The Financial Blog

Asda, Morrisons and Sainsburys are reportedly looking at dropping the price of petrol and diesel byt up to £0.05 a litre this week.

Asda was first off the mark with an annouced £0.03 a litre reduction and then Morrisons said £0.04 per litre, these reductions are off both diesel and petrol prices. Next Sainabury’s followed suit offering a £0.05 cut but only for customers who spend £50 or more in stores and this promotional offer will only run for two weeks.

The really good news in all this ‘price war’ talk is that Asda say there has been more stability in oil prices over the last few weeks. Asda trading director David Miles said: “We are seeing a more stable reduction in oil prices, allowing us to pass on the savings to customers. We urge other retailers to follow our lead at a time when customers need as much help as possible.”

Morrisons group store operations director Mark Gunter said: “The cost of crude oil and refined product has fallen in the last few days and we are ensuring our customers reap the benefit by passing on the saving quickly, for cheaper prices at the pumps.”

A spokeswoman for Sainsbury’s said: “From Thursday our customers can reap an even bigger reward because we are running a 5p off per litre promotion when they spend £50 or more in-store plus they will also earn Nectar points.”

AA president Edmund King said: “Asda’s petrol price drop is excellent news for UK motorists and we urge other fuel retailers to reduce their prices - and not only where they find themselves neighbouring an Asda petrol station.”

At last some good news and the weather is picking up too this weekend! Whatever next?!

When the cost of going on holiday is increasing saving every penny when it comes to foriegn exchange is a must…

Fairfx.com or FairFX Plc is an internet based foreign exchange business with a technology platform that allows it to provide UK travellers with the best foreign exchange rates in the market. FairFX’s core product is a brand new prepaid MasterCard denominated in Euros and US dollars.

Stephen Heath, Chief Executive of FairFX.com, said: “As the credit crunch continues to bite, and the cost of living spirals upwards, Brits have been forced to slash their holiday spending. Understandably, basic housekeeping costs are a bigger priority for families, but many people will be disappointed to have to cut back just when they could do with a little sun and relaxation.”

“Holidaymakers could be paying as much as 11 per cent more for foreign currency if they leave it until they get to the airport compared to organising beforehand.”

“Brits who need to stretch their holiday money as far as possible due to the high cost of living and continued credit squeeze should think about using a pre-paid currency card. For example, they would be able to get seven to 11 per cent more for their Pound using a FairFX.com card compared to waiting and buying their foreign cash at the airport.”

I thought the day would never come again! However, yesterday, I discovered that Sainsbury’s are offering 5 pence off every litre of fuel when you spend £50 or more in store. The £50 must be spent in a single transaction…

So, this offer matches the Tesco fuel offer I posted about at the weekend, and about time too! Hopefully we’ll see more supermarkets offering these incentives over the coming months. I can see that this is the only way consumers will ever be able to save some money on fuel bills. The good thing is everyone has to eat and it’s not difficult to spend over £50 on a weekly food shop these days no matter where you go.

This offer is available from 25/06/08 until 08/07/08 inclusive and there are certain terms and conditions that apply so make sure you pick up a leaflet from your local store. In general though as long as you spend over £50 on food items you should be OK.

The voucher is printed off separately from your till receipt so make sure the cashier gives it to you! Also make sure you don’t loose it because it’s not attached to your till receipt - it’s a totally seperate peice of paper. You only have 7 days to use the voucher too, previously with these fuel offers the vouchers were valid for 14 days so beware!

Apart from that well done Sainsbury’s and come on all you other supermarket petrol stations!! - Surely this is the best way to drive more petrol sales and keep your food shopping customers happy!??

I’m surprised more supermarkets haven’t taken the lead in providing their food shopping customers with cheaper fuel prices at the pumps.

From Monday 30th June Tesco customers who spend £50 or more in store or online will receive a coupon getting them 5 pence off every litre of fuel they buy up to 100 litres, maximum.

