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Updated November 5, 2025 | Published April 18, 2019 | Articles

Cheap chicken isn’t something to shout about

Iceland has launched what it claims are the cheapest supermarket chicken breasts – and I’m not happy.

Late last week a press release popped into my inbox. The title read “Chick this out! Iceland launches lowest priced chicken in the UK”. You can see some of it in the image below.

Iceland’s press release announcing it’s cut-price chicken

So what’s the problem? Well, although I’m often celebrating saving money, I don’t think supermarkets should be shouting about the lowest price chicken.

Really cheap chicken can only mean one thing – poor welfare. And it could be a signifier that it’s lesser quality meat too, perhaps pumped full of water. Yes, ok it could be a subsidised loss leader to get people through the doors. But not to an extent that mitigates my concerns.

And according to the RSPCA, most people don’t want this either. Eight out of 10 people think the chicken they are buying is higher welfare – but it’s not.

Animal and bird welfare

To sell chicken at this price must surely mean these birds will be enduring horrific conditions. It’s not just the overly crowded pens with little or no natural light, which are both pretty horrendous.

The RSPCA has further concerns about the consequences of intensive farming of the birds. Many are genetically selected for faster than natural growth which means the chickens can’t walk or stand, and even suffer heart attacks.

And intensively farmed birds aren’t likely to have been slaughtered to any sort of humane standard.

The scale of the problem

Chicken is the UK’s most popular meat, with one billion chickens reared each year. Yet, according to this infographic from the British Poultry Association, less than 4.5% of UK reared chicken is free-range or organic. That means there’s a huge amount of chicken that’s potentially raised in these shocking conditions.

Infographic by the British Poultry Association

What supermarkets should be doing

Rather than trying to find the cheapest chicken, I think Iceland – and the other supermarkets – should be trying to find a more sustainable way to give us ethical and affordable meat.

Instead most are actively making it harder for consumers to find and afford it. Labels can mislead people into thinking the chickens are living on an idyllic farm, or just that there are any kind of humane conditions. The RSPCA even found higher-welfare meat positioned away from shoppers’ eyelines and rarely in promotions.

And by offering even cheaper intensively farmed chicken, they are also making the price difference between it and free-range and organic chicken even wider.

What Iceland says

I was surprised to see this come from Iceland because they made such a strong stance on palm oil and deforestation at Christmas with their banned Greenpeace advert, which focussed on saving a sad cartoon orangutan. Are they saying they only care about animals they don’t sell in a party platter?

It’s unfair to single them out though – I’ve just picked out Iceland for actively trying to promote the cheapest chicken. The majority of chicken you buy in a supermarket isn’t going to have been raised in the conditions you imagine.

I wanted to let Iceland respond to this. Here’s what they said about the welfare conditions of their chicken.

“We offer a range of poultry products across our chilled and frozen ranges, with tiered price points to appeal to all of our customers. We work closely with our suppliers and have reduced the level of margin on our lowest priced chicken in order to offer these lines at such low prices.

We are committed to offering our customers choice, and alongside our ‘lowest priced chicken in the UK’ we offer slightly higher tier products which are Red Tractor Assured, for example. All of our suppliers must adhere to our strict animal welfare policies and we work with them to ensure high standards based on the ‘Five Freedoms’ endorsed by the Farm Animal Welfare Council.”

Personally, this doesn’t make me any more confident about the standards used to farm the chickens, and I wouldn’t buy any chicken from Iceland. But the same goes for any other low-welfare chicken at most supermarkets.

So what can you do?

How to be ethical and pay less for your chicken and other meat

For most of us, we can’t afford to live a life that’s 100% ethical. You need to pick your battles – and I think better conditions for chicken is one which can be fought. Here are just some of the ways you can eat higher-welfare poultry and other meat without breaking the bank.

Look for RSPCA Assured, free-range or organic chicken

The only labels you can trust are RSPCA Assured and Soil Association Organic. These are certifications which require the farms to adhere to certain standards. And though free-range isn’t certified, it will be fine too.

Don’t be fooled by Red Tractor logos – something Iceland and others offer on some poultry. These are the minimum legal animal welfare and food safety standards – which in reality doesn’t mean much if you are concerned about the life an animal led. Jamie Oliver has said he wouldn’t feed his kids anything labelled Red Tractor.

Only buy your chicken from certain supermarkets

If free-range or organic prove too expensive – and they can be – then you should buy your meat from supermarkets which have their own higher welfare policy. Though they won’t be at the same level as RSPCA Assured, they won’t be far off.

I tend to buy my meat from two supermarkets. Waitrose’s basic “essential” fresh chicken meets RSPCA standards and Marks & Spencer has committed to meet higher standards across all poultry by 2026 (it already does a lot better than most with the bulk of its fresh chicken).

One to avoid though would be Tesco, which according to this Huffington Post article sells more intensively farmed chicken than Asda and Morrisons combined.

Choose cheaper cuts

You can bring down the cost of your chicken if you switch breasts for thighs, which are generally cheaper and tend to have more flavour and moisture than chicken breasts. Skin-on will cost less, you just need to remove it.

Use the whole bird

If you’re buying a whole chicken, don’t waste any of it. Get into the carcass and pick out all the bits to make sure your money and meat go further. You can even go one further and use the carcass to make chicken stock for use in soups and gravy.

Raid the reduced shelves

I do all the above, but my biggest savings are down to picking up some reduced to clear bargains. I’ll separate the packs into portions and then put them in my freezer. This makes shopping more affordable at supermarkets such as Waitrose or M&S where I know the standards are higher even if I’m not able to find free-range or organic.

Eat less of it

A few generations ago a chicken was a treat. Now it’s a daily meal in some households. Realistically the price of ethical chicken means most of us will have to eat less of it. But that’s no bad thing either – there’s a whole other article that could be written about farming and its impact on the environment, particularly cattle.

Lobby the supermarkets to change

Finally, you can sign up to the RSPCA’s Better Chicken Commitment campaign, which emails Tesco a message asking them to improve their standards.

Updated November 5, 2025 | Published March 3, 2020 | Articles

Fairtrade bananas: How much more do they really cost?

Andy Webb

It’s not actually that much more money a year to upgrade to an ethical banana.

This is the first in an occasional series where I’ll break down just how much you’d need to spend in order to go green.

Each year in the UK we buy 5 billion bananas. That’s 100 per person, so roughly two a week each.

Of that around a third are Fairtrade certified, meaning the farmers and other workers are getting paid a fair price for each banana, but also receive rights as workers and money to invest in their communities.

If you’re buying your bananas in Waitrose, Sainsbury’s or Co-op then you’re buying Fairtrade every time – whether loose or in a bag. But the other supermarkets tend to only offer Fairtrade in packaged bunches.

These bundled ones tend to be more expensive per banana than the loose alternative, and of course there’s also the wasteful plastic bag, which I know lots of people try to avoid on fresh fruit and veg (it really isn’t needed).

And it’s both those reasons which can put people off buying these more ethical bananas. But should they?

