Another good thing about the Santander 123 exclusive Two Year Fixed Rate Cash ISA is that it accepts transfers in from other providers and previous tax years’ Cash ISA funds. Many of the best buy Cash ISA accounts don’t allow transfers. I wish that all Cash ISA accounts were obligated to accept transfers.
If you’re not a Santander 123 current account or credit card holder, you can open a two-year fixed rate Cash ISA paying 2%. The only other open-to-all two-year fixed rate Cash ISA accounts paying a higher rate than the Santander are with Britannia and Halifax, both paying 2.05%.
Let’s hope that Santander’s new fixed rate Cash ISA accounts will prompt their competitors to launch some higher rate Cash ISA accounts.
Relationship status isn’t just important on Facebook… there can be surprising effects on your credit report too… you can find out more about what a credit report is, and why it might be useful, here.
This is particularly relevant to couples planning upcoming weddings. As weddings can be one of the most stressful and expensive times of any couples life, the financial issues they are most concerned with at this stage normally revolve around paying for the venue, the extortionately expensive string quartet, an eight tier cake, and buying dinner for 80 of their closest friends. The financial implications of being legally bound to another person often don’t feature high on the list of money worries. So if you have upcoming nuptials, bear a few simple points in mind…
1. Just saying ‘I do’ doesn’t instantly change anything. It’s the steps that often come immediately after marriage that can have an impact on your financial status and credit report. Be aware that having a joint mortgage, or opening a joint bank account, can have an impact on your credit report.
If you’re planning a trip to a country which is a member of the European Union, or Switzerland, Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein you should apply for a free European Health Insurance Card (EHIC). There are some third-party sites which will charge you to apply for an EHIC.
You need either your National Health or National Insurance number to complete the online application form.
Make sure that you apply a few weeks before your departure date to make sure that your receive your EHIC in good time. Read the rest of this entry »
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Review of Tune Hotel London King’s Cross- I bagged a windowless room at the Tune Hotel King’s Cross for £15 a night; a great price for a room in central London.
Earn £50 by Recommending Nationwide – Holders of a Nationwide Flex, Flex Direct, Flex Plus current account can earn £50 for referring Nationwide to friends and family. The person referred also has £50 credited to their new account.
I was pretty annoyed by the patronising letter which I received from Standard Life advising me to “look after the pennies and the future takes care of itself” and that “finding ways to save was easier than you might think”.
Well, if Standard Life really did care about me having a larger pension, they could reduce their annual management charge (AMC). An AMC of 1% equates to a loss in value of retirement savings of 20%; a lot more than a few pennies.
I’m fuming at the thought that part of my AMC is being spent on sending out infuriating letters.
So Standard Life, don’t bother telling me to give up takeaway coffees and a daily newspaper (neither of which I buy) to boost my pension, just reduce your AMC. Then a lot more of my pennies will be going into my pension, instead of your coffers.
Nationwide are offering a balance transfer fee of only 0.75% (minimum fee of £5) on their 26 month 0% interest balance transfer credit card. This is the lowest fee that I’ve seen for a 0% balance transfer over such a long period. You also get 0% interest on purchases for the first three months.
However, this is a limited time credit card promotion running until 31 March 2014, which could be withdrawn at any time. If you’re interested, you should apply as soon as possible.
However if you have a Nationwide Flex, Flex Direct or Flex Plus current account, you can apply for a Select Credit Card which offers the 0.75% balance transfer fee with 0% interest on the balance transfer for 26 months, plus 0% interest on purchases for 15 months, 0.5% cashback on transactions in UK pounds and commission free purchases abroad.
If you have a Nationwide current account you can make £50 by recommending Nationwide to your family and friends. It’s not just you who will benefit, as the referred person will also receive £50.
If the person whom you refer opens a Nationwide Flex, Flex Direct or FlexPlus current account and uses the Current Account Switch Service to carry out an account transfer which includes at least two direct debits, you will both get a £50 credit to your Nationwide account.
You need to make a claim online filling out a form with your Nationwide account details and your friend’s name, date of birth email address. Personally I wouldn’t fill out that form until the person I recommended told me that they had opened a Nationwide current account.
I stayed at the Tune Hotel London King’s Cross for three nights in late January 2014. I paid £45 for three nights in an accessible room with no windows, booked during a promotion which ran during April 2013.
Exterior of Tune Hotel London King’s Cross
The hotel’s in a great location, a five-minute walk from King’s Cross station. This is very handy for me, as the trains from Berwick-upon-Tweed (where I live) arrive into King’s Cross. The hotel was also within a 40 minute walk of all the things that I had planned to do in London. There’s a convenience store next to the hotel.
Lobby at Tune Hotel London King’s Cross
I was allocated a room in the basement. As it was an accessible room, it was larger than the standard room in which I stayed at the Tune Hotel Edinburgh Haymarket. The room had a heating/air-con unit. I found the room very stuffy, it was cold and noisy if I turned on the air-con. My solution during the day was to jam a shoe in the door to let in some cooler air from the corridor. When I lay in bed at night, I could hear fairly loud plumbing noises from the adjacent room.
