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Quids in! The UK’s Number 1 Money Magazine | ISSUE 29 Winter 2015 www.quidsinmagazine.com
“Families are 0 0 7 £ o t p u g n i n bin of food a year”
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INSIDE!
Advice on: ✔ Spending ✔ Saving ✔ Borrowing ✔ Earning
WIN £300 By taking part in our reader survey
SAVE £££S
keep Don’t let them’s time your cash – it to switch
t t E n L e #WSaAsMP o rnleya e F h g u H n i Jo ampaign c ’s ll a t s g n i t t Whi waste against food
CROSSWORD Your chance to win this Samsung tablet
MARRIAGE ALLOWANCE Couples miss out on millions
YOUR MONEY
BE INFORMED
TAKE CONTROL
I’ve just realised this issue could actually save me about £400. I didn’t know about the Marriage Allowance and the Quids in! switch service (see page 4) could actually be the reason I take the plunge. I’m good at shopping around but I’ve not switched for years and it’s so much easier now. Shame I’m not able to fill in the survey we’re running because we’d really like to show what a difference Quids in! can make to its readers. I’ve been to a couple of fancy events recently with the Money Advice Service and Citizens Advice – even Martin Lewis was at one. They have similar aims but we come from a different place and it’s time to show them what reader power can do and tot up the savings we’ve made (see page 7). Our 2014 survey predicted the numbers of people suffering health complaints because of money worries would cause huge problems for the NHS. In October, the Independent reported “‘Victorian’ diseases are soaring in England, in what campaigners [say is] a result of cuts to social services and rising food poverty”. Well, we told them so. And with your help we will again.
g y takin b 0 0 3 £ our part in age 7 !P survey
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Jeff Editor
WEDDED MISS
Millions of pounds of unclaimed allowance go begging
In this issue…
When it was announced, the government said 4.2 million households would benefit but just 320,000 have claimed the Allowance since April, when it came into effect. HM Revenue & Customs are now promoting the scheme. The first £10,600 of an individual’s earnings are not taxed. The idea is that if Four hundred million pounds earmarked for someone does not reach the point of paying couples are lying unclaimed in government tax, or does not earn at all, their partner can coffers as fewer than one in ten people have their unclaimed allowance. It cannot eligible for the Marriage Allowance have be claimed if one person earns above the taken up the tax break. upper threshold of £42,385. The scheme means that if one Think you qualify? Claim online married or civil partner is earning Quids in! says… at www.gov.uk/marriagebelow the tax threshold of Write, email or allowance or through the £10,600, their unclaimed tweet to let us income tax helpline 0300 200 allowance can be transferred to know how you 3300. You will need NI numbers the other partner. It can mean get on… you could win £50. and dates of birth for both couples are up to £212 a year partners. better off. Married couples miss out on millions as fewer than 1 in 10 claim Marriage Allowance tax break worth up to £212 @quidsinmagazine
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editor@quidsinmagazine.com
THE
WIN!
Welcome
Win a Samsung tablet in our crossword comp
“Waste, like charity, begins at home” Hugh page 6
Odds & ends page 8
Quids in! magazine
Address 3 Monmouth Place, Bath, BA1 2AT. Tel 08456 8049 06 Editor Jeff Mitchell Email editor@quidsinmagazine.com Publisher Steve Faragher Email steve@socialpublishingproject.com Comms Officer Dan Fineman Email dan@ socialpublishingproject.com Advertising Opportunities Lisa Woodman Email lisa@ socialpublishingproject.com Copy Sales Rhiannon McNamara, Deborah Colvill Email rhiannon@socialpublishingproject.com, debbie@socialpublishingproject.com
Quids in! makes every effort to ensure content is correct at the time of going to print. Readers should take specialist advice where necessary. Quids in! has no political allegiances, and opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the publisher or editor. Any relationship with advertisers or sponsors is always on the understanding that we retain our editorial independence.