How much more do Fairtrade bananas cost you?

Before MySupermarket shut down this weekend, I took a look at the prices for loose and packaged bananas, Fairtrade and non-fairtrade, at the major supermarkets.

Loose Fairtrade vs non-Fairtrade bananas

First loose bananas. The price you see is in pence per banana. Morrisons and Ocado don’t sell loose bananas on their websites while Co-op and Aldi don’t do online shopping, so these retailers aren’t in this table.

Now, the price given online is the price per KG rather than banana. So I weighed the five bananas I had at home and have gone with 170g as an average weight of a banana bought loose. Of course it could be higher or lower, but this gives us something to work with.

	Waitrose	Tesco	Asda	Sainsbury’s	Lidl
Loose 170g banana		14.28p	14.161p		13.94p
Loose 170g Fairtrade banana	14.96p			14.45p

(Scroll right on your phone to see the full table)

Straight away you can see there’s not much difference between the supermarkets. Yes the Fairtrade ones at Waitrose and Sainsbury’s are a fraction more expensive, but not by much.

The smallest difference is between Tesco at 14.28p and Sainsbury’s at 14.45p. That’s a difference of just 0.17p. Nothing. Even over the average 100 bananas a year it’s 17p difference. Seventeen pence. A year.

And even the biggest difference, between standard non-Fairtrade bananas at Lidl and Fairtrade bananas at Waitrose is just 0.96p – less than a penny per banana. Over a year, you’d just be paying an extra 96p, not even a quid.

So if you can swap your banana shop to Waitrose or Sainsbury’s (or Co-op) then you’ll be making a huge difference to the farmers without even noticing an impact on your wallet.

Packaged Fairtrade vs loose non-Fairtrade bananas

Of course, you might not have the option to shop at one of these supermarkets. So if you want to go Fairtrade you’ll have to buy them in those five or six banana bundles in a plastic bag.

For a moment, ignore the environmental concerns about the plastic bag. Let’s focus on the price of the bananas.

The table below covers the main options from the supermarkets. I’ve ignored “ripen at home” and so on. The price is once more per banana, rather than per pack.

	Tesco	Asda	Morrisons	Lidl	Ocado
Loose 170g banana	14.28p	14.161p		13.94p
Non-Fairtrade bunch	20p	18p	20p	17.8p
Fairtrade bunch					19.8p
Fairtrade organic bunch	27p	20p	26p	19.2p	26.7p

(Scroll right on your phone to see the full table)

The first thing you probably notice is that packaged bananas cost more than loose ones! You’re be paying between 17.8p and 20p for a non-Fairtrade banana this way.

Next you’ll probably spot Tesco, Asda, Morrisons and Lidl don’t sell just Fairtrade. They only sell Fairtrade and Organic. This allows them to charge them at a higher price – and therefore make the price difference much larger.

I think that’s really cheeky and it’s got to put people off. At Tesco a loose non-Fairtrade banana will cost 14.28p on average, but 27p from a Fairtrade Organic package.

For comparison, the Fairtrade only packaged bundles from Waitrose, Sainsbury’s and Ocado come in at 20p per banana. The same price Tesco and Morrisons sell non-Fairtrade bunches. So it is possible to sell bunched Fairtrade at a lower price.

However, the 12.72p difference at Tesco between it’s loose and packaged Fairtrade Organic bananas works out as £12.72 for 100 bananas. That’s still not a huge amount of money.

So if you really can’t buy your Fairtrade bananas loose, then it’s not going to cost you the earth to buy the premium bundles from your usual supermarket.

Bananas and plastic wrapping

Sadly doing the latter doesn’t help with any desire you’ve got to buy less food that has plastic wrapping.

So do you choose plastic-free or Fairtrade? Well I can’t answer that for you. Like many ethical purchases, it can come down to choosing your battle and compromising from time to time.

Personally I’d go for Fairtrade bananas every time, and making it known to your supermarket that you want less plastic in general, not just on bananas. And while you’re at it say you want lose bananas to be Fairtrade too.

Bananas and food waste

Wherever we buy our bananas from, one thing we can all do is cut down on the amount we throw away because they’re a bit brown or mushy.

Every day 1.4 million perfectly edible bananas are thrown away in the UK. That’s £80 million worth according to waste campaigners Wrap, or over £500 million worth over a year.

This works out as 10 bananas each a year. If you’re in a household of four or so, assuming an average banana price of around 20p, that’s £8 of wasted bananas you’re chucking out.

Ok, so not a huge amount. But alongside the other edible things you’re likely binning at the same time it can all add up.

What to do with those bashed bananas

Personally I’m happy to put an overripe banana in some porridge, but I know some people still won’t be keen.

Even then you don’t have to bin them as there are plenty of ways to use them. For a start you could look at freezing them (peel and chop them up first) and using in smoothies, or even better use them in baking.

Recipe: Low-fat bashed Fairtrade banana and berry cake

My wife Becky is an amazing baker and often whips up a banana cake. She’s got a few different recipes, but this is her favourite. It’s really easy and low fat.

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Updated November 5, 2025 | Published May 7, 2020 | Articles

The problem with Just Giving and the best fundraising alternatives

Andy Webb

Who you use to fundraise and donate money with can affect how much money the charity gets – so it pays to use Just Giving alternatives.

When you donate on one of the big fundraising websites, you’d think all your money is going to the cause you’re supporting. Well, it doesn’t. I was pretty shocked when I discovered this a few years ago.

There can be fees added to or taken from the money you give, and the charities themselves could be faced with charges just for being listed on the platform.

Among the worst is the most popular – Just Giving. This is the only one of the major platforms that isn’t non-profit. Alongside these costs to the charities, it until recently also added a compulsory transaction fee for customers too. It’s now made that an optional charge, but paying it still means less of your money goes to the charity.

But some are much more affordable platforms that are Just Giving alternatives. And as with most things, a little shopping around can maximise how much of your cash actually goes to the good cause.

As you’ll see further down the article I’ve broken down how much money gets taken by the platforms. The cheapest gives 44p more to causes than Just Giving per £20 donated.

Though it might not seem a huge amount based on a £20 donation, it scales up massively over all the money that is raised.

For example, Captain Tom Moore had raised an unbelievable £32.8 million for NHS causes before it was closed on the 30th April. This was via Just Giving, and the fees and voluntary “tips” could easily be over £2 million.

If he’d chosen Virgin Money Giving then the total would have been half that (figures calculated via Virgin Money Giving’s calculator). And potentially even less with a different platform.

It just shows that the platform you choose for fundraising or donating can make a huge difference.

(FYI Just Giving has said 97% of the money raised by Captain Tom will go to the NHS after processing fees, though I assume that doesn’t include any extras people volunteer to pay to cover the fees. Plus it’s made its own £100,000 donation on top)

Where your money goes when you donate

You’ll be relieved that most of your donation does go to the charity – but not all.

Payment fees

For a start, there are card transaction fees that all the charities have to pay. They don’t have a choice about this as it’s a cost levied by the card processing companies. In fact, any time we use our debit or credit cards these are part of what we pay, whether charity or not.

