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February 24, 2021   |   Articles

Be Clever With Your Cash is Seven!

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

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

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

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

The blog

It’s been a rollercoaster year here on the blog. My biggest concern was that a huge raft of content on the blog was suddenly of no use to anyone thanks to lockdown. From the best travel credit cards to cinema deals, a lot of my regular traffic disappeared.

And as the pandemic dominated the headlines in March and April, my monthly traffic was the lowest it had been in a long time.

But new articles grew to replace that traffic, including my guide to paying a cheque in with your phone and how to find the best savings accounts.

In fact, January 2021 was the best ever month with 217,000 views, and along with October, November, December and February, formed part of five of my six best ever months.

And obviously that all adds up. In late January Be Clever With Your Cash was visited by its 5th million person since it launched. When I started the blog I never imagined I could help this many people. 

It’s also been four years since the last redesign, so a big project that has dominated a lot of my time is a new look and improved UX (user experience design) for the blog, and rebranding for all my channels.

It’s looking really good and I hope there’s something I can share with you in the next month!

YouTube

The biggest success this year has to be my YouTube channel. Hoping lockdown would be just a few months I prerecorded a 12 part series in March, mainly because I knew I wouldn’t get a haircut for ages.

But it was only in June when I finished publishing all of these, and came to terms with how bad my lockdown hair was, that I started to knock out content that seemed to work on YouTube.

As a result videos have been viewed 400,000 times and subscribers have jumped from 800 odd a year ago, to just under 7,000 today.

The last couple of months have been particularly good, with four of my all-time most watched videos released since January.

The channel is also now earning me some money via adverts. It’s not a huge amount, and doesn’t cover the work I put in, but I hope that’ll grow.

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

The podcast

It was a good year for Cash Chats too. The rhythm I found in late 2019 continued into 2020 and as a result, there was a lot of growth.

It surpassed 200,000 all-time downloads in November 2020, at the same time as releasing the 150th full episode (in reality the bonus episodes mean I’ve made more).

I started this year with a new regular second episode looking back at the last seven days of money news which I’m really enjoying too.

If you’ve not listened to Cash Chats before you can stream or download it here.

Media & Recognition

Sadly some TV projects I was booked for were cancelled due to the pandemic, but I’m hopeful they’ll come back! I did consult on a new Channel 4 series which should air soon. I carried on popping up on BBC Radio, including a couple of spots on BBC 5Live Drive during the first lockdown.

Elsewhere, while I know awards don’t make a huge amount of real difference, when you’re working for yourself it’s nice to get acknowledgment from your peers for your efforts! There were no wins, this year, but I received a few nominations.

The blog was once again a finalist at the Headlinemoney Awards and is currently in the running for best online finance influencer at the British Bank Awards (you can vote for me here!).

My TV and podcast work was also recognised at Headlinemoney as a finalist in the Broadcast Journalist of the Year category.

The business

With TV work cancelled and Moneywise magazine closing down I didn’t chase a huge amount of freelance work. Instead, I worked almost exclusively on my own projects. And somehow I was busier than ever!

A year ago I wrote how I was struggling with essentially on my own in my basement office five days a week – but it turned out it was great training for lockdown.

Once more the weekly video chats with some of my fellow money bloggers from my UK Money Bloggers community was a vital connection to people who are in effect virtual colleagues. 

I’m a little worried about how I’ll continue producing as much as I do right now when restrictions finally (hopefully) end, so once again I’ll be looking at ways to improve my productivity.

My annual survey

It’s so important to me that any content I produce for you is what you actually want to read, hear or watch. So please do take a few minutes to answer this short survey. 

If you also enter your email address at the end of the form you’ll also be in with a shot of winning a £25 John Lewis voucher or an hour long video chat with me. This prize draw ends 30th March 2021 and one response will be randomly selected and asked whether they want the voucher or money chat. Open to UK followers only.

February 10, 2021   |   Articles

Plum app review – can it help you save?

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Artificial Intelligence (AI) transfers can help you build up your savings without noticing.

One of the biggest reasons people who try to save but fail is that they don’t prioritise the act of saving.

The money sits in their current account alongside all their other cash, making it hard to distinguish between what’s needed for bills and what is available for other spending.

The easy solution is to set up a standing order to move money to a separate account just after payday, but it’s possible to save even more thanks to fintech innovations.

Using rules and algorithms based on your spending habits, apps like Plum, Chip, Monzo and Starling can automate the transfer of cash from your current account into separate savings pots.

My favourite is the artificial intelligence or AI savings app. I’ve written about Chip before, but now it charges you to use this function, I wanted to take a look at the free alternative – Plum.

What is Plum?

Plums describes itself as “The AI assistant that grows your money”. Though it offers a few extras, it’s primarily about helping you boost money for savings via automation.

It also acts as an entry level investment platform, but I won’t cover this element in the review.

How much does Plum cost?

There are three tiers with Plum, ranging from free to £2.99 a month.

  • Basic – Free
  • Plus – £1 a month
  • Pro – £2.99 a month

Personally I’d stick with the free Basic option, and that’s what this review will focus on.

Featured savings deal
More Details
Trading 212 Cash ISA
AER (variable)
5.07%
Minimum
£1
New Trading 212 customers get an increase of 0.72% AER to 5.07% for 12 months.
More details ▼
Additional Info

Existing Trading 212 customers get a rate of 4.5%

FSCS Protected?: Yes

Allows transfers in?: Yes

Flexible ISA?: Yes

▲

Setting up Plum

Plum is an app-only service, so you can’t take advantage of these if you don’t have a smart phone.

