I’ve been a fan of switching mobile networks for a long time now. Though most major networks are charging a fortune for your calls, texts and data, you can pay a fraction every month for the same service at one of the many challenger brands.
I know a lot of people get put off doing this because of two things. One, they worry about reception. And two, they don’t want to change their number. Neither of these is going to be a problem.
Once you’ve found a new network (that might even offer the exact same signal as your existing one), then it’s time to request your Port Authorisation Code, aka PAC. Here’s how to get it and what to do.
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How to switch and keep your number
A few years ago new rules were introduced to make getting a PAC really easy, and bypass the dreaded customer service agent who would take forever to issue you the code.
Now to get your PAC you now just need to text ‘PAC’ to your old network via the number 65075. It’s the same whichever network you are with. You’ll then get sent your code within a minute. Though I’m not switching I gave this a try, and I was also required to include my date of birth.
You then need to give this number to your new mobile provider. The code is valid for 30-days. Your new network will then sort out everything and move your number over within one working day.
In practice, this means you will start the day on your old network, and at some point that’ll go dead. That’s when you need to swap your SIM card over, which will now be working on your existing number.
So don’t submit your PAC on a Friday as you’ll have to wait until Monday or even Tuesday for the change to happen. I also make sure I’m not out and about or expecting any important calls.
Why you might not want to use this method
So this method certainly makes it much easier. Not only is it quicker, but you avoid having to listen to increasingly desperate sales teams trying to stop you from switching away. I know people who will be incredibly grateful for this as they hate those conversations.
But for me, those calls are the reason I was able to cut my monthly bill without switching away. I now pay just £8 a month for 12GB of data with Three, rather than the standard price of £12.
Each time I’ve called up Three to get a PAC having found a cheaper deal elsewhere, they’ve come back with a huge saving. And four out of five times I’ve taken the deal. So it really can pay to go through the pain of a 20-minute chat (they really can be painful) for some substantial savings. In fact, maybe try live text chat instead so you can do something else at the same time!
My main tip if you do choose to haggle is not to take the first offer. They need to beat or at least match what you can get elsewhere. So do some research before calling, and do take into account extras you might get.
Of course, even with a text message PAC request there’s nothing to stop your old network calling up and trying to get you to change your mind, so if you really don’t want to make that initial call you could always give that a go.
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You can get the PAC before you open a new contract
Just because you ask for a PAC, whether by text or in a phone call, you don’t have to use it. And it’s valid for 30 days. So it’s probably worth calling up and asking for your PAC to see what deal you are offered before opening up a new contract elsewhere.
You’ll get charged to switch if you’re in contract
If you are in the middle of a contract when you try to move networks it’s likely you’ll get charged for however much time you’ve got left, so it’s probably worth waiting until your contract is due to end. You can text ‘INFO’ to 85075 to find out what this cost will be.
You don’t have to have a new number
If you want to switch networks and start again – but still close down the old account at the same time – then you can text STAC to 75075.
I feel like there’s a broadband, mobile and TV price increase every few months… and the latest is from Virgin Media. Letters and emails are being sent to customers detailing increases to bills in March.
Usually those in a utility contract are tied in and have no choice but to pay the extra cash. The good news is that’s not the case if you’re with Virgin Media. Depending on what services you use, you might actually be able to ditch your contract and save money.
Here’s what you need to know.
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How much Virgin Media prices are going up
From 1 March this year, most Virgin Media customers will see an increase to their monthly bills. The average increase will be £4.70 a month, or £56.40 a year.
It’ll apply to broadband, phone and TV customers. There’s a separate increase on 1 April for Virgin Mobile customers.
Exactly how much more you’ll get charged will depend on the package you have right now, so you’ll have to look out for the letter to learn the exact amount.
Obviously if you have just broadband it’ll be less than those with TV and / or phone as well, and the more expensive your package in terms of speed and channels will likely also have an impact.
Why this isn’t necessarily bad news
Since the increases are a change to your contract, you’ll have 30 days from getting the letter or email to give notice and not get charged any penalties for leaving early.
So Virgin customers in the middle of a contract can use this hike to move to a different provider and potentially cut what they pay for their broadband, TV and landline services
Or, if you don’t want to leave Virgin, you can still use the increase to push for a better deal. And I’ve used that to my advantage in the past.
How to use the price increase to get a better deal
Wait for your letter or email
This is really important. You’ll need this to start the process of moving away or negotiating. It might be sent as an email rather than a letter so keep an eye on your spam folder. Once you have it you’ll see the date you have to take action by.
Sign up elsewhere
Many of the best prices for broadband and TV are for new customers. It’s not just special offers and reductions for signing up, you can also get a bonus for going via cashback sites.
Ideally you’ll stack different deals to really bring the price down -e.g, combining a sale price, freebie and cashback, though these aren’t always all available at the same time.
It’s also potentially possible for you to cancel your Virgin contract and get your partner to sign up as a new customer to get special incentives. I’ve done this before with other providers, but I’ve also heard Virgin are cracking down on this.
Haggle
Even if you’re not keen to leave Virgin you can use the change to get money off your bill or extras thrown in for free. Do a little bit of research on what other companies are offering, and see if they can match it.
They might try to appease you by giving you extras for nothing, which is fine as long as you are actually going to use them. Personally I’d rather have money knocked off the bill than receive extra channels I won’t watch.
And if you don’t get the deal you want, I think it’s worth giving your notice and waiting to see if they call back. If they don’t and you really don’t want to go you can always call them back up and say you’ve changed your mind.
Do stay polite throughout the chat though – it won’t help you to get angry.
My Virgin Media haggling experiences
I’ve been with Virgin Media for the last four years, and during this time there have been three, if not four, times when prices have been increased. On each occasion, I took the opportunity to give notice. And each time I got a discount on my bill.
The first time, Virgin were especially eager to keep me as a customer. The cancellation department not only waived the price increase, they also gave me an extra discount for the bad service I’d had.
Fast forward to February 2019 and the end of my 12-month contract. I got in touch again, but this time the call centre team couldn’t match what I would get as a customer elsewhere. So I gave my 30-day notice.
The next day though I got a call from Virgin, offering me a deal even cheaper than the one I’d signed up for as a new customer 12 months earlier. It meant I’d have to ditch my landline – but that was no problem as I didn’t even have a phone plugged in!
And I’ve done this at each price increase and end of contract, keeping my price down.
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Effective 6.45% rate for six months as a new Raisin customer
With either leaving Virgin and sticking around, you can use this as a chance to drop some of the services you’re paying for but don’t actually need.
First have a quick audit of what you’re paying for – whether that’s call packages, TV channels and even the speed of your broadband. Then think about how much you use them – if at all. Ditching or reducing some of these are good ways to help bring down your bill further.
Look for alternatives
You also don’t need to get all your services from Virgin. It must be eight years now since I stopped paying for TV via my broadband service.
Instead I opted for a YouView recording box to record Freeview channels. I’ve got a BT one (you don’t need BT to use it), but there are plenty available (including this one for£129 at Argos. Mine is currently seven years old, working out at the equivalent of just 77p a month.
I then top up my channels by buying discounted NOW TV passes to get my Sky Atlantic fix – which you can’t get with Virgin anyway. I tend to pay under £3 a month for my Entertainment pass and Boost pass (required if you want HD and no adverts).