Just Giving will also take a cut of any Gift Aid added to your donation too, as part of the processing fee.

However, Just Giving alternatives all charge different fees, which can make a difference.

Wonderful, one of the best free platforms, has had to close (hopefully temporarily) but shared that it paid just 0.8% plus 18p for each transaction. So anything higher than this is possibly hiding additional charges.

Tip jar warning: The cost we had to meet for payment processing was 0.8% and 18p per transaction. We handled £5m in donations. If your platform processes more than £5m and you’re being asked to contribute more than 0.8% and 18p, do ask what they class as card-processing fees.
— wonderful.org (@wonderful_org) March 20, 2020 via X

Platform fees

Of course, these donation websites have all got to cover the costs of staff and operations. And, yes, this money does have to come from somewhere.

And it’s not cheap to do this. BT used to offer My Donate, a free service to charities, and fund it from its profits. But this project was closed down in 2019.

So some of the websites will add this as an extra charge on your donation, possibly voluntary, or just take it from the money you give.

Charity listing fees

And that’s not the only way these companies take cash away from charities – the biggest platforms Just Giving and Virgin Money Giving both charge charities to use their platforms.

Just Giving charges a monthly fee of £39 + VAT for any charity that raises £15,000 or more in a year. For those which raise less the fee drops to £15 + VAT a month.

Virgin Money Giving meanwhile has a flat, one-off fee of £150 + VAT.

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The alternatives to Just Giving and Virgin Money Giving

If like me, you want as much of your money to go to charity as possible, and for the charity to be able to use the platform without a charge, it makes sense to avoid the profit-making Just Giving.

It’s less clear-cut with Virgin Money Giving as though it is non-profit, the fees still make it quite expensive for smaller charities.

Fortunately, there are alternatives. Some don’t charge for anything, while a few others might have a transaction fee, but are free for the charity.

The major downside with most of these smaller platforms is just that – they are smaller. They won’t necessarily have your charity of choice on board, though it’s worth looking to see what your options are. Often it’s the smaller and local charities which need our support more than some of the giants – and they might be on the smaller platform.

If you’re fundraising, then talk to the charity, or check out its website at least, to see if they have a preferred platform.

Ways to maximise your donation

As well as choosing the cheapest platform for charities, you can boost the amount they get from your donation by making sure they can claim the tax back from the government.

If you donate via your paycheck – often called Payroll Giving – the taxman actually contributes some of the money. So a Basic rate taxpayer would only contribute 80p for the charity to get £1.

This is automatic and in theory an easy way for the charity to get the extra tax cash on top of your donation. Ask your HR team if they run a scheme. If they don’t seem if they will set one up.

So Payroll Giving works great for regular donations, but it won’t work for a one-off contribution. In that case, and if you are a tax-payer, you can choose to add Gift Aid to your donations, adding 25%.

You’ll see this option when you donate online. However with Gift Aid the charity has to claim this tax back. This can come with administration costs to the charity.

Both methods will mean the same amount of money goes to the charity.

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How much does it cost to donate £20?

Here’s the real cost of a £20 donation to Just Giving, Virgin Money Giving and some of the other donation platforms. Some of the platforms will give you the choice to pay this. I’ve included the extra value of Gift Aid on top too.

These figures assume you aren’t choosing to add the fees to your initial donation. They also don’t reflect Just Giving’s monthly fee or Virgin’s set-up fee which are worth bearing in mind.

Kindlink

Kindlink has no charges for the charities to use the platform or be listed, making it one of the cheaper options.

Payment processing fee of 1.45% + 10p = 39p
Platform fee of 0% = 0p
Gift Aid fee of 0%= 0p

Total cost per £20 = 39p

Total to charity after Gift Aid = £24.61

GoFundMe

With GoFundMe you’ll be charged a similar amount to Virgin Money Giving but there’s no charge for charities to be listed.

Payment processing fee of 2.9% + 0.25p = 39p
Platform fee of 0% = 0p
Gift Aid fee of 0%= 0p

Total cost per £20 = 83p

Total to charity after Gift Aid = £24.17

Just Giving

The monthly fee that charities are charged won’t make much difference to this figure if they’re taking a lot of donations. However medium-sized charities could fee the impact more.

Payment processing fee of 1.9% + 20p = 58p
Platform fee of 0% = 0p
Gift Aid fee of 5% = 25p

Total cost per £20 = 83p

Total to charity after Gift Aid = £24.17

Virgin Money Giving

Since Virgin Money Giving has a sign-up fee the actual amount will be a little less. Though for large charities the £150 one-off fee will be negligible.

Payment processing fee of 2.5% = 50p
Platform fee of 2% = 40p
Gift Aid fee of 0% = 0p

Total cost per £20 = 90p

Total to charity after Gift Aid = £24.10

During the lockdown the platform fee will be covered by Virgin Money but it’ll return afterwards. The figures above include the platform fee.

Every Click

Another free site for charities to join, Every Click is funded from the commission paid by retailers if shoppers use the portal before making online purchases (in the same way cashback and voucher code sites work).

Payment processing fee of 4.8% = 96p
Platform fee of 0% = 0p
Gift Aid fee of 0%= 0p

Total cost per £20 = 83p

Total to charity after Gift Aid = £24.04

Givey

Givey is targeted at small and medium charities. It charges the donor 5%, so £1 for a £20 donation. But again the platform is free for charities to use. Further funding comes from businesses who can choose to match donations.

Combined payment processing fee & platform fee of 5% = £1
Gift Aid fee of 0%= 0p

Total cost per £20 = £1

Total to charity after Gift Aid = £24

Updated November 5, 2025 | Published November 16, 2020 | Articles

Reasons not to shop at Amazon

Andy Webb

From tax avoidance to surprisingly high prices, it could pay to shop less at Amazon. Plus some alternative online retailers you could use instead.

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.

Over the last year, I’ve been making a conscious effort to use Amazon less. In all honesty, it’s not been the easiest thing for me to do.

I’m hardwired to hunt down the lowest prices wherever they might be. And often there are some huge discounts and deal stacks at Amazon that make items super cheap.

So I’ve lapsed on a few occasions. Sometimes I’ve forgotten about my boycott and clicked without thinking – a deal for super cheap peanut butter is one I regret! It might have been 50% off the RRP, but in total it was barely a fiver saved.

And there have been a handful of times where the discount was just too tempting – last month I saved £160 on an iPhone 12 Pro (a misprice) and £85 on a Canon lens (a daily deal).

At other times the next day delivery has been a clincher – I realised I needed a case and screen protector for that new phone the day the phone arrived. There was also a gift where it was only in stock on Amazon.

I’m also a Kindle user, meaning any digital e-books I want have to come from Amazon – though I tend to only pick up 99p special offers.

But, despite these purchases, there are dozens and dozens of other items I could have got from Amazon this year where I’ve deliberately chosen to go elsewhere.

