by thousands of pounds a year as well...2024-09-1324 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp - 83 Your Money Questions AnsweredOur finances have never been so sorely tested. Energy bills are increasing so are water bills and tax is also a worry among Mrs Mean listeners. But that does not mean we have to accept the bad news without fighting back. There are lots of tips to save money on energy and water bills. Now is the time to check them out. Those trying to improve their financial positions also need to make sure that side hustles do not increase their tax bills. New rules announced at the beginning of the year for...2024-08-3025 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp - 82 Student living cost crisisStudent finances are even tougher this year for those starting their university courses, as maintenance loans are just 2.5% higher than last year, even though rents and other costs are increasing far faster than the cash help. The average maintenace loan is just £6,116 less than the average rent.And to make matters worse the financial help offered by the Students Loans Company has been reduced for students whose parents have a household income of £25,000 or more since 2008.Many parents with higher salaries will still struggle to help with the living costs of their children as their ho...2024-08-1629 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp 81 - Cash ComebackCash is making a comeback. The cost of living crisis means that millions of people have to watch every penny and cannot afford to get carried away with credit cards or contactless ones.The number of people using cash for day-to-day spending is at a four-year high and cash is used for 12% of all transactions. It gives greater control of our money and does not fool us into thinking we have more money than we do.Supermarket shopping may take a little longer using cash and sticking to a budget but it is satsifying...2024-08-0225 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp - 80 - Take your time to protect yourselfThe world gets faster but it can make us very vulnerable as scammers and the unscrupulous, trick us into making decisions too quickly. The banks are not always helpful if customers are defrauded.It is not only the elderly who are at risk. We all have to make sure we do not click on links, open attachments or accept phone calls from unknown senders.Busy people are probably the most vulnerable as they do not allow time to check things out. Just as dangerous are the friendly faces of stage and screen who...2024-07-1929 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp - 79 - Cut Insurance CostsHome insurance bills are racing ahead. It means we all have to do our research early and be ready to move fast when renewing our policies if we want to save money. With average increases of 42% we need to check every aspect of our cover. Too many people pay too much for their buildings' insurance because they insure for the sale price of their home and not the rebuild cost. Lots of people are also encouraged to pay for cover they do not need and may even pay twice for specific cover such as travel insurance without...2024-07-0527 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp - 78 Make Sure Your Money is SafeCyber attacks and IT glitches are happening more often, affecting millions of customers, and they can put our money in danger. Not only are hackers after our money, but fraudsters are ready to use news of IT glitches to persuade us to hand over our account details.They pretend to be from our banks, credit card companies or other organisations. They are very apologetic that our information is in danger and tell customers what to do to make sure our money is safe. They are nicely spoken and persuasive. Put the phone down...2024-06-2127 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp77-Mend your budget before the electionWe can all make extra money, and in most cases we will not have to pay any extra tax into the bargain. Whether it is selling on clothes that no longer fit, hiring out power tools, renting a room or space in your driveway you can start earning in days.With taxes at a 70-year-high and food and energy prices still much higher than they were a couple of years ago most of us need exta money, and it has never been easier to start a side hustle.There are also tax breaks that many...2024-06-0724 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp76-Stop energy companies robbing customersCustomers are owed £3.7 billion by energy companies. The money has built up from overpayments of direct debits and should be returned. Companies err on the side of overcharging when they set up the amounts we have to pay for direct debits. A small buffer is sensible, but all too often customers are owed hundreds of pounds and more. We need to get our money back and after a 12% price reduction in April and another cut due to start in July it is time to contact our energy companies if they have not volunteered a reduction in monthly p...2024-05-2228 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp75-Saving money on holidayIt is the peak holiday booking season as we look forward to summer sunshine. But first of all you need to make sure you get a great deal for your flight, hotel, hire car and holiday money. And as soon as you book you must protect the dream with travel insurance.We tell you how to avoid being ripped off by hire car companies, which are the best days to travel, and how to avoid extra costs.Avoid airport currency exchange bureaux and when abroad always pay in the local currency.Read the...2024-05-1031 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp 74 - Beware reduced credit card paymentsMillions of credit card customers face a big increase in the cost of their borrowing, but many will not know. Barclaycard is reducing the minimum payments that customers will be charged from July. Someone owing £2,500 will have a minimum payment of £71. 