Combined that’s less than £4 a month for channels and services which would cost much, much more from Virgin.
Should you ditch Virgin Media?
I’ve given you the how to reduce your bills, but should you? I’d say if the saving you make is decent then yes, go for it.
But I appreciate it’s not all about price. If you’re happy with the service you get then it might be worth paying a little more (if that is the case) rather than switch away.
And don’t forget you Virgin Media customers can now get discounts on O2 SIMS and access to the O2 Priority loyalty app, with all sorts of freebies.
Personally I’ll be staying put. As you’ll know I do a lot of video work on my YouTube channel, so the extra upload speed makes a big difference to me so I’m happy to pay a little more than any deal I might be able to with a non-cable company. But I will be haggling to see what extra discounts I can get.
Catch up on my top articles, podcasts and videos from the last 12 months.
Over the last 12 months I’ve produced more content than ever before, writing 174 articles, recording 84 episodes of my Cash Chats podcast and uploading 142 videos to YouTube. And that’s not including countless deals posted here on the blog and Instagram!
No doubt even the most regular readers among you won’t have managed to take in all that money-saving and making content. So here’s a look at the highlights that are still well worth a look.
I’ve shared the most read, listened to and viewed over the year, which lends an obvious bias to content produced earlier in the year, so for each category I’ve also shared my personal favourite from the year.
And I’d also like to say thank you to all of you who consumer my content. This year will be my biggest by a long way, with more than 4 million views across all content. That’s double 2020’s figures. I couldn’t have done it without you, so thanks!
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The Be Clever With Your Cash blog in 2021
It’s been another record year for visits to this site. In total 1.9 million people (up from 1.2 million last year) came to Be Clever With Your Cash reading a total of just over 2.8 million pages (up from 1.6 million in 2020).
I think part of this is down to the total redesign of the site back in May, and new sections for “Best Buys” and improved search on “Deals“
People looking at these sections for the best savings accounts and current accounts were as ever a huge part of the traffic, along with pages offering deals.
Elsewhere the most read new articles published this year included:
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The Andy Clever Cash YouTube channel in 2021
2021 was the year where YouTube really grew for me. I started 2020 with 4,100 subscribers and by the time you read this that figure could well have just nudged over 20,000.
Views were also phenomenal, with more than 1.2 million taking place across all the videos – that’s almost 1 million more than in 2020.
Alongside the usual video guides, I also held 34 live Ask Andy Q&A’s which have been an amazing way to connect with you every other week.
The most viewed videos created this year included a number of “best for 2021 videos”, which I won’t share below as they’re obviously out of date (new versions are coming in the next few weeks). But of the rest, these had the most views:
There have been a total of 172,000 downloads (up by 46,000 from 2020) of Cash Chats, firmly placing it in the top 1% of podcasts WORLDWIDE.
I managed to publish at least one episode a week all year, bringing the number of consecutive weeks to 102! Podcasting might be smaller than the others, and not really bring in any income, but I love being able to speak to guests or just chat to you each week.
This year also saw the launch of a new bonus Friday episode called Your Money, This Week, and that was part of 2021 being the biggest year for my podcast.
My huge list of where to shop with hundreds of places taking part in Black Friday 2021.
This is where I’ll update who is running Black Friday deals in 2021, what promotion or sale they are offering and when, so you can get the best bargains.
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.
When is Black Friday 2021?
Black Friday is always the Friday after the fourth Thursday of November (the American Thanksgiving holiday), and this year will take place on 26 November. However the sales often start early in the month so I’ll list the dates for those and any key deals below.
By the evening of the Thursday before I’ll often have a good idea of who’s doing what. Then I’ll be updating the page with live Black Friday and Cyber Monday offers and deal updates all day Friday 26 and then across the whole weekend.
Check the date and time at the top of the page to see when I last updated. Also, as we’re a few weeks away I’ve included the list from last year, which should give you an idea of what to expect!
Bookmark the page so you can check back for the best deals.
On Instagram I’m sharing my analysis of some of the big brands’ advertised offers, while you can also follow me on Twitter and Facebook where I’ll post regular summaries.
Plus, to help you save money read my top shopping tips to get you ready for Black Friday, including how to tell if a deal really is a deal.
I’ll highlight particularly good offers I spot here, with the full list of retailers in the next section.
My top 2021 Black Friday deals
It’s still early days so you might want to hold off buying these in case there are further discounts or extra coupons to stack on top.
Added Monday 7pm
There’s a new Quidco cashback boost for all users, giving £5 back with a £5 spend. So essentially a free fiver! Ends midnight Monday. You must opt in. Some retailers are excluded, including eBay.
Added Monday 12pm
There’s an extra £5 bonus via Airtime Rewards today only if you spend £15 with a connected card at retailers such as Argos and Primark. You need to add the code CYBER5. Here’s my review of the cashback app.
Boosted cashback on Quidco today includes 25% back on Gap (which has 50% off and an extra 10% off), and 25% back at LookFantastic (which has up to 20% off)
There’s a new Quidco cashback boost for all users, giving £5 back with a £5 spend. So essentially a free fiver! Ends midnight Friday. You must opt in. Some retailers are excluded, including eBay.
Added Friday 5pm
There’s an extra 10% off tech and home on eBay, running until 11pm on Friday. Use the code MORESAVINGS.
Again, my tip is to look at eBay stores from retailers like Argos and Currys with already discounted prices for Black Friday – so this is an extra saving on top.
There’s 25% off at Just Eat on Friday and Monday, plus and extra £2.50 boost from Quidco (make sure you opt in) until 9.59pm on Friday.
The Craft Gin Club is offering 60% off your first box (cancel if you won’t want further boxes), and if you pay with a card linked to Airtime Rewards, you’ll get 20% back to your phone bill. This’ll bring the cost down from £40 to £12.80.
Added Friday 11am
On eBay, Nectar cardholders will be able get 50x points on Friday between 12 and 1pm, which is the equivalent of 25% back on a single item. Min spend of £10, maximum £300 (you can spend more but you won’t earn points above this level) .
You’ll need to activate the offer in your eBay or Nectar account, and it’s only “buy it now” not items you bid on.
There’s also 10% cashback from Quidco on electronics and 5% on everything else.
My tip is to look at eBay stores from retailers like Argos, Oliver Bonus and Currys with already discounted prices for Black Friday – so this is an extra saving on top.
Quidco has a £20 boost for telecoms on Friday only, so this is extra cashback on top of the offer offers. This cover some broadband and mobile brands, but the best deal is probably the SIM only option from Three.
You can get £50 cashback on a 12 month 12GB SIM deal, which will be £8 a month. That’s an annual cost of £96, reduced to £26 after the cashback, or £2.17 a month!
Ticketmaster is offering a flash sale. Though there are less options than normal, if you’re an Alan Partridge fan it’s a great chance to save 50% off tickets, including at London’s O2
If you ever go to the cinema, this is a great time to snap up some discounted gift cards. Since these count as payment, you can use them with other offers, such as Meerkat Movies. Links to all the offers here.
