Reduce the impact money and your mental health have on one another to keep both under control.
Often people think of mental health as serious conditions such as bipolar or depression, but it’s something we should all consider – not just for ourselves but for friends and family. Mental health is pretty much how you’re feeling and functioning. It can be good, it can be just ok.
But all of us will have moments where it’s bad – even if it’s not a condition that might require longer-term management or medication. Whenever we’re feeling down, feeling stressed or feeling lonely we’re experiencing poor mental health.
And there’s a good chance any of these can impact our finances. Here are a few tips to help you keep on top of things.
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How mental health impacts your money
On a more severe end of the scale, poor mental health could mean you need to miss work, causing you to lose money. It’s common for people to get anxious when dealing with any kind of admin, but when that’s bills or bank statements it can be a larger issue.
Motivation can be a problem, leading to important money matters being ignored. Or perhaps moments of depression or mania could prompt people to spend more money (or money they don’t have.)
The worst-case scenario is that these scenarios lead to unmanageable debts – but it can work the other way too. The two are linked. Money problems can feed depression and anxiety, and that in turn can impact relationships, work and family. Big life changes can make a difference to both finances and mental health too, such as having a baby or losing a loved one.
So it’s not something we should dismiss or hide from. It’s important to take some action before anything happens.
What you can do
Here are some things you can do to manage your finances if you’re likely to experience poor mental health
Automate as much as possible – this means having standing orders and Direct Debits set up so you don’t miss payments when it gets too much to deal with your finances. You can also automate your savings.
Keep on top – When you’re feeling good, build a budget so you know exactly how much have and spend. Then use apps such as Snoop or Plum to keep track of balance and spending, or use a digital bank like Chase, Revolut or Monzo. Find out if your bank will send text or app notifications when you spend or to let you know about upcoming payments.
Use webchats – If you don’t want to pick up the phone, look for a webchat option when getting customer service from your bank.
Give access to a family member or friend – They can deal with banks and bills when you can’t – but you have to absolutely trust them with your money.
Make it harder to spend – Don’t take cards out with you and don’t let browsers remember card details. Or you can just make sure you don’t have credit cards at all. You can also look into ways to stop impulse spending.
Talk to your bank – Many banks will have a dedicated support team who can work through different options to help you manage your account.
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Get help with your finances
Get free debt help – It’s important to deal with money problems before they become a crisis, but it’s never too late to seek help. And importantly, you shouldn’t pay for this. Places like Stepchange and NationalDebtline are good options. Moneyhelper (formally the Money Advice Service) has a free tool to find free advice near you, whether that’s face-to-face, over the phone or via online chat.
Can you save money on your groceries at one of Britain’s pricier food shops?
M&S have a reputation for pricey yet high quality produce in their Simply Food and Foodhall stores – but how do their prices compare to other supermarkets and can you get a reasonably priced grocery shop from there? Here are our top tips to bring down the cost of your trolley.
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Sign up to Sparks
Sparks is the M&S loyalty scheme. Though you won’t earn points or get exclusive prices for scanning your card at the till, it’s still worthwhile joining.
The Sparks offers are loaded onto your app and you have to activate them first. Most last a few weeks so you have plenty of time to use them.
Here’s what you can expect to get, even if you’re just an occasional M&S shopper:
Free gifts
Although the free gifts are not frequent, I’ve received a few bags of Percy Pigs, a couple of loaves of bread and even a large chocolate bar. Keep an eye out on your birthday too, to see if a treat has been added to help you celebrate.
You can also get a freebie by recycling old clothes in-store as part of their Schwopping scheme. You can learn more about clothes recycling in our article.
Personalised coupons
You’ll also see personalised offers covering both groceries and clothes in the app. The best ones tend to be a set percentage off meat or fish, though sometimes it’s specific products. Again you’ll need to activate them before shopping.
Win your shopping
Another reason to use Sparks is the chance to get your shopping for free. Each store gives away one shop to someone who scans their Sparks card every week.
I’ve not seen anyone who has bagged this, but the staff see it every week, so it definitely does happen and the amount of shopping given away varies as it’s completely random. I will just keep wishing for it every time I scan my Sparks card and maybe one day it might just happen!
Buy value products
M&S offer many everyday products at ‘remarksable’ prices such as half a dozen free range eggs for £1.25 or four pints of milk for £1.45. That’s comparable to most supermarkets, including the budget ones.
In fact, last summer, M&S dropped the price or price-locked over 200 products as part of their promise to offer customers the best possible quality at the best possible price.
You also find some really good prices on fruit and vegetables such as 70p for a head of broccoli or 50p for a bag of carrots, prices comparable to the cheaper supermarkets.
Look out for shelf edge barkers to identify price-locked products and if you want to find the fruit and veg on offer, it’s usually right at the entrance.
Shop M&S Meal Deals
Meal for two, pizza night, stir fry, family chicken dinner and fresh pasta dine-in offers are just a few examples of the meal deals available at M&S.
They offer great value for money and my particular favourite, the chicken feast dine-in deal, could get you all you need for a chicken dinner (one main including a whole chicken and three sides), for £10.
These meal deals offer great value and you can stretch them further by picking the pricier options, such as the whole chickens or steaks. And you don’t have to eat it all at once, so make use of the family meal deals even if you cook for just one. You can use up different components for different meals or even freeze some bits and use them at a later date.
You’ll find these great value meal deals on the end of the aisles and there always seems to be one or two available every time I shop at M&S.
Purchase multi-buy offers such as the “3 for £12” meat and fish
You can buy top quality meat and fish at M&S – but you pay for it. So this is a really good ongoing offer to pay less.
To get the most value out of the multi-buy offers, pick the products which are expensive at full-price such as salmon. The discount then brings the price down, sometimes to less than at other supermarkets. You can get this in-store and at Ocado.
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Shop in the evening for yellow stickers
Although M&S reduces groceries in the morning, it is usually only by a nominal amount, but the final reductions from an hour before closing, is when you can pick up amazing bargains.
Don’t forget you can freeze so much and many of their ready meals can be cooked from frozen. Read our guide to freezing food.
Check cashback apps
Cashback apps like Checkout Smart, Shopmium and Green Jin have cashback offers on products for most supermarkets and although M&S is listed on these apps, at the time of writing, only Green Jin had cashback offers available for M&S.
