Fix Foreign Exchange Rates for up to 1 Year with the Post Office
Post Office
The new Post Office Overseas Property Money Transfer foreign exchange service has launched, enabling customers to make international bank to bank money transfers. It also offers customers peace of mind by enabling them to fix at a favourable foreign exchange rate for up to a year, giving valuable protection against volatile foreign currency fluctuations.
The Post Office Overseas Property Money Transfer service offers competitive foreign currency exchange rates, with 0% commission and no hidden charges. The service reimburses customers for any charges that the destination bank may impose, meaning that customers can save hundreds of pounds a year. Anyone needing to transfer money to an overseas bank account can benefit from the online service.
Sarah Munro, Post Office head of money transfers, said: "Until now, many users of international bank to bank money transfer services have found it to be an expensive business, with limited options for small transfers in foreign currency. They have often been unable to capitalise on the great foreign exchange rates offered by foreign currency specialists because they weren't buying in bulk. And they were also at the mercy of volatile foreign currency markets, making it harder to get the most from their money."
"The Post Office Overseas Property Money Transfer service offers customers the ability to fix at a competitive foreign exchange rate, giving them peace of mind for up to a year, which is a real advantage in current markets. We calculate that with 0% commission and our competitive foreign exchange rates we will be saving customers a serious amount of money if they've just sold their house or are paying a deposit on a new property."
Source PRWeb UK
NS&I Finds the Luckiest Premium Bonds Regions
National Savings & Investments
NS&I research has discovered the luckiest areas of Britain for winning Premium Bonds prizes, showing that those firstly in the South West, and then in the East Midlands, win more Premium Bonds prizes of £1000 or more, than the rest of the UK. Ranking as third luckiest was Wales, while the North East of England emerged as the least lucky of all the regions.
Sally Swait, Premium Bonds manager at NS&I, commented: "Each month ERNIE randomly generates the winning Premium Bonds numbers from his home in Blackpool, where all eligible Bonds - regardless of their age - have an equal chance of winning."
"The last year has seen the South West region receive the greatest luck in having their numbers come up, though all other regions were not without their own significant wins. As the numbers are generated randomly each month, we may very well see a change in the rankings of the luckiest regions in the UK next year."
NS&I also discovered that there are currently more than 599,000 unclaimed Premium Bonds (http://www.nsandi.com/products/pb/unclaimedprizes.jsp) prizes across the UK, worth over £35 million.
The current odds of each £1 Bond number winning any prize are 36,000 to 1, so with average luck, an investor with £30,000 in Premium Bonds could win 10 tax-free prizes a year.
The good news is that there is no time limit for claiming prizes. Premium Bonds results can be found by using the Premium Bonds draw (http://www.nsandi.com/news/pbnotice.jsp ) prize checker or writing in to NS&I.
Premium Bonds (http://www.nsandi.com/products/pb/index.jsp) are an investment where, instead of interest payments, investors have the chance to win tax-free prizes. They were officially launched by Harold Macmillan, Chancellor of the Exchequer, in his 1956 budget.
At the end of June 2009, more than 23 million people had a total of over £40 billion invested in Premium Bonds. There are currently more than one million tax-free prizes from £25 to £1 million being won each month.
All Premium Bonds prizes are free of UK Income Tax and Capital Gains Tax.
Source PRWeb UK
Earn Cash as You Shop
Quidco.com - Earn cash back as you spend
As an alternative (or in addition to) voucher discount sites Quidco.com is a great site that gives you cash back when you buy online. You just follow the links that Quidco.com provide and then shop as normal, once Quidco.com have received payment from the merchant, they send it to you.
Earning cash back with Quidco.com is easy, here's how:
- Sign up for a free account at Quidco.com
- Use their search to find a merchant
- Use the link provided
- Make a purchase
- Quidco pay you direct to your bank account or via PayPal
House Prices Rise to 5-Year High
Land Registry
House prices in Englans and Wales were rose by 1.7% in July from the previous month; the bigest jump since July 2004 the Land Registry has said.
The analysis has shown that every region has seen an increase, with the average house price now standing at £155,885.
Although this is promising news for the UK hosing market, prices are still over 11% lower than the same period last year. House sales were also down when compare to the same period last year.
Say NO to Premium Phone Numbers!
saynoto0870.com
If you're like me, you'll hate paying to use a premium phone number. More often than not, a company will have 0800 freephone numbers on their sales lines, but use 0870 numbers (or worse) for after sales. Not only do you pay more for the call, but the company often pockets some of it.
Premium phone numbers are usually masking a real landline number, a great service to discover that real phone number is saynoto0870.com. All you have to do is enter a premium rate phone number or company name and saynoto0870.com will display the real phone number; easy.
15% off at B&Q Again!
15% off at B&Q
It's happened again; spend £50 on anything in store (including sale items) and B&Q will give you a 15% discount.
The discount applies online and in store and is available for 4 days from Friday 28th August. You will automatically receive the discount at the checkout, no voucher code is required.
10 Reasons to Take Out Life Insurance
Protect Your Family
I am often asked by friends what is the importance of having life insurance and is there really any point in having it; one friend has even suggested that it is nothing more than a money making scheme hatched by the banks.
Everyone has their own needs and each persons circumstances are very different. I don't have a standard quote answer as to why you should take our life assurance, however, one way to look at it is that if someone stands to lose financially by your demise, it may be a good idea to think about protecting them with some life cover.
Here is a list of 10 reasons that you might want to take out life insurance:
- protect your dependants from debts
- leave an inheritance for your loved ones
- pay for funeral expenses
- pay any outstanding bills
- offset inheritance tax
- protect your business
- make a donation to a charity or good cause
- create an income for dependants
- pay off a mortgage
- leave a special gift for a loved one
15% Off at B&Q
15% off at B&Q
If you're quick, you can get 15% off everything at B&Q, including sale items.
The offer is vaild between Thursday 20th and Tuesday 25th August 2009, all you have to do is download the voucher using the link below:
Missing instructions could save some money
Download Instruction Manuals - © Ian Britton FreeFoto.com
Sometimes, no matter how hard you look, you just can find the manual that came with one of your household appliances or favourite gadget.
Using some advanced Google search tecniques you could soon be the proud owner of an electronic version of the manual you need, without wasting any paper, or the cost and hassle of ordering a new one.
Here's how to download a manual:
- go to www.google.co.uk
- click on 'advanced search' to the right of the search box
- type the model number of the product you need the manual for in the box titled '
Mortgage lending on the up
Council of Mortgage Lenders
According to the latest figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML), gross mortgage lending stood 26% higher in July than in the previous month. Although gross lending was £16bn, it is still one third lower than the same period last year.
CML economist Paul Samter said:
"Most of the indices point to house prices rising modestly over the summer months. The CML's July gross lending estimate of £16 billion is the highest level in nine months and consistent with the rise in house purchase approvals.
"But the bounce-back in activity from the extreme weakness around the turn of the year, coinciding with a seasonal bounce, is limited in how far it can go against the current back-drop. We expect improved sentiment to support the market, but a further significant pick-up is unlikely with so many obstacles in place. As a result, we anticipate some seasonal slowing in lending volumes and housing transactions over the latter part of the year and the picture of a slow but more stable market to emerge."