I’m willing to spend extra to buy from a different retailer, whether that’s through a higher price or factoring in delivery charges. And in many instances, the difference was minimal or non-existent.

Why am I doing this? There are a few reasons which I’ll outline below. You’ll be familiar with some of them already – but I think a few might surprise you.

Of course, I’m aware you might not care about some of the more ethical points.

You might also not have the luxury of being able to afford to care. Though I can stump up the cash to buy a book at full price, many can’t. So getting the lowest price could be more important to you.

Though personally I’ve been able to get out of the house during the pandemic and visit stores (once they reopened), I know having Amazon Prime was a lifeline for many.

And there will still sometimes be those promotions or discounts that are just so huge it’s hard to say no.

In fact, I don’t think my boycott will ever be 100% either. So elsewhere on the blog I’ll still share with you any standout savings you can make at Amazon.

But anything I can do to redistribute the majority of my spending can only be a good thing.

Here are my top reasons to stop or reduce your spending at Amazon.

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Amazon isn’t always the cheapest

A big mistake people make with Amazon, especially if they have Prime, is to assume it’s always the cheapest. Though it can offer big savings, it can also be ridiculously expensive.

Sometimes this is just sellers putting higher prices on Amazon than elsewhere, other times it’s something called drop shipping. This is where a seller lists an item for sale at a set price. When you buy it they then order it from another retailer and get it set to you! Either way, you pay more than you need to.

Really for any purchase you should be comparing the price elsewhere before you add it to your basket.

Here are a few examples I’ve spotted recently:

Lakeland Toaster Tongs

Take these magnetic toaster tongs from Lakeland. We were given a pair and they’re so handy. So we thought they’d be a good gift for a toast obsessed friend. On Amazon they come up at £5.65. But at Lakeland itself, the tongs are £2.99.

Yes you might have to pay postage at Lakeland, but you only get it free with Amazon if you have Prime. Or you might also be able to just pop into a store and get it for more than half the Amazon price.

Ikea lint rollers

Head to Ikea and a refill pack of four Bastis will set you back £2.25. But over on Amazon you’ll pay £6.99.

If you don’t fancy braving the Ikea maze and decide to pay Ikea’s £4 delivery fee, you’ll pay more via Amazon – even if you have the Prime free delivery.

Stamps

A few years back I found out that some shops can charge what they like for stamps. And one place where you’ll get ripped off for for first and second class postage is Amazon.

A pack of 12 1st class would cost you £9.12 from the Post Office or supermarket. This seller has put them on Amazon for £10.49.

You’d pay £7.80 for 2nd class. But I found them on Amazon for £11.47! That’s more than the already overpriced 1st Class stamps there!

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Amazon try to lock you into their “eco-system”

Amazon Prime is very, very popular. For £79 a year you get free next-day delivery, access to special deals and sales, TV & film streaming and more.

Yes some of these can save you cash, but really the whole point behind Amazon Prime is to get you to make Amazon your number one destination. If you’ve already paid for free shipping, why would you pay again elsewhere?

it’s not just Prime. I mentioned in my introduction that I’ve got a Kindle. If I want to read books on it, I have to buy them from Amazon. Again I’m locked in. I also made the decision early on to go with Echo smart speakers. If I want more of these, or other smart devices, it can often make sense to stick with Amazon.

This essentially reduces your choice and ability to shop around – and therefore get the best price.

Prime makes you more likely to spend money

If you have Prime you’re also more likely to not just shop solely with Amazon, but spend money you hadn’t planned on parting with.

Free and fast shipping is once again the big driver here. It’s so, so easy to buy things this way that it can be addictive. Click. Click. Click.

And those special offers such as Prime Day can encourage you to buy things because of your “exclusive” discounts. If you don’t have Prime, you’re far less likely to spend that cash.

So reduce your time on Amazon and you’ll likely spend a lot less money.

Amazon hurts the high street

Amazon isn’t the only retailer accelerating the decline of the high street, but it is the biggest. During the summer it recorded a sales increase of 37%, thriving during the pandemic while others edge closer to collapse.

Every month more retailers, large and small, announce store closures and profit warnings. They struggle in normal times to compete with the scale and low overheads of Amazon.

If we want our town centres and shopping centres to survive we need to spend more of our money with them – and that probably means at the expense of Amazon.

Amazon is not an ethical company

Finally, the biggest reason to not use Amazon – and the other main motivation behind my reduction in spend.

From the treatment of workers through to tax avoidance, they have a bad rep. A really bad rep. Though others will be doing the same things and some will be worse, I don’t feel we can pretend that Amazon’s abuses of the law and trust justify low prices.

This report from Ethical Consumer details some of the reason it encourages an Amazon boycott.

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Alternatives to Amazon

Whether you want to completely cut out Amazon or just reduce how often you use it, I’ve got a few suggestions to help.

Pay for Prime only when you really need it

One way to use Amazon less is to ditch Prime. That way you won’t be tempted to get the value of your membership by using it to shop more and more.

If that’s a step too far, you have options to keep it but pay less. You don’t have to sign up for the full year of Prime. Rather than shell out £79 for 12 months you can pay £7.99 a month.

Obviously that’s more expensive over 12 months, but if you pick and choose particular months – eg ahead of Christmas or around Prime Day – you’ll pay far less.

You can also opt for a £5.99 monthly fee that is just for Prime Video. You can change your subscription in your account.

Support the retailers you love

We’ve seen so many shops disappear over recent years, I’m trying more and more to buy from the ones I’d really miss if they were to do. From small local merchants through to the likes of John Lewis and M&S.

It’s worth seeing if small shops have their own online shop or listing on social media. Or even just call them up. Many are offering click & collect services during restrictions.

For books, one new site worth checking out Bookshop.org which provides a platform for hundreds of independent book shops to earn profit from online sales.

Go to the Amazon sellers direct

You can obviously shop around to find low prices elsewhere, and price comparison sites can help with that. But there’s a trick that could get you the same or similar price to the one you find on Amazon.

When you buy something at Amazon that’s not sold by Amazon, you’ll see the name of another retailer. It’s always worth looking to see if they have their own online or high street shop.

Updated November 5, 2025 | Published March 1, 2021 | Articles

Eating ethically

Andy Webb

In an ideal world I’d always stick to my principles, but it’s not always easy, especially with food.

Seeing as it’s currently Fairtrade Fortnight, a two-week celebration of the Fairtrade stamp and all the good the Fairtrade Foundation does, I thought I’d delve a little deeper into some of the foodie consumer choices we can make to see just how easy or hard it is to make a stand.

My ethical eating challenges

I’ve had spells where ethical decisions have heavily influenced how I ate, but I always seem to make compromises which water down my resolve. Sometimes it’s down to cost, other times it’s convenience.

But there’s also an aspect of feeling overwhelmed and even confused by the decisions that need making. This is the biggest challenge I find to eating ethically. Even when I feel I’m doing a “good thing”, there’s something I’m not doing which cancels it out.

I know it’s not realistic for me to get it right all the time, so I’ve reached a happy medium where I’ll do what I can.

