My regular round-up of your personal finance questions.

I love hearing from you, whether it’s on the blog, social media, YouTube or email. Often you’re asking me questions about your finances, and I’m always glad to help if I have the time.

But I realised that my answers could also be useful to other followers. So I’ll be putting my responses to the best questions into regular articles here on the blog.

Keep reading for some of the questions I’ve been asked, plus the video live from this week with even more!

Watch the latest live Q&A

Most Tuesday evenings you’ll find me live on YouTube and Instagram answering your questions. It’s probably the best place to ask!

Here’s the latest video:

This week’s extra questions

If you’ve asked me a questions elsewhere, you might find the answer below!

When is the Sainsbury’s x Nectar Double Up?

Is Nectar card offering a Double-up at Sainsbury soon?

Harry, via the blog

Bad news Harry. Sainsbury’s and Nectar have cancelled the usual Double Up promotion and it won’t happen in 2021. In fact it’s unlikely to return at all. More here.

How do I compare a mortgage with a fee with one with no fee?

Please can you explain the difference between mortgages where the max LTV is the same but the interest rate differs with one including an arrangement fee? How do we calculate which works out better in the long run?

Emma, via email

The easiest way to work this out is to use comparison sites. You’ll be able to see the total cost of these different fixes over the length of the fix. Often it’s a filter or tab.

But broadly, if you have a £1,000 fee over 2 years, you’d want to calculate the cost per month over 24 months and add it to the repayment on the overall mortgage. And so on! 

Here’s more on LTV (Loan-to-Value).

When will energy prices change?

When do they announce the next price cap for energy?

Tracie, via the Facebook Community

It’ll be announced in late January/early February 2022, with the new cap to start in April – although Ofgem has said it’ll look again at how it’ll be calculated this time, so it might be different. Here’s more on the price cap.

Should I wait to pay off my credit card?

I’ve recently been accepted for a credit card with capital one . I’m very responsible with my money and wanted to boost my credit score. I was just wondering will it hinder my score if I pay it off straight away rather than waiting till the end of the month ? Thank you for your help with all of your videos

Luke, via Instagram

Hi Luke, Yes it’s best to wait until the statement comes along to pay the card off in full. That’s because you don’t know for sure when the credit card company will report the data / amounts to the credit reference agencies. So pay it too early and it might say there’s no spend on the card, and therefore not help your score.

If you’re worried about accidentally spending the cash, you could move it to a separate account (or pot/space if you have an account with this feature), Then you can use that ring-fenced cash to pay off your card.

Should I invest my emergency savings?

Surely these days savings accounts are a waste of your money? Would not pretty much everyone be better off with something like a bonds heavy index fund stocks and shares ISA? I have my emergency fund in a life strategy LS40 account it outstrips any savings account mentioned and due to its bonds bias is pretty safe as an investment.

Presterjohn, via YouTube

It’s about access. Emergency funds should really be kept as cash as that guarantees the money is there if you need it. Invested it could potentially have dropped in value at the time you need to use it, so you lose out.

Can I use Monese to switch for a bonus?

Does monese actually give you an account number & sort code? If i were to open an account with Monese, could i then use that as an account to switch for one of the other bonus banks?

Tamara, via the blog

Sadly you can’t use Monese to get a switching offer. Most offers require you to use the Current Account Switching Service, and Monese isn’t part of this (it’s not a full bank). Here’s a list of participating banks

How to ask me questions

The best ways to get in touch is in the Andy Clever Cash Facebook community

Just post your question any time, or ask me live in my weekly Q&A each Tuesday (which is on Instagram and YouTube).

You can also comment on individual blogposts and videos or ask me questions via these channels:

• Twitter @AndyCleverCash
• Instagram @AndyCleverCash
• Email Andy[at]BeCleverWithYourCash.com

I can’t promise I’ll be able to answer all questions but I’ll do my best. I tend to look once a week at all the messages, so you might have to bear with me for a reply!