Free £60 voucher with top savings account

Open the Tesco Internet Saver account and you’ll get a double reward. It pays an excellent 6.5% rate, only a fraction below the best buy, though that does include a 1.5% bonus for the first year.

Yet open it before 12 November and, as long as your balance is over £1,000 on November 30, you’ll get 500 Tesco Clubcard points, which is worth £20 is Tesco Deals vouchers, which you can use on things like weekends away, days-out and RAC membership.

If you’ve more than £3,000 then you’ll get 1,000 points, worth £40 in vouchers. If you’ve more than £5,000, you’ll get 1,500 points, worth £60 in vouchers. You should receive the vouchers in February 2009.

Tesco is a standalone bank and therefore is fully protected like any UK bank so in the extremely unlikely event it went bust, you’re protected up to £50,000 per person per institution. If you have more, make sure you spread your cash to mitigate the risk.

External Link:  Read Martin’s Top Savings Account guide for all the top places to stash your cash and the Loyalty Schemes guide for full info on how Tesco Clubcard deals work.

The cheapest unlimited broadband just got even cheaper

If you're looking for broadband then o2 broadband leads the pack for unlimited usage – and it's just got even better.

It normally costs £12.50 a month, or £7.50 a month for o2 customers. But sign up via cashback sites Quidco or Topcashback before 31 October, and you’ll get £60 cashback on top.

As the broadband contract lasts a year, the true cost is therefore £7.50 a month for non-o2 customers and a ridiculously-cheap £2.50 a month for o2 customers, with the cashback included. The only issue is that cashback is not 100% guaranteed, but when websites do these special offers they tend to pay out.

External Links: Full information is in the Cheap Broadband Loophole forum note plus read Martin's Cheap Broadband guide for all the top deals.

Icelandic banks update

Thousands of worried savers are understandably nervous about their cash since the Icelandic banking crisis took hold two weeks ago. Here’s the latest:

• Icesave
  
  If you’ve got cash with Icesave, it's in default as a company, which means you'll have to reclaim your money from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. The only problem is we don't know when you'll get it back, though it's a question of 'when', not 'if'. We're expecting an announcement later this week so hopefully more will be known then.
  
  
• Kaupthing Edge
  
  There's no issue for most Kaupthing Edge savers as it's been taken over by Dutch giant ING. The only problems are for those who attempted to transfer money out of Kaupthing Edge before its sale, as it's taking an age for some of that money to arrive in destination accounts, and savers have lost access to it in the meantime. Many got their money last Friday and ING is promising the remainder should have their money by this Friday, or Monday at the latest.
  

Importantly, in both cases, the UK government has guaranteed that ALL savers' money in normal onshore accounts is safe.

External Link: Keep up with all the news in Martin's Safe Savings guide.

Loads of freebies

There's a host of great vouchers and deals doing the rounds. Get a £3.40 copy of Eve magazine and there should be some Boots Number 7 mascara included in the plastic cover, worth £11.50. It’s a no-brainer.

If you’re planning to go to Alton Towers, Legoland or Chessington World of Adventures over the next couple of weeks, get a two litre bottle of Fanta, Sprite or Dr. Pepper and you'll find two 2for1 entry vouchers. Not a bad saving for a £1.50 bottle of pop as an adult Alton Towers ticket costs up to £36.

External Link: Martin’s Days Out Deals guide contains further details and more top deals to save £££s on entertainment.