There are a number of craft beer offers, but my picks are Craftline Beers (30% off all beers) and Honest Brew (Daily deals including “spin to win” discounts)
Added Thursday
50% off railcards with code RAILCARD50 at Trainline. You can also get around £7 cashback via Quidco and TopCashback if you’ve not used Trainline before, and around £2 if you have
Free Google Nest 2nd Gen Hub smart speaker (worth £59) for My John Lewis members who spend £75. You need to spend at least £75, add the smart speaker to the backet and enter the code BFGOOGLE. It’s been popular so stock comes and goes. Though it ends 30 November 2021 it might already be too late.
You can get a £50 voucher when you buy an Occulus Rift 2 at a number of retailers, including Currys, Argos, John Lewis and Amazon.
There’s 20% off most items (10% beauty and electronics) at Selfridges until 29 November. This is a good offer to use when asking John Lewis to price match.
Cashback and coupon Black Friday promotions
Once you find something you want to buy at a price that you’re happy to pay, it’s worth checking for extra boosted cashback rates or coupons to bring the price down futher. I’ll share the best ones here.
These boosted cashback offers, where you get increased cashback or an additional bonus last for 24 hours are set to run in Black Friday week. They could of course change or have certain conditions, so check the details on Quidco before buying.
19/11/2021 – Look Fantastic 30% Flashback on full priced items, 10% if a voucher code is used
21/11/2021 – NordVPN 100% Flashback, cap £70 (excludes VAT)
22/11/2021 – Tu Clothing 20% Flashback, cap £15
22/11/2021 – Expedia up to 25% Flashback, cap £150
23/11/2021 – Halfords 10% Flashback, cap 15
23/11/2021 – 50% back from Paperchase
23/11/2021 – Mobile Phones Direct £15 Boost Reward
23/11/2021 – Currys £10 Boost Reward when you spend £300 or more
24/11/2021 – Boots 15% Flashback, cap £15
24/11/2021 – eBay 5% Flashback, cap £50
24/11/2021 – Decathlon 20% Flashback, cap £20
25/11/2021 – Very £10 Boost Reward when you spend £200 or more
25/11/2021 – Feelunique 30% Flashback, cap £20
25/11/2021 – H&M £5 Boost Reward when you spend £50 or more
26/11/2021 –Black Friday Telco Boost – £20 Boost Reward when you take out a new contract at a selection of retailers (examples Sky Broadband and TV, Vodafone Mobile, Three SIMO, BT Broadband, Currys Mobile, Tesco Mobile and more)
26/11/2021 –Black Friday Tech Boost – £20 Boost Reward when you spend £300 or more at a selection of retailers (examples Nintendo, Musicmagpie, Shark Clean, Gtech, iRobot, Bose, Ninja Kitchen and more)
26/11/2021 – Black Friday Fashion Boost – £10 Boost Reward when you spend £100 or more at a selection of retailers (examples Gap, Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, Ralph Lauren, Monsoon, Fat Face, Clarks, Matalan, George at Asda and more)
26/11/2021 – Black Friday Top Picks Boost – £10 Boost Reward when you spend £100 or more at a selection of retailers (examples The Perfume Shop, ghd, Clinique, The Body Shop, GLTC, Wilko, The Range, Dunelm, Wayfair, Halfords, Pandora, H.Samuel, Buyagift, Bloom & Wild, The Works and more)
26/11/2021 – asos £5 Boost Reward when you spend £70 or more
26/11/2021 – ao.com £15 Boost Reward when you spend £400
26/11/2021 (4pm – 10pm) – Just Eat £2.50 when you spend £25 or more
26/11/2022 – eBay up to 10% Flashback, cap £50
26/11/2021 – Lookfantastic £5 boost when you spend £90
26/11/2021 – Argos £10 Boost Reward when you spend £100 or more
26/11/2021 – Boohoo 40% Flashback, cap £30
27/11/2021 – Ted Baker £50 Boost Reward when you spend £150 or more
27/11/2021 – adidas 20% Flashback, cap £20, Get up to 50% off in the Black Friday sale
27/11/2021 – JD Sports £10 Boost Reward when you spend £75 or more
28/11/2021 – Travel Boost – £25 Boost Reward when spending £500 or more at Expedia, Hotels.com, eBookers or vrbo
28/11/2021 – Virgin Atlantic £50 Boost Reward when you spend £1500 or more
29/11/2021 – Just Eat 4pm – 10pm £2.50 Boost Reward when you spend £25 plus 25% off selected restaurants when you spend £20 with our code
29/11/2021 -ASOS – TBC
29/11/2021 – notonthehighstreet – TBC
29/11/2021 – Superdry – 20% Flashback, cap £15 offer TBC
29/11/2021 – Lookfantastic – TBC
29/11/2021 – Ocado – £25 Boost Reward when you spend £120 or more plus save up to 50% on 400+ products with top offers at Ocado
29/11/2021 – ao.com – £15 Boost Reward when you spend £400 or more
29/11/2021 – Virgin Media – £50 Boost Reward when you take out a new contract
American Express
Check your Amex offers tab in the app or online to see if there are extra savings for paying with Amex. Offers can vary from card to card and they’re usually limited to first come, first served, so you might not have it on your card. You need to activate the offer to use it. Advertised deals include:
French Connection – 20% back
Paul Smith – Spend £200 get £50 back
Laithwaites Wine – Spend £100 get £25
L’Occitane – Spend £50 get 10% back
Farfetch – Spend £300 get 10% back
Monese
If you have a Monese bank account then you can get 20% off a selection of gift cards. Simply enter the codes below in the Promotions tab in the menu to buy the discounted cards.
SHOP50 will get you a £50 Gift Card for £40
SHOP100 will get you a £100 Gift Card for £80
SHOP200 will get you a £200 gift card for £160
SHOP400 will get you £400 gift card for £320
You’ll then be sent a link to swap the credit for digital cards. You can split the credit among different retailers. The shops include:
Adidas
iTunes
Asda
Currys
H&S
John Lewis
M&S
Sainsbury’s
Ticketmaster
Uber
These offers tend to go fast, so don’t delay!
What shops are taking part in Black Friday
This epic list is broken down by category to help you find out which retailers are participating and what kind of offer they’re running.
If a shop isn’t listed, it doesn’t mean it isn’t taking part – in previous years even my local hairdresser offered a discount!
Big retailers
Confirmed for 2021
Amazon – Deals are now live and will probably keep going until the end of the month.
There are already big offers on its own devices such as two for one on Echo Dot speakers and discounted Eero mesh systems. I’d expect extra offers to come for Prime members. You can get a free 30-day trial now. Don’t forget you can often get the same prices at other retailers.
I’ll share the best Amazon deals I spot on my Amazon Deals page, including extra discounts and vouchers
eBay – There are various deals now livel. It’s worth checking the eBay stores for brands like Argos and Currys if stock has sold out on their main sites as they can have more here. And if there’s another code on Friday (no guarantee) you can stack it on top of those already reduced prices.
Nectar cardholders will be able get 50x points on Friday between 12 and 1pm, which is the equivalent of 25% back on a single item. Min spend of £10, maximum £300 (you can spend more but you won’t earn points above this level) . You’ll need to activate the offer in your eBay or Nectar account.
Selfridges Black Friday –There’s 20% off most items (10% beauty and electronics) from 24 November until 29 November. However, not every brand is taking part. You can see this year’s exclusions here.