You connect Plum with your bank via Open Banking, giving the app read-only access to your account details. It’s a pretty simple process to connect as long as you already have your bank’s app installed on your phone. You need to reauthorise the connection every 90-days, which takes just a few clicks.

It’s possible to add more than one bank, though money will only be transferred from the account you designate. Unlike Chip you can change which bank this is whenever you want.

You can add credit cards too, but these won’t be used for the auto-savings features.

Plum currently works with the following banks:

  • Barclays
  • Danske Bank
  • First Direct
  • Halifax
  • HSBC
  • Lloyds
  • M&S
  • Monzo
  • Nationwide
  • Natwest
  • Revolut
  • RBS
  • Santander
  • Bank of Scotland
  • Starling
  • Tesco
  • TSB
  • Ulster Bank

Autosaves with Plum

This is the big selling point with Plum for me. These features help you build that savings pot without actually doing anything. The money is transferred via a Direct Debit that is set up when you link your account.

To access these savings features you need to find the ‘Brain’ option, which should appear on the home screen once you’ve connected to your bank.

The free tier of Plum has three ways to automatically move money from your bank to your Plum account:

  • Automatic
  • Round Ups
  • Pay Days

The Pro version also has Rainy Days and 52-Week Challenge options but I’ll ignore these here. Mainly because you’ll have to pay, but also because if they’re of interest then they’re available alongside even more options for free via Monzo.

Here’s more on each of these savings rules:

Automatic

This is my favourite of the three. As with Chip, an algorithm analyses your bank account, looking at your balance, spending and forthcoming regular payments in and out.

Based on this Plum works out how much you can afford to put aside. You can also adjust the ‘mood’ of your savings level, from the default option. The lowest level ‘shy’ will reduce that amount by half, while the top level ‘beast’ increases it by 75%.

Money is moved once a week from your connected bank account to your Plum account. You can pause these transfers, or turn them off completely whenever you want.

Round ups

Every time you make a purchase with a linked debit or credit card you can choose for the transaction to be rounded up to the nearest full pound, with the difference moved once a week to your pocket.

Be careful here though as these will continue even if you’re overdrawn, though you can switch this off in the app’s ‘brain’ under ‘overdraft deposits’.

Pay Days

This is essentially a standing order which automatically moves money from your bank account when you get paid. You set the date and the amount.

Personally I’d set up an actual standing order for this and move your money to an account where you’ll earn the best interest right now. Or opt for a regular savings account.

Our podcast

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

Episodes every Tuesday.

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

Interest with Plum

The basic free version of Plum offers an interest pocket offering 0.25%.

You can beat this amount right now, but if you are using Plum then it makes sense to turn this feature on and put your cash there. You can choose where your money goes in the ‘brain’ part of the app.

It’s easy-access though if you move money into one of these pockets then you have to give one-day notice to withdraw the cash.

The rate is variable, so it could change (in fact it dropped in late January). If that happens Plum will give you 14 days notice.

The Plus and Pro versions increases this to 0.4%, but you’ll likely spend more to upgrade than you’ll make with the increased interest rate. For example, £1,000 at 0.4% for a year earns you £4. That’s £1.50 more than the Basic account, but at a cost of £12 (Plus) or £35.88 (Pro).

Is your money safe?

Any money in your main Plum ‘Pocket’ is held in something called an E-Wallet, meaning it’s not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. If something was to go wrong, or if Plum went bust, your money should still be fine, as it’s actually held at Barclays. But if Barclays went under then you’d lose your money.

The savings accounts are with Investec Bank and these are protected by the FSCS. It’s only up to a total of £85,000 and that’s across all accounts you might have with Investec.

Other features

The app also offers a handful of extra features on the basic option.

Free features

The Lost Money tab is the only significant extra on the Basic Plum account. It’s meant to analyse your bills to highlight where you’re overspending. However, since it can only see your payments, it’s not really that useful.

And though it’ll send you through to a comparison site to help you find better deals, you can do that yourself without the aid of the app.

Other paid features

I don’t think any of these are worth upgrading for, but just so you know what is on offer

Plum Plus

  • Access to 0.4% interest account
  • An extra Easy Access Interest pocket
  • The ability to use Plum Investing

Plum Pro

  • Cashback
  • Budgeting tools
  • Unlimited pockets
  • 52 week challenge and Rainy Day savings rules

Plum alternatives

You can get the AI algorithm savings feature with Chip and Cleo for a monthly fee. Tandem did offer this but has closed the feature.

Round up savings are more and more commonplace now, with Starling, Monzo, Nationwide, Lloyds and others offering this.

Monzo also offers you the option to automate the Pro savings features such as savings challenges, moving money if it rains and much more – and it won’t charge you for it (more on this here).

The PayDay feature is essentially a standing order which can be set up between any two bank accounts.

Conclusion

I’m a huge fan of auto-savings algorithms, and now that both Chip and Cleo charge for this, Plum is my top pick.

Link up your main current account and set the “brain” to the savings rules and levels that work for you, and you should slowly but surely see the amount saved grow.

Of course you’re not earning much right now with this account so you might want to move the money on a regular basis to one that pays a little more.

I’d stay clear of the paid versions – you don’t get enough extra for your money – and the other features don’t really offer much.

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February 3, 2021   |   Articles

Three reasons to check your final bill when you switch

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Companies are happy to take our cash, but when they owe us, it’s a different matter – especially if we’ve moved our business elsewhere. The problem is, if you don’t check your final bill you might never realise they’ve kept your money.

We’re in a switching society. It’s so easy to change supplier, whether mobile phone or pay TV. Great! But there’s something about switching that’s not so simple – and it could end up costing you cash.

