FREE letter from Santa ?
Free Santa letter, Sainsbury’s Nectar double-up, £20 off Amazon Prime and pensions warning for parents. These are our Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis’ Quick Deals.
Remember, deals can change quickly, even while I’m on the programme. So always double-check the terms and conditions before spending. Plus, while I hope these deals will save you cash, don’t spend if you can’t afford it, don’t need it, or won’t use it.
How to get Santa to write to your kids
If your child writes a letter, which includes their name and address, to Santa/Father Christmas, Santa's Grotto, Reindeerland, XM4 5HQ byFriday 9 December (don’t forget to put a stamp on it), then the good news is Santa has elves stationed (and more of them this year to ensure no problems) at Royal Mail so he or she should receive a personally addressed reply from Santa before Christmas Eve. Just a warning though, even though more elves are working hard, Royal Mail says it can't guarantee a reply, so while this is a nice freebie, it's not a definite freebie. Or for a recommended £5 donation, the NSPCC also has elves and the money donated goes to helping children.
If your child is blind or partially sighted, they can get a free reply in Braille, audio or large print from Santa’s via special elves at the RNIB. Write to: Santa Claus, RNIB, Midgate House, Midgate, Peterborough, PE1 1TN by Thursday 1 December and include name, address, contact number, preferred language and preferred reply format (either uncontracted/contracted Braille, large print including font size or audio CD). Or email santa@rnib.org.uk by Friday 16 December and they'll get an email reply from him.
Sainsbury’s Nectar double-up
As of Wednesday 16 November and until next Tuesday (22 November), Sainsbury’s is doubling of the value of your Nectar points when you exchange them in store. So, you can swap 1,000 points for a £10 voucher instead of the usual £5 (max £40 per department). You can then use these in seven departments: toys, electrical, entertainment, homeware, seasonal goods (so Christmas goodies), Taste the Difference wine and champagne, and Tu clothing. Even better is you can use it in conjunction with other offers, eg, DVDs are currently three-for-£20, but you can get them for £10 in double-up. You must swap and use the vouchers by next Tuesday – if you don’t you won’t be able to swap them back into points.
£20 off Amazon Prime subscription
Amazon often pushes its Prime delivery, and indeed many have unwittingly signed up. Yet if you don’t currently have Prime (if you’ve had it before you can still do this) and want its no additional cost next day delivery plus streaming TV & film service, go online to Amazon before 11.59pm tonight (Friday 18 November) and sign up – it’s £59 rather than the usual £79. It auto-renews at the full price after a year though.
Parents of young children? Don’t risk losing your state pension
If you’re a parent of a child born since January 2013 you’re at possible risk of losing your full state pension, in fact in the last tax-year it’s estimated to have effected around 37,500 parents, mostly mums but some dads, may be affected (source: The Royal London).
This is all about child benefits. If you claim child benefit and have a child under 12 you automatically get national insurance (NI) credits towards your state pension record if you don't work, or earn under £5,824/year.
Yet in 2013 child benefit started being means tested based on individual parents earnings, so if one parent earns over £50,000 you’re not eligible (bizarrely two parents earning £49,999 each are) for the full amount. If you earn over £50,000, the higher-rate tax payer must pay tax on this – this reduces the child benefit payment by 1% for each £100 earned over the £50,000 threshold, meaning that the payment is completely wiped out for those on £60,000+/year.
So many people in this situation, have just not claimed. Yet that means you then don’t get those national insurance credits, and without enough of those you could miss out on the full state pension losing £234 a year (for those with older children transitional arrangements mean they still get it even if they don’t get child benefit).
So in a nutshell if a) One partner earns over £50,000 b) The other isn’t working or earns less than about £6,000 a year and c) you have a child born after January 2013 then you need to take action.
There are two options.
1. If the higher earner earns between £50,000 and £60,000. Just claim child benefit as normal. Then the high-earning partner will need to pay tax on it – but at these earnings the tax charge is a little less than the child benefit so you’re up – and of course you'll continue to get NI credits.
2. If the higher earner earns over £60,000. Then claim child benefit at a "zero rate" as the tax charge if you did claim it would wipe out the child benefit anyway but again, crucially you’ll still get NI credits. You can tick a box on the child benefit application form to apply for this zero rate of child benefit – it's in Section 4 on 'Higher Income Earners'. This option makes most sense when one partner earns over £60,000/year, because even though you won’t get any child benefit you will still get NI credits.