Consider the Marks and Spencer credit card
The M&S credit card gives you one point per £1 spent in M&S but it only offers one point per £5 spent elsewhere. Each point is worth a penny so it pays 1% on purchases at M&S but only 0.2% on purchases elsewhere. So in short, it could be decent if you regularly shop at Marks, but not a great return as a credit card on other spending.
Alternatively you could use a card that pays 1% at all retailers, not just M&S. Find out more about the best reward credit cards.
The M&S Club Rewards scheme is a paid add on to their credit card, but it’s best avoided for all but the most ardent M&S shopper. Here’s our guide to how the M&S Club Rewards work.
You can purchase M&S gift cards from sites like JamDoughnut, HyperJar and Cheddar and receive cashback. Here’s how to purchase discounted gift cards . At the time of writing you could get 5% cashback with both JamDoughnut and Cheddar and 4.5% cashback with HyperJar.
Use Too Good to Go
Many M&S outlets at stations, hospitals and petrol station forecourts are on the food waste app TooGoodToGo. You could grab yourself a bag of surplus goodies worth more than £15 for less than £5.
Next time you’re rushing to catch a train, take a second to see if M&S is on the app and you could bag yourself a lovely M&S sarnie and more for a bargain price. Though you could also end up with some ready meals which you can’t really eat on a train!
Buy from Ocado
You can get lots of your M&S favourites delivered to your door from Ocado and if you combine your M&S groceries with other cheaper brands available on Ocado, such as their own-label, you could get a full grocery shop for a more reasonable price.
Most of the M&S offers are available on Ocado too like the meal deals and the multi-buys so you don’t have to go in-store to take advantage of these promotions. Find out how to save money at Ocado here.
Editor’s pick: £100 savings bonus
Effective 6.45% rate for six months as a new Raisin customer
You may not be able to shop with M&S directly for groceries using cashback apps, but Ocado shoppers can. Currently on Quidco, you can get 25% off your first shop with Ocado, free delivery and 7.5% cashback, and up to 7% cashback at TopCashback.
The cashback on both these sites is limited to a number of transactions, but it’s a great way to get M&S groceries and earn yourself some much appreciated cashback in the process. Here’s how to get up to £20 when you sign up to a cashback site.
So is M&S competitively priced compared to the UK’s other supermarkets?
Marks and Spencer made a bold statement back in 2020, that they were reducing many of their prices in their M&S Foodhalls to attract more family shoppers, as well as joining with Ocado to offer online shopping. The idea was to attract mainstream shoppers, rather than just being known for luxury products.
They still sell those higher end food and drink items, and of course you can expect to pay more for them – though for many that quality is worth the extra cost.
They are also competitively priced with lots of everyday products such as milk which is priced the same as all the other supermarkets and bread which is 75p and comes with the added benefit of being a source of vitamin D, as well as being the same price as Tesco standard sliced bread.
Other products like biscuits, crackers, eggs and breakfast cereals are all competitively priced and many identically priced to other UK supermarkets and it goes without saying, that the quality of M&S products is top notch.
But not everything is on par pricewise with other UK supermarkets and don’t forget M&S doesn’t have a big value range, so you won’t find staple products like rice and pasta as cheap.
So when it comes to shopping at M&S, you will have to check the prices before putting things in your basket, as although some prices are competitively matched, there are some areas where prices are still a lot higher than other supermarkets.
Top paying interest, ethics and a decent switching bonus make the account worth considering again.
There’s been a revamp of the account. Not only does it offer one the highest interest rates (for some), newbies can also now get 1% cashback on spending. Plus you can nab a decent switching bonus. It also ranks well as an ethical bank and scores highly for customer service. However, the building society has ditched the large 0% overdraft.
So are these extras enough to make it your main account? Here’s what you get with the FlexDirect, and whether you should open up an account.
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What is the Nationwide FlexDirect account?
The FlexDirect account is a current account from the Nationwide Building Society. It’s free to open and use, though you do have to pay in at least £1,000 a month to get the interest. That doesn’t need to be in one go, or stay in the account.
You cannot get the account if you already have four or more Nationwide current accounts.
Unlike many competitors, Nationwide has a decent network of branches you can access across the UK, and there’s also a phone support line.
In account interest of 5%
Nationwide’s FlexDirect account is one of the few current accounts that pay interest on balances held in the main account. And it’s usually a much better rate than you’ll get in normal easy-access accounts.
You can get 5% interest on savings – which is hard to beat right now. The rate is also fixed, at 5% for the entire year.
And you can boost your earnings if you’re in a couple. You can each have an account, and then open up a joint account too, meaning you’ll earn the 5% on £4,500.
You have to pay in £1,000 every month to qualify for the interest. This can’t be from another Nationwide account.
Sounds good? Well it has its limits.
First, there is a very important rule that could be an issue – this rate is for first-time account holders only. So if you’ve had the FlexDirect account before, you won’t get the new rate, even if you open up a new account.
You also only earn money on the first £1,500. Above this you get 0%. This means if you have the full amount possible in the account for 12 months you’ll make £75.
Also the rate also only lasts for one year (after that it drops to 1%), so you will want to move your money in 12 months.
A new feature is cashback on spending with the debit card. It’s only for new customers who’ve not had a FlexDirect in the past. You also need to be paying in the same £1,000 each month to trigger this as you do the interest, though that’s a single payment for both perks, not each.
As with the 5% interest, this cashback is only for the first 12 months. It’s also capped at £5 cashback each month, so it’ll only apply to the first £500 you spend each month.
Cashback won’t be paid on gambling, crypto transactions or cash withdrawals.
FlexDirect 0% overdraft
Sadly with the addition of the 1% cashback, Nationwide has ditched the sizeable 0% overdraft that was available for the first year.
In its place there will be a £50 interest free buffer across all Nationwide accounts. Our guide to the cheapest overdrafts will help you find a larger alternative – though there aren’t many options left now.
Nationwide has an ongoing £175 incentive for bank switchers with no set end date, but that could mean it goes any time. It’s open to new and existing customers, so if you open or upgrade to a FlexDirect account you’ll be eligible.
You can only claim the cash once on a personal account, but unlike other banks, you can get an extra bonus if you switch a joint account (there’s just one payment for both of you on this). So as a couple you could have three switching bonuses in total.