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Quids in! magazine is designed to help people understand and manage their money better. It is published quarterly by the Social Publishing Project, a social enterprise.
“Fat cats are getting fatter” Is it finally time to switch? page 4
Quids in! magazine is supported by Aon and Aviva. Aon arranges home contents insurance with Aviva for tenants of social and council housing. Ask your landlord if they have a scheme in place.
BUZZ
The latest news affecting you and your finances
Housing under threat as tenants celebrate rent windfall
E L P M A paid claimants. The changes mean £2.3bn less revenue each year to councils and housing associations. In November, Sunderlandbased housing group Gentoo announced a major round of redundancies in response to the cuts, claiming it would need to find £18m a year up to 2020. The Office for Budget Responsibility said 14,000 fewer ‘affordable homes’ would be built. It is not all good news for tenants either, as those earning over £30,000 (£40,000 in London) will face rent hikes to ‘market or near market’ levels in future. It is expected that up to a quarter of a million tenants will be worse off under the so-called ‘pay to stay’ measure.
Housing associations and councils sent into crisis by otherwise welcome rent cut @quidsinmagazine
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High spirits among working tenants celebrating four years of rent cuts have been tempered by landlords threatening cuts to staffing, services and new homes. In July, the Chancellor, George Osborne, announced social landlords would be forced to slash rent by one per cent each year from next April. While tenants who pay rent will benefit, the government will also enjoy savings where it pays housing benefit on behalf of out of work and low
What a tweet!
Video of the issue
Quids in!
@quidsinmagazine
LIVING WAGE
Following the demise of my 16 year relationship earlier this year I have been left heartbroken with a mountain of debt. Having read a couple of your Help Files articles, I have finally been able to put pen to paper and come up with an agreeable budget that works with all those concerned and allows us to eat. As odd as it sounds it is also nice to know through Quids in! that we are far from alone in this situation. Niki Sykes
12m
People who are not saving enough for their retirement
HALF
of people with families have no life insurance
SPOTTED OUR QIMAG.UK LINKS?
You can follow up what you read in Quids in! by turning to the internet. Simply type the qimag.uk/link (as it appears in the story) into the web address bar on your browser and press 'enter'. Check out our Animal Antics playlist at qimag.uk/qipop1
CHEAPER ENERGY BILL
A very handy tips video from the Energy Savings Trust that could save you £400! qimag.uk/videonov15
JOIN THE CONVERSATION… THANK YOU QUIDS IN!
3 IN 10
Less than 3 in 10 of the working age population have savings of three months income or more
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That’s the original Living Wage, not the one the government are trying to confuse us with!
1 IN 6
Number of people who have too much debt
FALLING RENT
Make sure you’re up to speed on the new Living Wage rates for the UK: qimag.uk/ livingwagenov2015
NUMBER CRUNCHED MONEY ADVICE SERVICE SURVEY
WIN £50
POST The Editor, Quids In! 3 Monmouth Place, Bath BA1 2AT EMAIL editor@quidsinmagazine.com TWEET @quidsinmagazine.com
Have you got something you want to tell us, or a money-saving hint or tip to share? Each issue we’ll send £50 to our best letter writer, emailer or tweeter! Don’t forget to include your name and address.
Quids in! | 3
SAVEtMONEY? nks! No ha
Why is switching such a turn off for so many people?
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t was meant to put money into the pockets of those who needed it most. It was one of the big ideas of the coalition government. They made it easy for us to switch energy suppliers. They spent millions of pounds on advertising it with actress Charlotte Rampling fronting a campaign that urged us to switch. We were all meant to be around £200 a year better off. Yet shocking research from consumer watchdog Which? has revealed that there’s a staggering £2.7 billion pounds being wasted every year by households that don’t switch – exactly the same amount as it was when the campaign was introduced. And that means that the fat cats of the big six energy companies are getting fatter, despite competition watchdog the Competitions & Marketing Authority slamming them Not even the glamorous Charlotte Rampling has earlier this year managed to convince for fixing the people to switch market and making excessive profits. An incredible three in four of every households in the UK are still on standard electricity and gas tariffs, and show no sign of switching. SWITCH So why not?