Electronics. Technology and Gadget Black Friday deals
A LOT of money could be spent here. Only buy stuff you can afford and are going to use. Pay with a credit card if it costs more than £100 to give yourself extra protection.
Confirmed for 2021
Amazon Black Friday deals – Echos and some Kindles are all reduced, as is the Fire Stick. Plenty of other tech deals pop up in the daily and lightning offers, which Amazon Prime members get early access to (there’s a 30-day free trial available).
Dyson Black Friday offers – £100 off selected tech. Expect price matching at John Lewis, Argos and Currys
eBay Black Friday – various deals now live every day from eBay and big sellers, rather than people selling their own gear. Expect bigger offers on Black Friday itself.
Google – Black Friday offers on its own products like smart speakers and Stadia gaming begin 18 November 2021. Expect these to be price matched by most big retailers.
Hughes – The sale is already live with additional voucher codes on site can bring the price down further.
Elemis – 30% off full price items with code now live plus free gift if you spend more than £100. Boosted to 35% on Black Friday itself
FeelUnique Black Friday– Up to 30% off, plus different deals now live including beauty bag worth £100 when you spend £100. Plus 30% cashback from Quidco on Thursday 25 November.
GHD – 20% off everything, including IV hair straighteners for £87
Molton Brown – 25% off everything from Thursday evening
Neom – Free reed diffiuser when you spend £45 or free candle and balm when you spend £90, and other discounts
Ocado – discounts on make up and creams (eg Neal’s Yard)
Origins – 25% off, plus free gifgt when you spend £45 or more
Selfridges Black Friday – Save 10% on beauty and fragrance from 24 November ntil 29 November. However, not every brand is taking part. You can see this year’s exclusions here.
Superdrug – various deals now live for all customers
The Perfume Shop – various offers now live, plus from Thursday evening there’s 10% off £50 spend, 15% off £70 spend, 20% off £100 and 25% off £125 spend (for VIPs)
Selfridges Black Friday – Save 10% on beauty and fragrance from 24 November. However, not every brand is taking part. You can see this year’s exclusions here.
Superdrug – various deals now live for all customers
White Company Black Friday – 20% off for everything likely to start 24 November. Early access now for email subscribers
Ikea – From 19 to 29 November 2021 you will get an extra 20% on any Buy Back returns. There is also there an offer to buy a real Christmas tree for £29, get a £20 voucher
NOW TV – New and existing Sports pass customers can get two months for £20 a month. Ends Monday 29 November 2021.
Also, though it’s not currently showing on the NOW site, I received an email offering me six months entertainment and cinema at 50% off. So £9.98 a month – so check your inboxes. That’s not neccessarily the best deal that might come along, but it’s good if you want certainty.
Selfridges Black Friday –There’s 20% off most items from 24 to 29 November. However, not every brand is taking part. You can see this year’s exclusions here.
To be confirmed (showing 2019 and 2020 offers)
Fashion
Confirmed for 2021
& Other StoriesBlack Friday – Subscribers get early access, then Friday for everyone else. 20% off everything
Adidas – Up to 50% off sale. Members of the free Creators Club get early access
Bettys – £10 off baked goods etc when you spend £100 or more
Supermarkets
Confirmed for 2021
Morrisons Black Friday – different food and drink related deals now live, plus £32.50 back as a voucher when you buy a £65 anytime annual delivery pass
Costa – from 26 to 29 November get an extra £5 when you buy a £20 gift card, £10 when you spend £40 and £15 when you spend £60 or more
Deliveroo – Spend £20 at participating restaurants (not including extras like delivery or tip) and you’ll get 25% off the cost of the food until Friday.
FoodHub – 20% off from Friday to Monday for new users with code BF21
Greene King – Extra £10 voucher when you buy a £40 gift card
Nicholsons – Free £5 extra when you spend £20 on gift cards. Use code FREE5. Ends Monday
Just Eat – 25% off popular restaurants via the app on Friday 26 and Monday 29 November 2021. Discount is automatically applied, though there’s a minimum spend of £25.
NOW Broadband – £20 a month for 63mps (12 month contract), and reduced NOW TV add-ons (Entertainment or Cinema at £4.99 a month for 12 months, Sky Sports a £19.99 a month for 12 months)
The cheapest way to get a new phone is generally to buy it outright and get a SIM-only deal. Some of the offers I’ve looked at from the big networks aren’t actually that special.
Mobiles.co.uk – 24 hour deals on handsets and SIM offers
O2 Black Friday– money off certain handsets and other deals.
Three – Special deals now live, though I think it’s better to go via a cashback site such as Quidco and on Friday there’s a £20 boost on top of usual cashback
Be careful of buying these to use as gifts – if the shop goes bust they’re worthless. But they can be good ways to get an extra discount on something you are already buying.
Greene King – Extra £10 voucher when you buy a £40 gift card
Monese – From Wednesday evening, 20% off gift cards at John Lewis, Asda, Sainsbury’s, M&S, Uber and many more. You need a Monese current account, and this won’t last long. Details here
ebookers – Save 12% on hotels with code EBOO12. Book by 30 November 2021 for stays until 30 April 2022.
Expedia – various discounts until 29 November for members (it’s free to join)
Travelodge – 10% of 1 night, 30% off the cheapest night if you stay two or more nights. Selected dates from 16 December 2021 to 30 March 2022. Ends midnight Friday
Going out, ticket, activities and experiences Black Friday deals
Ok, these are a little random, but worth exploring for something different to do. You should also see if your fave restaurants and bars are doing anything. Check out the social media for your fave bands, teams and festivals too to see if they have any special deals.
Buyagift Black Friday – Up to 60% off meals out, hotel stays, spa days and random things like supercar experiences. The code BLACK26 will save an extra 26%, though there are exclusions.
In 2020 everything was online. Here are the best deals that were on offer.
I’ll be adding stand out offers here. I’ll mainly add deals on Thursday and Friday as prices could fall and offers could stack later in the week.
The Amazon Echo Dot speaker is reduced to £18.99 (RRP £39.99). It’s available from Amazon, but also price matched at shops like Currys, Argos, John Lewis, Tesco and AO.
Fire TV sticks are all reduced too, and if you need more than one there’s an extra discount at Amazon if you buy two, for example the new Fire TV stick is down from £39.99 to £24.99, but two are £45.
Other Amazon devices are heavily discounted too, and this is often one of the cheapest times to pick up things like Kindles, Ring doorbells, Eero mesh systems and other Echo devices. You can seee the deals here.
Flat rate discounts are some of the best ones. These give you a big discount on all items – usually fashion or beauty. You can browse the full list of retailers below to see many shops offering this but here are a couple of examples and I’ll add stand-out ones here too.
– Superdrug – £10 off £60 spend with code BFSAVE10
A Hive smart thermostat is on sale at £121 at various shops including Screwfix and Amazon, but for £13 more you get an Echo Dot included direct with Hive.
You can get an extra £10 cashback from Quidco (so £40 in total) on Saturday with Three’s 12GB SIM-only deal, bringing the cost for a year down to £4.67 a month,
You can get 30% off Chilly’s bottles from Skinny Dip
A Lego Millennium Falcon set will be on sale at Aldi for £59.99 from Friday (RRP £150) Sold out
Kenwood kMix Stand Mixers in metallic colours are available at Currys for £249. If you are happy for standard black or white then keep an eye out for sub £200 deals elsewhere.