Though there’s no guarantee it’ll still be on offer in 2025, for the last two years Nationwide has offered members with an active current account and savings or mortgage product on top, a £100 ‘Fairer Share’ bonus. Here’s everything you need to know about when Nationwide last offered this free cash.
Nationwide’s app
So far so good. Now the bad. The app is one of the main reasons I moved my main banking from Nationwide to Starling a few years ago.
There have been some massive improvements, but it still falls short of the features you get from challenger banks like Monzo, Starling and Chase.
So what does it do? You can activate a couple of features to help you save. One, Impulse Saver lets you add money to your savings account from the homescreen of the app.
The other is a round-up feature, as you see with many other banks. If you turn this on a small amount of money will be transferred each time you spend. So say you spend £1.20 on your debit card, 80p will go to savings.
You’re also able to lower your contactless limit, freeze your card and block gambling transactions.
My big frustration is that you still need a card reader. Though a recent update has reduced how often this is required, including for app payments, you can’t throw it away. And it’s not clear when you will and when you won’t need it – it just says “for some other things”, which looks like could still include setting up new payees. Of course, that might not be a bad thing as it does add an extra layer of security, but it’s not something most of the other banks I use require.
You also can’t access card details, and it’s a few clicks to find and copy or share account numbers. There are also no tracking or budgeting features.
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Account ethics
Something I’ve been thinking about more over the last few years has been how the money I keep in a bank is being used. It’s not sitting in a vault, it’s being invested and loaned by the bank. And that could mean it’s used for things I really don’t agree with – from supporting arms manufacturers through to funding new oil pipelines.
If this bothers you too then Nationwide is regarded as one of the best options. A big part of this is that it’s a building society rather than a bank, which means it has to use 75% of its holdings to lend to home buyers.
That prevents it lending large amounts to unethical sources – but it also has a positive investment policies. For example your money will not be invested in fossil fuels.
Nationwide is also a mutual – meaning it’s owned by and run for the benefits of its customers (or members) rather than shareholders.
Ethical Consumer rates Nationwide ahead of all the other major banks, so it’s a good bet if you want to put your money somewhere other than low-scoring banks such as HSBC, Natwest, Barclays, Lloyds, Santander and co.
And while the top-rated current account for ethics is from Triodos, that comes with a £3 monthly fee and a more limited app, so Nationwide represent a good alternative.
Should you open a Nationwide FlexDirect account?
Andy’s Analysis
With savings rates dropping on easy access accounts, Nationwide’s FlexDirect has sprung back into contention. That 5% can be beaten, but not with a fixed rate.
The £1,500 limit for this rate will be a frustration for some (especially since the balance used to be £2,500 a few years ago), but if that’s not a worry and you want to lock in a rate it’s worth a look – for one year only though.
And the switching offer is a fantastic extra too, especially if you’re a couple who can also switch a joint account.
The app has also improved massively, though it’s not as good as the offering from digital banks Monzo, Starling or Chase.
However, the cashback is limited by the £5 monthly cap. You can beat this with Chase’s current account paying the same rate but limited to £15 back a month, or a credit card like the American Express Nectar.
But, vitally in my opinion, it’s a great account to go for if you’re concerned about how your money will be invested.
What do customers say?
Customer reviews on our sister site Smart Money People rate the FlexDirect account at 4.24 out of 5, liking the customer service and the availability of high street branches. The app is where people think it could do better.
Nationwide Flex Direct summary
Cashback
1% cashback on spending for the first year (capped at £500)
Interest
5% AER (fixed) interest on the first £1,500 saved for 12 months (drop to 0.25% after a year)
Access to 6.5% AER (variable) Flex regular saver (max £200 a month)
Overdraft
£50 0% buffer
Fee
None
Requirements
Pay in £1,000 a month
Multiple accounts?
Two – one personal and one joint
Notes
Transfers in from other Nationwide accounts don’t count towards the £1,000
I’m a huge fan of monthly or regular savings accounts. They’re great for people putting money aside every month, and they also tend to have some of the highest interest rates! You can get up to 8% via these accounts – far above the best options elsewhere.
But these monthly savers are often misunderstood, especially when it comes to the amount of interest you’ll earn. So here’s an explainer to make sure you know how they work.
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What is a regular savings account?
A regular savings account is designed for people saving some of their income every month rather than depositing a lump sum. Hence the name. Usually this transfer is made by a direct debit, set up when you open the account.
I’m a big fan as they encourage you to save a set amount every month, rather than ad hoc amounts as and when you have spare money.
How regular savers work
Often there are limits and restrictions, though this can vary depending on the account.
You’re limited to how much you can save in them
You can typically only deposit between £50 to £500 every month, with most actually having a cap of around £200.
You might also have to pay in a minimum each month, though that might not be much – usually £25 or £50.
The account normally closes after 12 months
The vast majority of regular saver accounts (Natwest/RBS’s option is the main exception) last for just one year. Once the year is up you’ll be paid the interest and the account is closed with your money moved to a lower paying easy-access account.
Rates can be fixed or variable
Unlike most other types of savings account, you’ll find some could change during the time you have them, while others are fixed.
During this time of likely base rate cuts, a fixed rate account is a good option, and worth tying in while you can.
Withdrawals can be limited
Some regular savers don’t allow withdrawals until the year is up, or have extra limits on them such as just two a year. If you do take money out, you might not be able to add it back in for that month.
The best accounts require current accounts
The highest paying regular savers are usually restricted to existing customers of the bank. Though you should be able to easily open a new current account with those banks to be eligible, there might be better paying options at other banks, for example a monthly reward or cashback. There are also a handful of loyalty savers via building societies that require you to have been a member on a certain date.
How interest is calculated
The main area people get confused about is the interest rate. For this example, let’s use an interest rate of 5%.
If you save £250 a month into the account, and therefore have £3,000 saved by the end of the year, you might expect to get 5% on that £3,000 – a total of £150.
However you don’t have £3,000 for the full year – you’re adding money incrementally. This means you’ll only earn interest on the cash held each month. So the first £250 will have been saved for 12 months and earn the full 5% – a figure of £12.50 over the year
In turn, the second £250 saved will only be in the account for 11 months. So you’ll earn 11 twelfths of 5% on £250 – which works out as roughly £11.45 of interest.
The next £250 will be 10 twelfths, the next one 9 twelfths and so on. If you miss a month or pay less in that month, then that’ll also affect your earnings. If carried on you paying in the maximum every month, you’d earn £81 after a year.