I’ve found most times I switch it takes a while to get the final bill – and when it does, it’s usually not what I expected.

Here are three things to look out for on your final bill.

1. Have you been overcharged?

Last month I left Three and moved to SMARTY, as part of my search for the perfect lockdown SIM. Well, the final mobile bill arrived this week – and they owe me money! £2.42 in total! Ok, so it isn’t much, but it is still my money.

The same has happened when I’ve left other providers including Sky, TalkTalk, NPower and other utility providers. Each had a positive credit left on the account where I’d overpaid. This is quite normal as you usually pay a little in advance.

The issue with each of them is I had to phone them to get a refund. Yes, they were happy to take my cash, but less inclined to automatically give it back to me.

Some have got better and will process the payment – but as my bill from Three showed, some will still ask you to claim.

Yet how many people bother to check their bills to see the final totals? I’m sure there’s a ton of cash sitting with Three and other companies that by right doesn’t belong to them

So if you don’t check your final bill, or chase the company after leaving, that money will just sit there. Go check your old accounts and make sure you aren’t owed money too.

> More ways to get money back that you’re owed

The same thing happened to me when I left Three a previous time (back in 2017), as I spoke about in this short video

2. Have you underpaid?

Of course, there’s also a chance you end up owing the old company. This is most likely with energy bills as they’re estimated each month, but it could easily happen if you buy extras through your mobile network or rent movies via your TV provider.

This happened to us a few years ago when we switched from EOn to EDF. It turned out our direct debits had been VERY low, and our final bill was £100. We had enough to cover this, but if you didn’t expect it and that money just disappeared from your bank account (they’re still happy to take this money), you could get hit with overdraft charges.

You can mitigate this, with energy bills at least, by providing regular meter readings. Or in theory smart meters will mean bills are accurate and not estimated.

3. Are you still paying?

Sometimes when you think you’ve cancelled, you haven’t. Direct debits and standing orders could keep coming out, and if you don’t check you won’t know.

The main offenders are subscription services you stopped using or forgot you had, things like Netflix or Spotify. The monthly cost is pretty low so you might not notice them on your bank statement – but over a year they can add up, especially if you are signed up to multiple ones.

My advice with streaming services is to cancel every month as soon as you sign up. It won’t take long to sign up again in 30 days time if you want to keep using the service – you might even get a discount to come back!

Of course, mistakes can be made too that mean bigger bills keep getting charged, especially if you’ve just stopped your contract rather than switched. It’s not uncommon for old mobile phone accounts to still be running along even though the phone is buried in a drawer and you thought you had cancelled.

Plus, watch out for some of the biggest bills you probably didn’t even remember you had. Annual insurance policies on your car, home or travel can be very expensive and often roll over if you don’t stop them.

The easy way to check this is to get your bank statements or open your banking app and look for the standing orders and direct debits. If there are any regular payments coming out, check they are things you should be paying for.

I always did this with the families I helped as part of Channel 5’s Shop Smart Save Money and in one episode I spotted the household was paying two lots of Council Tax! They’d moved three months before but hadn’t told the previous council about it. They were able to get a refund, but that won’t always be the case.

February 2, 2021   |   Articles

Are recipe boxes worth the money?

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Are you overpaying for convenience when you order a Gousto, Hello Fresh or Simply Cook box?

I get the appeal of recipe boxes. You get to try new meals, you don’t have to buy more ingredients than you actually need, and importantly, you don’t need to go to the supermarket.

They can also help those with specific diets or those wanting to keep an eye on things like calories.

And with the various lockdowns during the pandemic they’ve partially compensated for being unable to eat out – even in some cases coming from the kitchens of top restaurants.

The problem is, they aren’t cheap. The normal price can easily be between £5 and £8 a portion.

Possibly cheaper than a takeaway, definitely cheaper than eating out. But surely buying the ingredients yourself works out far cheaper?

I’ve taken a look to see just how much of a premium you’re paying for the convenience.

recipe boxes worth the money

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How recipe boxes work

The recipe box format has exploded over the last year. They’re now available from specialist companies, supermarkets and restaurants.

Subscription recipe boxes

The most popular at home kits are from dedicated companies. You can either order boxes with all your ingredients, like with Gousto and Hello Fresh. Or you can just get the dry ingredients with Simply Cook, and buy the fresh food needed separately.

Most are subscription-based, but some let you order one-off boxes. You can often choose between just one meal a week or month through to something every single day. The cost gets cheaper per meal the more you order. You can usually also tailor the boxes for how many people you need to feed.

Via their websites you get to choose the meals you’d like for the week – from a preset selection that changes each week. Your ingredients and recipes are then delivered to your door ready for you to cook.

Supermarket recipe boxes

These DIY meals are not really that different to the subscription boxes – you simply pick up your kits at the supermarket rather than have it sent to you.

There are two types of recipe boxes. The main ones are off the shelf kits where you add the fresh ingredients. These range from the old school fajita ones through to make your own Bao buns.

The second type, though less common, are all the ingredients for complete meals, such as the Scratch kits on sale at stores including Iceland and Waitrose.

One downside though is that the range is a lot smaller, so you’ll be repeating yourself more often than you would with a subscription.

Restaurant recipe boxes

The newest addition has developed as a consequence of lockdowns. Many restaurants, big and small, have adapted their menus to allow you to order online.

Some of the kits are simply just reheating and assembling, others require you to do more of the cooking.

These are a lot more expensive than the other options, so really they’re a treat closer to takeaways or very occasional order while restaurants are closed. In fact when they can reopen I’m sure many of these will end.