SWITCHING MYTHS “If I switch I’ll have to go without gas or electricity for a few days”
NOT TRUE
Our energy supply will not be interrupted if we switch suppliers.
“As soon as I switch they’ll put the price back up”
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N! YOUR GRA nd
already a Switched ey? Why saved mon e love th not share sh!) and a c e th (and lative, re switch a erson p y rl e or eld ... w o you kn
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There are lots of deals out there which are fixed for up to a year, so we know exactly what the price will be. And when they’re over we can switch again.
NOT TRUE
“It’s a hassle to switch” It takes up to 15 minutes and it helps to have a recent bill. And if it’s the first time we’ve ever switched we could save up to £300 or £400 a year. But the company we’re switching too does all the hard work and notifies our old company for us, so all we do is sit back and wait for smaller bills.
A TINY BIT TRUE
WHAT THE EXPERTS SAY: Chris Huhne, Former Energy Secretary “People spend less time shopping around for a bill that’s on average more than £1,000 a year than they would shop around for a £25 toaster”
Martin Lewis, Money Saving Expert “The vast majority of homes in the UK are hugely overpaying on their energy bills and it only takes five minutes to change it.”
Richard Lloyd, chief executive Which? “It’s clear that the people who would benefit the most from switching suppliers are still not moving.”
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GO ON…
switch!
I want the biggest
Try uswitch.com –
name
pioneers among sw
itching
I want a trusted bran d
Try consumer cham pions Which? switch.which.co.uk
I want to be Quids
in!
Yes, we’ve launched our own switching se rvice at quidsinmagazine .com/switch. And as we’re a social enterprise – a business that’s not for profit – you can be sure it’s only becaus e we want everyone to sa ve money.
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Quids in! | 5
#WASTENOT
Quids in! joins the campaign to cut down on food waste
H
ugh Fearnley-Whittingstall is used to a good fight. Remember when he took on fishing practices in his Fish Fight series? But he admits that the challenge of taking on food waste is an even bigger one. And while the big supermarkets have a lot to answer for, waste, like charity, begins at home.
Almost half of the total amount of food thrown away in the UK comes from our homes. We throw away a whopping seven million tonnes of food and drink every year, and more than half of this is food and drink we could have eaten. Wasting this food costs the average household £470 a year, rising to £700 for a family with children, that’s pretty much £60 a month.
“We’ve lost the sense of responsibility for our actions, and of trusting our own resources, our nose and our common sense,’ says Hugh, adding: “Use-by sounds like an order. It sounds like an instruction. It makes people think that at midnight on the 29th, something’s going to go from a perfectly safe food to a deadly poison, and of course it isn’t like that.”
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HUGH’S TOP TEN TIPS FOR YOUR FRIDGE TO HELP YOU STOP WASTING FOOD 1
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A lot of the fresh produce that comes in plastic bags at the supermarket – particularly salad, herbs, carrots and parsnips – is best kept in the packaging until you want to use it.
Don’t bin the skins. Potato, beetroot, parsnips and carrot peelings can be turned into delicious vegetable crisps. Make sure they’re clean (it’s easiest to scrub them well before peeling!) then toss with oil, season and roast on a baking tray for about 12 minutes at 200C/gas 6.
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Mushrooms will sweat and rot if left in plastic so transfer them to a paper or cloth bag before refrigerating
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Softening berries can be crushed – and sieved if they’re pippy – then combined
If your salad leaf is a bit limp (or your spinach, rocket or watercress, for that matter) dunk it in a bowl of iced water for a few minutes and it will be magically revived.