You must use your coupon at a Tesco petrol station of course! And you must use your coupon within 2 weeks of its issue date; the last date you can use a coupon will be 03rd August 2008 so it’s a fairly limited 2 month offer - but not to be sniffed at.

I remember when most supermarkets, certainly Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Asda, offered these vouchers practically all year round. At Sainsbury’s if you spent enough, which isn’t difficult, the coupon was automatically printed out accross the bottom of your receipt. All you had to do was tear it off and present it at the petrol station.

Peter Cattell, Category Director for Petrol comments: “Rising fuel prices are never far from the news agenda at the moment and we know our customers are concerned about the effect it’s having on their wallets. While we are always working hard to keep the prices down at our petrol pumps, we wanted to offer all our customers a thank you for shopping with us, which will make a real difference to their budgets.”

I remember not being bothered to hunt for the Sainsbury’s receipt on few occassions ‘just to get a few pence off a litre’ - what’s the point I used to think! Oh how times have changed; I’d use a penny off per litre coupon now if I got the chance!

The Post Office has launched a new 1 year growth bond paying a rate of 7.05 per cent and is perfect for savers looking for a guaranteed percentage over a fixed time period, what’s more is that anyone with a minimum investment of £500 can open an account.

Director of savings at the Post Office, Richard Norman, said: “The new one year growth bond offers one of the most competitive rates on the market. It is a fantastic opportunity for savers who do not need immediate access to their savings and who want a secure and convenient way to ensure a guaranteed fixed rate of return.”

“In times of economic uncertainty this guarantee is more important than ever. By making it available online, in branch and over the phone, we have made it one of the most widely accessible bonds on the market.”

Find out more about the Post Office Growth Bonds Post Office Growth Bonds at PostOffice.co.uk or call 0800 169 7500 or pop into your local Post Office branch.

>>Click here to compare other savings accounts and find the best rates

Bradford and Bingley has launched a new savings account that offers a rate for the life of the account that tracks 0.25 per cent above the Bank of England base rate.

In essence that sounds good but a rate of 5.25 per cent AER, Gross, doesn’t really cut the mustard for me in today’s savings climate. There are plenty of savings accounts offering 6 to 7 per cent for starters and if you shop around and compare savings accounts rates there are a few that just top 7 per cent!

On a positive note the Bradford and Bingley rate for life account does offer 5.25 per cent on balances right up to £500,000 which is something to bear in mind. There are a few savings accounts that promote their headline interest rates but if you read the smallprint sometimes these rates are only available on smaller amounts. Make sure you check this out!

>>Click here to compare savings accounts

Gocompare.com say that by shopping around for car insurance the average saving can be as much as £222 a year which makes up for the increase in fuel prices we’ve seen over the last 12 months.

The figures below show that on average a petrol car driver is £196 worse off, based on driving 12,000 mile per year.

Gocompare.com call this ‘Fuel Off-setting’ and it could help millions of people save money by switching car insurance. The money saved can then be used towards the ever increasing fuel bills.

If you drive a diesel car I’m afraid the cost is even more, around £233 per year. In June last year diesel prices were about level with petrol at £0.97 a litre. Now it’s more like £1.26 for a litre of diesel and £1.15 for a litre of petrol.

Hayley Parsons from Gocompare.com said; “Everyone is getting angry about the price of petrol and diesel rising but our advice is to use two fingers constructively by picking up your mouse and clicking on an insurance comparison site.  You can shop around to save 5p a litre on your petrol each time you fill up, but it still won’t off-set the full cost.  It is also a lot more time consuming than spending ten minutes on an insurance price comparison site when your renewal quote arrives in the post.”

“The case for switching car insurers is compelling enough at the best of times but with motorists facing increased costs you have to look to save money where you can.  Checking your renewal price by using an insurance comparison site is one of the quickest and easiest ways to try and save money.  And saving money doesn’t mean cutting corners either - drivers can see at a glance if they will be able to match their existing cover while getting a cheaper premium.”