21 from July down from £89.96 - an apparent saving of £18 a month. But this move alone increases the cost of paying off balances because customers paying the minimum will be paying the high interest charges for longer. Not only is the company reducing the monthly payments but it is also increasing the interest rates at the same time b...2024-04-2629 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp - 73 - The high cost of childrenChildren are very expensive, especially if you work. The government has increased the financial help it gives towards child care costs so that the parents of two-year-olds can now get a contribution towards the costs. But this is still likely to be a lot less than is needed. The official line is that two-year-olds are entitled to 15 hours free child care a week if the parents each earn less than £100,001 a year. But when school holidays are taken into account the free care is equivalent to one 10-hour day a week and extra costs for food and nappie...2024-04-1229 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp - 72 Loyalty is hard workLoyalty is the latest tool that supermarkets use to lure us into their stores. Big signs and advertisements suggest we can save lots of money but in reality you need to take a calculator, check prices carefully on grocery websites and allow extra time if you are not going to be ripped off. Loyalty cards offer cheaper prices to customers who have them. But this loyalty is fickle and the offers seem to change at whim. And often there is not enough information for us to compare prices and work out which is the best value.Shrinkflation where...2024-03-2925 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp - 71 Cut Living Costs NowApril is the cruellest month when many of our household bills increase. The battle to tame inflation has not yet been won so we have to cut our household bills wherever possible. Even energy bills that are set to be reduced by 12% on April 1 are still more than twice what they were before Ukraine was invaded. So there is no better time to check all our household bills to find out where savings can be made. Water bills are set to rise by an average of 6% in April, but the good news is that millions of househo...2024-03-1534 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp 70 - RemortgagingIt is crunch time for millions of homeowners whose fixed rate mortgages expire this year. They face much bigger monthly payments.After 14 interest rate increases over the last two years, and no sign from the Bank of England that there will be a reduction any time soon, many are fearful they could lose their homes, and may be putting off finding out just how bad the news is. It may be scary, but anyone facing having to remortgage cannot start soon enough. And delaying could be catastrophically expensive.Lenders will allow homebuyers to secure a mortgage in...2024-03-0127 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp 69 - Student Living CostsSucceeding in your A level exams is vital for the school students wanting to go to university this autumn. But almost as important, as their studies, is working out how they will afford to live whilst they are at university. The government has increased maintenance loans for undergraduates by 2.5% for students going to university this autumn. This comes after a 2.8% increase last year and two years of rapidly rising living costs.Parents are not told how much they should contribute towards their children's living costs, but families with an income above £25,000 are on the hook for cash help...2024-02-1627 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp - 68 Time to get some tax backTax returns have been filed so it is now time to find out if there is any money that HMRC owes you, and the quicker you are the more you might get. The current tax year ends on April 5 and if you make a claim before then for an allowance you should have then you may be able to backdate the claim to 2019.And there is lots of money waiting for you to claim it. There are 2.1 million couples who are eligible for the married couples' allowance who have not claimed it. They could be able to...2024-02-0226 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp - 67 Do not let your insurance company make extra money from youInsurance companies are competting to charge us more. The average homes' insurance policy already cost 36% more this year than last, before storms Babet, Ciaran and Debi damaged thousands of homes causing half a billion pounds worth of damage. And then came the even more powerful Henk.While the insurance companies will find reasons to increase our premiums we all need to make sure we do enough research to stop us being massively overcharged. For two years the companies have been under instructions from the Financial Conduct Authority to treat existing customers fairly, and not to charge them more tha...2024-01-1927 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp 66 - Time to save starting with a pennyBanks make billions a year by charging borrowers lots and paying savers little. Now with mortgage rates coming down as banks compete for customers savers have to be nimble if they are not going to lose out. Now is the time to find out whether you can get a better return on any savings you have. Banks are already reducing the interest they pay on deposits and have long paid little or nothing to customers with easy access to their money. At the end of 2023 it was reported that £255 billion was sitting in seven million bank accounts that paid no...2024-01-0521 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp 65 - Avoid the salesWe have been battling inflation all year and now retailers are trying to persuade us to spend whatever we have managed to save.Everywhere we are being offered half price goods and even cheaper.Before you are tempted you have tocheck whether the price cuts are as good as the stores say, and whether you need what is being offered.It has been a tough year for retailers but we do not need to help them empty their warehouses of the goods they bought expecting to make big profits.If you want to shop in...2023-12-2120 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp - 64 - New Year Budgeting podcastNew Year is an opportunity to get our finances under control. There is the quiet period after Christmas to review all our accounts and to work out if there is money to be saved.More people are using cash to give themselves better control of their money. It is much more difficult to overspend when the cash runs out and we notice every overspend.It is tougher this year to balance budgets but there are quick wins for all of us if we check our bank accounts and credit cards. We also need to check if we...2023-12-0832 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp - 63 Saving Money at ChristmasChristmas is a tremendous financial strain each year, and it is probably worse this year as interest rates, food prices, energy bills all challenge household budgets. We all need to learn how to do more for less.There are lots of ways of giving presents that cost nothing, and even more ways of raising extra cash in the next few weeks .Banks are giving away up to £200 to customers who move their current accounts. It should only take seven days. Cashback schemes are slower, but can provide money for making a purchase that you always planned. Make s...2023-11-2428 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp - 62 Beware Black FridayBlack Friday is a danger zone for anyone trying to live within their budgets. Retailers want us to splurge on things we didn't know existed or that we wanted them. Fraudsters also put in overtime to part us from our money. But if you do your research before the spending-fest there are bargains to be had as retailers battle to persuade us to buy. Retail sales have been reduced by bad and good weather and our reluctance to spend when our finances are stressed.But price reductions are not always clear cut. Without the Trade Descriptions Act to e...2023-11-0828 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp - 61 Money Saving MasterclassMrs Mean has been listening to your questions and says you do not have to wait for the Government to provide a giveaway Autumn Statement or Budget. You can save money on your energy bills straightaway and some two million couples are missing out on tax benefits for being married that could provide more than £1,000 in weeks.Getting savings rates that are higher than the current inflation rate and making sure you do not pay too much tax is a must for those who have any spare cash. Answering listeners questions Mrs Mean also gives advice on a...2023-10-2728 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp - 60 Cut electric car costsThe incentives to buy an electric vehicle are gradually being removed and the cost of running them has risen. It is not therefore surprising that the number of private buyers of electric cars fell by 14% in the year to September, even before the government rolled back the deadline by five years for the end to the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles.Those drivers who already have an EV and those thinking of buying one need to check out all the costs and be aware of what to avoid. The cost of insuring EVs rose by 72% in t...2023-10-1324 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp 59 - Winning in the Rental BattleRenters are having it tougher than homebuyers to get a home, with more than 20 people asking to view properties as soon as they are advertised, and rents increasing by inflation-busting amounts. Finding the right property, or one that is good enough, is just the start. It probably takes more work than buying a home because you do not have a solicitor or broker to help you. It means to get ahead of the other potential tenants you need to make yourself attractive. You need a reference from your current landlord and your employer and from anyone else w...2023-10-0626 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp 58 - Don't Be Ripped OffOnline companies appear to set out to mislead customers about the prices they will charge when we get to the checkout. Everyone knows that the flight price first offered is likely to be doubled by the time we pay. Unfortunately many other companies are using the same trickery. The government is consulting on whether it needs to ban charging more than the initial price by what it calls "drip pricing."It will, no doubt, take a long time for legislation to be imposed until then lots of prices will not be easy to understand or in many c...2023-09-2923 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp 57- Beware of Credit Card OffersCredit cards are charging historic rates of interest and they are also trying to find new customers to pay these rates, and possibly spend more than they should. Beware.As people struggle to pay their increased mortgages, rents, food and heating costs the card providers are offering extra credit almost daily. One offer I received told me I would get a decision in 60 seconds whether I had got the super new card or not. Never be rushed with a financial decision and before you make an application check out all the costs and details. The card being o...2023-09-2227 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp - 56 Save £200 in less than an hourMotor insurance premiums are rising very fast, and unexpectedly for drivers who have made no claims or changes to their policies. Many loyal customers are getting renewal notices for premiums that have more than doubled.Insurance companies say this is because car repairs are much more costly and those of us who have not incurred any costs are expected to pick up the bill.That is unless we act quickly, and firmly, by challenging our insurance provider to reduce the premium, and failing that, to find out what other insurers will charge. Companies are not supposed to c...2023-09-0122 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp - 55 Get ready for winter nowThe energy price cap will fall again at the beginning of October, but will still be very high. Meanwhile the nights are drawing in and lights are needed earlier.Before it gets cold we need to look at how we can save money on heating, lighting and to cut our monthly direct debits. And maybe it is time to check out whether you would save money by fixing your energy tariff or to find out whether you can get a grant paid directly into your bank account to improve the insulation in your home. Households can typi...2023-08-2522 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp - 54 - Don't be fooled by loyaltyFood shopping has got a lot more complicated as supermarkets offer us different discounts and extra points if we use their loyalty cards. It takes time to get ready for a shopping trip, and once in the supermarket it can be hard work to find the advertised deals on the shelves and also to check whether it is really good value.Mrs Mean has been analysing her weekly shops and believes that the loyalty schemes are designed to encourage us to buy market-leading brands and in-house premium products. You can get some Aldi prices at Tesco and Sainsbury and...2023-08-1126 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp - 53 Stop Your Bank Account Being FrozenHaving your bank account frozen or closed can be very costly in financial terms, and damage your reputation and credit profile into the bargain. While Nigel Farage was able to get full attention when Coutts Bank told him it wanted to close his account, most customers are on their own, and may not even to be able to get through to someone at their bank who can help them. Banking legislation is intended to stop fraudsters and money launderers to use the banking systems, hundreds of