JOIN THE FIGHT
g #wastenot or n on twitter usin ig pa m ca e th in Jo es, ideas and otuk.com for recip en st wa t ou k ec ch him. Hugh supporting a letter to send to
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If you find yourself with strawberries just past the point of freshness, turn them into a raw jam by slicing them, squeezing over some lemon juice and sprinkling on some sugar. Leave for half an hour or so and the strawberry juices will form a delicious light syrup on the fruit.
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Potatoes should not be kept in plastic either. Store your spuds in paper, cloth or netting, in a dark, cool place, but not the fridge.
If you’ve used half a bunch of herbs, trim the stems of the rest (like you would with flowers), put in a jug of water and store in a cool place or the fridge.
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You can preserve bananas at the point of perfect ripeness by keeping them in the fridge. The skins will blacken but the flesh will be fine.
with honey and yoghurt, poured into lolly moulds and frozen for a healthy treat.
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Freeze your hard cheese! In fact, freeze any dairy product that’s going out of date (except soft cheese). Butter, cream, milk and hard cheese can all be frozen then defrosted and used as normal when needed.
THE 2016
Quids in! READER SURVEY
Editor Jeff Mitchell calls on Quids in! readers to tell us about their money worries so we can tell the powers that be to…
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STOP TALKIN G ABOUT US AND
S £300
WIN BIG!
LI STE N !
1 PRIZE ST
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his issue we are calling on your help. Two years ago hundreds of our readers completed a survey to tell us how they’re doing and how they’re coping with their money worries. Now we’re asking for you to do the same again, so we can fight for a better deal for Quids in! readers around the UK. And don’t forget you have three chances to win big! There’s a £300 or one of two runners up prizes of £100. Winners will be selected through a Grand Draw on the closing date, 26th January 2016. We’re not alone in thinking our readers should have a voice. Our survey is sponsored by insurance firm Aviva and by Mears, who provide maintenance and care services to social housing tenants. Their help means we will be able to turn what you tell us into information that will improve policies and services to people like you everywhere in the UK. We look forward to hearing your feedback. And good luck with the draw prize!
WHAT YOU TOLD US IN 2014: POOR HEALTH Quids In! readers are getting poorer and their health is suffering as a result, with more than half saying they felt frightened, anxious or depressed and one in three saying they’d become physically ill. No wonder because more than half were going cold and almost two in five readers were skipping meals.
BILLS CAN WAIT
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: HOW TO ENTtoER
ey is open The Quids in! surv housing anywhere tenants in social FREE TO POST in the UK and it’s s. If you haven’t us your response , you can fill it in seen a paper copy , .uk/qisurvey2016 ONLINE at qimag ad lo wn do meone to or you can ask so R COPY for you PE PA A and PRINT nloadsurvey. The at qimag.uk/dow ere to send it are instructions on wh on the sheet.
Just about one in two people were struggling to pay bills. Things are even worse for working age people not in full-time employment with two thirds of them in difficulty with bills and half falling behind with debt repayments. Just under half had seen their benefits cut in the previous two years.
NO BANKING ON IT
Payday loans and doorstep lenders filled the finance gap more than in our previous survey in 2012, although there was some good news, more people were using credit unions. Shockingly, just 48% of readers use bank accounts and use of home contents insurance, credit cards and post office accounts were also in decline. And while banks close high street branches, saying customers will go online, a quarter of readers told us they were not online and less than one in three said they would use a computer for banking anyway.
I contacted Niki, our Star Letter writer (see page 2), to ask what she thought about our survey. She told us: I do think the survey is a good idea. Speaking from our own financial situation, debt can be a very dark and lonely place to be (especially if you have young children to consider). Professionals can wax lyrical about debt management and budget planning, but sometimes it is just nice to know that you are not on your own.”
Quids in! | 7
Odds & Ends
The page that has all the bits that don’t fit anywhere else!
PRIZE CROSSWORD Win a Samsung Galaxy Tab 4
WIN!
