Dear Listener

Some of you will be pleased, others may be disappointed, but for various reasons there is no blurb before the programme details – except this blurb saying there is no blurb.

***IN MONEY BOX THIS WEEK***

Quantitative Easing – even saying it is a mouthful and trying to understand it is a brainful. This week the Bank of England said it would do more of it, magicking up £75 billion and using it to buy back loans which the banks had made to the Government. But almost at once the pensions industry said ‘Aaaarrrggggghhhh’ and that it would cost firms with pension schemes billions more each year. We explain why and what QE really is.

A discount of £120 off their winter fuel bill is promised to around a million households. Most of them will be low income pensioners. But some won’t. And some who will be eligible won’t get it once the money runs out. Find out if you’re eligible and what you have to do to get it (often the answer is nothing).

Should we pay off our credit card debt as the Prime Minister almost said we should in his speech this week? And indeed are we paying it off as he actually did say? We find out the answer and get advice on how individuals could work towards paying it off.

And we find out why one couple was refused a cheap phone tariff by BT even though they were in fact eligible.

From the macro to the micro there is something for everyone in Money Box on Radio 4 at midday, repeated 9pm on Sunday, and of course online anytime www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/moneybox. You can get more information on our website www.bbc.co.uk/moneybox as well as follow links, download transcripts, and send us stories or ideas you want us to look into. Plus of course Have Your Say on paying off your credit card.

This newsletter is available at bbc.co.uk/moneybox/newsletter around the time it hits your inbox (tell your friends who don’t subscribe). And you could join more than 12,200 people who follow me on Twitter to enjoy (or rant about) my random but timely thoughts on money and a few other things whenever I’m awake at twitter.com/paullewismoney.

Best wishes,

Paul

PS I will be previewing Money Box on BBC One Breakfast on Saturday around 0845 and I am on Breakfast in the week, usually on Thursdays and usually around 0640 and 0820 talking about a money story and answering emails and tweets. But the time, and occasionally the day, can vary.

e-mail Paul Lewis