If you calculated this £81 return on the total £3,000 balance it’s effectively 2.7% – just over half the advertised rate. This is why people get angry. But you are still earning that headline money on your monthly deposits.
And that “50% of the headline rate” is a handy shortcut if you want to find out how much you’ll make based on the annual balance saved. For a more accurate figure, you can use the calculator on Money Saving Expert.
How much could you make?
Here are the top paying accounts at the time of writing, and the interest in the first year if you deposit the maximum amount allowed at the start of the month.
* Interest for 6 months only ** Carries on after 1 year but only paid on the first £5,000
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Regular savings hacks
These regular savings accounts aren’t just for people building up a new savings pot. You can funnel other, lower-paid savings, into these accounts.
Drip feeding your savings
If you’ve got a small lump sum you can gradually move money from one account into a regular savings account.
Say you have £3,000 already. The first thing to do is move it to the highest-paying account or accounts you can find.
For the example here let’s assume it’s all in an easy-access account earning 4.8%. In a year this would earn you £144 of interest.
But if you then move it month by month (at £250 a time) to a regular saver account paying 7% you would earn a combined total of £180 in interest (£113 from the regular saver and £67 from easy access account). That’s £36 more than if you’d left it in the easy-access account.
However, this might not be too different from putting the cash in a one year fix. For example, one that paying 5% would earn £150. Here’s more on drip feeding vs fixes.
Editor’s pick: £100 savings bonus
Effective 6.45% rate for six months as a new Raisin customer
You’re not limited to just one regular saver, so you can use the same trick as above to drip-feed deposits if you have a larger stash.
For example, at the time of writing, you could pay a total of £1,000 each month into four accounts that earn above 7%.
Are regular savers worth it?
Andy’s Analysis
If you want an account that pushes you to save every month, earns decent interest and sometimes make it harder for you to access the money for a year then they can’t be beaten.
And as they’re offering some of the best rates on any kind of account, you’ll also likely be earning the most money you can. The fact that some are fixed also means you’re locking in a decent rate when they’re likely to fall elsewhere.
But, many of these high-paying ones do require a current account. Though there’s no reason you can’t open up more accounts to get these offers, it’s worth considering if you’ll make more money by switching bank instead. Plus bear in mind you’ll be credit checked to open those current accounts.
However, it doesn’t make sense to have a regular saver paying less than the best easy-access accounts, while lump sums might be better off in a fixed-rate bond. We’ve listed the highest paying ones in our savings best buy tables.
Choosing the best student bank account is typically about finding the one with the best benefits, such as the size of the interest-free overdraft, then other things, like money management tools, freebies and what’ll happen when you graduate.
Here are the best bank accounts for students in 2024 and what they offer.
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How to choose the best student bank account
When choosing a student account, you typically want to focus on the size of the interest-free overdraft, despite freebies being tempting.
It’s also worth noting that most accounts are designed for three-year courses, so check the terms — especially for the overdrafts — if you have a longer degree.
When looking at your options, these are the key questions to ask.
How big is the 0% overdraft?
A 0% overdraft could be essential to help you get through your time at university. You won’t be charged any interest on the money in there, making them the cheapest way to borrow money.
Of course, you need to be careful about using it and not treat it as free cash as you will have to pay it back. You will generally have a few years after you graduate (and hopefully start working) to do this, but even so, don’t spend this money just because it’s available.
The lengths of 0% overdrafts change between the banks – and you might not even get the advertised amount. If the wording says the overdraft is “up to” that means you might not get the high sum mentioned in the adverts.
But it might be best not to go for the largest amount, as the bigger the overdraft the bigger the temptation to use it all. Instead, work out how much you think you’ll need to use and ask for that.
Plus, even if you think you won’t need one at all, it’s worth choosing a bank that offers one and applying for it at the start – you never know how things could change.
Some banks will also increase the size of overdraft each year, though you often have to ask. This means you can’t blow it all in the first year.
However, there could be conditions attached to having one of these fee-free overdrafts, so make sure you read all the T&Cs upfront. It could be something like pay in £500 every term.
There’s also the chance you could get rejected for the overdraft so check your credit file before applying. Most students won’t have much on their file, but it’s worth making sure there’s nothing wrong there.
And of course, if you spend more than your overdraft allows you may be hit with huge interest charges of around 40%.
What freebies are available?
Freebies typically come in the form of cash, although we’ve seen some accounts offer other things, such as subscriptions, including Headspace and Perlego. Santander’s been offering a Railcard for years, a great perk if you’re moving further away.
Some of these could save you a fair bit of cash, if you’d have bought them anyway, that is. These should generally be a second deciding factor once you’ve looked at overdraft options.
It also pays to check how much these freebies would cost if you looked around for extra deals and discounts. Often the value advertised is much higher than you’d actually need to pay.
What happens after you graduate?
Banks go all out for your business as a student as they know there’s a good chance you’ll stick with them for the rest of your life – and that’ll make them money. You’ll usually be moved to a Graduate account with the same bank, but you don’t have to stick with them — you could choose a better graduate account or go for bank switching cash or other rewards. You can see the types of offers currently on offer here.
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The best bank accounts for students
Here’s our pick of the best accounts to get. You can only have one student account at a time, usually, but you can open up additional standard bank accounts on top.
You’re also able to switch from your student account to a new one if you want to change banks mid-degree. However with most, you’ll be subject to a credit check, so don’t apply for these too close to each other.
Year 1: Up to £1,000 Year 2: Up to £2,000 Year 3: Up to £3,000
£125 in cash for existing current account customers on 1 July 2024
Up to £3,250 overdraft: Natwest or RBS Student Account
Perk: £100 cash and a 4-year Tastecard
The interest-free overdraft is up to £500 in the first term and then up to £2,000 after this. You can get up to £3,250 in the third year. By offering you an increasing amount you’ll be able to budget more efficiently and reduce the risk of blowing it all in Freshers’ week.
Perk: £100 cash, one of the largest overdrafts and top ethical choice
The Nationwide student account offers £100 if you open an account after 16 July 2024 and pay in £500 by 13 December 2024. You can’t have had a FlexStudent or FlexGraduate account on 15 July 2024.
This also has one of the largest overdrafts over the course of the degree (NatWest offers up to £3,250 and HSBC also offers up to £3,000) The overdraft builds gradually over your degree, stopping you from blowing it all in one go.