thousands of bank customers fall foul of the algorithms used by ba...2023-08-0431 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp - 52 Get Your Money BackCredit cards offer brilliant insurance for millions of us if we are ripped off when making purchases over £100. The protection is offered by the Consumer Credit Act and it has forced banks and credit cards to pay customers billions of pounds when their flights were cancelled, retailers went into administration without providing what we have paid for, and for many other financial disappointments. But the protection provided under Section 75 of the Act is under threat. The Treasury is proposing that we should be protected by the Financial Conduct Authority.Under the current legislation anyone who gets less than...2023-07-2827 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp - 51 Cut the cost of motor insuranceMotor insurance is stoking inflation in the UK if we allow it do so. Data from Consumer Intelligence put the average motor policy increase at 34% in May and the Office of National Statistics said that motor policies were up 50% in the year to June.These increases make it vital that no driver accepts an automatic renewal and that they all start to find the best deal a month out from their renewal date. You can save hundreds of pounds by renewing early.Renewal quotes can rise enormously even when there have been no claims or incidents in...2023-07-2128 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp - 50 Mrs Mean Money ClinicMrs Mean is here to help you get money back when you have been ripped off and to help you to work out what to do next.In today's Money Clinic she details how to get compensation from universities for lost access to tutors and not being able to graduate at the end of degree courses. Every week she is asked by the customers of banks, energy companies, brokers and many more how to take the organisations to court. Here she looks at the options. We must not let them get away with ripping us off....2023-07-1424 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp- 49 Time to get help with debtHousehold debt is at an all time high with unsecured debt - borrowing other than mortgages - averaging £14,300 a household. There is lots of help from debt charities, who are doing a marvellous job, but you have to be careful as there are vampire advisers, who pop up on your browser and they are out to add to your debt. Or at least to charge you lots for help that can be got for free. Stepchange.org, Turn2Us.org.uk, Christians Against Poverty capuk,org and Citizens Advice all have lots of useful information on their...2023-07-0729 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp - 48 Battling Student inflationManaging finances at college or university is tougher than any exam. The maintenance loans to pay for the cost of living as a student will rise by a miserly 2.8% for English students in September following a rise of 2.36% last year. Rents alone often cost more than the maximum maintenance loans. Parents whose household incomes are more than £25,000 a year are expected to contribute to their student's living costs, but may not be able to find up to £6,000 a year to do so as they struggle with increased mortgage costs, energy and food bills. Now is th...2023-06-3029 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp - 47 Cut your mortgage paymentsThe Bank of England has raised interest rates by 0.5% causing panic among mortgage payers.It comes as more than a million homebuyers will have to remortgage before the end of the year as their fixed rate mortgages expire. Many more have variable or tracker mortgages that have already increased a dozen times in the last 18 months and may be getting behind with payments. Now is the time for all of these homeowners to talk to their lenders about what deals they can do to cut their payments. Lenders should help. They have agreed to allow borrowers to chang...2023-06-2325 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp - 46 Change the Way You ShopEvery week grocery prices increase and we all need to change the way we shop - avoiding the traps laid for us by supermarkets. Check shelf edges for unit prices to work out what is cheapest. You may have to use your phone calculator as stores are not very good at maths or try to confuse.Look to the lower shelves for better value products and avoid month-end price increases. Count everything from crisps to biscuits to make sure that while the packets are the same size the contents are shrinking. Do not let supermarkets incre...2023-06-1628 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp - 45 Defeat Fraud NowWe have been told that new rules are coming in to help anyone who has been defrauded to get refunds from their banks. But there is no date yet as to when this will come to pass so we all have to be extra careful as anyone defrauded through their bank account may still feel alone. And the fraudsters may go into overdrive to make the most of their opportunities to persuade bank customers to pay them when they intend to pay their solicitor, builder, make an investment or to help their children. The Payment Systems Regulator has...2023-06-0930 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp - 44 Don't pay too much for energyThe sun is shining and energy bills are on their way down in July. Now is the time to check we are not paying too much each month. Energy companies increased our direct debits by an average of 60% between February and April and have not reduced them to take account of all our energy-saving. They are holding billions of pounds that belongs to us. It is time to claim it.Now as unit prices for gas and electricty are reduced by 17% we should be making sure that the monthly payments are reduced. Standing charges are now £300 a year befor...2023-06-0227 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp- 43 Don't be ripped off on holidayAir fares have increased by up to 71% since last summer, which makes us all vulnerable to being lured by a cheap holiday offer. Beware of fares that seem too cheap. The budget airlines are adding lots of extra fees for choosing your seat, boarding early, air passenger duty and taking luggage. It can make them more expensive than flying with the bigger more traditional airlines. Mrs Mean warns you not to believe the first fare you are offered and to be careful not to be tricked by warnings that there are only a few seats left, or to be r...2023-05-2627 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp 42 - Don't tip too muchTipping has changed in