It Pays to Watch, Wednesday 7:30 It Pays to Watch on Five

This Week's Show

Wed 21st May 2008

Powered by MoneySavingExpert.com

Get Martin's Free Weekly Tips Email

Martin's Free Weekly MoneySaving e-mail ensures you don't miss out on urgent loopholes, deals and best buys

Celeb Wallet

View Previous Celebrity Wallets

Lembit Öpik

Wed 16th January 2008

Lembit Opik is the multi-lingual Lib-Dem MP for Montgomeryshire. He holds a pilot’s licence and also goes out with Gabriela Irimia of The Cheeky Girls.

So he’s clearly got the brains – and the charms – but he freely admits he's less handy at handling his finances.

He concedes to being “completely rubbish” with money, saying he can never save and is still not 100% back on track after nearly going bankrupt in 1997 after a business venture went sour.

Well, after taking a cheeky peek into his wallet, Martin reckons he can help save Lembit a whopping £900 a year. A large chunk of that comes from ditching a charge card, which is similar to a credit card, that he pays £300 a year for.

And as he puts most of his spending on that card he could instead opt for a cashback credit card, so he's literally paid back a percentage of what he spends. The American Express Platinum Moneyback card, for example, gives you 5% cash in the first three months and then up to 1.5%.

Lembit also pays £144 a year to his current account provider as he has a 'Gold' account. Instead, he could opt for a free bank account where the service is just as good and he could get paid for having it. First Direct's currently offering £100 to join its banking while Abbey will pay him 8% interest on in-credit balances up to £2,500.

Lembit's also never switched energy provider and has stayed loyal to his phone and broadband provider when he could easily be getting a better deal.

So Lembit’s time in the It Pays To Watch studio could well be worth his while – as long as he takes Martin’s advice.

Take a peek at what was in Paul Daniels' wallet last week.