I’ve tried two – a build your own bacon naan roll from Dishoom and for Becky’s birthday a three course meal from Smokestack. Both were really good quality.

How much do recipe boxes cost?

The first price you’ll probably look at is cost per box, which is outlined in the table below. Of course, if you order more than one box a month you’ll increase your spend.

A few might offer cheaper boxes if you go full or partially veggie.

Recipe boxMost expensive box Cheapest box
Dishoom Naan Roll£23 (one meal for two people – weekend)£21 (one meal for two people – midweek)
Hello Fresh£68 (five meals a box for four people)£30 (three meals a box for two people)
Gousto£47.68 (four meals a box for four people)£25 (two meals a box for two people)
Mindful Chef£75 (three meals a box for four people)£34 (two meals a box for two people)
Morrisons Eat Fresh (Subscription)£40 (four meals a box for four people)£21 (three meals a box for two people)
Pasta Evangelists£11.90 (one meal for two people)£10 (one meal for one person)
Scratch (in store at Waitrose)£6 (one meal for two people)£6 (one meal for two people)
Simply Cook (online)£24 (£9.99 kit for four meals for two people plus fresh ingredients)£48 (£9.99 kit for four meals for two people plus fresh ingredients)

But I think a better way to compare how much these boxes cost is to look at price per portion. As you’d imagine, the more meals you buy, the cheaper things get per portion.

Here are the most and least expensive options for a selection of recipe kits. These don’t take into account introductory special offers which can of course make things cheaper. I’ve listed the best of these further down the article.

Recipe boxCheapest meal per servingMost expensive meal per serving
Dishoom Naan Roll£10.50 (one meal for two people midweek)£11.50 (one meal for two people weekend)
Hello Fresh£3.40 (five meals a box for four people)£5 (three meals a box for two people)
Gousto£2.98 (four meals a box for four people)£6.25 (two meals a box for two people)
Mindful Chef£6.25 (three meals a box for four people)£8.50 (two meals a box for two people)
Morrisons Eat Fresh (Subscription)£2.50 (four meals a box for four people)£3.50 (three meals a box for two people)
Pasta Evangelists£5.95 (one meal for two people)£10 (one meal for one person)
Scratch (in store at Waitrose)£3 (one meal for two people)£3 (one meal for two people)
Simply Cook (online)£3 (£9.99 kit for four meals for two people plus fresh ingredients)£6 (£9.99 kit for four meals for two people plus fresh ingredients)

How much do recipe boxes cost compare to the supermarket?

However, just because you’ll save money per meal by having them more often, you could well be spending a lot more overall when compared to your usual supermarket shopping.

Back in 2018 as part of the Channel 5 series Shop Smart Save Money, I visited Frankie and Scott in Peterborough to help them cut their expenses. One thing I spotted was they received a regular Gousto box.

They were spending £47.75 a month, so £573 a year, to get four servings of four meals. This is actually the cheapest box per portion, working out at £2.98 a meal per person. Which doesn’t actually sound that bad. The prices are the same in 2021.

So we had a look at the ingredients of their latest box and compared it to buying all those at a Tesco. I’ve updated the figures to check if things have changed.

We compared the prices in two ways. First, gram for gram, so what you’d be paying per portion. And then the actual spend in the supermarket to get all the ingredients.

Obviously with both this is assuming you’re paying full price for your supermarket supplies and Gousto box.

Comparing prices for a two-person, two-meal box

MealGousto cost per portionTesco cost per portion (gram for gram)Tesco cost per portion (actual spend)
Chicken and Hummus Bowl  with Sweet Potato Wedges£6.25 (2 people having 2 meals)£3.41£6.27
Chinese style Beef and Green Pepper Stir Fry£6.25 (2 people having two meals)£3.58£7.69

Comparing prices for a four-person, four-meal box

MealGousto cost per portionTesco cost per portion (gram for gram)Tesco cost per portion (actual spend)
Chicken and Hummus Bowl  with Sweet Potato Wedges£2.98 (4 people having 4 meals)£3.41£3.80
Chinese style Beef and Green Pepper Stir Fry£2.98 (4 people having 4 meals)£3.58£5.13

Gram for gram cost compared

This comparison is if you bought all ingredients but just costing out what you use.

The supermarket was significantly cheaper per portion than people getting just two meals in each Gousto box. Averaging the two recipes I looked at, it’s 44% less, saving £5.51 a box. Do that weekly, and it’s £286.52 more a year.

Of course, the more meals you order, the lower the Gousto price goes. But you’re still saving money with supermarket prices on the other combinations.

In fact, there’s only one box available from Gousto that works out cheaper, the huge four meals for four people box. This works out at £1.03 less a week, or £53.56 a year.

Actual spend compared

Of course, in real life you’ll need to buy all the ingredients in the size the supermarket sells them. So you have to get more than you need for many of the recipes.

The actual cost to buy everything for a two-person, two meal shop for these meals at Tesco would be £29.32. That’s versus £25 from Gousto.

With a four-person, four meal shop, that increases to £71.46. That’s a lot less per person as you’re really only buying the fresh meat and veg extra – the herbs and spices costs remain the same.

The same number of meals would cost £47.75 from Gousto if you ordered the four people, four meal box- a huge amount less.

Yet for two people ordering two boxes of four recipes (to get the equivalent number of meals), you’d pay £69.98 – only a couple of quid less.

So the boxes are better value on actual spend? Well you need to remember that extra spend at the supermarket will also mean there are leftovers on dry ingredients. Rice, paprika, soy sauce – all things you’ll likely use again, and therefore not need to buy again. So the more you cook these recipes, the lower the cost would be from the supermarket.

