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June 19, 2022   |   Articles

My rules to spend less on streaming film and TV

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How to avoid overpaying for Netflix, Disney and more.

One of the things I love about the likes of Netflix, Disney+ and NOW TV is they are each far cheaper than getting premium channels from Sky or Virgin.

The problem is it’s so easy to sign up for these monthly streaming services. And with yet more new streaming sites launched (hello Paramount+), the more you have, the less of a bargain they actually are.

And with inflation hitting all our other costs too, it makes sense to find as many ways as possible to reduce what you pay.

So if you want to take advantage of these sites but also make a saving, here are the rules I follow to make sure I get the best value from the money I spend on streaming film and TV.

Some articles on the site contain affiliate links, which provide a small commission to help fund our work. However, they won’t affect the price you pay or our editorial independence. Read more here.

Binge, cancel and swap

There’s no way you can get the most of every service at the same time. At a push you might be able to justify two, but I think you’ll get the best value from one at a time.

Fortunately, all these services have 30-day or month-long contracts, meaning you can dip in and out whenever you want and only pay for the months you are signed up for.

Focus on the shows you want to watch on that platform, and when you’ve had enough you cancel your monthly payment and move to the next one. And so on.

This obviously requires you to cancel one when you’re done with it, and restart another. But this is very simple with each service, and can be done with a few clicks. You’ll probably want to put a note in your diary to remind yourself to do it.

Streaming Service prices compared

There are so many options, I’ve focussed this table on the main services, then some of the next tier options.

Monthly CostAnnual Pass
Amazon Prime Video£5.99 (£7.99 if full Prime)£79
Apple TV+£4.99£49.99
BT Sport£25N/A
Discovery+ (Entertainment/Entertainment + Sport)£3.99 / £6.99£39.99 / £59.99
Disney+£7.99£79.90
Netflix (Basic/Standard/Premium)£6.99/£10.99/£15.99N/A
NOW Cinema£9.99N/A
NOW Entertainment£9.99N/A
NOW Sky Sports£33.99N/A
Paramount +£6.99£69.90
Arrow£4.99£49.99
BFI Player£4.99£49.99
Britbox (merging with ITVX in late 2022)£5.99£59.99
Mubi£9.99£71.88
Shudder£4.99£47.88
Starzplay£5.99N/A

So how much could you save having just one at a time? Let’s assume you can watch everything you need to in two months a year per main service. So that would be:

  • two months of Netflix Standard @ £10.99 a month
  • two months of NOW TV Entertainment @ £9.99 a month
  • two months of Amazon Prime Video @ £5.99 a month
  • two months of Disney+ @ £7.99 a month
  • two months of Apple TV+ @ £4.99 a month
  • two months of Paramount+ @ £6.99 a month

Paying full price each month would mean you pay £93.88 a year. That’s less than a year of Netflix on its own and you’ve got so much more choice. And if you nab deals, you’ll pay even less.

Avoid annual passes

This is an obvious extension of my first rule, but unless you know 100% that you are going to be watching one service at least 10 months of the year (most annual passes are 12 months for the price of 10), there’s no real saving in buying a discounted annual pass.

Of course, you might feel differently (especially if you’ve kids who are always on Disney+). So if you will watch it consistently then go for it, buy bear mind the cost when adding on extra ad-hoc subscriptions.

Watch out for extras

It’s tempting to upgrade Netflix to 4K quality, but I’d caution against it. Though it can make a difference, I’d argue it’s not worth an extra £5 a month over the HD Standard Netflix.

Likewise, the extra £2 a month to move from Prime Video to full Amazon Prime seems to make sense, but if you do this you will spend more money at Amazon – something I and many others are trying to avoid.

However, when it comes to NOW TV, the £5 Boost option is essential for basic HD and to avoid adverts (though I’ll always use the cancellation trick to hopefully bring this down to £1 or £2 a month).

Look for deals and freebies

Ok, an obvious one, but if you can pay less for a pass, then it’s a great way to save. Special offers are rare (though not impossible) to find on Netflix, but the other services all have promos and discounts, even freebies.

At the time of writing I’m on three months free Disney+, six months free NOW Entertainment, £2 NOW Boost for six months, one year free Prime Video, £1 NOW cinema for a month and I’ve got eight months of free Apple TV+ to activate before late August. That’s too much to watch, but it’s not costing me anything at all really.

These offers come and go, so check out my deal pages for the latest offers when I spot them.

All my TV streaming deal pages

Make the most of free trials

Though not all services offer free trials, a handful do, so make sure you use these. Plus, though you’re only allowed one free trial per person, that doesn’t mean your partner, housemates or (older) kids can’t sign up.

You might even be able to repeat a trial. Amazon let you take a free trial every 12 months, sometimes sooner. If there are two of you in the house, that’s two months free a year – which should be enough to binge most of the content you want to watch.

These are the standard offers. For the links and details, check my deals pages. I’ll also share short-term extended free trials (eg with Apple and Mubi).

  • Amazon Prime Video – 30 days free
  • Apple TV+ 7 days free
  • Arrow – 30 days free
  • BFI Player – 14 days free
  • Britbox – 7 days free
  • Mubi – 30 days free
  • NOW Entertainment – 7 days free
  • NOW Hayu – 7 days free
  • NOW Cinema – 7 days free
  • Paramount+ – 7 days free
  • Shudder – 7 days free

All my streaming deals

All my ways to save on this dedicated streaming deals guide

film & Tv streaming deals

Share your subscriptions

You probably do this already! But it’s possible to share your account details with all the main services.

It’s likely we’ll see Netflix clamp down on this (they’ve trialled a few different methods), and once they do, others will follow. So make the most of it while you can!

Be careful not to become the one who pays for all the services. Either get those using your service to contribute their fair share, or get them to pay for a different service and share that with you.

There can be limits on how many times you can do this and how many people can watch at once. And of course, just because you can do it, doesn’t mean you should. I’ve got more details in my article should you share streaming passwords and accounts.

Plan what to watch (and be picky)

With so much available, it’s easy to watch something just because it’s there. Yet so much of what’s available is trash. Really. Take a look behind the main titles and there are movies you won’t even believe were made. So I’m selective(ish). If there’s nothing I NEED to see, I’ll cancel.

And if there’s good word of mouth on programmes while I’m not subscribed, I’ll just add them to my list ready to binge when I next sign up. I’ll also time signing up for when all the episodes are available.

The only flaw in this plan is for shows on NOW as they come and go frequently, so if you miss it the first time around you might have to wait a long time for it to return.

Check where you can watch it

There are some shows and movies that are exclusive to one platform or another, but many others will move about, or even be found on more than one service.

For example at the time of writing, Icon Films is pushing cult Ryan Gosling movie Drive on it’s front page, but that’s also on Prime Video. Or the US remake of comedy series The Office is on NOW, Netflix and Prime Video!