the UK and you could be paying too much. The National minimum wage, changing spending patterns and the growth of food delivery have reduced the reliance on fixed service charges. Restaurants would rather we return and recommend them than be put off by fixed tips. It is also more honest to charge the correct price for dishes. New laws mean that waiters and others, who get tips from customers in service charges or gratutities, should now get all the money. Avoid new online service charges and beware if you are going to the U...2023-05-1929 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp 41 - Time to make sure all your money is safeThree American banks have failed and an unprecedented £4.8 billion was withdrawn from British banks in March. During the cost of living crisis we need to know our money is safe.While UK banks are safe it is a good time to make sure that our savings are covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme and will be there whatever happens. It is therefore important to know all the rules and to remember that there are lots of people trying to part us from our money.Mrs Mean will be detailing where danger lies. To start with cryp...2023-05-1227 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp- 40 Don't be locked out of your bank accountEvery week hundreds of customers are locked out of their bank accounts with no warning. They cannot withdraw cash, pay bills and often cannot find out why.As fraudsters come up with new scams, and commandeer the accounts of vulnerable customers, banks use complicated logarithms to detect suspicious activity and they often get it wrong.The banks' systems are looking for unusual activities in our transactions and innocent payments may be mistaken for terrorist financing or money laundering. Banks do not want to tip off fraudsters or other villains and do not have to tell customers what...2023-05-0523 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp - 39 Time to act as credit cards are becoming even more expensiveCredit card debt is swamping many of the holders of the UK's 59 million credit cards. With interest running close to £5 billion a month or £126m a day now is the time to find out how to cut the costs before the interest rates go up again in June. More than 90% of credit card holders are in debt in that they do not pay off the bills in full each month and many could save substantial money by moving to an interest-free credit card, or one charging lower interest. Checking bills every month makes sure we know...2023-04-2829 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp - 38 You must not reject free money from your employerMillions of workers have stopped paying into their pensions during the cost of living crisis. The short-term savings may be costing them thousands of pounds a year and could reduce their pension pot by tens of thousands. Times are very hard with energy bills, mortgage rates, council tax, childcare fees and even broadband charges putting serious pressure on our budgets when wages are not keeping pace with costs. It is tempting to cut pension contributions to help your budget. If you are one of the millions who have done so you may be feeling relief, but...2023-04-2129 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp 37- Save Money When You Shop OnlineOnline shopping makes it too easy to spend money and to incur extra fees we are not expecting. It was vital during the pandemic and retailers are keen for us to continue buying from the comfort of our homes. We are offered big discounts on our first online grocery shop and season passes to get regular deliveries. But you have to make sure that you do not make extra orders to get value from your delivery contract. You can get 25% off if you spend £70. But you have to make sure that you get the discount and th...2023-04-1422 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp - 36 Time to avoid supermarket rip-offsFood shopping has never been more difficult. We have to do the prep if we do not want to fall foul of the tricks designed to confuse us. We cannot trust offers as food prices are increasing by 17.5%. Take time to check the price per ml or gram. Mrs Mean found one soap container at eye height on the shelves cost five times more than the bottles on the bottom shelf. Aisle ends are also a trap. Manufacturers pay supermarkets hundreds of millions of pounds for their products to be prominently displayed and the customers pay for it in th...2023-04-0731 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp - 35 Don't be robbed by your bankBoth savers and borrowers are getting a rough deal from banks who are making monster profits for their shareholders and their executives. It is time that we all check our bank accounts to see if we are among the millions of customers who are getting little or no interest on their savings while NatWest has reported that it made 14 times more from its savers last year than it did in 2021. Its net revenue on savings was £1.09 billion. Last summer the Bank of England reported that there was £280 billion in accounts paying no interest. It is e...2023-03-3126 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp - 34 Time for a Budget Spring CleanThe chance to save £450 in a little over an hour should be incentive enough for most of us to check whether we can Spring Clean our spending. Saving money is our second job as food prices, council tax, water bills, stamps, presciptions and much more are set to rise.Meanwhile insurance companies and telecoms providers are increasing their costs by more than inflation. More than 15 million credit card customers can save £1,000 a year in interest payments. There are as many opportunities to save as there are price icnreases.You may have a few m...2023-03-1722 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp- 33 Get money from the tax person nowHis Majesty's Revenue and Customs is seen as a plunderer of money from our earnings but many of us can get serious money from the tax department. The tax system is so complicated, that many people who could get hundreds if not thousands of pounds refunded do not know about the tax breaks.Millions of married couples and those with a civil partnership are eligible for the marriage allowance that transfers part of the personal tax allowance of a non-taxpayer to their taxpaying spouse but they have not claimed the money even though up to £1,242 is w...2023-03-1024 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp - 32 Getting Help from OmbudsmenCompanies no longer look after their customers as they should, and