This is so far one of the best student accounts in 2024 due to its large interest-free overdraft and the cash perk. It’s a good choice if you’re worried about the ethics of your bank, too.
Nationwide FlexStudent
Overdraft
Up to £1,000 in year one; up to £2,000 in year two; Up to £3,000 in year three
Opening offer
£100 cash and £120 in Just Eat vouchers
Bonus paid
14 days after meeting criteria
Requirements
Open a new FlexStudent account no more than five months before and 12 months after starting your course
Deposit £500 by 13 December 2024 (for the bonus and vouchers)
Deposit £500 every term (for the overdraft)
Not had an open FlexStudent or FlexGraduate account on 15 July 2024
The Santander Edge Student account offers a guaranteed £1,500 overdraft for the first three years, so it’s a decent option if you want certainty on how much you can borrow. If you study longer it increases to £1,800 in year four and £2,000 if you stay on for a fifth year.
You also get a free four-year 16-25 railcard, a nice option if you are likely to be travelling by rail a lot as it knocks a third of train fares but I’d opt for hard cash instead.
Santander Edge Student
Overdraft
£1,500 in years one to three, £1,800 in year four, £2,000 in year five (if still studying)
Opening offer
4-year 16-25 Railcard (worth up to £100)
Bonus paid
Within 5 working days you’ll get a code to redeem the railcard
The HSBC Student Account has an overdraft of up to £1,000 overdraft in the first year, but you can get up to £1,000 added to your limit further up to £1,000 increases in the second and third year, though you’ll have to ask for it.
Like other banks, there’s £125 thrown in on top, but only for some. Those who didn’t have a HSBC current account on 1 July 2024 aren’t eligible for the cash.
HSBC Student Account
Overdraft
Up to £1,000 in year one, up to £2,000 in year two, up to £3,000 in year three
Opening offer
£125 for existing customers
Bonus paid
Within 30 days of meeting criteria
Requirements
Open the account after 15 August 2024
Make 5 debit card transactions within 30 days
Deposit £500 every term
Not had an HSBC Student Account on or after 1 July 2021
It’s worth checking out these accounts too, some of them offer good overdrafts, but they mainly offer freebies. These might seem more attractive than 0% overdrafts, but if you do need to borrow, an overdraft is probably worth more.
If you’re really not bothered by an overdraft then it’s still worth nabbing one and putting that cash in savings.
Year 1: Up to £1,400 Year 2: Up to £1,700 Year 3: Up to £2,000
None
How to get a student bank account
You have to be over 18 and living in the UK to get any student bank account, and most will require you to be at the start of your first year to get the freebie.
You’ll need to show ID such as a passport, driving licence or birth certificate. You’ll also need to bring along proof of your acceptance to the uni or college – possibly your UCAS letter or university acceptance letter.
You don’t need to wait until you get to your university to open the account, so doing it now before you head off means you can get your bank card and PIN sent out and your online banking set up in advance.
Can I have more than one student account?
Most of the time you can only have one “student” account, this is usually laid out in each bank’s T&Cs – you’ll likely not get the perk or overdraft if you try and attempt it.
You could potentially open one of these accounts to get the freebie, then close it down and open up another one (or switch it). You’ll need to do this within the stated timeframes to get any perks, and it’s worth double-checking the T&Cs of each account to make sure you’re allowed.
There’s nothing stopping you from opening another bank account that’s not got the “student” perks – keep reading for more on these.
Can I switch my student bank?
You can switch your student bank account to any other account of your choosing, whether that’s another student account with another bank or a standard current account. This is as long as the bank is part of the Current Account Switching Service.
In some cases, this can get you an extra perk, so it could be worthwhile.
If you want to switch after you’ve graduated, this is possible too, just be careful about trying to switch if you’re overdrawn, as you may wind up paying overdraft fees.
Can I earn interest on my savings?
Though some of the student accounts will offer interest on money in the account, they are quite limited and not a reason to pick one account over another.
However, if you think you’ll have more money available or don’t think you’ll need to use all of your overdraft, then you could look at other savings accounts offering up to 7%.
Just be careful not to lock it away if you think you’ll need to access your savings.
Could you stooze your overdraft?
Stoozing is where you borrow money at 0% and put that cash into savings. Normally it’s via a specialist credit card – but you don’t need to do that when you have an interest-free overdraft.
To take advantage you simply transfer the money from your current account to a top-paying savings account. Putting £1,000 into a 5% paying account will earn you £50 in interest in a year.
If you’re confident you won’t need to use the money at all then you can get higher rates by fixing your savings.
If you do this, make sure you have enough cash in the bank to cover your everyday spending.
Alternative to student accounts
The bulk of the specialist student current accounts will have perfectly decent apps. But if you want one that’ll help you budget or have more advanced features you’ll want to look at digital banks Starling, Chase or Monzo.
They have a number of features that will help you do things like keep track of your spending, split your money by purpose (e.g. bills, going out, groceries) and it’s also a lot easier to set alerts for when your balance is getting low.
However, none of these offer specific student accounts and therefore don’t have a 0% overdraft. Instead, they could be a good secondary account alongside a high-street bank, getting you the best of both worlds.
I suggest using one of these as your day-to-day bank or everyday spending, transferring over a set amount to spend each week from the student account with an overdraft.
They’re also decent bets for spending abroad, whether studying overseas or on holiday.
You don’t have to stick with just a student account. You can open one with other features at another bank to use in addition.
Our top pick is Chase Bank thanks to the 1% cashback you’ll earn on most spending. It only performs a soft credit check, so it should be easy to get it in addition to your main student account.
You could also consider Starling or Monzo, though you won’t get the cashback.
Pret no longer offers five coffees a day with the subscription
Club Pret is Pret’s subscription service. It used to offer five drinks a day for £30, but has been given an overhaul, and ultimately downgraded, instead offering half-price drinks for a fiver a month.
Here’s what you need to know about Club Pret, including how many coffees you’ll need to drink each month before you start saving money.
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How Club Pret works
Club Pret gives you five half-price drinks for a monthly fee. You need to sign up in the app or on its website, including entering your payment details. Once you’ve done that, you’ll get a QR code in its app and by email.
When you’re in Pret you order as normal and scan your QR code to get the discount. You can use it five times each day with at least a 30-minute gap between each one, to stop you from sharing the discount with your friends.