NOW TV pass and stick bundles are available for £20 from various shops. You get one month entertainment (RRP £9.99), one month cinema (RRP £11.99), one day sports (RRP £9.99) and a smart stick (RRP £24.99). You can sell the stick for £10 at CEX, meaning you get the three passes for £9.99. More on NOW TV deals here.
Oxfam – There’s 40% off charity gifts – but the discount you get is matched by an Oxfam partner so the full donation is still made.
Deal stacks
A deal stack is where you combine various promotions to bring your price down more. Many include cashback, as mentioned above. Here are a few I’ve spotted:
Boots
On the 27th November, Quidco is offering a £5 bonus if you spend £50. That’s on top of the standard 2% cashback.
Over at Boots there are various promotions and discounts.
Make sure you’ve signed up for the Advantage Card scheme to get the equivalent of 4% back in points.
One promo will earn you £10 bonus points for every £60 you spend on electrical.
And pay using an Airtime Rewards connected card for 5% back.
If you just want to check a few shops, these are the Black Friday pages for the main retailers. Click the bold link to go through to the retailer’s Black Friday deals page.
Amazon Offers will run until the 30th November, while others will be just for a limited period. Expect the biggest discounts on the 29th itself.
There are already big offers on its own devices such as Echo speaker and Fire tablets, as well as broader offers for Prime members, who also get early access to offer. You can get a free 30-day trial now. Don’t forget you can often get the same prices at other retailers.
John Lewis & Partners – The Black Friday event is now live. They’ll also be price matching, alongside their own special deals.
Selfridges Black Friday –There’s 20% off most items until 29th November 2020. It’s 10% on beauty, fragrance and kids. However, not every brand is taking part, and it won’t work on things like toys or tech. You can see this year’s exclusions here.
eBay – special deals now live, including 5x Nectar points on one item of £10 or more (check your emails to activate the offer)
It’s worth checking the eBay stores for brands like Argos and Currys if stock has sold out on their main sites as they can have more here. And if there’s a code on Friday (no guarantee) you can stack it on top of those already reduced prices.
Currys has started its sale and has a seven-day price guarantee if you find it cheaper elsewhere.
This Cyber Monday deal at Amazon is likely as lows as you’ll get a Kenwood kMix stand mixer. At £169 it’s a good £50 less than the usual Amazon price and £90 less than John Lewis. One day only in four colours.
A good time to look for advent discounts
If you are after an advent calendar there will be huge discounts as shops try to clear them before the 1st December. That goes for chocolate ones and posh ones such as these wine and gin ones at John Lewis with 50% off.
If you can earn £60 in cashback via Quidco by the 9th December you’ll get a £15 bonus. That might seem a lot of cashback to make, but it’s much easier if you are taking advantage of Black Friday deals on broadband or mobile phone contracts which can pay well over £100! Plus the free £50 from opening a TSB account is eligible. Don’t forget to sign up for a £17 bonus if you’re a new user.
Premium Quidco members will also get double cashback on Black Friday itself. This costs £1 a month, though you only get charged for the months you use the website and you can opt out at any time. The double cashback isn’t valid on telecoms, financial, utilities or travel sales, and excludes Amazon, eNay, Shop Disney and Hugo Boss.
Great Three 8GB SIM deal
If you’re looking for a new mobile deal then you can get 8GB of data and unlimited calls/texts from Three for a bargain £8 a month. The deal seems to only be available via cashback sites Quidco and TopCashback – but you’ll get an extra £40 back on top, making it less than £4.70 a month.
The only Dyson Hairdryer discount
If you’re after a Dyson Hairdryer, the best place to buy it is at Boots. You’ll get £42 back in Advantage points on the £299 spend.
Extra Amazon discount for some users
This could be selected accounts only, but if you shop on Black Friday itself via the Amazon app you’ll get some money back – depending on how much you spend. You’ll get the money back as a coupon by the 9th December. You can only use the coupon via the app and only on items sold and shipped by Amazon. There are instructions on how to make sure you get the offer on the Amazon website.
Spend £50 get £5
Spend £100 get £10
Spend £200 get £20
Echo Dot and Spotify deal stack
If you’re after an Amazon Echo Dot you can pick one up for a bargain £22 at Amazon, Currys, John Lewis and… well pretty much everywhere. But if you get this or others in the Echo range from Currys you’ll also get six months free Spotify Premium, worth £60, if you’re a new Spotify customer.
20% off gift card at Amazon, Tesco, John Lewis or more
Anyone with a Monese account can get a £50 gift card for £35 to spend at Tesco, Amazon, John Lewis and more. If you don’t have the bank account you can actually get a free fiver for signing up and using the debit card. It’s while stocks last. More here.
There are few gadgets and products I regularly write about when they’re on offer and it’s no different with Black Friday. I’ll also add in here specific deals which I think are really good or items which are likely to be very popular. The big games console offers are likely to be on Friday and Monday.
It’s one of the best times to pick up your beauty and toiletry essentials with discounts all over the place. Debenhamsis once more offering VAT-free prices on beauty, fragrance and skincare
>> Ticketmaster flash sale– There’s 20% off gift cards (up to £100) while stock lasts, which you can either save or use on the flash sale, which includes 50% off MGMT and the Cardigans.
>> Clarks Black Friday– 30% off until 1pm Friday, then 25% off all adult shoes with code ALLBF until Monday
Co-Op Electricalis the lowest at £218.99, which is a good price. But you can get another £20 off when you spend £199 with code BFM20 (you need to join the Co-op membership scheme to use. This costs £1)
>> iPhone X – £1,156 for 12GB data and unlimited text & mins on O2 – makes it £6.50 a month after the cost of the handset. Or if you say that contract is worth £20 a month then it’s huge 1/3 off the iPhone X, a saving of £324!
>> Kenwood KMix Stand Mixers
Tesco is selling the old model mixers for £189, John Lewis the new model for £199
If you’ve got family and friends asking what you want this Christmas and you’re struggling for ideas I’m here to help.
This isn’t one of those gift list guides that crop up everywhere from glossies to blogs. They’re often just lists of overpriced items the writer has been sent for free. Rarely of much use!
No, this is a very simple trick to not just give you a little bit of inspiration, but also help you spend less money on yourself throughout next year.
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My struggle for gift ideas
I know lots of people never really know what to say when asked what they want for Christmas – myself included.
It’s not that I don’t ever need anything, it’s just that I always buy what I want or need when I need it. Or for expensive things I tend to save up until I’ve enough cash, and then get it. So come December, my Christmas List is usually non-existent.
It really frustrates my family and I sometimes end up being given gifts which, being really honest, can be hit and miss. I’ve got to take most of the blame here. If I could just name what I want, it could avoid all this waste. But year after year I’ve struggled for ideas.
But a few years ago my friend Michelle said something which was a revelation. As soon as she mentioned it, I couldn’t believe just how obvious it was. I suddenly realised I hadn’t ever properly thought about what I really needed.
If someone asks what I would like, I’ve always thought about what I need at this moment in time. And that’s why I’ve struggled.