So before you sign up to watch that specific thing, check if you can watch it for less on another service. I use JustWatch for this.

Watch free catch up

And don’t forget, as long as you pay the licence fee, you’ll still have access to iPlayer along with All 4, ITV Hub and other free streaming services if you are stuck for things to watch.

There’s always a new drama or comedy to watch on the BBC (homemade and imported) along with some decent boxsets. There are new and recent programmes on Channel 4’s All4 along with a great back catalogue (The IT Crowd, Father Ted, Shameless). It’s well worth taking a break from the paid services every now and then to catch up on this classic TV.

If you hate adverts (I really do) you can pay extra to watch C4 and ITV catch up ad-free.

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May 22, 2022   |   Articles

Best before, use by and sell by dates – what’s the difference?

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Make sure you’re not wasting food by chucking it away.

Do you throw out food when it reaches the date on the pack? Well, you could be chucking out perfectly good enough produce – and wasting money as a result.

In fact, there are a few kinds of expiry dates on food, and it’s not always clear what they mean. How do you know when it’s safe to keep eating? Well, here’s a quick round-up.

Some articles on the site contain affiliate links, which provide a small commission to help fund our work. However, they won’t affect the price you pay or our editorial independence. Read more here.

What’s the difference between best-before, use-by and sell-by dates?

Use by dates

As it suggests, the advice is to actually use the food by the date listed. So, often this is mainly fresh meat or fish, milk, fruit and veg.

It doesn’t mean you can’t eat stuff after the use-by date, but there’s a risk you could get food poisoning – so it’s often best to stick to the date.

I’ve had a look online to see if there are any general rules for telling if something is still ok to eat – but the advice is mixed.

Apparently, some manufacturers factor in a day or two extra as a precaution, while some people swear by the sniff test. However, the only guarantee, as long as the food has been stored properly, is to consume it by the use-by date.

Best-before dates

Anything with a best before date is safe to consume after expiry. However, the manufacturer will only guarantee the quality until the date.

So you shouldn’t get ill if a pack of crisps or tin of beans if out of date. It might not taste great, but there’s every chance it’ll be just fine – especially if it’s only a few weeks past. Some stuff is absolutely fine months later.

Sell-by / Display until dates

The sell-by date is really an indicator for shop staff rather than customers. It doesn’t actually mean anything for the quality or safety of the food. There’s actually been a huge drop in how often we see these as research found they understandably confused shoppers.

The best deals

Find our picks of the best offers in our dedicated deals library

How I beat use-by and best-before dates and save money

Chucking out-of-date food away is essentially throwing money in the bin. Here’s how I avoid it. I know some might seem obvious, but I’ve added in some details you might not be aware of for each.

Freeze it

Ignore packaging that says “freeze on day of purchase”. You can freeze anything up until the use-by date as long as you’ve not already opened it.

When you defrost it you should then cook the produce within 24 hours.

I’ll sometimes break up a pack of meat into smaller freezer bags for an individual portion. This means I can get one chicken breast out if I’m cooking for myself, or more depending on how many I need.

You can of course also freeze leftovers, while batch cooking is a great way to use up everything.

Eat it

Right, obvious. But if you keep an eye on use-by dates and plan your meals around those items you won’t be chucking out foods you could have eaten.

Once you’ve cooked meat you’ll also be able to store it for a couple of days until the fridge, even if you cook it on the use-by date.

Buy cheap out of date food

You rarely see supermarkets sell items past their best before date, but smaller shops and markets will often have cut-price grub that’s just gone out of date.

There are also online retailers such as Approved Food and Yankee Bundles. They sell a huge variety of products for pretty low prices, including big brands. They also sell a lot of stuff that’s seasonally out of date – so post-Christmas, Easter and Halloween there’s an influx of cheap but perfectly good choc and sweets!

It’s well worth taking a look, but don’t get too carried away by the bargain basement prices – you’ll still need to eat or drink the stuff!

Know what you’ve got

If you’re heading to the supermarket, it really does help to make a list of what you actually need, rather than what you think you need.

A quick cheat here is to take a photo of your fridge or cupboards so you can see what’s there.

Be flexible with your meals

A common food tip is to meal plan – it is probably the best way to make sure you use up ingredients.

But I also try to be flexible with what I’ll have for dinner – and this allows me to take advantage of cut-price food that’s about to go out of date.

You see I’m a little addicted to reduced stickers, as I wrote about a few years ago, so I’ll often decide on meals based on what I can pick up on the day, then freeze anything I can’t use that night.

Buy smaller portions

Those big packs might appear to be cheaper, but not if you have to throw half of the contents in the bin.

If you only use some items occasionally, especially store cupboard essentials, it might be better to buy smaller packs – even if they cost more per 100g. In the long run, you’ll save money.

Avoid bulk buying

This is one area I occasionally fall victim to. If I see a really good deal I sometimes buy two or three – usually on condiments (I’m a little sauce obsessed). Mostly it’s fine, but every now and again I get caught out and find I’ve not used them by the best before date.

Obviously, I now know they’ll be okay to keep eating after the best before date (as long as they aren’t open), but even so I do limit how much of the same thing I buy.

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April 11, 2022   |   Articles

Tricks to help your freezer save you money

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Whether taking advantage of reduced food and special offers, trying to avoid food waste, or building up an emergency stockpile, your freezer is a fantastic money saving device. 

I love my freezer for one simple reason. It saves me money. Lots of money. It’s probably the biggest money saver in my kitchen – even when you factor in the upfront cost, running cost and even buying things like freezer bags.

So here’s why you should be thinking more about what you put in your freezer, and some tricks that’ll not just save you cash but make your life a little easier too.

Some articles on the site contain affiliate links, which provide a small commission to help fund our work. However, they won’t affect the price you pay or our editorial independence. Read more here.

Five ways a freezer can save you money

You can snap up reduced food and special offers

I rarely buy any fresh food at full price. Instead I take advantage of the reduced shelves or special offers to stock up and store in my freezer. This is a big money saver. Say between the two of us we’re using four packs of fish or meat each week. At full price we’re looking at £4 or £5 for each, if not more (I buy high-welfare and sustainable options), which is near enough a grand over 12 months. If I’m saving a third, and I’m often able to save more, that’s £333 less I’m spending.

I think this is a pretty conservative estimate. And that’s just fish and meat. Add in bread, veg, leftovers, cakes… you can probably freeze the bulk of the food you buy. So make sure you’re not just filling it with ready meals!

You can find lower prices

There are some things you can get cheaper already frozen. Things like frozen berries or fillets of fish. They might also ultimately be fresher as they are frozen at the source. Here’s an interesting article about what to look for with frozen fish.