I still try to do more, and over the last year I’ve moved to only Fairtrade chocolate (thanks to the delicious and good value Tony’s Chocolonely) and reduced my meat consumption.

If this sounds like something you’d also like to do more of, then here are a few of the ethical dilemmas to consider at the supermarket.

It won’t always be easy, and I can’t promise you answers – but it will hopefully help you focus on where to concentrate your efforts.

Fair pay and rights for producers

Brits are a caring bunch. Each year we give more and more money for humanitarian causes – basically helping people. With food, this often boils down to workers’ rights, pay and conditions.

Fairtrade

Fairtrade is probably the biggest help here. From bananas to coffee, and even things like wine and nuts, this stamp tells us the farmers are getting a fair deal. I like Fairtrade, and genuinely believe it’s a good thing, not just via the price paid to producers, but also in the wider work the Fairtrade Foundation does in communities across the world.

But it’s not perfect. Sometimes prices still aren’t enough. And I have concerns “greenwashing”. Some big brands, such as Nestle, appear to have a small number of products certificated by the scheme (though last summer they dropped Fairtrade choc from KitKats). This gives the appearance that they are an ethical brand, yet the vast bulk of their business carries on with normal, and often unfair, working practices.

However, the argument the other way is persuasive too. Even a small amount of big brand products certified as Fairtrade can make a big difference to producers due to the scale these products are sold at.

I’m not entirely convinced by this, but overall I think yes, buying Fairtrade does make a difference.

Other certification schemes

Recently there’s been a problematic development. A few big brands are replacing Fairtrade with their own schemes.

A few years ago, Green & Blacks (owned by Mondelez, which also owns Cadbury’s) released a new type of choc which, for the first time, wasn’t Fairtrade. Instead it’s under Mondelez’s own Cocoa Life programme, and other certified choc made by Mondelez will follow suit and drop Fairtrade.

Sainsbury’s also switched all its own-brand tea from Fairtrade to its own “fairly traded” scheme. And as mentioned, Nestle dropped KitKats to its’ own scheme.

I find these other schemes more difficult to trust. As a consumer I don’t know what the label promises, and without wider oversight how can we be sure it’s really any better than anything else.

Personally, I’d aim to stick to Fairtrade if you can, and it’s worth putting pressure on the manufacturers and retailers to do the same.

UK producers

But eating ethically to help people isn’t just about overseas farmers. You might remember the milk price wars from 2015, where farmers revolted at the price supermarket were forcing them to accept. The amount didn’t even cover the cost of production (and in some cases it still doesn’t).

It’s difficult to know when a fair price is being paid. As a rule Co-op, Waitrose, Marks & Spencer are better options, though Tesco and Sainsbury’s both promise a fair price to dairy farmers.

Animal welfare

Meat

Obviously the most ethical way to support animal welfare is to not eat meat.

About 15 years ago I briefly gave this a go. I was in Australia’s outback and I’d just seen a double-decker, double-length lorry transporting cows. Really distressed cows. Seriously, the noise they were making was just heartbreaking. Then the driver got out and started jabbing through the small holes in the truck with an electric cattle prod, and he did it with a lot of enthusiasm. It made me feel sick.

I’d always been concerned about animal welfare but this was what prompted me to take some action. I was now a vegetarian. Except it didn’t last. The very next morning, more out of muscle memory rather than a conscious decision, I ate a sausage roll! I’d lasted just 20 hours. No doubt that’s the most pathetic attempt at vegetarianism ever.

I spat the sausage roll out and started again, avoiding meat for a few more weeks before deciding I’d instead just eat high-welfare meat.

In the supermarket Soil Association certified organic is usually the highest standard, followed by free-range and then outdoor reared and RSPCA Assured certified (previously called Freedom Food). Some supermarkets, including Waitrose and Marks & Spencers, also have their own higher standards which are similar to the RSPCA requirements.

Of course, these all cost a lot more money so I tend to stock up on special offers and reduced food and whacking them in the freezer for later use.

What makes this rule difficult is eating out or going to a friend’s for dinner. I vividly remember eating a pea risotto on a date, while she tucked into a steak.

So for the last ten or so years I’ve instead gone for a more flexible approach. If I’m out, I’ll eat what is on offer – though I’ll try to pick an ethical option.

And at home or out it’s so much easier now veganism has become mainstream. There are some really good meat substitutes available from supermarkets, and of course just cooking veg based meals. We’re trying to have a couple of meat free days each week.

But importantly I’ve not had a KFC or dodgy late-night kebab since that day in 2006.

Fish

Look here for MSC certified fish (it’s a blue sticker), which means the stock levels in the sea are sustainable and ok for you to eat. Oh, and I know dolphins are mammals, but try to buy line-caught tuna rather than net caught.

Eggs

Really easy here isn’t it? Always buy free-range. Except even then it’s not all rosy for the chickens. This Guardian article is particularly enlightening. Soil Association certificed organic once more has the highest welfare standards. Still don’t buy anything that’s not free-range or above.

Dairy

A few years ago I watched a BBC Three comedy/documentary by Simon Amstell (off Never Mind the Buzzcocks). I didn’t realise he was a vegan, and this was his ode to giving up meat completely. It’s a weird watch, and (deliberately) disturbing at times.

But it did make me think differently about dairy farming. Though Soil Association has the best standards for the welfare of the cows, there are still ethical concerns – a big reason many people do go vegan.

If this is something you’d like to know more about, I’d recommend watching the programme on iPlayer.

Politics and the environment

I could write a lot more here on these topics, but I just don’t have the space in this article.

The environment

The hottest issue for the last few years (literally) and it’s been the biggest motivator in people trying veganism.

Buying local and seasonal certainly helps reduce carbon emissions, though they’re nothing compared to the pollution caused by farming meat.

Some argue that even veggie and vegan staples such as quinoa, soy and almond milk have an impact on the environment. Which is true, though no where near as much carbon emissions are produced, so eating less meat can be a good move.

Another easy way to help is to reduce food waste. Chucking away food you forget about or don’t finish means you’ll buy more grub. That doesn’t just cost you more money, it means more food miles, processing etc in the replacement food you buy. Your freezer can be your friend here.

Packaging and plastics are huge here too. Can you buy loose rather than packaged fruit and veg? Or meat and fish off the counter rather than shelves? Try to recycle and reuse as much packing as possible – or ideally avoid it. I don’t use those small bags for loose fruit and veg, and I’ll always bring my own tote bags for packing.

Your money can also actively help the environment if you pick things like Rainforest Alliance certified coffee.

But there’s so much more you could do, so it’s up to you where you focus your efforts. I still haven’t got into reading more about palm oil which seems to be in almost everything, but it’s one to avoid if you can.

Politics

Obviously your decisions will depend on your wider political views. A couple of the main issues I struggle with are:

So many brands owned by bigger conglomerates. Pringles are a good example – they were owned by Proctor & Gamble who test on animals (obviously not the crisps) until recently. And PepsiCo has been criticised for supporting modern slavery through its palm oil production (which also increases deforestation).