If you previously had the subscription then you’ll be moved to this one on your next billing date after 2 September, so you may have been moved to it already. You’ll need to cancel before your September billing date if you don’t want the new membership.
How much is Pret’s subscription?
Club Pret costs £10 a month, although it’s being launched at £5 per month until 21 March 2025. The start of each month is determined by the date you sign up, so if you sign up on 10 May, your next month begins on 10 June.
You’ll be charged for the next month on the last day of the current month. So, in the above example, you’d be charged on the 9 of every month.
There’s no minimum subscription term, so you can cancel at any time. You’ll get the full month regardless of when you cancel so it makes sense to not leave it too late, just in case you forget.
Drinks included in Club Pret
As long as it’s a drink ordered over the counter and prepared by a barista (not a premade one in the fridge) then you’ll get the discount on it. This includes coffee, tea, hot chocolate, iced coffees and Pret Cooler Lemonades. Milk alternatives and syrups are included, too.
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How much could you save?
For our calculations, a latte, flat white or mocha costs £4.05, tea is £3.30 and iced drinks are around £4. The cooler lemonades are £4.20.
If you order a single £4.05 coffee every weekday, you’ll have roughly 22 coffees a month. This would usually cost you £89.10, but would be as little as £49.55 including the £5 membership fee. When Club Pret costs £10 per month, it’ll be £54.55.
If you pay £5 per month for Club Pret from 1 October until 31 March (6 months) and taking into account annual leave, sick leave and bank holidays (so roughly 110 days), you’d potentially save £192.75.
If you go to the office three days per week and get a coffee each time, you’ll save £19.30 each month.
Minimum orders to break even
At £5 per month and with a latte costing £4.05, you need to have as many as three coffees each month before you start saving money. When the membership moves to £10 per month, it’ll take five coffees to break even.
Do you get discounts on food with Club Pret?
Previously, Club Pret subscribers got an additional 20% discount on all menu items – including sandwiches, hot food, soft drinks and crisps, as well as additional hot drinks. This isn’t offered with the new subscription.
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At first, it’s definitely not got as much appeal as its previous “unlimited” but more expensive iteration. However, it could still save you cash, and may even work out better for more casual Pret customers.
If you reckon you buy at least three drinks each month at Pret, it’s probably worthwhile to get the membership. Once the membership goes up to £10 per month, you’ll need at least five every month to start saving money — still a good deal, but only if you know you’ll drink there.
There are downsides — you have to stick to Pret. Don’t let Starbucks’ new syrups tempt you away. And if you tend to get tempted to grab a pastry or sandwich that you wouldn’t otherwise buy, you’re not saving money.
Alternatives to Club Pret
If you’re missing Pret’s original subscription then you could go for Leon’s newly launched subscription that gets you five coffees a day for £25 each month.
Or you can sign up for other coffee shop loyalty schemes which can offer stamps to earn a free drink or other discounts. You might even get free coffee with other memberships or services without even realising it.
This card gives you free or reduced entry to galleries and museums.
If you’re an art or museum lover, you’ll know it can be expensive to see all the major exhibitions, especially in London. The National Art Pass is a pretty good way to indulge your hobby for less.
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How much is a National Art Pass?
It’ll cost you £83 for the year, reduced to £62.25 if you pay by Direct Debit. Buy a Double membership and it’s £124 a year or £93 via Direct Debit.
Is it any good?
The bigger galleries and museums will probably offer you 50% off with the pass, while smaller ones might give you free entry.
Andy had one before and didn’t quite use it enough. But if you frequently visit galleries and museums, it’s well worth considering.
Where can you use it?
There are hundred of places – from the National Gallery to Tate Liverpool to HMS Belfast. You can search for your favourites or places near you on the National Art Pass website.
National Art Pass deals
Under 30s discount
If you’re aged under 30 years old you can get an annual pass for £50. (Or £37.50 if you pay by Direct Debit).
You can buy this at any time before you hit 30. So if you’re 29 and your birthday is tomorrow you’ll still get the full discounted membership for a year.
You can buy a Student Art Pass for £10. You need to be over 18 and studying full-time at a UK university or college. You’ll need to prove your eligibility with a uni email address.
It’s worth trying the code TAKE20 for an extra 20% off.
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3 months for £15
It’s unusual to get a pass for less than a year, so if you want to try it out, then a few times a year there are deals giving you a discount for a short time.
When the offer’s on, you’ll pay around £15 and get a three-month pass. You can usually add a plus one for £5.
How to get two-for-one, Kids go free and other deals to save money and get you cheap theme park tickets.
I love a good theme park – but ticket prices for UK theme parks such as Alton Towers and Thorpe Park can be more terrifying than the fastest ride, especially for a family. But it’s actually really easy to pay less.
Here are some of the best deals right now to get cheap theme park tickets.
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Cheap theme park ticket rules
These are the basics that should help you avoid paying full price.
Use a promo code
Every single year there are discount codes, usually offering 50% off or two for the price of one tickets, to all the major theme parks. Smaller parks might have smaller discounts, but there are still savings to be found. I’ve listed below some of the best ones available right now from products you’re likely to buy.
Book in advance
Whether you’re using one of the codes below, or just paying full whack (why?), it makes sense to book in advance as prices are much cheaper. Often the earlier you book the better, with online prices on the day often more expensive (though still cheaper than buying on the door). You can sometimes stack a 2-4-1 code with these cheaper prices, meaning you’ll pay even less.
The annual pass trick
You can often pick up a season pass, giving unlimited access to one or multiple Merlin theme parks for the cost of a single ticket. Of course, if you’ve used the other promotions listed on this page you should only have paid 50% of the entry price. But if you are going to go at least twice in a year, then you may as well buy the season pass – even if you don’t go again.
Do check again for any restrictions, for example August weekends and special events are often excluded unless you buy a premium pass.
You can get season passes at locations including:
Alton Towers
Legoland
Thorpe Park
Chessington World of Adventures
Latest theme park special offers
You can regularly get deals on promotional packs of anything from cereal to soaps. Many do have exclusions though, including weekends in August for all attractions, and it looks like October’s half-term too. So do check. I’ve put in links with the exclusions and also the lists of participating theme parks where I can.
Thorpe Park: 50% off
Discount site Planet Offers is selling Thorpe Park tickets for £27.50, saving £2.50 on walk up prices and £22.50 for on the day online prices. It’s a smaller £11.50 saving on prices up to a month away.