You’ll cut down on food waste

The average UK household throws away £800 worth of edible food every year – that’s £70 a month. Not all of this can be saved by using your freezer, but a huge chunk of it can. So whether that’s freezing leftovers after cooking or fresh ingredients before they go off, it’s a decent amount of money back in your pocket.

You’ll have emergency supplies

Though some people took stockpiling too far in the early days of the Coronavirus pandemic, it does make sense to have some emergency supplies at home – and the freezer is a perfect way to have certain food available if you can’t get to the shops.

And we’ve all had times when we’re short of a vital ingredient, which often then results in a trip to an expensive corner shop or giving up and getting a takeaway. Which costs more money. To avoid this you can freeze things like portions of cheese, herbs, wine, butter, milk… ready to throw into your pot.

I always like to have some food that can be cooked from frozen – and if you’ve bought that on offer or reduced even better.

You can protect yourself against price increases

If you’re worried about inflation pushing prices up even higher than they are now, then stocking up essentials in the freezer is a way to avoid paying more.

The best deals

Find our picks of the best offers in our dedicated deals library

Freezing rules

Freezing food is pretty simple, but here are a handful of simple rules so you’re not wasting cash.

What food to freeze

You’ll be surprised by exactly what you can freeze. Here’s my guide to help you see what you can and can’t freeze.

When to freeze food

Anything that’s fresh should go in the freezer before the use-by date (you can read more on the different dates on packs here). Of course, if it’s looking or smelling a bit dodgy then it’s best to bin it.

If you’re freezing leftovers or are pre-cooking meals to freeze make sure it’s cooled down first.

If you can, put it in the coldest draw so it freezes faster. If you’re adding a huge haul then put the freezer on fast-freeze (just remember to switch it back to no

How long to freeze food for

The guidance seems to be to read the packaging and go with the advice there. If there’s nothing on the pack then it’s best to search online. I wanted to share a simple list but the three most comprehensive ones I found all contradicted each other! Even so, if something’s been lurking in there for around nine months to a year, it’s best to eat it or bin it.

Make sure you rotate the contents of your freezer, especially if you have a large chest freezer, so you’re using the oldest stuff first. A list helps too. I keep in on the notes app on my phone and update it when I shop or use something.

How to defrost frozen food

Meat and fish should be defrosted in the fridge, ideally overnight, though I’ve seen some articles say it’s ok to use the defrost function on a microwave. Either way, make sure you put it on a plate and covered to prevent cross-contamination and check it’s fully defrosted before cooking.

You can also cook lots of items straight from frozen, including some I didn’t realise like sausages. You can even make your own pizzas to freeze. Just top the bases as normal and cover in clingfilm. Then whack it straight in the oven when you want it.

Freezing hacks

Now you know the rules, it’s time to use some of these tricks. They’ll save space so you can store more and help you avoid further waste.

Take food out of packets

The more reduced food and leftovers you can get in your freezer the more money you’ll save. But if you overstuff your freezer it can force the motor to work harder – increasing the chances of it breaking down.

So it makes sense to utilise the space as best you can, and one of the best ways is to cut down unnecessary packaging. Though some supermarkets are getting better at reducing the size of plastic trays or removing them completely, not all are. So move your mince and anything else that could take up less space.

Make sure you put it in airtight containers or bags to avoid freezer burn. If you’re using bags, squeeze out as much air as you can, and seal with a twist-tie.

Separate before freezing

This is a good trick to ensure you’re taking out only what you need, not the full pack. 

Take fruit for example. Freeze a pack and it’s one giant mass of berries. Instead put them on a baking tray on some baking paper in the draw to freeze. The berries will all freeze separately so when you combine them into a bag the won’t join together.

You can do something similar for things like raw chicken breasts. Wrap them individually in clingfilm and put into a bigger freezer bag. For cooked items, like slices of ham, you can put pieces of baking paper in between.

When you freeze leftovers, try to keep it as square as possible to help stack them in the freezer. I’m going to start putting things like a bag of chili into a square box. Once it’s frozen I should be able to take the bag out of the box, which I can use again for the next portion. 

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Label it

This is really important. Of course you want to know what’s in the pack, but don’t forget quantities, the date it’s frozen and cooking instructions. You can write this on with a sharpie marker pen, or tear off the label from the packaging. 

Pre-prepare

You can also make your life easier, and use up random leftovers, by chopping them up ready to use. This is good for things like herbs and onion – just make the latter is sealed tight to stop the smell. Cheese can be frozen grated too so you can sprinkle it onto hot dishes straight from the draw.

You can also save time by increasing how much you cook when you prepare a meal. So last night rather than making chili with one pack of mince, I made it with two (bought on special offer). This means I’ve got a few extra portions to throw in the freezer. And later this week I’m going to poach some (reduced) chicken breasts and shred them before freezing, great for quick tacos at a later date.

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April 6, 2022   |   Articles

Irrelevant Savings Accounts: Do you need a Cash ISA?

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Why I don’t put my money in a Cash ISA.

When my friends talk to me about savings, they always mention ISAs. It’s where they’ve always been told to save their cash (though they don’t quite understand why), and they’ve dutifully stashed as much of their savings in one as they could. But I don’t have one. I haven’t had one for close to six years.

Some articles on the site contain affiliate links, which provide a small commission to help fund our work. However, they won’t affect the price you pay or our editorial independence. Read more here.

What is a Cash ISA?

The whole point of a Cash ISA (or Individual Savings Account) is that any interest you earn is tax-free. So if you had £5,000 earning 1%, you’d get to keep all of the £50 you’d make, rather than lose 20% or 40% to the taxman. So logically, a lower rate ISA could be better than a higher paying standard savings account.

You can save up to £20,000 into a Cash ISA each financial year, though that limit is shared across other types of ISA such as the Lifetime ISA or Stocks & Share ISA.

But an ISA isn’t the only way to avoid tax on interest earned. There are allowances for low earners, Premium Bonds (more on both of those here) and, most importantly, the Personal Savings Allowance.

The Personal Savings Allowance

The Personal Savings Allowance (PSA) was introduced in 2016 to give pretty much everyone tax-free interest on savings from any source, not just ISAs. In fact, any earnings in an ISA or Premium Bonds don’t count towards your PSA.

The PSA works like this. If you are a zero or basic rate taxpayer (essentially you earn under £50,270), you can make £1,000 in interest in a year before you start paying tax on it.

If you earn a little more and pay 40% tax, then you still get an allowance, but it’s reduced to £500 a year. Additional rate taxpayers don’t get a PSA at all.

Whether you use your full allowance depends on two factors: How much you have saved and the rate you earn. This table assumes the money is all in a single account:

RateBalance to reach £1,000Balance to reach £500
0.5%£200,000£100,00
1%£100,000£50,000
1.5%£66,666£33,333
2%£50,000£25,000
5%£20,000£10,000

Is the Personal Savings Allowance enough?

