Quids In! - Paradigm Housing

Quids in!
The UK’s Number 1 Money Magazine
Issue 29 winter 2015
inside!
Advice on:
✔ Spending
✔ Saving
✔ Borrowing
✔ Earning
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crossword
Your chance to win
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Take control
Welcome
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 6) 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.
Jeff Editor
In this issue...
03The buzz
The latest news affecting you and your finances
06Switching
Why is switching such a turn off for people?
08#wastenot
We join the campaign to cut down on food waste
10Reader Survey
The 2016 Quids in! reader Survey.
12Recipe
Nothing says comfort food quite like a heaped
plateful of fish pie!
13Crossword
Win a Samsung Galaxy Tab 4
14Useful numbers
[email protected]
Advice and help
Quids in! | 2
z
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The latest news affecting you and your finances
wedded miss
Millions of pounds of unclaimed
allowance go begging
Married couples miss out on millions as fewer
than 1 in 10 claim Marriage Allowance tax
break worth up to £212 @quidsinmagazine
Four hundred million pounds earmarked for couples
since April, when it came into effect. HM Revenue &
are lying unclaimed in government coffers as fewer
Customs are now promoting the scheme.
than one in ten people eligible for the Marriage
The first £10,600 of an individual’s earnings
Allowance have taken up the tax break.
are not taxed. The idea is that if someone does
The scheme means that if one married or civil
not reach the point of paying tax, or does not
partner is earning below the tax threshold
earn at all, their partner can have their
of £10,600, their unclaimed allowance
unclaimed allowance. It cannot be
Quids in! says…
can be transferred to the other
claimed if one person earns above the
Write, email or
partner. It can mean couples are up to
upper threshold of £42,385.
tweet to let us
£212 a year better off.
Think you qualify? Claim online at
know how you
When it was announced, the
www.gov.uk/marriage-allowance or
get on… you could
government said 4.2 million
through the income tax helpline 0300
win £50.
households would benefit but just
200 3300. You will need NI numbers
320,000 have claimed the Allowance
and dates of birth for both partners.
number
crunched
money
advice
service
survey
1 in 6
3 in 10
Number of
people who have
too much debt
Less than 3 in 10 of the
working age population
have savings of
three months
income or more
Quids in! | 3
12m
People who are not
saving enough for
their retirement
z
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t
The latest news affecting you and your finances
falling rent
Housing under threat as tenants
celebrate rent windfall
Housing associations and councils sent
into crisis by otherwise welcome rent cut
@quidsinmagazine
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 paid claimants.
The changes mean £2.3bn less revenue each year
to councils and housing associations. In November,
Sunderland-based 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.
What a tweet!
Quids in!
@quidsinmagazine
Video of the issue
living wage
That’s the original Living
Make sure you’re up to speed Wage, not the one the
on the new Living Wage
government are trying to
rates for the UK: qimag.uk/
confuse us with!
livingwagenov2015
Quids in! | 4
cheaper
energy Bill
A very handy tips video
from the Energy Savings
Trust that could save you
£400! qimag.uk/videonov15
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t
The latest news affecting you and your finances
join the
conversation…
Thank YOU Quids in!
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
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
WIN!
your name and address.
win
£50
POST The Editor, Quids In!
3 Monmouth Place, Bath BA1 2AT
£300 by taking p
art
in our survey!
Click here
EMAIL [email protected]
TWEET @quidsinmagazine.com
Quids in! | 5
Savetmoney?
!
s
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No
Why is switching such a turn off for so many people?
I
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 earlier this
year for fixing the 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. So
why not?
Not even the glamorous
Charlotte Rampling has
managed to convince
people to switch
Switch
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Quids in! | 6
What the
experts say:
Switching Myths
“If I switch I’ll have to go without
gas or electricity for a few days”
Not true
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”
Our energy
supply will not be
interrupted if we
switch suppliers.
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.”
“As soon as I switch they’ll
put the price back up”
Richard Lloyd, chief executive
Which?
“It’s clear that the people who
would benefit the most from
switching suppliers are still not
moving.”
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
Go on…
“It’s a hassle to switch”
switch!