Are recipe boxes good or bad?

Andy’s analysis

I was surprised that the boxes could actually be cheaper than home-cooked! But to achieve this you need to order a lot of meals.

They’re still more expensive than the supermarket alternatives for anyone other than a family of four ordering four different meal a box.

And that’s also only when you are comparing like for like. How many of us actually do this kind of dinner that often? Sometimes, you’re more than happy with a simple pasta or sausage and mash, which will all have a cheaper per portion cost.

So in all likelihood, most people will spend less per week cooking at home than using the boxes.

Personally I would avoid them if you live in a small household as you will be paying well over the odds.

Ok you don’t get the recipes selected for you, but there are literally thousands of new ideas to be discovered online at the likes of BBC Food and Good Housekeeping. That’s essentially doing the same thing!

And the extra spices etc are no bad thing – especially when you think about the plastic packing these are split into on most recipe kits.

Recipe box special offers

If you do order the boxes, it’s worth taking advantage of the special introductory offers – this will also let you try all the different brands. You can often get between 25% and 50% off your first order.

From my research, the best deals tend to be where you get those promo codes and additional cashback from the likes of Quidco and TopCashback. For example a £47.75 Gousto box could only cost you £8.65. Plus, if you’ve never used either of these sites before you can claim a welcome bonus on top, worth up to £17.

I’m always on the look out though for other savings, and I’ll list the best offers on my food & drinks deals page.

Our podcast

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

Episodes every Tuesday.

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

Recipe box vs supermarket cost breakdown

If you’re interested, here’s how much the two Gousto recipes I compared would cost gram for gram at Tesco.

First is the total spend at the supermarket, then price for what you’ll actually use in the meal, then price per portion. Obviously with many of the items you’ll have herbs, spices and oils left over to use on future recipes.

Chicken and Hummus Bowl  with Sweet Potato Wedges

Supermarket SpendPrice per mealPrice per portion
4 garlic cloves£0.25£0.13£0.06
2 lemon£0.60£0.60£0.30
4 tbsp tahini x (18g/tbsp. =72g.)£2.60£0.62£0.31
2 tsp dried chilli flakes x 2.8g£0.85£0.09£0.04
2 tsp smoked paprika = 4.8g£0.90£0.09£0.05
2 spring onion£0.37£0.09£0.05
2 tbsp tomato paste= 30g£0.27£0.04£0.02
600g sweet potatoes£1.10£0.66£0.33
2 red onion (200g each)£0.21£0.42£0.21
2 large British chicken breast fillet£3.50 (for four)£1.75£0.88
2 can of chickpeas£1.10£1.10£0.55
4 tbsp ras el hanout x 30g*£1.65£1.30£0.65
TOTAL COST£13.40£6.89£3.41
* Morrisons price

Chinese style Beef and Green Pepper Stir Fry

Supermarket SpendPrice per mealPrice per portion
2 brown onions£0.20£0.20£0.10
6 garlic cloves£0.25£0.13£0.07
2 green pepper£0.90£0.90£0.45
4 tbsp hoisin sauce x 70g£1.89£0.63£0.32
500g British beef mince£3.50£3.50£1.75
4 tbsp (24ml) Shaoxing wine£3.00£0.48£0.24
8 soy sauce sachets (32ml)£0.65£0.14£0.07
2 red chilli£0.60£0.40£0.20
10g toasted sesame seeds*£1.00£0.10£0.05
30g fresh root ginger£0.53£0.16£0.08
260g basmati rice£1.60£0.42£0.21
2 toasted sesame oil sachet (15ml)£1.80£0.11£0.05
BASKET COST£15.92£7.16£3.58
* Ocado Price
January 25, 2021   |   Articles

How to cut the cost of your overdraft

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You could be paying as much as 40% interest each time you dip into your overdraft.

Last year the banks were made to bring in a simplified single interest rate charge for overdrafts. The hope was this would make it easier for people to work out how the cost the existing mix of daily fees, interest and other charges.

Well, it’s certainly a lot clearer – but sadly it’s not necessarily going to be any cheaper to go overdrawn. The banks pretty much all decided to charge around 40%.

For those that only rarely use an overdraft it’ll actually be cheaper. But for people who “live in their overdraft” it’ll probably cost a lot more.

In fact, at 40%, an overdraft is now one of the most expensive ways to borrow money! So if you regularly use one the best way to beat these costs is to clear the overdraft and get your bank balance back in the black.

Reducing the cost of your overdraft

Of course, wiping out hundreds or thousands of pounds isn’t going to be quick – so don’t wait. Every day you’re in an expensive overdraft it’s costing you cash.  You want to first of all find a way to reduce the interest that gets added.

I’ve shared a few tips in this video, or keep reading.

You can watch more videos over on my YouTube channel. If you found this useful, please click through and like / comment on the video

Move to a cheaper overdraft

You can switch bank accounts even if you have an overdraft – though the new bank has to agree to offer you a new overdraft. This can be dependent on how large your overdraft is and on your wider credit report.

The best overdrafts are obviously 0% ones. These tend to be quite small. M&S Bank has a £250 0% overdraft, but there aren’t many others out there (First Direct account are still closed to new aplicants).

For a larger interest free overdraft you can apply for a Nationwide FlexDirect account. New customers who’ve not had the account before can get a one year 0% overdraft, giving you more time to pay it off. The size of the overdraft will be dependant on your credit report.

You can check out the best overdraft deals at the banks here.

Ask for a £500 interest-free buffer

One of the support measures introduced during lockdown was a £500 interest-free overdraft for all banks. It was set to last just three months, but you can ask for a further three months.