Right now a 1.5% easy access savings account (from Chase Bank) is the best rate you’ll get on large sums. That means the £1,000 allowance limit is going to take a lot of cash to reach. – £33,333 before you hit £500 in interest, and £66,667 before you’d reach the full £1,000 PSA.

But it is possible to get better rates if you split your cash across a few higher-paying accounts that have lower limits on the balance eligible for interest. Could this make a difference?

This table shows some of the better-paying accounts you might have right now:

AccountMax BalanceRateEarnings over 12 months
Virgin Money M Plus£1,0002.02% / *5.02% if switched£20.20 / £50.20*
Claro app (iOS only)£3,0002%£60
Natwest Digital Regular Saver£1,000 (assuming you’ve already saved this)3.04%£30.40
Nationwide Flex Regular Saver£200 a month / £2,400 a year2.5%£32
—-—-—-—-
Total£7,400£142.50 / £172.60*

That’s a hefty £7,400 held across four different accounts, more than many have in their savings. But the total interest you could earn this way is still well off the PSA limit.

To actually use your full allowance, assuming you put further cash in a Chase Bank account paying 1.5%, the balances still need to be huge. This next table shows the interest earned:

BalanceInterest earned at 1.5%
20,000£300
25,000£375
50,000£750
55,000£825
60,000£900

Combined with the previous £7,400, the total savings pots to earn more than £1,000 is roughly £64,000 and to pass £500 is just under £31,500.

These are very large amounts, much more than most of us have or need in savings. The general rule is that you only need three to six months of expenses covered in an emergency fund, though you might want more if your income is irregular.

And there could be more on top if you’re saving for something in particular, but most people most of the time won’t need to have more than £30,000 in savings, let along £60,000.

The best savings accounts

Check out our list of the highest paying regular, easy-access, fixed and ethical savings accounts

What if you go over the Personal Savings Allowance?

The biggest threat to your PSA is increasing interest rates. We’ve seen some big increases recently, and if there are further hikes from the Bank of England, we can expect this to continue (though it might make time). So there’s a chance your savings pot, especially if you are a higher rate taxpayer, will earn interest beyond the allowance.

It’s not just interest rate rises that could impact your PSA. You might get a pay rise that changes your allowance, or the government could decide to reduce or axe it completely (you never know).

If this happens you can obviously move excess money over to an ISA, but only amounts under £20,000 (the annual limit). And that amount assumes you haven’t used some of your ISA allowance on a Lifetime ISA or Stocks and Shares ISA.

If this cap worries you it might be worth putting some money into a Cash ISA each year as it’ll retain the tax-free status for subsequent years, and you can always transfer the money around for better rates. Premium Bonds are also an option.

But the interest rate on offer in the ISA also makes a difference. Let’s say you’ve maxed out your PSA with that 1.5% account. Every extra £1 of interest you earn will now be taxed at 20% or 40%, bringing the real rate down to 1.2% or 0.9% respectively.

Now as long as you can beat that rate with an ISA then the tax-free part of an ISA does make a difference, making an ISA the best home for your additional savings. At the time of writing, the top option pays 0.9%, so worth it for higher rate taxpayers. But basic rate taxpayers should go for the 1.5% account.

Summary: Do you need a Cash ISA?

Andy’s analysis

Most of us aren’t going to have enough in savings at the current rates to go near the allowance limit. If that’s your situation then go for the account that pays the highest rate, ISA or not.

If you think you will earn more than the PSA allows, I’d encourage you to just check you need that much money in cash. The general rule is you only need three to six months of emergency expenses available, or money for any short-term goals (eg a new car, house deposit, a holiday).

Beyond that you’re better off putting surplus money into your pension, investing or even overpaying your mortgage.

If, after all of these, you still have enough in cash that you’ll go over your PSA, then yes go for a Cash ISA.

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April 4, 2022   |   Articles

Supermarkets on Deliveroo and Uber Eats: Good or bad?

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What you’ll really pay if you get your groceries delivered from a takeaway service.

During the lockdowns it was understandable that grocery home delivery services rocketed in popularity. Now it’s never been easier to get takeaways or your supermarket shopping delivered to your front door – including getting those groceries collected and dropped off by Deliveroo and Uber Eats.

You can order supplies and get them within a few hours, if not less. It’s certainly convenient. But as with using these apps and websites for takeaways, I wanted to find out if you’ll actually be overpaying.

So I’ve compared prices from the apps vs going direct to the supermarkets, plus looked at any extra charges. Here’s what you need to know before ordering.

Some articles on the site contain affiliate links, which provide a small commission to help fund our work. However, they won’t affect the price you pay or our editorial independence. Read more here.

Which delivery apps offer grocery delivery

You’ll find the major supermarkets as well as some convenience stores on either Uber Eats or Deliveroo. Just Eat is moving into the space too, with a handful of Asda stores on board and smaller convenience stores.

There are similar services such as Getir, Gorillas and Beelivery too. These often have their own warehouses rather than working with traditional retailers. I’m not covering here as the reach is still limited around the country – though I plan to look at these in the future.

Which supermarkets are on Uber Eats and Deliveroo?

The apps have partnerships with Asda, Co-op, Iceland, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s and Waitrose, as well as smaller shops like McColls, One-Stop and even some petrol stations.

Of course you need the supermarket to be in your delivery area to appear on the app. Where I live there’s no Iceland for example, so I had to play around with postcodes around the country to get a fuller list. And even if you have a store near you, they might not partner with the apps in your area.

I couldn’t find any Tesco stores. Aldi stopped offering this at the start of the year while M&S Food ended in 2020.

Not all supermarkets are available on both apps. These are the main supermarkets and stores I found across each app.

SupermarketDelivery App
AsdaUber Eats
Co-opDeliveroo
IcelandUber Eats
MajesticDeliveroo
MorrisonsDeliveroo / Uber Eats
Sainsbury’sUber Eats / Uber Eats
WaitroseDeliveroo

Ordering & delivery

Using these apps is completely separate to the supermarket’s own delivery service, so you don’t need an account with the supermarket itself.

You will need to download the Deliveroo or Uber Eats app, or access it via a web browser. You then need to sign up if you haven’t already.

Making an order is exactly the same as with a takeaway. If you have a participating supermarket near you it’ll appear on the app.

Add the items you want to your basket and pay. Then wait for them to arrive at your door.

Charges and extra fees

On Deliveroo most of the supermarkets say it’s free delivery, but on Uber Eats all added a fee of around £2. Some charged a different rate depending on how close you were to the supermarket, others charged a flat fee.

There’s also a minimum order cost, though that is usually around £15 – less than if you went direct via a supermarket’s own webpage. If you don’t meet this threshold you’ll be charged an additional fee, often around £3.