It means that it’s often impossible to know if I’m inadvertently buying something ultimately owned by a brand doing something I disagree with.

There also are groups that call for consumers to boycott produce that’s originated in Israel, as it could actually be from the occupied territories. Though equally it could be from within Israel. Or there are reports which connect avocados with Mexican drug cartels. It’s difficult to know!

Again, I think the answer is to find out about issues you are particularly passionate about and see if there are any real villains you need to avoid. And build from there.

How supermarkets measure up

As I said earlier, I try to stick with Waitrose and M&S Food, particularly for meat. Ethical Consumer magazine scores all the supermarkets on politics, animals, people, the environment and sustainability.

At the time of writing, Co-op, Waitrose and M&S all do well, with Asda and Tesco at the bottom of the table.

Updated November 5, 2025 | Published August 7, 2019 | Articles

Lessons from getting a new kitchen fitted

Andy Webb

What went well and what didn’t when we got a new kitchen.

When we started looking at getting our kitchen replaced I was amazed at just how much new ones can cost. We’re possibly talking tens of thousands of pounds. Even budget options don’t come cheap.

We shopped around a few different suppliers, big and small. I did a fair bit of research, including reading the guides on Which? magazine to get an idea of reliability and durability. Finally though, we went with the kitchen we liked the best, which was sold by Magnet.

Well actually, it was the second-best one we liked, essentially the next model down. But the style was very similar and it came in the same colour choices. Most importantly the price was decent compared to other similar options.

Even so, it wasn’t smooth sailing. Here’s what we did that worked out well, and the things we wish we’d done differently.

Choosing your kitchen

Look for inspiration

We looked in loads of brochures and websites to get new ideas and inspiration that was invaluable in shaping what we wanted. This was really important as the most expensive mistake you can make is to have a kitchen fitted that you don’t like or isn’t fit for purpose.

Get some plans drawn up

When we then started looking in ernest, we arranged a visit from Magnet to measure up and draw out some plans. These really helped us work out where we wanted things and visualise how it’d look in our space.

Tell them what you want and where

Though these salesmen should, in theory, know about kitchen design, I was surprised how much more I instinctively knew. For example there’s a well-known rule called the “Kitchen Triangle”, where you want the flow between sink, oven and fridge to be triangle-shaped and generally unobstructed and relatively close to each other. Yes rules can, and often should, be broken, but their initial plans completely ignored those basic principles. So we had to clearly say what we wanted and where. You’re spending a lot of money here so make sure you get what you want!

Don’t order what you don’t want

Of course, the suppliers want you to buy as much as possible from them, which means adding things to sketches you didn’t necessarily want. They hope once you see them in the images you’ll feel you can’t go without. This could be whole extra units, or it could just be smaller extras such as lighting.

Check those plans

Despite going through a few iterations to get the kitchen just right, we still found not everything was updated on the plans, or wrong items had been put on the order (for example, white end panels rather than blue). So just double, actually triple, check everything.

Paying for your kitchen

Buy it yourself

It’s tempting to get a builder to order on your behalf if they’re going to be fitting it for you (more on that in a bit). The main motivation here is they can often get a trade discount. Great. But there’s a big, big risk.

We actually had a builder lined up to start work on our house almost 10 months before it actually happened, and we were going to order the kitchen via him. But, just weeks before we were due to get started he went bankrupt. Fortunately, we hadn’t handed over any cash, but if we had then we’d have likely lost it all.

Plus, if you’re project managing further renovations at your property, there’s no reason you can’t be “trade” too. That’s what our friend did last year.

Haggle on the final price

These big stores always seem to have a sale on, and in my experience they’ve got room to move on those too. So get them to quote and ask what they can do to help bring the price down.

Pay some of the deposit on a credit card

It doesn’t have to be the full amount, but if you put down some of the money via a credit card, then you will get Section 75 protection. This is an extra layer of consumer rights which would make the credit card company equally liable if something was to go wrong. However, the kitchen does have to cost less than £30,000.

Consider 0% finance

I’m not someone who likes to borrow money, but we did take the kitchen out on a 12-month finance deal. Now, we actually have the cash, and could have paid for it. But by putting it on finance it just gave us some wiggle room in case of unexpected costs (which did come up in our building work), and we could leave it earning some interest. Of course, I’m going to pay it all off before the 12-month period ends to ensure I don’t get charged any interest at all.

Buying your appliances

I avoided buying any appliances direct from Magnet. Apart from the fact the range is often limited, you’re also likely to pay more than if you source them yourself. I was able to shop around and get better appliances for less money. And that’s not just big things like the oven and fridge. I also shopped around for the tap and sink.

Look for price-matching deals

Once we identified the oven we wanted, I looked around for the best price. Once I found it at a decent price, I then got John Lewis to price-match, which meant we also got a two-year guarantee.

Haggle on large orders

If you’re buying lots of new appliances then it’s worth seeing if suppliers will give you a deal. I found our fridge and freezer at the lowest prices from Mark’s Electrical and got them to give me a further discount on a dishwasher if I bought them all at the same time.

Get graded appliances

Graded appliances are usually ex-display items which might have the odd scratch or knock, and they can be heavily discounted. You can usually look at photos to see the extent of any damage, if any.

I picked up a Smeg extractor fan from The Appliance Depot for £170 rather than the full price of £330 from AO. When it arrived the only thing wrong with it was the box had been damaged!

Fitting your kitchen

Get the measurements double-checked

The Magnet salesman came over early on and measured our kitchen to help draw up the plans. But it turned out they’d measure wrong – by around 30 centimetres! This obviously meant that not everything we ordered fitted in the space! We got it sorted, but if we did it again I’d demand they come around and measure the kitchen again before the final order went in.

Get your kitchen supplier to fit your kitchen

As we had a fair amount of other work going on in the house, including some structural changes to the kitchen itself, it made sense to get our builder to also fit the kitchen. This was a mistake.

First, the builders refused to fit the acrylic worktop we ordered saying it wasn’t worth the risk if something went wrong. It then transpired that there were only a couple of kitchen fitters in our town who were willing to work with that material. So we had to pay more for a “specialist” to come around to fit the worktops.

Then, even though the fitters were really nice and worked hard, they weren’t familiar with Magnet’s kitchens (which you’d think they would). And they struggled. It took a lot longer than planned, and though we had a fixed quote the knock-on was they rushed bits of it.

At first glance it all looked great, but then we spotted things which were wrong. Though we got a lot of those things adjusted, we had to be on it and badger the fitters to fix them.

And even then there were things which the builders blame on Magnet and Magnet blame on the builders. They could both be right, and the things that are left aren’t the end of the world. For an easy life we’ve decided we can live with these imperfections and annoyances – mainly so we don’t have to face any further disruption and stress by trying to get them fixed.

But in hindsight, we could have avoided all of this by getting Magnet to fit the kitchen. Anything that wasn’t right would lay purely with Magnet, and make any fight to get things fixed much easier.