This ended with most banks last year, but a handful extended this. You have until 31st January 2021 with Halifax, Lloyds and Bank of Scotland to make your initial or extension request. At Santander it’s until 4th May 2021.

If £500 isn’t enough to cover your debt, or you’re with a differen bank, then ask for other ways they can help you. This could be temporarily reducing or waiving the rate you’re charged, or perhaps looking at a loan to help you clear it at a lower rate.

Failing that you might look at Monzo or Starling which have cheaper overdrafts for some customers.

Get a 0% Money Transfer credit card

These credit cards work like a balance transfer credit card but instead using a new credit card to clear a credit card debt, you’re using one to clear your overdraft. So you’ll still owe the cash, but it’ll be on a 0% deal for a set amount of time, usually 18 months or more.

There’s normally a fee to transfer the money from the new credit card over to your bank account, and of course you need to make the minimum repayment on the new card (at least) each month.

Here’s more on how Money Transfer credit cards work.

Get a loan

For large amounts, you could look to a cheaper loan to clear your overdraft. You’ll obviously need to make sure you pay that loan off. The best rates will depend on your credit file.

How to clear your overdraft

Once you’ve reduced the cost of the overdraft you need to start paying off the money you owe.

Use savings

If you have savings, you’re better off using them to clear your overdraft. The interest you’re earning on them will be far, far worse than what you’re being charged. If are worried about what would happen if you have an emergency later on having cleared out your savings, you can then look to borrow money. But there’s no point borrowing, and being charged for it, when you don’t need to.

Open a new bank account

The big tip from Sara Williams at Debt Camel when she guested on my podcast was to open a separate account for day to day spending – essentially starting afresh.

This helps you split out the overdraft you owe and the money you have coming in. So the old account would now work more like any other debt you have. You can see the balance owed going down as you clear it rather than see it reduce you get paid and increase as you pay the bills.

Ideally set up a set amount to transfer over to the debt each month, and top it up with more cash when it’s available.

Use the money that would have been interest payments

If you’re now paying 0% interest, you’ll be saving the cash that would previously have gone on those overdraft charges. Make sure that money is still going towards the debt to help clear it faster.

Have some leaner months

If the overdraft isn’t huge, then it might not take long to clear it by drastically cutting back your spending over a few months. Once it’s back to zero, make sure you don’t dip back into it.

You can also look to earn extra cash, such as selling unwanted and unused items online or taking on extra work.

January 20, 2021   |   Articles

HSBC to close 82 branches

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Find out if your local branch is affected, and what you can do if it is.

Starting in April 2021 and continuing until September, a total of 82 HSBC branches will be closed.

We’ve seen this happen more and more in recent years as people turn to online and digital banking, reducing the need to ever bank in person.

Even without the pandemic, HSBC says 90% off all customers use phone, internet or app banking, and branch use has dropped by a third in the last five years.

Other HSBC branches could also change and no longer provide “full service” banking. It’ll also potentially impact First Direct and M&S Bank customers who are able to use HSBC branches to pay in cheques or withdraw cash.

These latest closures will mean a total of 3,836 branches across all banks have shut since 2015, according to Which?.

There’s a full list of which branches are going and when below, but first some tips for you if you are affected.

What to do if your branch closes

If you bank with HSBC and your local branch closes you’ve got a few options. It depends on whether you think you need to have a branch near you or not.

Those not bothered about losing a local branch don’t need to do anything and you can do most banking online. However, I’d say you’d be better off looking for a better digital bank, such as Monzo or Starling. I think it’s also worth considering that HSBC scores poorly when ethical banking is taken into account.

If you do need some services, HSBC claims 81 of the branches going are less than a mile from a Post Office and two-thirds are within five miles of another HSBC.

But if it’s important that you have a branch near you then you might want to consider switching to a new bank. The risk is future branch closures could see your new location disappear too, but until that happens it’s not worth worrying about.

If you are thinking of changing your bank, make sure you see what options are available to you, such as freebies, overdrafts and switching bonuses.

Full list of HSBC branches closing in 2021

23rd April:

  • Edinburgh, Princess St

7th May: Brighton,

  • Ditchling Road; Hull,
  • Merit House; Wednesbury;
  • Sutton Coldfield, Four Oaks

14th May:

  • Hull, Holderness Road;
  • Pontyclun, Talbot Green;
  • London, Fleet Street;
  • London, Fenchurch Street

21st May:

  • London, Old Broad Street;
  • London, Charing Cross;
  • Sheffield, Darnall;
  • Oxford, Summertown

28th May:

  • Leeds, Chapel Allerton;
  • Cardiff, Rumney;
  • Torquay, Strand;
  • Staines

4th June:

  • Plymouth, Forder House;
  • Belper, King Street;
  • Colchester;
  • London, Whitechapel

11th June:

  • London, Marylebone;
  • London, Streatham Hill;
  • Falkirk High Street;
  • Fleet, Fleet Road

18th June:

  • Reading, Woodley;
  • Oxford, Headington;
  • Swansea, Gorseinon;
  • Wigston, Leicester Road

25th June:

  • Tavistock, Bedford Square;
  • Bristol, Nailsea;
  • Leeds, Cross Gates;
  • Yate, North Walk

2nd July:

  • London, Kingsbury Road;
  • Cleckheaton, Bradford Road
  • Bexleyheath, Broadway
  • London, South Woodford

9th July:

  • Birmingham, Erdington;
  • Goole, Wesley Square;
  • Congleton, High Street;
  • Formby, Chapel Lane

16th July:

  • Gillingham, Kent;
  • Dunstable, West Street;
  • Chorley, Market Street;
  • Pontypridd, Taff Street

23rd July:

  • Felixstowe, Hamilton Road;
  • Godalming, High Street;
  • Prestatyn, High Street;
  • London, Southgate

30th July:

  • Tewkesbury, High Street;
  • Maldon, High Street;
  • Hatfield;
  • Herts;
  • Huntingdon, High Street

6th August:

  • Stockport, Bramhall;
  • London, Russell Square;
  • Richmond, Market Place

13th August:

  • Loughton, High Road
  • Rustington, The Street
  • Exmouth, Chapel Street

20th August:

  • Bournemouth, Winton;
  • Liverpool, University;
  • Cleveleys, Victoria Square;
  • Clevedon, Triangle

27th August:

  • Northallerton, High Street;
  • Walton-on-Thames, High Street;
  • London, High Holborn

3rd September:

  • Barry, Holton Road;
  • Aldershot, Wellington Street;
  • Eastcote, Field End Road;
  • London, Edgware Road

10th September:

  • Ramsgate, High Street;
  • Manchester, Chorlton-Cum-Hardy;
  • Letchworth, Station Place;
  • London, Hackney

17th September:

  • Barnet, High Street;
  • Deal, High Street;
  • Cheshunt, Turners Hill;
  • Swadlincote, High Street

24th September:

  • Dorking, West Street;
  • Welshpool, Broad Street;
  • London, Surrey Quays;
  • Worksop, Bridge Street

For those wanting to move away from HSBC, here’s my look at the best bank accounts in the UK.

December 30, 2020   |   Articles

The best of 2020

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Catch up on my top articles, podcasts and videos from the last 12 months.

Over the last 12 months I’ve written 172 articles, recorded 64 episodes of my Cash Chats podcast and uploaded 84 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 last couple of months.

The blog

It’s been a record year for visits to this site. In total 1.2 million people came to Be Clever With Your Cash reading a total of just over 1.6million pages.

Deals were as ever a huge part of the traffic, but here are the most read articles published this year:

And my favourite article from the last few month is my look at the reasons you might want to shop less at Amazon.

YouTube

I started to take YouTube a bit more seriously this year and that focus has worked, with subscribers jumping from around 500 to 4,100.

The most viewed videos created this year were:

From the most recent videos, my picks is this guide to cashback credit card hacks.

Cash Chats podcast

It was also the biggest year for my podcast, which was featured as one of the top money podcasts by Apple, Stylist, the i, The Sun and others.

The most listened to episodes this year were:

One of the more recent ones which I really enjoyed was this chat with Matt Alwright (BBC’s Watchdog) about our consumer pet hates.

You can subscribe to Cash Chats on your podcast app via these buttons

December 9, 2020   |   Articles

Is PayPal a good way to pay?

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From security to crowd funding, I’ve taken a look at the pros and cons of the digital payment company in this review.

PayPal can be a handy way to pay. For a start you don’t need to have any cards on you for quick online payments.

For many the main reason for having one was to sell on eBay. But that’s changing, and by the end of 2021 all private sellers will be using a PayPal free system.

Plus, from 16th December 2020 you’ll be charged to have a PayPal account you aren’t using.

And with so many other advancements in the ways we pay, such as Apple Pay and Curve, do you still need PayPal?

I’ve taken a look at the good and the bad of PayPal in the video review below, or keep reading for the full article.

Click over to my YouTube channel to like and subscribe

What is PayPal?

PayPal is essentially a digital wallet. You can connect your bank account and as many of your debit and credit cards as you want. You can also keep cash in there, either money that’s sent to you or money you withdraw from your bank.

There are two main PayPal accounts – personal and business – the focus here is on the personal accounts. This personal account is free – though as I explain below there is a new charge for inactive accounts.

Once you’ve got your PayPal account you’ll probably use it for one of three reasons:

You can use it to buy things

You’ll mainly see PayPal at the checkout for online shops. It’s the most common way to pay outside using your debit or credit card.

But you can also use it to pay out and about. Generally the retailer would produce a QR code for you to scan which then gives you the details to pay with from your PayPal app.

You can use it to send money

As long as who you want to pay has a PayPal account you can send them cash via your wallet. If they don’t have an account they’ll have to set one up.

This is obviously quicker and easier than typing in all their account details to your banking app – though services like Paym also get around it.

You can use it to request money

Asking for money works the same way. You just put the email address they use into PayPal and how much they owe you and send it across.

Pros of PayPal

You can use cards without sharing your card details

I think most people will have used PayPal because they had to (on sites such as eBay) or because you didn’t want to put your card details into a website.

The merchant will never see your connected card details when you use PayPal, so it’s a good way to pay when you’re not sure about the security of a website.

It’s a quick way to pay

It’s also pretty fast and convenient method of payment. If I’m at home on the sofa using my laptop there’s a good chance I won’t have my wallet with me. But a few clicks via PayPal and I’m able to pay and add my delivery details for a speedy checkout.

Using PayPal with an American Express card

This is a great work around for people wanting to earn cashback and rewards at retailers that don’t accept Amex credit cards but do take PayPal.

Very simply you pay with PayPayl and use your underlying Amex to fund the transaction. It’s a good fix, though do read some of the downsides of using any credit card on PayPal below.

You can crowdfund

I didn’t know about PayPal Money Pools until the other week.

It was my brother-in-law’s 40th during the lockdown so celebration plans were cancelled. Instead, my sister set about crowdfunding contributions from friends and family to help buy a special present. She used Money Pool and it worked great.