You’ll also find most add an extra service charge. For Uber Eats it’s 10% of the order. On Deliveroo it was generally 5%, though with a minimum of 49p and cap of £2

And on top of this you might be charged for carrier bags at 10p per bag, though one dummy order I set up added 40p despite having just four items. There’s also the option to provide a driver tip.

It’s possible to request a specific time slot or just as for it as soon as possible. You’ll get an indication of when the delivery will be made and you can track progress. In my experience of using both for takeaways there’s always a good chance it’ll be late! You might be charged more for this or a priority order.

Our podcast

Listen to Cash Chats, our award-winning podcast, presented by Editor-in-chief Andy Webb and Deputy Editor Amelia Murray.

Episodes every Tuesday.

Listen now
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Shopping experience & cost

It’s a drastically reduced range

The first thing I noticed was that you can’t order anything you want. There are dozens rather than thousands of products available.

This means it’s impossible to do a full shop this way. And even if you only need a few things you’ll likley have to compromise or go without.

Prices are higher

This is the real kicker. I checked for each supermarket and the prices were all noticeably higher. Here’s a small selection of random products at each supermarket/app.

SupermarketProductDirectDeliveroo/Uber EatsMark up
AsdaCadbury’s Giant Buttons£1.25£1.5020%
Iceland10 rashers of bacon£2£2.7537.5%
MorrisonsCathedral City extra mature cheddar (350g)£3.50 (on offer at £2.75)£3.706% (34%)
Sainsbury’sFebreze Classic Spray£3 (on offer at £2)£3.3010% (65%)
WaitroseSourdough prawn pizza£5.75 (on offer at £3.83)£6.7517% (76%)
correct as of 6 April 2022

All the items I checked cost more on the app than buying direct from the supermarket – and that’s beore those extra service charges.

You miss out on special offers

The prices you see aren’t just higher – they don’t take into account special offers at the supermarket. This means you’re not just paying the premium added on top, you’re missing out on further savings.

A good example here was the pizza from Waitrose. Normally it’d be 17% cheaper in store (£1 less), but the price right now is cut to £3.83, meaning ordering via Deliveroo would 76% more (£2.92 extra).

You also won’t get reduced products – one of my favourite ways to save at the supermarket.

You can’t collect loyalty points

A small point, but you won’t be able to use any loyalty schemes. So you can’t collect your Nectar points or use your MyWaitrose card to nab extra discounts and so on.

Extra discounts

I’m often getting emails or notifications from both apps saying I can get 50% off my groceries order or £10 off, so it’s worth looking for these.

However, don’t think this will make your basket cheaper! Since items are already more expensive and there are extra charges on top, you might find you’re only saving a few quid if anything at all. Plus the reduced range means you might be struggling to meet a £40 minimum order of things you actually need. Don’t be tempted to order things you don’t want or need just to reach a discount threshold.

If you’ve not used either before then these welcome deals will give you an extra saving on any order (including takeaways).

The pros and cons of using takeaway apps for groceries

Pros

  • Quick delivery
  • An alternative way to get delivery if all direct slots are full
  • Lower minimum order total cost than going direct

Cons

  • Limited range of products
  • Increased prices
  • No special offers
  • Extra service charges

Should you order groceries from Deliveroo and Uber Eats?

Andy’s Analysis

Personally I wouldn’t use it for my everyday shopping. I can’t justify it with the extra charges and price mark ups.

Even offers like £10 credit or 50% off might not be worth it when you factor in the markups and extra charges.

I’d treat it as a last resort when you can’t leave your home and can’t get a slot from the supermarket itself.

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March 23, 2022   |   Articles

Spring Statement 2022: What you need to know

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What you need to know about the Government’s spending and taxation plans.

The Spring Statement, delivered in Parliament by Chancellor Rishi Sunak on 23 March 2022, isn’t meant to have any policy announcements. But the cost of living crisis is getting worse, with the energy hikes coming next month the largest cause for concern.

So as a result, we were given a handful of measures to relieve some of the pressure. Here’s what was announced and what difference this could make to your finances.

More detail may come in the next few days, and I’ll add information below as it’s revealed.

I’ll also be talking to the financial journalist Faith Archer on Thursday evening’s bonus episode of my Cash Chats podcast to analyse everything. You can subscribe now on your favourite podcast app so you don’t miss it.

Photo from HM Treasury Instagram account

Watch my video on YouTube talking about the Spring Statement or keep reading.

Fuel and energy

Fuel duty

There’s a 5p per litre cut to tax on petrol, which actually works out as 6p as there’s VAT on top. Depending on the size of your car, this will reduce the cost to fill a tank cost by around £2.50 or £3.50. So not much.

It comes into action from 6pm on 23 March 2022 and will last for a year. It will be worth a total of £2.4billion.

Of course, prices are still increasing all the time, so you’ll still be paying much more than you were a few months back.

Energy bills

Nadda. Zilch. Nothing. There’s no additional support to add to the £150 rebate due in April via Council Tax and £200 “loan” in October. A windfall tax on energy firms, as wanted by Labour, did not appear.

Green energy

There will also be a cut in VAT from 5% to zero for “energy saving materials”, things like solar panels and heating pumps. It’s a welcome move, but only the well off will be able to afford these changes.

Benefits and support

Household Support Fund

Those who are most vulnerable can apply for help from their local council’s Household Support Fund for help with things like bills, and the size of this will double from £500 million to £1 billion.

This sounds like a lot of money, but it’s a fraction of what would be needed to make up for the additional costs, so it really will only help those facing some kind of crisis with their finances.

Universal Credit

No change. This will only increase by 3.1%, as dictated by last September’s inflation figure, well below the average 7% predicted for the next year.

State Pension

It’s the same here, with the annual increase remaining 3.1%. There was also no talk of bringing back the “triple lock”.

Wages and Tax

National Insurance

The increase to National Insurance Contributions (NIC), announced last September, is still going ahead in April. But from July the threshold where you start paying this is jumping up by a huge £3,000 to match the wages where you start paying Income Tax (£12,570 a year).

This means for the next financial year, those earning £35,000 or less will either pay the same or less National Insurance, with the most made here will be around £330 for those earning £12,570. The Treasury says this amounts to 70% of those paying NIC.

If you earn more than £35,000 in the next year then the increased NIC paid on those additional earnings will be more than the money saved, and you’ll take home less pay each month. Those earning £60,000 a year will see a loss of £232 this year.

It’s worth coming back to the dates for those changes. The NIC increase starts 6 April, but the threshold change isn’t until July. So you will be taking home less in your pay packet in April, May and June. Then from July, depending on your salary, you might be paying less.