>>Click here to Gocompare.com!

Today there are currently 7 lenders; banks and building societies offering interest rates of 7 per cent and higher on fixed rate savings bonds.

There has never been a better time to start investing, if you have the money and are lucky enough to afford to save. Here are the top 7 per cent or more Fixed Rate Bonds;

Source; www.defaqto.co.uk  * available from 16th June

Principal Consultant of Banking for Defaqto, David Black, says: “It’s a rare event when fixed rate bonds paying 2% above the base rate are freely available. Last year, when the base rate was higher than it is now, a handful of 7% bonds were briefly offered but these were quickly withdrawn as investors piled in. The sheer volume available now suggests that some of the current crop will be around for sometime longer.”

“Last time1 the bank base rate was at 5.00% the highest available fixed interest rate bond paid 5.90% which gives a good indication of how things have changed”

>>Click here to compare savings accounts and apply online today

Halifax has today launched a new 10 per cent Regular Saver Account . You can take advantage of this market leading rate without the need to have a Halifax Current Account.

The maximum monthly deposit limit is £500 and an additional 2 per cent interest rate is available if you deposit and maintain a further £5,000 in a nominated Halifax savings account. This takes the interest rate to a fantastic 12 per cent AER.

Don’t delay! This new savings account is only available for 6 weeks from Monday 9th June until Saturday 20th July 2008 - here are the key features;

• 10% gross interest, fixed for a year
• Open to new and existing customers, one account per adult. Account available for a limited period ending 20th July
• 2008. One regular saver account per customer, per year.
• Deposit between £25 and £500 each month by standing order
• If the account is closed early or a withdrawal is made, the rate of interest will revert to the Halifax Web Saver without card rate for the period of investment.
• Each year the capital and interest are swept into one of six nominated accounts. The regular saver account remains open and deposits can continue to be made
• Operated via branch or online
• Unlike some other banks, customers are not obliged to take a low interest current account in order to open the regular saver account.

Head of savings at Halifax, Tony Wilcox, said: “This is the market leading regular savings account. It is now even more attractive for savers to establish that all important regular savings habit.”

For further details, or to apply for the Halifax Regular Saver account call 08457 26 36 46, visit a branch or go to Halifax.co.uk

>>Click here to compare saving accounts and apply online today!

Uswitch.com have reviewed the digital TV market and found that the UK spends over £4 billion a year on digital TV! They also conducted the first ever digital TV customer satisfaction survey which revealed that more than 25 per cent of customers are not satisfied with the service they receive.

• Households spend on average £190 a year on their digital TV service yet 6 million which equates to 27 per cent, are not satisfied.
• Customers voted Sky the best overall provider with 76 per cent satisfied, despite coming last for value for money with 57 per cent of their customers unsatisfied.
• Virgin Media has the least proportion of satisfied customers - over 1 million or 32 per cent, are not satisfied with the overall service.
• Freeview wins Best Value for Money award with 75 per cent satisfied - value for money was voted the most important feature when choosing a DTV provider.
• Less than half , 46 per cent, of customers are satisfied with the customer service provided by their digital TV company - 5 million Sky and Virgin Media customers are not satisfied.

This just goes to show that although overall we’re happy with our digital TV, Sky and Virgin boxes, a staggering 75 per cent of us think it’s not good value for money.

The question is why do people continue to pay for some forms of TV? If the service and value for money is really that bad, as 75 per cent of people say, then surely customers should cancel their subscriptions?

Personally I cannot see the point in paying £40 - £50 per month just to watch the TV. I think it’s a bit sad really that people want the TV in their lives so much they feel the need to fork out that kind of money every month.

Initially I could see the benefit of having sports channels, especially the rugby and football - or OK it would be nice. But now, if I really must see a football or rugby match, I can easily get to a pub and watch there instead. Before anyone mentions it of course I’ll be spending money in the pub!