But the answer is to think beyond “right now”. Think about everything you frequently pay for throughout the year.
What you should be asking for
Of course, if there is something else you’ve had your eye on but not been able to afford, or haven’t got around to buying yet, then that’s the perfect thing to ask for. But if not…?
Consider every regular cost you have. These are the things you actually need. These are where money spent on a present for you is going to actually be well spent. And they can still be nice things.
But there is a limit – I wouldn’t ask for money towards your other bills like energy or broadband. If you’re really struggling to make ends meet then there are different conversations that need to be had – perhaps a present amnesty so you don’t have to spend cash you don’t have.
Anyway, here are a few things you could be asking for.
The things you always buy
Ok, yes you might already get socks from your mum at Christmas, but what else do you need to resupply on? These are the things you will need, even if not at this moment.
Cosmetics and toiletries are top options here. You will get through a number of these through the year and they can often be expensive. So asking for one or two of them is a good bet.
Booze is another good one, as with most there isn’t a best before date you need to keep an eye on. This means there’s no problem getting them at Christmas for much later in the year.
Your subscriptions and memberships
There will also be many more expenses which aren’t things you buy in a shop.
Subscriptions for a start. If you pay for Netflix or Spotify every month, then why not ask someone to pay for it for a few months? Could someone buy you Amazon Prime for a year?
And if you’d be happy for someone to buy you Netflix, even the TV Licence could be a gift. It might seem weird, but think about it. You get all the tv and radio channels, as well as the website. That’s not really any different than asking for a DVD or CD.
Do you have any memberships, perhaps to the National Trust or Picturehouse Cinemas? Again, perfect gifts. Even if the renewal date isn’t for a few months, you can still ask for money towards it.
If you go to any classes, clubs or activities, see if someone will buy a batch of them for you. Services are another area you could ask for as gifts. Think haircuts or massages.
Activities and events
One of my go-to ideas for gifts is money towards a gig, or cash towards a special meal out. If you can name the actual concert or restaurant that’ll help the gift giver feel like the money won’t fritter away.
You could even crowdsource among different family members. I did this for my 40th, and this helped fund a trip to double Michelin star restaurant L’Enclume.
Services that free up your time
You could push this idea further still. If you pay for a cleaner or gardener, ask for a contribution towards these costs. That might feel like it’s taking this idea too far.
But the main reason people pay for these is to free up time to spend with their family. So it’s really a gift of time that is being given. I think that’s actually a top present.
Money vs gift cards
You probably could cover some of these expenses with gift cards – but I’d argue you’d be better off asking for money and making it clear how it will be spent.
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Dealing with people who don’t like these ideas
These aren’t perfect solutions. For one thing, you can’t really wrap most of these, except cosmetics or booze. And this could be an issue for some gift-givers.
There’s often a reluctance to hand over money as a present. And even if someone is willing to do that, how often have you had people buy you little extras just so there’s something to unwrap?
It always annoys me when someone says “It’s the thought that counts”. No. I completely disagree. That’s only true if a gift is truly well-intentioned but falls short. Yet even then I’d argue it would be better to not buy something than buy a gift someone doesn’t want.
And I hate waste. Yes there’s the environmental impact of unwanted gifts, which shouldn’t be forgotten, but I really, really hate wasted money – whether that’s my money or someone else’s. And I hate it even more if it can be avoided.
So if you’re happy to receive the above suggestions as gifts then stick to your guns. Explain how they’ll help you throughout the year. Share why the service, subscription or club are important to you. Tell them why you don’t need little extras you won’t use. Hopefully they’ll happily accept your gift request.
If not, it’s the gift giver who needs to think about why they are buying you something in the first place. If they then decide to just buy you something else there’s little you can do.
Yes, sometimes a surprise gift can be spot on, and that’s fantastic. But let’s face it, it’s usually hit and miss.
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Finally, if you’re still to buy gifts, make sure you ask people what they want. If they’re struggling for ideas, maybe share this article with them – it could be the inspiration they need.
Save money on 2021’s festive beer bundles from Honest Brew, Beer52, Brewdog and BeerHawk.
It’s that time of year again when all the big beer sellers are releasing their 24 box bundles of beers.
These aren’t cheap compared to popping to your supermarket and getting the equivalent quantity in beers (more on other beer deals here).
But they can be decent value for trying beers you won’t normally get on the shelves at Asda. I’ve shown the price per beer, though you might want to add a little on top of each of these to factor in one or two you might not like!
With the following there are also ways to get a little off the RRP, which I’ll list below.
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.
Honest Brew Advent Calendar
There’s a decent calendars from Honest Brew. Delivery is free.
Honest Brew: Get up to 20% off
Honest Brew’s calendar is £74.90, but members can save £5 so you’ll pay £69.90 including delivery. Membership is free for the first month, though requires you to add £10 a month to your account after this – but this can be easily paused or cancelled via the online chat function.
And if you’ve not used Honest Brew before you can get £10 off your first order. This brings the price down to £59.90, or £2.50 a beer.
You can get up to 10% cashback on orders via Quidco or TopCashback. Plus if you’ve never used the cashback sites before you can get a new member bonus of up to £17. Use both of these and you’ll pay £28.95, or £1.21 a beer,
The option is from Aldi. It’ll cost you £44.99 but there’s £4.95 delivery on top. You also only get 12 different beers, with two of each in the pack. So for the choice of beers you might be better off elsewhere.
Beer 52 Advent Calendar
Beer52 has a single calendar at £79.99. It comes with a beer glass. You can’t combine it with any promo codes.
Beer52: £20 off pre-orders
If you order early you’ll pay just £59.99 for the calendar
Once again if you’ve never used the cashback site Quidco before you can get a new member bonus of £17. This would bring it down to £1.56 a beer.
You used get 10% off your first order if you signed up to the Beer Hawk newsletter. That’s no longer advertised but it’s worth a look if you want this one.
Flavourly Advent Calendar
This one from Flavourly looks decent value at £42.95 including delivery. Flavourly says the RRP is £49.95.
Flavourly: £5 off
You could try using this referral link to get a further fiver off. It’s for new customers only.
Join me and hundreds more in donating food and raising awareness of food poverty with a reverse advent calendar.
Many of you know I also run the UK Money Bloggers community. It’s a group of people like me. We’re all a bit geeky when it comes to money, and we enjoy sharing our passion with the readers of all our blogs. It’s a lovely network and a great source of support for everyone involved. But that’s not all it does.
Collectively we’ve got hundreds of thousands of readers, Insta-groupies, Facebook fans and Twitter followers. We’re what the industry calls “Digital Influencers”. And this means we can make a difference en mass. Or at least make a decent bit of noise.
So each year we run a Christmas campaign. A couple of years ago we had the idea of #FoodBankAdvent and this’ll be the fifth year we’re doing it. Tens of thousands of people have taken part, and we want even more of you to join in this year.
What is the #FoodBankAdvent challenge?
You all know how advent calendars work. Well this is a reverse advent calendar. Rather than take something away, you give instead.
The challenge is to do this for 24 days. On each day you put an item into a box. And then once the box is full, you donate it to a food bank.