Technically, when you average out the different allowances at the start and then the rest of the year, the threshold will be £11,908 for 2022/23. Then from 2023/24, when the whole year is at £12,570 (unless it changes again), those earning between £35,000 and £40,000 will benefit from a slight cut in their NICs.

Income Tax cut in 2024

One that won’t happen for two years is a cut to Income Tax. The basic rate tax rate will be 19% rather than 20% from 2024. But this is a long way away so it won’t help anyone right now, and a lot can change in 24 months.

Our podcast

Listen to Cash Chats, our award-winning podcast, presented by Editor-in-chief Andy Webb and Deputy Editor Amelia Murray.

Episodes every Tuesday.

Listen now
Andy and Amelia with the text "Cash Chats Personal finance podcast"

March 22, 2022   |   Articles

It’s time to cancel expensive Sky and Virgin TV subscriptions

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If you’re still paying for premium pay-TV via satellite or cable you’re paying too much.

Switching away from Sky TV, Virgin Media, BT TV or TalkTalk TV to streaming alternatives can save you £100s of pounds – and you can still keep the exact same channels.

You’ll also get the added flexibility of choosing what you want to pay for and when. And you can even keep recording most channels if you want.

In this article I’ve shared why you shouldn’t be worried about ditching Sky, and how to watch the alternatives (such as NOW TV) on your TV.

Some articles on the site contain affiliate links, which provide a small commission to help fund our work. However, they won’t affect the price you pay or our editorial independence. Read more here.

How much Sky TV costs

Sky TV isn’t cheap. The Sky Ultimate package costs £26 a month for newbies and could go up to a massive £56 a month if you add in Sports and Cinema, coming in at £672 a year. You might even be paying another £25 a month if you add on things like Kids channels, UHD viewing and multiroom. That’s potentially £81 a month and £972 a year.

And existing customers could be paying even more with the full price for the complete works costing £100 a month, or £1,200 a year. The amount could go higher still if you’re still on an old Sky package.

Yet, being a savvy bunch you probably don’t pay full price. These companies are notoriously easy to haggle with and freebies are often thrown in – especially if you bundle your TV packages with your broadband and even your mobile phone.

But it’s possible to get all the channels you want to watch, alongside other services, for far less by ditching the long pay TV contracts. Though I’d expect you to get deals to reduce costs further, even if you pay full price, and get all the equivalent Sky channels, you’re still looking at paying no more than £64 a month, saving between £200 and £430 a year.

Here’s why and how you can do it too.

Before you cancel

To leave Sky TV you need to give 31 days notice, so you’ll still pay for a month (and receive the channels) in that time.

Make sure you are out of contract. It could be that you have different dates for TV and other bundled packages such as broadband or phones. If so, make sure you know what the effect of cancelling your TV could have on the price of those services.

If you have any time left to run you’ll be charged an early exit fee, which will pretty much be all the money you owe until that contract is due to end. 

If you’re not out of contract for a while, make a note in your diary a month before it’s due to end to start the cancellation process in motion.

Why you don’t need TV from Sky or Virgin

You’re paying for more than you can possibly watch

There are more than 300 entertainment channels and over 1,000 movies available with a full Sky or Virgin subscription. There is no way you are able to watch even a fraction of these. 

You’re paying to watch free channels

The most watched TV channels are BBC, ITV and Channel 4. These are all available via Freeview. For free. And there are plenty more, inclduing Dave, Dmax, Really, Food Network, HGTV, Quest and Yesterday.

You can pay less for ALL the major Sky channels elsewhere

There are actually only a handful of channels not available to watch via Freeview. These are mainly the Sky channels (eg Max, Atlantic, Comedy, Witness etc) and a few others such as Gold, The History Channel, Discovery and Nat Geo. But even these can be watched without Sky or Virgin and at a far lower price.

NOW (formally NOW TV) is the main player here. It’s actually owned by Sky and allows you to watch most of the above channels and more via your broadband connection. There are also options for Sky Cinema, reality and Sports. I’ve written in more detail about NOW TV in my review here.

The major mainstream channels you might want to keep that aren’t on Freeview or NOW TV are probably Discovery, TLC and Eurosport. Both are available from Discovery+ (£4.99 or £6.99 with sport) or as an Amazon channel (you’ll also need Prime).

BT Sport is also available as a monthly pass at £25 a month. That might be more than what you pay for the channels elsewhere, but combining it with the other savings should bring the overall cost down.

Indian channels such as are also available to stream, with Zee TV costing £4.99 a month and Hotstar (including UtSav) at £5.99.

You’re locked into Netflix with Sky

Lots of Sky customers think they’re getting free or cheap Netflix with Sky. You aren’t. Though the recent Netflix price increase will mean you’re getting a slight discount right now, it’s not much. And since you’re on an 18-month contract you don’t have the choice whether you keep it or not. It’s far better to pay separately.

You don’t need to be tied into a contract

Something I hate about most bills is that when you sign up you’re committing to a 12, 18 or even 24-month contract. This means you’re locked in to keep paying the set price even if you change your mind or can’t afford it any more. You can even continue to be charged if you move house and can’t get the service at your new address.

But with all the alternatives below which charge, you are only signing up for a month, giving you the flexibility to watch what you want, when you want – and cutting down on your bill even more.

Though Sky introduced Sky Glass which is also a 30-day contract, you’re committing to buying a TV on top – and it’s far from perfect.

You don’t really need to record TV any more

You can watch pretty much any programme on-demand – i.e. on a catch-up service online. Most of my TV is watched this way. I reckon that most TV you record sits on the box and is rarely watched!

You can get multiroom for less

You can also watch these newer and cheaper services in more than one room and on more than one device without paying extra. You might need to get a streaming stick if your TV isn’t smart, but they’re the same cost if not less than getting things like extra Sky Q boxes.

You don’t need a TV bundle to get cheap broadband

Though bundling your services together can earn you discounts, especially when haggling, you can still shop around for great broadband deals on their own. Remember to combine these offers with cashback sites. Here’s how to get the lowest price on your internet connection.

You can still get free TV without an outdoor aerial

Not all houses and flats have an outside aerial connection. If you want to get Freeview channels without a dish then you’ll need one of these. If you don’t have one you can try indoor aerials which might work.

But if you have a satellite dish connection then you can use something called Freesat which will also give you access to the free channels.

And you can also catch them online via Freeview Play, iPlayer, All 4, ITV hub and so on.

Andy’s TV set up

Here’s how my TV set up has looked for the last year. Obviously I’m always taking advantage of the best offers and freebies, and only signing up to passes when there’s something to watch!

I’ve had a lot more Sports passes since more football matches have been shown. Normally I’d buy just six or seven day passes.