S
12 Animal-watching tour, especially in Africa (6) 14 Haddock, for example (4) 16 Impolite (4) 17 Japanese assassin (5)
Disabilit y Benefits Centre (✆ 0345 605 6055) and for Child Benefit and tax credits call Inland Revenue (✆ 0845 300 3900). • Council Tax and Housing Benefit is dealt with by your local council. • Pensioners should call the Pensions Service (✆ 0800 99 12340). • Free benefits calculator www.entitledto.co.uk
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DOWN 1 Mark left by an injury (4) 2 Spider’s trap (6) 3 Wild pig (4) 4 Spike of frozen water (6) 6 Spotty breed of dog (9)
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Sculpture of a person (6) Young child (6) Choppers (4) Chair (4)
THE QUIDS IN!
SIMPLE COOKING COURSE
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DEBT ADVICE Get in touch with any of the organisations below to get CREDIT UNIONS free advice and help. fornotare Credit unions • National Debtline profit organisations that ✆ 0808 808 4000 , unts acco bank ide prov www.nationaldebtline. They loans and savings. co.uk may help people the banks • StepChange Debt Charity l loca your nd fi won’t. To ✆ 0800 138 1111 credit union call ✆ 0161 www.stepchange.org 832 3694 or visit www. Offers free debt .uk. n.co unio edit findyourcr management plans, debt advice and more. S EFIT BEN • Citizens Advice and t men • For unemploy www.citizensadvice.org. work-related benefits talk uk. In Wales call ✆ 08444 . Plus e entr to Jobc 77 20 20 England call ✆ or ies • People with disabilit 08444 111 444 carers should contact the
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✆ QUIDS IN! USEFUL NUMBERS LOAN SHARKS The National Illegal Money Lending Team tackles loan sharks. To report a loan shark anonymously you can call them 365 days a year on ✆ 0300 555 2222, text LOAN SHARK and your details to 60003 or email them at reportaloanshark@ stoploansharks.gov.uk. In Wales call ✆ 0300 123 3311or send an email to imlu@cardiff.gov.uk
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To enter the draw simply complete the crossword and pop it in the post to us. Don’t forget to include your name and address. Send your completed crossword to Galaxy Tab 4, Quids in!, 3 Monmouth Place, Bath BA1 2AT. Or you can enter by taking a pic of your completed crossword and sending it to editor@ quidsinmagazine.com. Closing Date 31st January 2016. See www.quidsinmagazine.com for terms and conditions. ACROSS 5 Mass of people (5) 7 On a single occasion (4) 8 Get bigger (4) 9 The words to a song (6) 10 Underwater boat (9)
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One lucky winner will get their hands on a stunning Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 tablet worth £185. This 8G tablet is perfect for home entertainment
HOW TO ENTER
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4. Fish Pie
Nothing says comfort food quite like a heaped plateful of fish pie! Warming and delicious, it’s also really good for you, and keeps well in the fridge for leftovers the next day. To find the recipe for our easy white sauce visit qimag.uk/ simplecookingcourse
SERVES 4 COSTS £6
INGREDIENTS
• 500ml of Quids in! white sauce • 500g Potatoes, mashed • 200g Peas • 500g Mixed fish and prawns • Parsley METHOD 1. Make white sauce. Turn your oven on to 200 degrees Celsius. 2. Cook and mash your potatoes, choose nice floury ones that will mash well. Once they’re cooked, drain them, add a knob of butter and a splash of milk, season well and then mash.
3. Get an ovenproof dish. Pour in your peas and your prawns and chopped raw fish. (Smoked haddock is particularly good, as is salmon or even tuna. We like to keep an eye out for fishy bargains in the supermarket and stick them in the freezer until it’s pie night). Pour over the white sauce, add a bit of chopped parsley. Give it a mix. Then spread your mashed potato on top and bake in the oven for 30 minutes. Visit www.quidsinmagazine.com for more recipes and cooking ideas