Updated November 5, 2025 | Published May 21, 2019 | Articles

Travel money: my top ways to spend on holiday

Andy Webb

With peak holiday season almost here, it’s a good time to talk about travel money – and the cheapest ways to spend abroad.

It’s possible to save hundreds of pounds just by choosing the best way to pay when abroad. Of course, this all depends on where you go, the type of holiday you have and how many of you are going. But these are the principles I follow, and you should be able to pick and mix to fit your holiday.

I’ve first taken a look at using credit and debit cards abroad, the further down I’ve shared my tips on travel cash.
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Travel credit and debit cards

I use specialist cards for overseas spending

Normal bank cards are usually really expensive to use outside the UK. Most credit and debit cards companies add a 3%-or-so markup to the exchange rate. This is often called a “load fee”. There’s also often a charge per transaction, usually another quid or so, and another charge for using a cash machine.

The cards I use don’t charge these extras. In fact they give an almost perfect exchange rate, so they’re better than using a bureau de change. Savings are potentially worth around £30 to 40 per £1,000 when compared to changing your money at the airport.

The Halifax Clarity card has been the main card I’ve used for the last five or six years. It’s saved me a fortune, with the only charges coming in interest on cash machine withdrawals – though these can be avoided by paying off the balance straight away.

However my top card to use is now the Tandem credit card, which gives 0.5% cashback as well as fee-free spending. As with the Clarity, I obviously clear the balance in full each month to make sure there’s no interest charged.

I always pay in the local currency

This is an easy trick to get caught out by. You’re often asked if you want to pay in pounds or whatever the local currency is. If you chose pounds, the exchange rate will be far worse. So always choose euros, dollars or whatever it is. Just not pounds.

I take a backup card

You never know what could happen. A few years ago we traveled around South and Central America for six months. Not long into the trip I was pickpocketed, losing some cash and my essential Halifax Clarity card.

Luckily I had another card – and some cash – locked in the hostel safe, so we weren’t completely screwed. And when our friend joined us a month later, she bought over our replacement cards.

Right now, as a back up I use either my Starling or my Monzo current account. Starling has the edge over Monzo as it doesn’t have any limit on cash machine withdrawals abroad.

Also not everywhere takes Mastercard, so if it’s a long trip I’ll always have a Visa at hand just in case. This is my Nationwide Select credit card which is available to people with a Nationwide bank account. It doesn’t charge fees on purchases abroad either – though it does add on a fair whack for cash machine use.

Travel cash

Though I use cards most of the time, it’s always handy to have cash – and there are plenty of places I’ve been where cards aren’t accepted.

I don’t take too much cash with me

It’s always difficult to know how much cash to take. I don’t want too much that I’m worried about having it on me, and I don’t want any left over at the end that’d I’d need to change back. But at the same time I don’t want to get stuck in a place where my cards aren’t accepted.

It depends too where you go. When I went to Cuba (this was in 2010 so things are likely to have changed) I took a lot more cash with me than I would if I went to France.

As a general rule I’ll always make sure I’ve enough to cover the essentials when I arrive such as transport from the airport, and then perhaps just £100 extra.

I order travel money in advance

One of the biggest mistakes people make is to leave exchanging cash until the airport. Do this and you’ll get the worst exchange rates.

Instead, order your money in advance. I use Money Saving Expert’s brilliant Travel Money Max comparison tool to find the cheapest option near me.

When I lived in London, this was often at one of three or four different bureaux de changes. I would generally pre-order and then collect it the next working day. It’s cheaper to exchange cash rather than pay with a credit or debit card.

Other options on Travel Money Max are to have the cash delivered by post, or to collect from an airport – still cheaper than walking up on the day you travel.

If you won’t want to shop around then John Lewis Finance price matches the other high street prices, and it’s possible to order to click and collect from Waitrose if you change more than £500.

I’ll rarely use cash machines overseas

Most debit and credit cards are an absolute nightmare for added fees. Most UK banks will not only charge a fee between 2% and 3% for each transaction, there’s often an extra fee for using a cash machine. This can easily be a couple of quid. Some charge a percentage which can work out as high as £4 per withdrawal.

These are on top of any charges you get from the local bank. We’re very lucky in the UK that we can take money out of most ATMs for free. In most countries I’ve been to that isn’t the case.

If I do need to withdraw any extra cash when abroad, I generally use one of the specialist cards mentioned above.

It’s worth noting with most specialist credit cards you do get charged interest on cash withdrawals, though this isn’t much if you pay the balance off quickly. There’s also a slight risk to your credit rating by using a credit card for cash withdrawals, though I’ve never had a problem myself.

Plus even though all these cards are “fee-free”, you might still get charged a cash machine fee by the local bank.

I pay upfront if I can

Whenever possible, I’ll pay in advance. And if I can, I choose the local currency and use my Halifax Clarity card.

This not only helps me budget as I’ll know what I’ve already spent, but it reduces the risks of cards or cash machines not working – a nightmare we faced in Uruguay and Bolivia a few years ago.

Watch more tips from me on getting the best rate when spending abroad on Shop Smart Save Money (May 2019)

Updated November 5, 2025 | Published March 4, 2016 | Articles

Are Easter Eggs worth the money?

Andy Webb

Easter is only a few weeks away and the supermarkets are adding more and more chocolate goods to the shelves. Are they worth buying, or are you being ripped off?

Plus, your chance to win Hotel Chocolat easter goodies!

This week myself, seven other money bloggers, journalists from the Telegraph and Mirror and the teams at Quidco and CheckoutSmart took part in a blind taste testing. It was all part of my UK Money Bloggers community, and Quidco very kindly sponsored the event.

Our mission: To find the best value Easter Eggs.

It was a lot of fun, with some big surprises. Lindt – which I normally like – was one of my least favourite, and big brands like Thorntons and Cadburys were pretty average. One of my favourites turned out to be a Free-from egg from Asda, and their own brand Extra Special Egg was really tasty too.

When we looked at the prices, it had a huge affect on our faves. The Divine Fairtrade egg and Heston by Waitrose egg both scored highly for taste, but when their huge prices were revealed (£20 for the Heston one! A crazy amount even if it was painted gold) they became the two worst value for money eggs of the 12 we tested.

>> Read the full results of the UK Money Blogger / Quidco Easter Egg blind taste test

Overall, the winner for both taste and value was a Mars bar egg. It tasted good and was pretty cheap – but that’s not always the case with Easter Eggs.

Do Easter Eggs give you value for money?

I’ve taken a look at a few of the popular options to give you a sense of whether you’re getting value for money.

As you can see, buying a Cadbury Dairy Milk egg is 36% more expensive than buying the equivalent in Dairy Milk Bars. It’s a similar story for most eggs of this size and brand.

When you go premium, it’s jaw-droppingly outrageous just how much more you spend for an egg. Divine is generally pretty tasty, and many are happy to pay a little extra for the ethics of Fairtrade. But buying their egg is 263% more expensive than a bar of the same chocolate. TWO HUNDRED AND SIXTY THREE! You could have two bars and four times as much chocolate for the same price. Or just save yourself some cash and calories by buying one bar.