  • NOW Entertainment (8 months at an average of £1 per pass) = £8 p/year
  • NOW Sky Cinema (3 months at an average of £1 per pass) = £3 p/year
  • NOW Boost (7 months at £1 a month) = £7 p/year
  • NOW Sky Sports month passes (5 months at an average of £17.80 per month pass) = £89
  • NOW TV Sky Sports day passes (1 at an average of £3 per pass) = £3

Total spend on Sky channels via NOW in 2021/22 = £110

Equivalent cost of Sky channels in a Sky subscription = £600

So last year I paid £550 less for the exact same channels at Sky without committing to a long contract! And if I remove the sports passes, I spent just £19 in the year.

If you’re interested, here are the other TV options I had and their cost:

  • Freeview recording box (six years old) = £0
  • Apple TV+ (8 months free via different deals) = £0
  • Amazon Prime TV (30-day free trial) = £0
  • Disney+ (annual plan) = £59
  • Netflix (2 months at £9.99 a month) = £19.98

More ways to save on TV

Check out my list of all the offers to pay less for Netflix, NOW, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+ and more

film & Tv streaming deals

When Sky or Virgin might be better value

There are a few exceptions though when paying for TV via Sky or Virgin could work out either better value or just a better user experience.

If you watch a lot of sport

Though occasional viewers can get a day pass for Sky Sports on NOW TV, the month pass comes in at £33.99. There are often deals that bring the price down to around £25 for a month, sometimes £20.

But if you know you are going to want and watch the main sports channels every week then you might be better off with Sky or Virgin where you can usually pick it up at £20 a month. However, don’t forget you are tied into an 18-month contract.

If you don’t have great broadband

On-demand streaming does require decent broadband, so you will probably want to look at upgrading to fibre if you don’t already have it. If that’s not possible – especially in rural areas – then you might need to stick with Sky for your TV.

If you want to record non-Freeview TV

One problem with the on-demand streaming services is that some programmes and films are only there for a set time before going (and often coming back at a later date). So if you want to watch, and rewatch something you might want to stick with a premium pay-tv service.

If you are happy just being able to record free to air TV then you can buy Freeview or Freesat recorders for around the £150 mark. Personally I really only use my box so I can skip adverts on Channel 4 and ITV programmes!

If you love channels including W, Alibi or Eden

These three UKTV channels are only available on Sky, Virgin and BT TV. Pretty much all the other major channels are available on another service.

Our podcast

Listen to Cash Chats, our award-winning podcast, presented by Editor-in-chief Andy Webb and Deputy Editor Amelia Murray.

Episodes every Tuesday.

Listen now
Andy and Amelia with the text "Cash Chats Personal finance podcast"

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March 1, 2022   |   Articles

Multiple bank switching bonuses: How to nab up to £990

Written by

Move your bank account for free cash, then move it again, and again…

I’m a serial bank switcher, having completed 15 separate switches since 2013 when it became a lot easier to go from one bank to another.

The banks have tried all sorts of different things to get you to change to them. From cashback on bills through to high interest on savings, there’s no reason for you to stick with a single bank if it’s not doing anything for you.

But the incentive that’s worked the best is the cash bonus. At one point or another in the last nine years, all the major banks have given away anything from £50 to £200 just by getting you to open an account with them – and importantly close your old account.

Here’s which banks are offering money right now and how you can combine multiple switches to get even more free cash.

Some articles on the site contain affiliate links, which provide a small commission to help fund our work. However, they won’t affect the price you pay or our editorial independence. Read more here.

You can either watch these two videos explaining the latest offers or keep reading.

February switching offers:

Head over to my YouTube channel to comment and like

March’s additional switching offers:

Before you switch

Bank switching basics

Bank switching isn’t something you should be scared of. All your payments in and out will be moved over – including future ones. And there’s a guarantee which means you’ll get compensation if things go wrong. There’s more on how bank switching works.

Existing and previous customers

Though all accounts are open to new customers for each bank, some of the switching bonuses are also available to either existing or previous customers. You can even get a bonus for a second time, as I did with Halifax a few years ago.

However there will be criteria here you need to check. For example, there could be a cut off date for when you closed the previous account or for when you previously received a bonus. So check the terms and conditions.

The impact on your credit report

Each application will also require a credit check. There’s no soft check here, though the chances of rejection are low for this type of thing.

However, multiple checks in a short period will hit your score. As will moving away from a bank you’ve been with for a long time – credit reference agencies like stability.

These aren’t much of a problem for most people – especially when you think people often change broadband and energy suppliers at the same time when they move house.

But if you are planning to apply for a loan, credit card, mortgage or other credit-dependent forms of borrowing then you might want to wait until that’s sorted. Here’s more detail on the impact when you switch.

Which banks have switching offers?

Right now there are six main offers, with up to £150 available from Santander, Lloyds, NatWest (or RBS, not both), First Direct, Virgin Money and Nationwide. In fact it’s possible to get two lots of cash from the latter, so technically there are seven everyone has the chance to get.

There’s also a deal from Co-op, though you need to know an existing Co-op Bank customer to refer you, and one from Barclays, though this is limited to Premium customers. I’ve not included those in this article for those reasons.

I’ve written a full analysis of each of the main offers available right now, so do read these to check you are eligible

(A quick aside here: It’s the better-off who will likely benefit from these incentives and that to fund them it’s the poorer customers in overdrafts who lose out. So it’s not exactly fair).

Details on each switching deal

There’s also more information about the Co-op and Barclays switching deals in our bank offers guide.

The best bank switch bonuses

Check out my list of all the offers you can get when opening a new current account

the best bank switch offers on a blue background

How to get up to £990 from switching bonuses

Getting cash for one switching deal is great. Getting money from more than one is even better! And if you are eligible for more than one offer there’s no reason why you can’t get them.

Technically it should be possible to keep switching the same account to get three of the bonuses, but you’ll need an extra account or two to switch to get all six incentives.

If you don’t already have a spare account, I’d recommend opening one just for switching – you could quickly get a Monzo and / or Starling for this purpose.

Bear in mind too that though most of the offers have a while to run, they can end early, and some don’t have any end date published so could go at any time.

Switch one, two and three

The fastest deals are from Lloyds, Nationwide, First Direct and Virgin Money. I’d prioritise Lloyds as we know when this ends, then either Nationwide or First Direct.

Make sure you’ve met all the criteria needed for the switches on day one so you can complete the switch as fast as possible.

Combined these will be worth up to £425 and you could potentially have the cash within 68 days.

BankAmountEarliest you’ll get the cashEnd date
Lloyds£1503 days after you switch (10 total)21 March 2022
Nationwide£100 or £12510 days after you switch (20 total)N/A
First Direct£15028 days after meeting criteria (38 total)N/A

Switch four

Once you’ve got those three, you can look at either Santander or NatWest/RBS. Since the RBS offer runs for a few weeks more than NatWest it’s probably the best one for stacking multiple switches.