Though you can book similarly priced £29 advance tickets at the Theme Park for £29, that’s only for visits a month or more away.
You can buy a ticket here and use it straight away until 30 September 2024. The terms state this is only for off-peak tickets, though it’s impossible to see on the either the Planet Offers or Thorpe Park site when this is.
From now until 3 September 2024, you can purchase kids (under the age of 16) one-day tickets to Alton Towers, Legoland Windsor, Chessington World of Adventures, Thorpe Park and Warwick Castle for £19.
You can purchase up to three discounted tickets per transaction on each attraction’s individual website. Click the ‘book now’ button on the Real Fun Deals! section to get this price.
Tickets are subject to availability. There are 27,000 discounted tickets available for Alton Towers, 21,000 for Legoland Windsor, 14,000 for Chessington World of Adventures, 18,000 for Thorpe Park and 20,000 for Warwick Castle, so you need to get them before they run out.
This offer is great if you have teenagers who want to go without parents, as you don’t have to buy an adult ticket to get the discounted price.
These offers are good as you can still use them on weekends in August, though there are still some blackout dates. There’s a long list of attractions, but notable theme parks included are Alton Towers, Chessington and Thorpe Park.
You claim your voucher from the Days Out website and present it along with your train tickets to the attraction at the gate. The vouchers are only valid on the day of your train travel.
Buy a promotional box of Kelloggs cereal or a Snack Pack and get 25% off up to two online advance priced tickets at 25 participating Merlin attractions, including Thorpe Park, Alton Towers and Chessington World of Adventures.
Find the 10-digit code inside the cereal box or follow the booking link on your Snack Pack (eg Rice Crispy Squares or a Fruit Winder) and visit the Merlin Magic website to select the attraction and choose the date you want to visit. With Snack Packs, you must bring the promotional pack with you along with your pre-booked e-ticket and show it at the ticket desk.
Tickets are valid until 30 June 2025. Exclusion dates apply and do check the terms and conditions.
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Tesco Clubcard points
If you’re earning points, you can get double value at theme parks including Alton Towers. Personally I’d say you’re better off using your points elsewhere, particularly for the Merlin-owned attractions.
That’s because although this promo is in theory the same as the 2-4-1 style offers, the prevalence of the latter means you’re effectively only getting 25% off that lower price. More on Clubcard deals here.
Though the wording is different, it’s essentially the same thing, it’s just the adult ticket is free when you buy another full price adult or kids ticket.
Once again it’s for Merlin attractions, so the main theme parks are Thorpe Park, Chessington and Alton Towers.
Any vouchers you collect will be valid until 30 June 2024. Details here. You’ll need to keep the promotional packaging to share at the venue entrance.
Merlin has launched another sale on its annual passes. These run for a full year from when you buy them, so you’ll be able to get until April 2025 if you get one while the deal is on. The sale is on until 7 April 2024.
This gets you into any Merlin attraction – this includes Thorpe Park, Alton Towers, LEGOLAND, Sealife Centre and the London Eye. The different stages of pass have different perks – for example, the Gold one includes parking (usually £5-£10 each time), and there are restricted days on the Silver and Discovery passes. Some of them also have a sign-up fee if you go for a monthly option.
Remember, you’re unlikely to need to pay full price for entrance thanks to other deals, so you’ll need to weigh up whether the pass will represent good value depending on how often you’ll visit the attractions.
Here’s how to watch football on TV without forking out the equivalent of a Premiership player’s daily hourly wage.
If you’re dusting off your football shirt ready for the new Premier League season, you may also be considering the cheapest ways to watch your team on TV. This year, 200 games will be shown on TV, split between Sky TV,TNT Sports (previously BT Sport) and Amazon Prime
Championship, League One and League Two fans will get most of their action on Sky Sports, with more games than ever broadcast.
If you want to watch as many games as possible, it doesn’t come cheap. And if you don’t support one of the big teams, they’ll be featured less often, which can make it more expensive per match. Here’s my guide to the cheapest ways to watch Premier League, EFL and other football.
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(All this football talk reminds me of this classic Mitchell and Webb sketch…)
How to watch the Premier League 2024/2025 on TV
Only selected games are broadcast on TV. These are picked a couple of months ahead and will be split between Sky Sports, TNT Sport and Amazon Prime. Free to air highlights will once again be on the BBC.
128 – 32 on Saturday at 5.30pm – 8 on Saturday at 7.45pm – 32 on Sunday at 4.30pm – 32 on Sunday at 2pm – 24 on either Friday at 7.30pm or Monday at 8pm
TNT Sports (previously BT Sport)
52 – 32 on Saturday at 12:30pm – 15 matches from two midweek fixtures – 5 matches from split weekend
Amazon Prime
20 games – 10 on a December midweek – 10 on Boxing Day and following days
BBC
Highlights on Match of the Day
Until 2029
How to watch Champions League, Europa League and Europe Conference League
Amazon Prime
17 Champions League games will be shown on Prime for the first time this season. They’ll be on Tuesday nights and Amazon have the first pick for these games.
TNT Sports
All the other games and highlights are on TNT Sports until 2024. The finals have historically been free to watch on the BT Sport YouTube channel, and are now on the TNT Sports app this year
BBC
You’ll get free to air highlights for the Champions League on the BBC until 2027.
How to watch Football League (Championship, League One, League Two, League Cup)
Sky Sports
Sky is the only place to watch EFL games this season with a massive increase in the games shown on Sky Sports. 1,059 out of 1,891 matches will be on TV. You can see what’s been picked on the EFL upcoming live games page.
It will be broadcasting the following:
328 EFL Championship games
248 League One games
248 League Two games
All play-off semi-finals and finals
All 93 EFL Carabao cup games
All 127 EFL Trophy games
Each week there will be:
Five matches in the Sky Bet Championship
Five from Sky Bet League One and League Two
This includes:
All opening and closing day fixtures
All mid week fixtures
All bank holiday fixtures
Shown across these time slots:
Saturday at 12.30pm (five games)
Friday night and Sunday 12.30pm
Some Thursday and Monday nights
ITV
You’ll be able to watch EFL highlights on ITV.
FA Cup
In 2024/25 the FA Cup will be completely free to watch.