There are exceptions. I looked at a few mini eggs and they actually worked out pretty good value. The Galaxy Caramel eggs were 5% cheaper than buying the same amount in Galaxy Caramel bars.

Offers just in time for Easter

Of course, special offers can make a big difference. But with Easter Eggs you really need to make sure you don’t get caught up in the excitement of the offer.

A few weeks back Tesco offered “Buy two, get two free” on most of their eggs. Great! Except do you really need four eggs?

And remember, part of the reason we see the Easter chocolate on the shelves straight after Christmas is so they can be sold at a higher price long enough for “special offers” to kick in when people want to buy them. I may be slightly cynical here, but there’s no need for the supermarkets to discount the eggs as loss leaders. People will buy them anyway.

They expect you to buy two for £7 or three for £10. They don’t expect you to pay the full price.

>> My guide to deciphering supermarket deals and special offers

It’s not just about the taste

I’m happy with my chocolate in bars rather than egg shaped, but most people like unwrapping the foil and smashing the egg. It’s a treat to have it like this once a year. I get it.

So my tip for you if you want to buy an egg but don’t want to get ripped off is to compare the price per unit on the shelf label. This will include any extras, such as Buttons or Mars Bars, but it’ll help you compare the different options for value.

And don’t forget to see how we all rated the different eggs at our taste test!

I’d definitely avoid the show off eggs such as Heston by Waitrose. Yes it’s gold and has “edible” straw (basically tasteless rice paper), but you can get good tasting eggs for far more reasonable prices. My top tip is the Asda Extra Special Belgian Chocolate Egg. Just £2, the egg was really thick and creamy and the packaging makes it feel like you’ve picked it up from a posher place than the supermarket.

Easter chocolate competition

Quidco have very kindly given all the bloggers in my UK Money Bloggers community these delicious Hotel Chocolat Easter goodies as prizes. It’s free to enter and closes at midnight on Sunday 20th March 2016.

If you like the idea of Hotel Choc treats (they are pretty expensive!) you can get 12% cashback right now on Quidco, which helps to justify some luxury choc a little!

Win Hotel Chocolat Easter goodies!

Updated November 5, 2025 | Published March 13, 2019 | Articles

How much mobile data do you really need?

Andy Webb

You’re probably paying for far more data than you actually use. Here’s how to work out the right allowance for your phone.

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Contents

How to check how much data you use
How to reduce how much data you need
Reduce how much you pay for your mobile data

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

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It’s now more common than not for mobile deals to come with unlimited text messages and even unlimited minutes as standard, which I think is great. If these are standard it means the difference in tariff prices is often down to the size of your data allowance. So the more you pay, the more data you’ll have every month.

And I’ve seen some ridiculous deals recently offering huge amounts of data for quite low prices. Unlimited data for £20 a month seems good, doesn’t it? And it is. If you need unlimited data.

But I’m going to say that you don’t need unlimited data. Or 40GB. Even 12GB is more than most of you should be using. So even with these cut-price contract special offers, it’s likely your bill will still be bigger than it needs to be.

Instead you’ll probably be far better off with a lower allowance at an even lower price. The key is to work out how much data you need.

How to check how much data you use

If your network has an app or online account, there’s a good chance you can check your usage through it. You should see your history over the last few months, as well as the running total for the current month. If you don’t have this in our account, you can call up your network and ask them to share this data with you.

I’m with Three and the app shows I usually use just under 2GB each month, and my usage only edges closer to 3GB on occasion. I very, very rarely head towards 4GB, and never more than this.

From this data I know I don’t need more than 4GB – and that’s likely enough for the average user. It’s possible to find SIM-only deals at this level for under a tenner every month – which is probably a lot less than you’re paying now.

So, first of all, check your current usage and compare that to what you’re paying for. Just doing this could significantly cut your bill. The next step is to look at how you actually use the data in your allowance.

How to reduce how much data you need

Me being me, I’m careful with my data usage. By using some simple tricks I avoid unnecessarily racking up the megabytes. You won’t be able to copy me 100%, but following these principles will mean you avoid wasting data. And the less data you waste, the lower monthly allowance you actually need.

Download music and movies rather than stream

Movies and TV are two of the biggest drains on your data allowance. Streaming a two-hour movie in SD could use close to 2GB. If it’s in HD it’s double. So don’t stream video.

Instead you should download it when you’re connected to Wi-Fi. The videos are then ready for you to watch offline. You can do this with iPlayer, Netflix, Amazon Prime and NOW TV and the other catch up services too.

Though music files are a lot smaller you should download your Spotify playlists and podcasts too. It takes no time at all.

Turn off mobile data

Once you’ve done this you need to turn off the ability for some apps to use mobile data. I do this for anything that could eat up a lot of data, so not just video and music apps. Doing this means they’ll only work when you’re connected to Wi-Fi. It’s easy to quickly flick this option back on if you do need to use the app via mobile data.

While you’re at it, you can go through all the settings on your phone to reduce background data use by apps. Pick and choose. You don’t need your email folder to constantly check for new messages, though you probably do want to get What’s App messages when they are sent.

Use Wi-Fi as much as you can

You should always be connected to Wi-Fi at home, and ideally at work too. This will reduce a huge amount of your data use.

Be careful though about using certain apps if the Wi-Fi isn’t secure. If you’re not sure, quickly flick back to mobile data to log-in to things like mobile banking or when paying for something. But most of the time if you’re just browsing the web this makes a big difference.

Watch out for auto-play videos

Even by following the above steps it’s possible to get caught out. Some webpages and apps will autoplay videos, often adverts. If you’re worried about your data allowance and this happens just close the tab on your browser.

With social networks it’s worth checking the settings so videos only autoplay on Wi-Fi. You can still choose to watch those videos, but at least you’re in control.

Use data exempt apps

Some SIM deals will let you use certain apps without impacting your data usage. For example, Three has Go Binge with unlimited streaming of Netflix, Apple Music, Deezer and others; Sky Mobile includes unlimited Sky Go streaming; and EE offers six months of Apple Music and Amazon Video.

Carry unused data over

A couple of networks let you carry unused data over each month, rather than lose it. Sky, ID and Virgin are among those which allow data rollover, while Smarty will refund £1.25 to your bill for every 1GB you don’t use.

Reduce how much you pay for your mobile data

Once you know how much you actually need, it’s time to change what you pay. This might be as simple as moving down a level with your existing network. Or you could shop around to see what some of the smaller networks are offering – it’ll likely be cheaper.

But you can also use this information to haggle for a better deal. Some networks are desperate to keep you and will offer big discounts. I threatened to quit Three last month and in response they offered me 20GB for £15 a month.

I knew I didn’t need that much data, and I also didn’t want to pay that much money. So I stood firm. In the end I accepted an offer of 8GB for £10 – that’s £2 less than I’d previously been paying for just 4GB.

Even though that’s way more than I need, the price is at a level I’m happy to pay. And it also means I’ve got a little more wiggle room on data every month.