Another reason to favour NatWest/RBS is we know when this will end – mid-April. Though the Santander one could go at any time, it could also still be running in late June, meaning you could switch again from the RBS account.

However it will probably be too tight to get the First Direct money in after Lloyds and Nationwide and hit the 21 April date unless any of the banks pay you earlier.

I think both the RBS/NatWest Reward and Santander 123 Lite accounts are worth keeping hold of thanks to monthly rewards/cashback, but you can always switch them again for other deals that might appear.

Complete one of these on top of the other three switches and you’ll be up £565 to £575 by the summer.

BankAmountEarliest you’ll get the cashEnd date
RBS£15024 June 202221 April 2022
Santander£14060 to 90 days after starting the switchN/A

Extra switches

If you have extra accounts you can switch for the other account from this choice as you’re not restricted by the payout time.

We don’t know when the Santander deal will end, so it could be gone by the time you’ve completed the other switches. If you’re worried about that then it makes sense to start that switch earlier, and use NatWest for the third consecutive switch.

There’s also that Virgin Money switch. Since the 3% bonus on interest isn’t paid until June 2023 this isn’t one to switch away from straight away.

Finally if you have a joint account on top of your personal accounts, you can get another £125 by switching that into an extra Nationwide account.

If you do all of these along with the three switches above, then it’s a total of £840 in cash incentives, £50 in interest and a £100 voucher, adding up to £950!

BankAmountEarliest you’ll get the cashEnd date
NatWest£1509 June 20227 April 2022
Santander£14060 to 90 days after starting the switchN/A
Virgin Money£100 voucher + 5% interest14 days after completing the switchJune 2023
Nationwide (Joint)£12510 days after meeting criteriaN/A

Are there more to come?

I don’t have a crystal ball, but I think there will be more. Halifax and Lloyds are yet to run an offer in 2022, so keep an eye out for them.

HSBC is rarely away from the market, and Halifax usually follows Lloyds – however these you can’t get cash from the former if you’ve taken advantage of the First Direct offer.

Every time there’s a new promotion, we list it in our constantly updated list of all the different offers and incentives you can get from banks – not just switching bonuses. So check that out for any updates!

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February 23, 2022   |   Articles

Be Clever With Your Cash is eight!

Written by
The highlights for me and the blog over the last 12 months.

As has now become tradition, I use Be Clever With Your Cash’s birthday as a chance to share with you the good and the bad from the last year.

I rarely write about “blogging” itself or the challenges of running my own business, so also it’s a good opportunity for me to reflect on how things have gone and give you a bit of an insight into what happens behind the scenes.

Plus, I’d really appreciate it if you can fill in my annual survey so I can get your feedback on everything I do.  You’ll also be in with the chance of winning a £25 John Lewis voucher or an hour long video chat with me.

Some articles on the site contain affiliate links, which provide a small commission to help fund our work. However, they won’t affect the price you pay or our editorial independence. Read more here.

A design for life (well, the next few years)

The biggest change, and the biggest success, was a complete redesign of the site last May. The main purpose was to get everything faster and easier to navigate, but I also wanted to push “me” much more as part of the brand.

I think it’s largely responsible for a massive growth in traffic to the site. The last 12 months have been the biggest yet for my site, with just under three million views in the year (up from 1.8 the year before). It also surpassing 10 million in total and welcoming the seven millionth visitor since launch.

But it wasn’t easy! I can confidently say the whole design and build process and then updating all the content was the hardest I’ve ever worked in my life. At one point I worked really long hours for 21 days straight, getting everything ready for the relaunch.

This was the first time I’ve invested financially in the business. I’ve done everything myself before, but it was finally time to pay someone else to do some of the work, with a designer and web developer helping me shape my ideas into what you see now.

Part of being clever with my cash has always been to reduce spending, so I actually found this quite hard. But it was a good lesson for me that sometimes it’s better to shell out than make compromises.

Becoming a “YouTuber”

I’m not at all comfortable with the term “Influencer” (in my mind it feels too connected to paid endorsements, something I’ll never do.) As a result, I’ve felt I’ve lost some ground on social media platforms in the last few years.

However, though most of my time still goes on content for this site, I’m really starting to see the benefits of my YouTube channel.. Perhaps it’s because of the real-time interaction and feedback I get from viewers. The semi-weekly live Q&As have been amazing and a great way to engage with you all. And in the last 12 months, there’s been fantastic growth.

This time last year I had 7,000 subscribers and 400,000 views. As of today the channel is just shy of 26,000 subs and reached 2 million total views at the start of the week. The last month in particular has had as many views as the blog!

So I guess I’m now a “YouTuber”, as well as blogger and journalist. This term really impressed my niece at the weekend, so it’s worth it just for that.

If you haven’t already, please do subscribe, and hit the thumbs up button or comment on any videos you watch – it all helps.

Starting a weekly column

I don’t have much time available for freelance work, but when the chance came along in September to start a new personal finance column for the Metro newspaper I jumped at it. It can be quite hard to think of a new topic every week seven days before it’ll be published and still be topical, but I’m enjoying this.

I got over my imposter syndrome a few years ago (mostly), but having my thoughts and advice printed in a national newspaper every week has cemented in my mind that I am a proper journalist!

Refocusing what success means

Long time readers might remember I presented a Channel 5 show called Shop Smart Save Money in 2018 and 2019. As someone who spent a decade working for the BBC, this type of work felt like the pinnacle of where I could go. I was hungry for more.

Though I was due to film some more programmes in 2020 before the pandemic hit, they didn’t go ahead, and I’ve not had any other projects get greenlit either. I didn’t even get invited to a daily Channel 4 show which is filmed 30 minutes away!

I struggled with this initially. If TV was the top of the game as far as my career was concerned, had I reached my peak a few years ago? That was my thought the more and more I saw others picked for short TV spots and longer series.

But the time I would have spent on those projects was suddenly free, allowing me to put everything, five days a week (sometimes more) into my own channels.

The resulting success of the blog, YouTube channel and my Cash Chats podcast in the last year has helped me realise I can keep growing my own content and reaching more and more people, and do it on my terms!

Elsewhere, while I know awards don’t make a huge amount of real difference, when you’re working for yourself it’s nice to get acknowledgment from your peers for your efforts! I picked up Best Personal Finance Blog and Best Money Podcast at the UK Money Blogger awards earlier this month, and my podcast was recognised at Headlinemoney as a finalist in the Broadcast Journalist of the Year category (the only independent finalist, up against the BBC and FT). I’ll take that!

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Our podcast

Listen to Cash Chats, our award-winning podcast, presented by Editor-in-chief Andy Webb and Deputy Editor Amelia Murray.

Episodes every Tuesday.

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Andy and Amelia with the text "Cash Chats Personal finance podcast"