in many cases they take hours to answer their phones when customers try to get issues sorted out. Energy companies and banks are particularly bad at helping customers when things go wrong. It is therefore wonderful that there are ombudsmen to help energy and bank customers, plus for many other industries.It means that we do not have to despair when insurance companies, credit card companies, garages, pension companies and so many more will not engage with their customers and just refuse to pay any...2023-03-0327 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp - 31 The High Cost of ConvenienceGrocery price inflation is over 16% making it difficult to budget. The discounters are regularly the cheapest in research by Which?, the consumer group, but often customers do not have one of their stores nearby.Sainsbury and Tesco are the cheapest of the big supermarkets , but we have to be careful which of their stores we use. Tesco Extra and Sainsbury Local do not have the same prices as the group's larger stores. Which? estimates that regular shoppers at Tesco Extra can pay more than £800 extra a year with the likes of Kipling Bakewell slices costing 28% mor...2023-02-2424 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp30 - Council TaxCouncil tax bills are rising by up to 15% in April adding to the major financial burdens facing households. Most bills are rising by 5% at the same time as water rates are increasing by 7.5% and energy bills are set to increase by a further 20%.Never has it been more important to ensure that you are paying the right amount. Hundreds of thousands of homes may be in the wrong council tax band and a few may be able to claim back for 30 years of overpayment. We tell you what you need to do if you think you ar...2023-02-1721 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp - 29 Childcare costsMillions of people are struggling to pay for the professional care of their children while they are at work. But some are missing out on cash help offered to all for all children under 11 and may also be able to cut costs by sharing care with other parents.There is no doubt child care is expensive and the number of women not returning to work after they have children is increasing because they cannot make work pay. Mrs Mean looks at what help is available with childcare, how to cut childcare costs and to avoid losing any...2023-02-1021 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp28 - Mobile & Broadband CostsYou may believe that your broadband or mobile deal is the best value in the market because you spent ages checking prices, but you could still be hit with inflation-busting increases this Spring. Now is the time to check the small print of the contract that you thought fixed the price for your broadband or mobile service. The companies are allowed by Ofcom to increase fees by inflation plus around 4%. Some are choosing the CPI inflation rate for December, which was 10.5%, giving a total increase of more than14% . Others are increasing by the January RPI rate, which w...2023-01-2727 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp27 - InsuranceRegulations were introduced last year that were supposed to cut the cost of motor and homes insurance by £4 billion over the next 10 years. But customers are being asked for increases of 80% and even the industry estimates we will all be paying an extra 30% on homes insurance this year and 15% more on motor premiums.And unlike other years when we have been able to telephone our insurance company and negotiate a reduction, this year some companies are stating in their renewal letters the price and it is not negotiable.So all customers have to start early whe...2023-01-2033 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp - 26 Making ends meetLots of bills are getting bigger and our incomes are not keeping pace. It is estimated that the average household will have a shortfall in their spending power of £2,100 in 2023. This is too much for most households to find by cutting their food and energy costs or reducing their streaming services.Most us have to find new funds to get through the year. Mrs Mean suggests lots of ways to increase your income, often without incurring any tax. The sooner you start the earlier you can feel in control of your bills again. 2023-01-1332 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp25_Cost of Living BudgetingIt is much more difficult to know where our hard-earned money goes today than it used to be. Paperless bankand credit card accounts mean that there is no regular prompt to reduce our spending. Banking apps are useful but you have to remember to check them and not on public wi-fi.The cost of living crisis has affected most of us and the New Year provides a breathing space for us to check that we are not wasting any money. Energy companies are hoarding £2 billion of our money that they have overcharged when they calculated our...2023-01-0633 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp 24 - PetsPets may give their owners unconditional love but it comes at a price. According to one animal charity, dogs can cost more than £30,000 over their lifetime and that is without counting in vets' bills. Even that cute tiny puppy that you are considering can cost thousands over their lifetime, especially if they are pedigree and prone to certain health problems.Mrs Mean looks at the high cost of owning a pet. With pet food inflation topping that on our groceries any pet owner should work out a budget before they buy. But it is never too la...2022-12-2321 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp23 - Cashback SchemesEarning money when you buy things sounds too good to be true but lots of banks, credit cards and cashback sites are trying to enlist us. When they work we are paid for buying what we would normally buy, but they can cost us dear if we change our spending to chase their rewards.And it is all too easy to be out of pocket if you incur interest on a cash back credit card or you do not check that the item you are buying is the best value available. You can also miss out on ca...2022-12-1625 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp22 - CarsCars have become more expensive to buy in the last year or so. Petrol and diesel prices have also risen dramatically after Russia invaded Ukraine, and even though wholesale prices have fallen since, the prices at filling stations are staying high as retailers have widened their profit margins. Shortages of new vehicles pushed up the price of second hand vehicles by more than 40% during the