It’s free to set up, free to make contributions and free to make payments from! It could be handy for anything from wedding lists through to group holiday funds.

It’s launching a virtual card

So far virtual cards have been something you only see on Fintech banking apps – and often only with paid for accounts like Monzo Premium. well, PayPal is launching its own one – PayPal Key.

Essentially a virtual card is as it sounds. There’s just a long number, expiry date and three digit CSV. No plastic (or metal) to go in your wallet.

This has a few benefits. First, It means you can use your PayPal accounts even on sites which don’t have a PayPal button.

And it also provides an added level of security. You can generate a new virtual card whenever you want. So if your details are compromised, you can just create a new one to replace it.

At the moment it’s only in the USA, but hopefully we’ll see it here in the UK soon. This link should help you enrol when it is live.

PayPal has extra offers

From time to time you’ll see special deals to earn you a little back on your purchases. Most aren’t great, but it’s worth looking at from time to time as there can be some winners.

To find these you need to log in to your PayPal account and hit the offers tab.

These change regularly. At the time of writing there’s a £10 referral bonus offer if you invite new customers and £20 back on £90 of shopping at select retailers. You can find out more about the latest offers in my PayPal deals page.

The Cons of PayPal

You lose Section 75 Protection

Using PayPal with a credit card breaks the direct connection between you as the buyer and the retailer as the provider. You are instead paying PayPal who then pays the retailer.

This, in turn, means you lose Section 75 protection – a law that means credit card companies are equally liable with the the shop or business that’s sold you to you if something goes wrong, such as a delivery not arriving.

Section 75 only works for items or services costing more than £100, so if you have something you want to protect above that value, use a credit card instead.

Instead, you can claim via Chargeback or PayPal’s own Buyer Protection Promise. Neither are a legal consumer right to your money back.

If something you buy isn’t what you expected or doesn’t arrive you’ll be able to make a claim (in most cases) via PayPal Buyer Protection. You’ll be covered for the full purchase price and packaging.

However Which? magazine recently found customers are frequently let down if they’ve been victim to fraud.

You’ll be charged if you don’t use it

PayPal is free for buying things and sending money, right? Well yes. As long as you use it. If your account is classed as inactive there’s a new £9 annual fee starting on the 16th December 2020.

Fortunately it’s easy to avoid this. The charge is only added to your account if:

  • You’ve not signed into your account for 12 months
  • You’ve not used your account for 12 months

So very simply you just need to put a note in your diary to log-in once every 12 months. Or if you’re not going to use it at all just close it down.

If you do forget the £12 will be deducted from the funds you have in your account not your connected card or bank account. And it won’t take more than the amount you have there. So if there’s just £8 in your PayPal account, you’ll only lose £8. So it makes sense to not leave any cash in there – just in case.

You’ll also get reminders 60 and 30 days before a charge is due.

Scammers love pretending to be from PayPal

One of the most common scam emails I get is from someone pretending to be from PayPal. No doubt that’ll increase on the back of the new dormancy fee.

These can look professional, so the best way to check if it’s a legit message from email is to look at the sender’s actual email. If it’s not “@ PayPal.com” then it’s not real. Here’s more on how to spot a fake email.

If scammers do get access to your account and use it without your authorisation you should be covered by PayPal’s protections.

But if you send them money, then your rights in terms of getting the money back are much reduced.

Watch out for businesses asking you to pay as “friend”

If you are selling something, either yourself or as a business, then PayPal takes a fee. You’ll have seen this if you’ve sold on eBay.

Sometimes if you’re using PayPal to buy from a brand they’ll ask you to send the money via the “Sending to a friend” option. This will save them fees, which they might promise to pass on to you.

But doing this instead of the “Paying for an item or a service” option will mean you lose the purchase protection. So if something goes wrong or it doesn’t arrive you’ve nowhere to go to get your money back.

It’s hard to use in-store

Though you can use PayPal in participating shops, it’s rare to see it accepted. And it’s not really any easier or quicker than just tapping your card to pay. But I doubt anyone would want to use this to replace paying with cards so it’s not much of an issue.

It encourages you to take out credit

It can be very easy to get credit from PayPal. Which can be dangerous.

Don’t get me wrong, it could be useful. 0% credit to spread out the cost of something expensive can make things you need more affordable. But it’s not all 0%. And even if it is, you need to make sure you can afford it.

But what I really don’t like is that it’s pushed at you when you checkout, and that’s about to get worse.

PayPal is trying to compete with the like of Klarna via a new service called Pay in 3. It works in the same way as the others, letting you split the cost of something across three payments with 0% interest.

I’m not a fan of this type of borrowing. There are moves to bring in regulations to cover Buy Now Pay Later lenders, but for now you need to be careful of using them too readily.

The currency conversion rate isn’t great

If you are someone who sends money internationally you can use PayPal. But my limited experience of this (when buying things in US dollars) has seen a worse exchange rate than I’d get elsewhere.

I’ve not looked into this enough to recommend the best alternative, but it’s worth checking the exchange rates and charges elsewhere to see if you can get a better deal.

Conclusion: Should you use PayPal?

Though the negatives listed above outweigh the positives in number, I still think PayPal is a decent option if you are aware of the risks.

It’s certainly not going to be the main way to pay, but I don’t think anyone would want it to be. It’s simply a choice you’ve got.

Just remember you do need to be extra careful with the scammers, so always check a PayPal email really is from PayPal. And make sure you log-in once a year to avoid that annual fee.

November 16, 2020   |   Articles

Reasons not to shop at Amazon

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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.

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!

Our podcast

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

Episodes every Tuesday.

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

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.

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.