It’s very simple. Yes, you could just donate a box of food in one go (please do!), but doing it this way not only makes it a bit of a project, but it also helps raise awareness of the need for donations.
Each year many of the people taking part, both bloggers and readers, shared their pictures on social media with the hashtag #FoodBankAdvent and it makes a huge difference getting more people to join in.
Millions of people in the UK are going hungry every year. Some of this is down to debts and low pay, but delays to Universal Credit payments are often making the matter worse.
Those struggling don’t have enough money to cover their essentials, and that often means there’s not enough money to eat.
Recent figures from the Trussell Trust, which runs the largest network of food banks in the UK, show they distributed three-day emergency food supplies to 1.9 million over the 12 month period BEFORE the pandemic. And demand has soared since. It’s shocking that this happens.
If you aren’t convinced, then watch Ken Loach’s film I, Daniel Blake. It’s an amazing film, even if I was in tears for most of it. Please do watch the whole movie, but if you can’t, then watch this clip. It really brought home to me the needs to do something to stop food poverty.
Now is the time to start your reverse advent calendar
You can do this at any time, but it helps to do it in November. The main reason is you are then ready to donate it in early December rather than just before Christmas.
Food banks are usually staffed by volunteers and rarely open every day. That means the earlier you get your donations to them, the easier it is for them to sort the items and get them to people. A donation on Christmas Eve might seem the most festive, but it’s also the least practical.
You can of course donate in the New Year instead if you want, just make sure the dates on the food you are collecting are long enough. And if you can, please do continue to donate throughout 2022.
How you can take part
It’s really easy. Start collecting extra bits when you go to the supermarket. And not just food. Toiletries, including sanitary towels, are expensive too and are very welcome donations.
It’s well worth checking out what your local food bank needs, as often there’s a surplus of some items (pasta and beans for example) and a lack of others.
You can search for Trussell Trust food banks by postcode, but there might be others in your area run by local community or church groups. It might be you need to take your donation to one of the foodbanks, but you might also have a drop off point at your local supermarket (there’s one in my Waitrose for example).
Please, please, please do share your progress on social media, and use #FoodBankAdvent. Combined we can use this to make some noise and get even more people taking part.
You can also read more about the campaign and get regular updates over at www.ukmoneybloggers.com.
Editor’s pick: £100 savings bonus
Effective 6.45% rate for six months as a new Raisin customer
Don’t miss out on even better deals when looking for a new mortgage offer.
If you’re on a fixed mortgage deal you might just see remortgaging as something you need to do to avoid moving on to a more expensive standard variable rate. Of course doing that will save you money but it’s possible to use remortgaging to reduce how much you pay over the term even more.
I’m not going to go through everything you need to do when you remortgage here – things like check your credit report for errors, get paperwork together and watch your spending and credit applications in the run-up to your application.
This is all very important stuff and could well have changed since you last got a mortgage. So do read up on all of that.
Instead, I’m going to focus here on a few simple things you can do that could make a big difference to the monthly and total cost of your mortgage. And the main one involves something called “Loan to Value”.
Watch this video or keep reading (or both)
What is Loan to Value?
Loan to Value, or LTV, is essentially how much you have borrowed against the value of your house. So if you originally bought a £300,000 house with a £30,000 deposit you would have had an LTV of 90%. That’s a mortgage loan of £270,000.
So why does this matter to remortgaging? Well, LTV is measured in bands. They generally start at 95% (meaning you’ve put down a 5% deposit) and drop in 5% increments down to 60%, though sometimes the gaps between tiers are larger (eg 75% and then 60%).
Mortgage interest rates tend to then drop for each band you move down. And obviously the lower the interest rate you get, the less you’ll pay.
For example, at the time of writing, a 5-year fix with First Direct with 90% LTV is 2.84%, while an 85% LTV would get you 2.34% and 80% would be 2.19%. And it keeps falling. A mortgage with an LTV of 75% is 1.59% and 60% is 1.49%. A big difference.
And over time there’s a good chance your LTV will have changed, therefore meaning you might getter a better deal when it comes around to remortgaging.
There are two key changes that could have affected your LTV since you agreed to your last mortgage deal.
How your LTV could have changed
First, unless you’re on an interest-only mortgage, you’ve been paying into your mortgage every single month, building up equity.
Say you’ve knocked £15,000 off the mortgage in equity payments (don’t forget some of your monthly repayments will have gone towards interest charges), then you have added an extra 5% to what you own. This means your LTV would now be 85% and you can apply for the next tier of mortgages.
And second, your property value could have increased. Let’s say it’s now worth 5% more at £315,000. That’s an extra £15k. Alongside your initial deposit and the 15k in repayments, it would give you £60,000 of equity – roughly 19% of the total value. That means the LTV is now 81%.
However, in the example above, the repayments and extra value might give an LTV of 81% but it would still only mean getting access to deals in the 85% LTV bracket, rather than 80%.
When you’re really close to a new tier, finding some extra cash from savings or cutting back ahead of remortgaging would be well worth it. Here an extra £3,000 might seem a huge amount but the drop down to the 80% band could be a big saver over time.
Using our example mortgage size, a 0.45% difference between 85% and 80% LTV tiers over five years would be just £2,000, but over 25 years that variation in rate would be worth £15,000.
You can get a sense of price changes using a site like Zoopla. You put your postcode in and you’ll get an estimate as to the current value of your property. It’ll be shown in a range which can be quite broad. For example, it suggests my house has gone up by £20k to £79k more than we paid for it two years ago.
You can also get an idea from Zoopla and RightMove as to what other similar properties have gone for recently. Have a nose at the listings online so you can see if it’s a similar layout and standard inside. Remember these are just guides.
For a more accurate idea you could invite an estate agent over to give you their input – there’s no commitment for you to list the house if you do this. You can then put a figure on your application.
The mortgage lender will then want to do their own valuation (and charge you for it!). This could just be a drive-by looking at the outside of the property, or they might want to come into the house. You probably won’t know which one it is, so make sure everything looks good inside just in case.
This won’t happen though until you’re already quite a decent way through your application process so if you don’t get what you want to bear in mind you’ll start all over again with another lender.
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Shop around for the lowest rate
Once you’ve checked the LTV you could just remortgage with your existing lender. That might be the quickest option, and it could mean you don’t need to go through as many hoops and cut out some fees. But it could also mean you’re missing out on some much lower deals.
You can see general rates on comparison sites, which are really handy to get an idea of what’s out there. You can also talk to a mortgage advisor.
A few extras to bear in mind when comparing different rates:
Find out if you are able to overpay
It’s really worth looking to see what the rules are in terms of overpayment. Some won’t let you do it at all, while others might have annual limits. Best is complete freedom to pay what you want each month and the ability to clear it completely before the term ends.
Even if you don’t think you’ll be able to overpay by much, if at all, right now, you never know how things could change. It’s really useful to have that flexibility.
You’ll get charged all sorts of different fees with different mortgages, and they can make good looking deals actually worse than ones with higher interest.
The main ones are the arrangement and booking fees. These facilitate the deal and could be non-refundable. You need to factor in these to the total cost of the mortgage deal.
Do this over the length of the deal (eg three years) to work out what you’ll actually be paying over time, and compare it to one with higher rates and lower fees.