pandemic as people tried to avoid public transport. Add to that the increase in electricity prices has made electric vehicles more expensive to run, especially if you need to use a pu...2022-12-0929 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp21 - Selling StuffMost of us have too much stuff. It may be clothes, bought but never worn, or books read crammed into shelves and any available surface or children's toys that will never be played with again. While they no longer have a value to us there is a ready market for all our cast-offs. It has never been easier to sell stuff and you can get good prices for items that no longer have a value for you.Lots of people have told surveys that they plan to buy second hand presents for Christmas. It is time to make...2022-11-2524 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp 20 - Loyalty CardsCollectively we have £1 billion tied up on loyalty cards and apps. Sounds a lot but on average we have less than £20. That said we should spend it as we try to save as much as possible on our groceries and Christmas. The loyalty schemes want us to spend more and are currently sending lots of offers to earn extra points but Mrs Mean warns that no one should spend more to get points that they cannot turn into cash for months. Special prices offered by apps complicate our shopping even more. Beware they may not be so special...2022-11-1826 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp 19- HolidaysHolidays have taken on a greater importance after two years of staycations or no vacations at all. The threat of blackouts and very high heating bills this winter seem to be encouraging more people to book holidays. Ryanair has reported that we are prepared to pay more for our flights as it reported £1.2 billion of profits in the first half of 2022. Mrs Mean looks at when it is best to book to get the best fares and how to avoid crippling charges at the airport and warns how holiday bargains can cost dear.If you've go...2022-11-1129 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp 18 -SalesRetail sales volumes are down and shops have lots of stock they need to sell. It is not surprising that they are launching their year-end sales even earlier this year. And they are using all sorts of tricks to get us into their stores and onto their websites. But we have to remember a bargain is only a bargain if it something that we need and it is on sale at a lower price.We have to remember that prices may not be cheaper on Black Friday than on other days. We need to do research on...2022-11-0425 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp 17- Getting the best mortgage dealGetting a mortgage has become very difficult for first-time buyers and homeowners who need to replace a fixed rate mortgage. Interest rates have tripled in a few months increasing typical monthly payments by hundreds of pounds. It means that homebuyers cannot leave anything to chance. They need to find out what credit reference agencies have on their records about them before they start to find out what they can borrow. The better the data and they should be eligible for the cheapest loans.First of all, you need to check your credit score by contacting Equ...2022-10-2831 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp 16- Food shopping in the cost of living crisisFood shopping is changing. It is getting a lot more expensive and takes a lot longer if you want to get a good deal. Comparing prices has never been more difficult. Prices are often missing from the shelves and may not be reflected in the price charged at the till. You have to watch carefully. The price per unit can be difficult to find and may be quoted in kg for one detergent capsule and per capsule for a different size of the same brand. It is worth calculating the price. You can make big savings. Only thi...2022-10-2129 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp 15- Student costsThe cost-of-living crisis is probably worse for students trying to survive at university. It is not surprising that some 80% have a job alongside their studies as the maintenance loans have not kept pace with inflation. They were increased by 2.36% this year when inflation is in double figures. The maximum that they can receive is £12,667 in London and that has to cover their accommodation, food, travel, books, phone contracts and maybe some socialising. And that is only paid if their parents' household income is below £25,000. Most parents are expected to contribute to their students' living costs, paying up to £500 a month...2022-10-1429 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp 14 - RentingRents are increasing by 8 per cent a year and more than 11 renters are chasing each property as the number of properties to rent declines. Letting agents get more than 100 applications per branch but have only 11 properties to rent.It means you have to be professional in your search, but first of all you need to work out the real cost of properties including council tax, transport to and from work and the cost of heating your home. The Energy Performance Certificate is vital as people with D grade homes could end up paying twice as much to ke...2022-10-0738 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp 13 - ChristmasMost of us are wanting a good Christmas after two Covid ones. But the doubling of average energy bills, rapidly rising interest rates and record food price inflation will make the budgetting more difficult. That is why Mrs Mean has already started thinking about how we can all save money . Starting now gives us all a better chance of making the money stretch without appearing mean. Now is the time to agree the Rules of Engagement for Christmas 2022 with family and friends. Then work out how many gifts can be free or paid for by selling stuff on e...2022-09-3029 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp 12 - Cash is KingUsing cash is the best way to survive if you are struggling with your budget during the cost of living crisis and need to be mean. It is not only the poor that are worried about paying for their rent, mortgages, food or energy bills. Unfortunately we have got too used to contactless cards, credit and debit cards and do not always know how much money we have to spend. The money runs out before the month does and we can incur overdraft or penalty charges.It may take longer to go round the supermarket when y...2022-09-2326 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp 10 The cost of babiesBabies and children upset budgets more than any non-parent can imagine. We