Broadcaster
Games
BBC
18 fixtures including the final
ITV
20 games including the final
Women’s Super League & FA Cup
Matches are split between Sky and the BBC, and some may be on YouTube too. All Women’s Championship are on YouTube.
Broadcaster
Games
Sky
Up to 44 live league games
BBC
22 live league games plus 7 FA Cup games and the League Cup final
YouTube
Some games not shown on the BBC or Sky
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International friendlies and qualifiers
The home nations’ men’s international qualifiers and friendly matches are split across different broadcasters, depending on which team you want to watch.
England’s women’s games are on ITV. BBC Wales has the women’s international games for Wales.
Broadcaster
Games shown
ITV
All England mens games, including World Cup qualifiers and Nations League
Premier Sports
All other mens games, excluding England
BBC
Highlights on Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland mens matches
Sky Sports is available on as an add on for Sky, BT, Virgin and Talk Talk packages, or as a pay as you go pass via NOW.
If you already pay for Sky or Virgin, then it’s worth haggling to see if you can add on Sky Sports, or reduce your existing spend. However if you just want the sport channels you’ll be tied into an 18 or 24 month contract for all your other services you have with them such as broadband, as well as forced to also pay for entertainment options, really bringing the price up.
Sky Sports is currently £22 a month for 24-months direct from Sky with the standard Sky channels and Netflix adding on another £20 a month, at least.
Sadly it doesn’t look like Sky is still offering a cut price deal just for the football channels or just for the F1 channel – but keep an eye out for either’s return.
You can pay a £27 a month for a monthly rolling contract via Sky Stream but you’ll need to pay at least £29 a month on top for Sky Entertainment and Netflix. For most people you’re better off going with NOW.
With Virgin Media it’s also another £20 on top, at least for the sports channels. Again, not bad, but you’re likely over paying for the other channels.
Get day or month Sky Sports passes with NOW TV
NOW TV passes are particularly good if you don’t want to pay for other Sky or Virgin channels or Netflix (which is bundled with Sky), or if you won’t watch all year around.
Plus, combine a NOW TV pass with a cut-price broadband and phone line deal and it’ll often be much much cheaper than getting everything as part of the full Sky or Virgin packages.
If you only plan to watch a few games at home throughout the season you can buy a NOW day pass for £14.99. You get all the Sky Sports channels for 24 hours. This isn’t as good a deal as it used to be, but still a money saver if you just want to watch a single match.
A monthly pass is also available, meaning you can view more sport. But at £34.99 it’s not as cheap as adding to Sky if you pay it every month.
The good news is there are regular deals to reduce the price of a pass. These have dwindled a little over the last few years, and there are very few day pass deals.
But monthly ones do still pop up quite regularly, often dropped to between £21 and £26 a month either when you first sign up or as a retention offer if you go to cancel. Get it this low, if not lower, then it’s more comparable to what you’d pay adding it to Sky without the requirement for other channels.
More recently you might find these offers tie you in for a minimum period, perhaps as long as six months, which isn’t as flexible. But others still let you cancel when ever you want.
You can stream the NOW TV app on your TV, console or streaming stick; or on your computer or mobile device. Though you can’t record (it’s all on-demand and catch up), you can now pause and rewind live sport.
If you want HD or to share your pass you’ll need to pay more. It’s £6 a month for Boost (2x streams and 720p) and £9 a month for Boost Ultra (3x streams and 1080p). Again, there are often deals to bring the price down.
TNT Sports is available to add to TV packages from Sky, EE and Virgin, or stream direct from Discovery+. We’ve got a deals page which highlights some of the best TNT Sports deals available, but here are the cheapest options.
Free with some BT broadband packages
If you have been with BT for a while for broadband or mobile packages then it’s worth checking if you’ve got free access to the full Discovery+ package, which includes TNT Sports. If you’re not eligible you can add it for £10 a month with no long contract commitment.
Buy a month’s pass
If you don’t have or want expensive pay TV contracts, you can access TNT Sports with Discovery+ for £30.99 per month. You don’t need to commit to a contract, so you can get a month’s access whenever you need it, making it good for casual fans.
The cheapest way to watch football on Amazon Prime Video
There will be 20 Premier League and 17 Champions League games shown on Amazon Prime this season, so you only need a month’s subscription to Prime Video to access it.
Get a free Amazon Prime trial
If you’ve never had Prime, you can take out a 30-day trial for free. This’ll allow you to watch all those games, and if you time it right, get free delivery on your Christmas shopping!
Pay £5.99 a month
You can also sign up on a monthly basis, at just £5.99 a month. So if you only want to watch those games, you can do it for £6 – as long as you cancel. You can also get an annual membership to Amazon Prime with extra Amazon benefits for £95.
With Sky Sports and TNT Sports, rather than just add the channels to your existing service as a top-up, it’s often cheaper to switch your service to a new company.
There are always offers for current customers signing new contracts, but the best deals are usually for new customers or those who threaten to leave. You can generally save even more by going via cashback sites.
Haggle with your provider
You can add on the Sky Sports and TNT Sports channels to your existing Sky, Virgin, Talk Talk and BT TV packages, but this can get very expensive.
Look out for special offers at the start of the season, or get on the phone with your provider and haggle for a better deal.
Cancel it when you don’t need it
These big pay TV companies often let you take Sky Sports month by month, so if there aren’t any matches you want to see, or you know you won’t have time, just call up and cancel.
You can sign up again when you want to restart watching the channels. Check the terms and conditions before subscribing and see if there is a notice or minimum period.
Editor’s pick: £100 savings bonus
Effective 6.45% rate for six months as a new Raisin customer
Know someone who has TNT Sports, NOW TV or Sky? You can usually watch the channels on up to two devices (smart TV, computer, tablet, phone) simultaneously, so you could split the cost between you. Here’s myguide on sharing your subscriptions.
Watch it in the pub
Of course, you can save all that hassle and head to the pub.
Premiership fans will normally be able to find somewhere showing the games, though Championship and lower may struggle. A few pints would cost the same as a NOW TV day pass.
The average cost to watch each Premier League team
Last year, we looked at the potential savings you could make from mixing and matching providers rather than committing to a year of sports channels. We found that football fans could save themselves up to £850 on watching the Premier League this season.
If you pay for all the services all year you’re going to get better value if you support one of the big teams and very poor value if you support a smaller one. However, if you’re a fan of various different sports or like to watch multiple teams, it might be worthwhile.