Consider if you want to fix for longer
If interest rates are going to shoot up in the coming years, you might want to look beyond the usual 2-year fixes. There are often five and 10-year options available, though you’ll pay a higher rate for these.
Check how much you’ve left to pay
One reason not to remortgage is when you’ve almost cleared your debt. That’s because the fees that are added to new deals could well wipe out the savings you’ll make by sticking put – even if it’s at a higher interest rate! So work out how much you’ll be paying by sticking put just in case it works out cheaper.
When to remortgage
It’s worth looking for new deals around three months before your deal ends as it can take time to get the process approved.
Saying that, you can remortgage at any time, though if you do it before your deal ends you could get hit with exit fees – usually known as early repayment fees.
So generally it’s best not to do it early but you might want to keep an eye on any potential base rate changes by the Bank of England.
If it looks like there’s going to be a significant rise you might want to switch your deal early to get hold of lower price deals – but of course you need to factor in any early repayment charge as well as any changes to LTV.
What you need to know about the Government’s spending and taxation plans.
This Autumn Budget, as announced in Parliament by Chancellor Rishi Sunak on 27 October 2021 didn’t have many surprises.
Most of the measures were leaked in the days ahead than in any previous year I’ve covered (even more than last March’s budget).
But there were still some extra details and a handful of fresh announcements, and I’ve compiled a list of the key ones below.
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 Lily Canter on Thursday’s episode of my Cash Chats podcast to analyse everything. You can subscribe now on your favourite podcast app so you don’t miss it.
Watch my Q&A on YouTube talking about the Budget
Jobs & benefits
The headlines here are around wage increases for the lower paid and public sector workers – though in the context of high inflation and increased living costs, any extra cash is likely to be eaten by elsewhere.
Minimum wage to increase
From April the National Living Wage for those over 23 years old will increase from £8.91 an hour to £9.50 an hour. This 6.6% rise means someone on minimum wage who works 35 hours a week will see their pre-tax income jump up by £1,074.
This is before tax, the increase in National Insurance and any impact on the UC uplift cut.
And of course, many employers will choose to pass on some or all of this cost on to customers – which will also eat into the value of this increase.
There are also increases for younger workers. Those aged 21 or 22 will see the minimum wage increase from £8.36 to £9.18. It’ll increase from £6.56 to £6.83 for those between 18 and 20 years old, while under 18s will see a jump of 19p to £4.81 an hour. The Apprentice rate will go from £4.30 to £4.81 an hour.
It’s worth noting here that though the Government rebranded the minimum wage as the National Living Wage a few years ago, it’s different from the level recommended by the Living Wage Foundation. The figures for 2021 will be announced on 15 November and with the increased cost of living over the last 12 months it’ll remain higher than the increases listed above.
Universal Credit taper change
People claiming UC will be able to earn more from work before they begin to lose their benefits.
The current “taper rate” of 63p means that if you earn over a certain amount you’ll only keep the equivalent of 37p from every pound due in benefits – putting some off working more hours or going for better paid jobs.
The new rate will be 55p per £1, and this will be introduced within weeks and certainly before 1 December 2021.
There will also be an increase by £500 a year in the Work Allowance (how much you can earn before the taper is introduced) for those caring for children or a household member with limited capacity for work.
Public sector pay increases
Workers for the NHS, schools, police, civil service and other parts of the public sector will see a pay freeze ended. It’s not clear what the increase will be, and it’ll no doubt vary depending on each area. All the small print says is the increases “should retain broad parity with the private sector”.
Nothing on rumoured student loan changes
Nothing was said about the rumoured change to when people begin repaying student loans – though that could still come as a separate announcement.
Personal Tax & Savings
Alcohol tax revamped
There will be just six (rather than 15) different tariffs on booze. The stronger alcohol will be taxed more than before, while lower alcohol drinks will be taxed less. Four of these tiers (though not the rates) will be:
1.2-3.4% alcohol by volume (ABV),
3.5-8.4% ABV,
8.5-22% ABV,
and above 22% ABV
As part of this, sparkling wines will no longer be taxed more than still wines, and fruit cider will be taxed at the same rate as apple and pear cider.
There will be a relief for smaller producers while pubs will also get a break with 5% relief on draught beer and cider – presumably these are the two other tariffs.
These new rules won’t come into effect until April 2023, but the broader increases set for alcohol this year will be cancelled.
Flight tax changes
There will be a 50% cut in Air Passenger Duty for domestic flights, but long-haul flights over 5,500 miles will be faced with a new tax that will be £91 for economy, and more for higher classes. That’ll include most of South America and Asia, and potentially the west coast USA.
I’ve had a quick look at distances using this site, and London to Los Angeles is under 5,500, but Edinburgh to LA is just over! While it’s the other way around for trips to Mexico City. I’d imagine the 5,500 distance will be evened out, rather than making it more expensive to fly from Scotland than England.
Fuel duty hike frozen
Fuel Duty won’t increase this year, though there are no cuts to changes to combat record petrol prices.
Personal tax
The big tax increases were announced last month – a hike of 1.25% on National Insurance and Dividends to start in April. Income Tax rates were also frozen last year and there were no changes announced.
VAT stays on energy bills
Some have been calling for a temporary suspension of 5% VAT on energy bills to help with the huge increases over recent months (which will likely continue). This was rejected by the Chancellor and stays in place.
Green Savings Bond
First announced back in March’s Budget, the Green Savings Bonds are now available to use for your savings – though they aren’t great. Here’s my analysis and list of alternatives.
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Effective 6.45% rate for six months as a new Raisin customer
I won’t go into all the business announcements as this is about personal finance, but there are a few significant ones.
50% discount on Small Business Rates
To help small retailers, hospitality and leisure businesses there will be a 50% cut in Business Rates for a year.
There will also be changes to broader Business Rates that’ll see them reviewed every three years, and a planned increase for next year will be cancelled.
No new online sales tax
It was thought there’d be some kind of announcement on an extra tax for online businesses, but this didn’t happen.
Property developer tax to fund cladding removal
The biggest property developers (worth more than £25million profit) will be taxed at 4% to build a £5billion pot to fund cladding removal on high risk buildings.
** UPDATE – turns out this is another measure that has already been announced!
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A regional transport package was announced worth £6.9bn, though only £1.5 billion is new money – the rest has been previously been revealed, including £4.2bn in 2019.
The money is to be spent on buses, trams and trains in England. Further money will go to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Education and skills
School funding will return to 2010 levels, worth £1,500 extra per pupil.
There will be money spent to fund new T-Level qualifications for 16 to 19 years olds (announced back in 2020) and £560 million to train 500,000 adults with low numeracy skills via a scheme called Multiply.
Health
A huge £5.9 billion will go to the NHS to largely fund equipment to help reduce the waiting lists for scans and tests that’s built up. This is in addition to the £12bn announced last month that’ll be paid for through the National Insurance increase.
Culture
Some major museums and galleries will get £850 million to redevelop or refurbish buildings. Another £75 million will go to regional museums and libraries to improve facilities.
£500 million fund for families
Local governments will be given funds to launch support centres for families, while money will also be allocated to areas such as mental health services and help with breastfeeding.
Overseas Aid funding returns
By 2024 the UK will once again provide 0.7% of GDP for overseas aid.
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