all want to do the best for our children, whether it is violin classes, shiny new laptops or the best buggy on the market. Such is the desire to get everything right for our children we can easily be persuaded to part with our money, especially in the months leading up to the birth.Much better to take advice from parents, who are a few months ahead of you in bringin up baby. It can save you lots. Very young children do not...2022-09-0929 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp 9 How to complainComplaining has never been more important. But you have to do it well. There are fewer employees waiting for our calls or emails in call centres so it can take literally hours to get through to someone who will help us to get things sorted out. Mrs Mean tells when to call to get through and how to make sure you can be effective. Be prepared. Be professional and do not be fobbed off. Ombudsmen can be your ally and the fees for the Small Claims Court are worth it if you are sure you ha...2022-09-0228 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp 8 Saving money on energy billsThe massive hike in energy bills from October 1 2022 when the energy price cap is increased by 80% means that all of us have to think about using less gas and electricity. Even those who can afford the bills this winter should want to cut back as analysts warn of possible outages. The more we use now could also push up prices next year.Mrs Mean says that now is the time to start cutting back. Reduce the hot water temperature, have shorter showers and only use the dishwasher or washer when it is full. And to get ready...2022-08-2631 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp 11 Price comparison websitesPrice comparison websites promise to save us hundreds of pounds but we need to be wary and not leave all the work to these websites. To start with not all insurers, mortgage lenders, banks and apps are on all price comparison websites. To get the best deal you need to go on more than one comparison site, and then some. Direct Line Insurance is only available from the company. NFU Mutual does not sell online at all. And customers can do better by contacting an insurer or two themselves. The call centre workers may find ways of offering bette...2022-08-0629 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp 6 Found MoneyIn tough times more of us are looking down the back of the sofa for coins or in jacket pockets for forgotten fivers and we may need to raid the children's piggy banks, but we should be more ambitious. There is lots of money out there with our name on it. Millions of bank accounts are dormant in that we have not paid money in or taken it out for more than 24 months. Sometimes we have even forgotten all about them. Mrs Mean tells you how to get access to your money again and also how to find...2022-08-0530 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp 5 - The high price of freeWe all like it when we think we are getting something for nothing but we need to make sure these offers are not an expensive mistake. Free trials for Amazon Prime or other subscriptions are great if you do not forget to cancel within the 30 days and end up paying almost £100 annually for years. Even worse are the birthday gifts offered by restaurants. You may get a free main course or bottle of Prosecco but unless you eat alone the birthday meal is likely to cost you dear. Interest-free credit cards can be valuable if you d...2022-07-2841 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp 7 WarrantiesRetailers and manufactureres work hard to sell us expensive warranties for white goods such as fridges, freezers, washing machine, dishwashers. They try to sell the contracts when we buy the equipment and again when the regular warranty ends. They are expensive and may not pay out when you have trouble. Remember the average washing machine will last seven years and two months and gas cookers 15 years. Even tumble dryers make it to 13 years. Warranties could cost you hundreds of pounds. Beware of boiler cover, mobile cover and avoid the pipe insurance sold by water companies that co...2022-07-2623 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp 4 Transport CostsTransport costs are expensive whether it's by train, tube, bus or plane. Booking early should save money but there are lots of traps that can cost you dearly. Get the wrong middle name on an airplane booking can cost more than £100, failing to print a boarding pass or waiting until you arrive at the airport to pay for luggage to go into the hold is similarly costly. You need to make sure you comply with all terms and conditions especially with cheap train tickets. Travelling in the rush hour is misery and season tickets are very expensive, espec...2022-07-2040 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp 3- BudgetsThe first thing you need to know is exactly what income you have each month after deductions for tax, National Insurance and pensions. Then you need to list the fixed costs such as rent, mortgage, council tax, energy and water bills.But what catches most people out are those occasional costs such as birthdays or insurance renewals. Even though we all have to work with a 12 month 52 week year Christmas often catches us out with too little money in our accounts to pay for it, and then it is a drag on the next year's spending. It...2022-07-0835 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp 2 - CreditMrs Mean has used credit cards for more than 40 years but over the last 20 years she has made sure she has not paid a penny in interest or other charges. As families increase the use of cards to buy groceries she warns that we must all know the cost of using credit cards and other types of credit and the damage to their budgets and their credit profiles that can be caused by missed or late payments. Minimum payments and interest-free deals can be the biggest dangers for the unwary, but probably the biggest danger is...2022-06-3032 minMrs Mean Money ShowEp 1 - SupermarketsBeing a careful shopper can save you £s In this episode Mrs Mean warns shoppers to allow time and use their calculators. The supermarket trickery may require you to compare the price per capsule with the price per kg for the same brand washing detergent in different size packs. Don't believe the bigger pack is always better value whatever the signage says. Usually the best value is on the shelf near your feet. At the till check the shelf price is what you are charged. Mistakes happen too often. And watch for yo-yo prices which c...2022-05-3134 min