I want the biggest
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 to does
all the hard work and notifies our
old company for us, so all we do is
sit back and wait for smaller bills.
name
Try uswitch.com –
pioneers among
switching
a tiny bit true
I want a trusted bra
nd
Try consumer cham
pions Which?
switch.which.co.uk
I want to be Quids
in!
Yes, we’ve launched
our own switching
service at quidsinm
agazine.com/switc
h.
And as we’re a socia
l enterprise – a
business that’s not
for profit – you can
be
sure it’s only becau
se we want everyon
e to
save money.
Quids in! | 7
#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.”
Hugh’s top ten tips for
your fridge to help you
stop wasting food
1
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.
2
Mushrooms will sweat and rot if left in plastic
so transfer them to a paper or cloth bag before
refrigerating
3
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.
4
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.
Continued
Quids in! | 8
#wastenot
5
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.
6
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.
7
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.
8
Softening berries can be crushed – and sieved
if they’re pippy – then combined with honey and
yoghurt, poured into lolly moulds and frozen for a
healthy treat.
9
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.
10
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Quids in! | 9
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…
STOP TALKIN
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ABOUT US
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£ prize
LI STE N !
1
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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!
how to enter:
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Quids in! | 10
The 2016
Quids in!
reader
Survey
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
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.
Quids in! | 11
I contacted Niki, our Star Letter writer
(see page 5), 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.”
The Quids in!
Simple Cooking Course
Serves
4
Costs
£6
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
Method
1
2
Make white sauce. Turn your oven on to 200
degrees Celsius.
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.
Ingredients
• 500ml of Quids in! white sauce
• 500g Potatoes, mashed
• 200g Peas
• 500g Mixed fish and prawns
• Parsley
3
Visit www.quidsinmagazine.com for
more recipes and cooking ideas
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.
Quids in! | 12
Prize CROSSWORD
Win a Samsung Galaxy Tab 4
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
t
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P e
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1
2
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3
6
8
4
7
!
N
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9
10
12
11
13
16
14
15
17
Across
Down
5 Mass of people (5)
1 Mark left by an injury (4)
7 On a single occasion (4)
2 Spider’s trap (6)
8 Get bigger (4)
3 Wild pig (4)
9 The words to a song (6)
4 Spike of frozen water (6)
10 Underwater boat (9)
6 Spotty breed of dog (9)
12Animal-watching tour,
10 Sculpture of a person (6)
especially in Africa (6)
11 Young child (6)
14 Haddock, for example (4)
13 Choppers (4)
16 Impolite (4)
15 Chair (4)
17 Japanese assassin (5)
Quids in! | 13
how to enter
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.
✆
QUIDS IN! USEFUL NUMBERS
Loan Sharks
(✆ 0345 605 6055) and for Child
The National Illegal Money Lending Team
Revenue (✆ 0845 300 3900).
Benefit and tax credits call Inland
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
•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
[email protected]
Credit Unions
Debt Advice
Credit unions are not-for-profit
Get in touch with any of the organisations
below to get free advice and help.
organisations that provide bank
accounts, loans and savings. They may
help people the banks won’t. To find your
local credit union call ✆ 0161 832 3694
or visit www.findyourcreditunion.co.uk.
•National Debtline
✆ 0808 808 4000
www.nationaldebtline.co.uk
•StepChange Debt Charity
✆ 0800 138 1111
Benefits
www.stepchange.org
•For unemployment and work-related
debt advice and more.
benefits talk to Jobcentre Plus.
•People with disabilities or carers
should contact the Disability
Benefits Centre
Offers free debt management plans,
•Citizens Advice
www.citizensadvice.org.uk. In Wales
call ✆ 08444 77 20 20 England call
✆ 08444 111 444
Quids in! | 14
Quids in! magazine
Address 3 Monmouth Place, Bath, BA1 2AT.
Tel 08456 8049 06
Editor Jeff Mitchell Email [email protected]
Publisher Steve Faragher Email [email protected]
Comms Officer Dan Fineman Email dan@ socialpublishingproject.com
Advertising Opportunities Lisa Woodman Email [email protected]
Copy Sales Rhiannon McNamara, Deborah Colvill
Email [email protected], [email protected]
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.
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.
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.
Quids in! | 15