“If I’m really honest, my great fear comes next spring.”
Spring 2023 will bring ‘the pinnacle of interest rates, the end of the energy price guarantee and another rise in energy bills, says Martin Lewis, CEO of Money Saving Expert.
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Any good news
The way energy providers have been revising prices needs a bit of look. In case of gas the unit prices have been raised. However, in case of electricity the standing charges have been raised lot more than the unit prices. People cannot optimise the usage of the gas and there the uplift is on the usage. On the other hand, people can optimise the usage of electricity to some extent, but there the uplift is on standing charges. This does look like a design to maximise the energy bills. British Gas' profits increased 5 times back in Jul 2022. Surely it will increase even further in coming months. Looks like another set of businesses to be considered for windfall tax and then to use that tax for subsidy to people on energy bills. Energy is a fundamental need like healthcare. It shouldn’t be an area for profiteering while people suffer.
The only problem, as we all try to spend as little as possible, and the government cuts spending and raises taxes, is that my spending is your income and vice-versa, the fallacy of composition kicks in, Keynes's 'paradox of thrift', ensuring that debt rises as a ratio of national income. The government is not a household. But … they do know all this, and it seemed to work for them last time round (i.e. the 0.1% guiding policy decisions and proselytising for it).
Thank you Martin, u really are the People’s Hero !! I don’t think that there is a Minister around the Cabinet table that is even a tiny fraction of your commitment to people’s financial welfare than you are. Like you I dearly hope that The Gov will ‘lift’ the current levels of Benefits & Pensions by the rate of Inflation and not drop it by some mis-begotten level of wages and salaries. If they don’t we are likely to see the most devastating and widespread destitution that this country has seen for 50years. But even doing that won’t stop Nurses & other workers struggling to Heat themselves and their family relying on Food Banks for something to eat, even if it’s only half a packet of supermarket cornflakes !!
ONE REALY GOOD THING MARTAOIN HAS ON HIS WEB SIGHT THAT WILL HELP THE POOREST OF HE POOR IS THE FORUM WITH WO MEALS FOR 50P
NOONE NEED to STARVE AND FREEZE IN HE DARK YOU CAN GE 16p cans of baked beans with Asda essentials rage and los of other nice bargains and with the app olio you can get free food and the app too good to go you can get food at 1/3rd regulare price you can boil 100 cups of water for £1 use tha in hot water bottles and youll be nice and toasty i bought a jetcloud oversized blanket hoody and ive hardly had o use my heating with it on light and enough power to charge a usb radio or phone solar led work lights for under £10 fear noy gods got your back
here is a way you can poaitaly make a bit of mone but no right now because here is soimehing going on with silver ha has risen the price wai for it o fall before you do this you can buy silver bullion from an online dealer ive seen it as low as £16 an oz and sell it for he current price of £48 on amazon or ebay
I just saved £500 a year on my Broadband/ TV supplier. £80 a year on my mobile. Changed all my saving accounts to ones 6 times higher.
I spoke to BT when renewing my BT contract and told them of my situation and I spoke to someone about the social tariff, but was told if I had any problems with my internet connection, it would be prioritised, like it is on a full contract and have to wait for it to be repaired, so that put me off of going onto that as I do depend on my internet connection. So they offer it, but with strings attached!
Martin Lewis is so helpful with the work that he does – he's a mine of useful information for the nation. And many thanks to him for doing the work he does so meticulously and passionately….
But…
I can see why some people might react negatively to talk about savings etc.
There can be little hints of 'othering' in the language used – little hints that he views 'the most disadvantaged' as an entirely different group of people, not at all like him or even like his viewers. When the reality is that more and more people are in that situation….
I just think that if he was a little more careful with the language used, he could avoid alienating and upsetting people on the sensitive issue of personal financial struggles.
eg "Many people will save over £1k per year" (by reviewing their outgoings). For the people for whom a grand a year savings is simply not possible, the "many" is alienating. If he had said "Some people could save £1k per year" that would have been more inclusive, IMO.
OR
"It won't have been that much money, ……so it's only a few hundred quid a month they're putting away". A FEW HUNDRED QUID A MONTH? That is a huge amount of surplus income to many! For many many people, being able to save a few hundred quid per month is a pipe dream……. If Martin had just said "It's a few hundred quid a month that they could put away in that type of account" and avoided the 'only' and the 'it won't have been that much money', he would have avoided alienating the significant number of people for whom a few hundred pounds per month is a lot of money, and could avoid accusations that his programme is only there for the middle classes.
Best way to rob a bank. Will be the talk in summer 2023
Buy shares in Amazon
Cancel tv licence and Amazon Prime.
Government ‘provisions’ means spending taxpayers’ money whilst energy companies report extra profits.
He's talking absolute BS. Martin has set himself up as a money saving guru and he's telling people to spend their money on stuff they don't need just in case something happens. It won't. Don't take his advice
Spring 2023 will be tough?!
Some people don’t want to help themselves. I’ve lost count of the people I’ve offered to help cut their bills. Friends, family & neighbours with the exception of one. My mum (who was very ill at the time) accepted too. Her bills were slashed & she got freebies. My mum was incredibly financially savvy & thought nothing of haggling with market vendors but didn’t think the same applied to services. We can all learn to take good advice.
IMF Country Report No. 22/56
Maybe he could achieve more if he went into politics