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March 11, 2020   |   Articles

Budget 2020: What it means for you

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Sick pay if you self-isolate or get coronavirus among the big announcements in today’s budget.

Brexit and elections mean it’s been a while (17 months!) since we had a full budget, but Coronavirus and the reshuffle last month mean this Budget was always going to be one low on announcements that’ll impact our day-to-day finances.

Even so today the new Chancellor Rishi Sunak delivered some useful things for know, especially relating to sick pay and Covid-19 and support measures for the high street – though it’s not clear how it’s all going to be paid for.

Here’s are the key things that could make a difference to you.

Coronavirus and sick pay

The government will cover small businesses (less than 250 employees) to fund Statutory Sick Pay for staff who are forced to self-isolate due to coronavirus for 14 days. 

This SSP will be available from day one rather than the standard day four. Bear in mind here that SSP is £94.25 a week (though your employer could choose to pay you more) and you are only eligible if you earn at least £118 a week.

Those who are self-employed or are low earners and are forced to self-isolate they’ll be able to apply for Universal Credit or Contributory Employment and Support Allowance. They can do this online rather than visit a jobcentre and get advance payments upfront rather than wait for the usual five weeks.

There will also be a £500 million hardship fund available to local authorities to use, largely to fund Council Tax relief.

And the NHS will have support “whatever it costs”  in the fight against the spread of the virus.

National Insurance

We’ve known about this for a while. The threshold where you start paying NI will increase from £8,632 to £9,500 from April 6th 2020. 

This means a typical employee will be better off by £104 a year, or £78 if you’re self-employed.

Tax changes

There will be no increase on duty (i.e. tax) on fuel, beer, spirits, cider and wine. 

VAT is going to be dropped on digital books, magazines or newspapers from December 2020. Printed publications are already VAT-free.

And another we’ve known about for a while is the axing of the 0.5% VAT on female sanitary products, aka the tampon tax.

Savings

There was very little to boost savings, which will be made worse by today’s interest rate cut, but the allowance for a Junior ISA will increase to £9,000 – more than double the current £4,368.

Wages & benefits

Something already announced was that the National Living Wage – which isn’t actually anywhere near to a real living wage – will increase in April from £8.21 an hour to £8.72. New though was the ambition to extend this to 21-year olds by 2024.

The benefits freeze will also end meaning from April payments will increase by 1,7%.

Debts

A  breathing space will be introduced from early 2021 that’ll mean people with unmanageable debts can hae 60-days where interest and fees are frozen. Again, this has already been announced but it’s included in the Budget papers. 

The high street

Business rates abolished this year for businesses with rateable value of less than £51,000. So shops, cinemas, restaurants and music venues will benefit, along with museums, galleries, theatres, gyms and more. That’s estimated by the government to be worth £25,000 a year to each small business.

Pubs will also get an increased business rates discount this year, growing from £1,000 off to £5,000 off. 

Motoring and travel

£500 million to make sure more rapid charging hubs are built so drivers are never more than 30 miles away from a charge point for their car.

There’s also going to be a fund to fill 50 million potholes and money towards road and rail improvements.

March 3, 2020   |   Articles

Fairtrade bananas: How much more do they really cost?

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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.

 WaitroseTescoAsdaSainsbury’sLidl
Loose 170g banana
 14.28p14.161p 13.94p
Loose 170g Fairtrade banana14.96p  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. 

 TescoAsdaMorrisonsLidlOcado
Loose 170g banana
14.28p14.161p 13.94p 
Non-Fairtrade bunch
20p18p20p17.8p 
Fairtrade bunch    19.8p
Fairtrade organic bunch
27p20p26p19.2p26.7p

(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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March 1, 2020   |   Articles

How to stockpile for an emergency

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With more and more people building up a food stockpiles, should you be buying some emergency supplies?

I first wrote this article in 2019 when stockpiling became a hot topic around fears of a no-deal Brexit, but it’s getting a lot of traffic again now as people begin to worry about the effect of Coronavirus. Everything I’ve written below is still relevant if you’re thinking of getting some emergency food and toiletries in.

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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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If you’ve been into a supermarket or shopped online recently you won’t have escaped a growing number of sections with no stock. The reason? People are stockpiling for Brexit. And quite a few of them too. A survey last month found one in six Brits had already started or was about to start doing it.

And I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s even more people now, worried about stock running low due to others stockpiling, or news that big retailers like Sainsbury’s and M&S are concerned about the supply chains in the event of a no-deal Brexit. And it’s not just food. There are already reports of shortages of some medicines, while I’ve seen entire shelves cleared out of toilet roll.

But I’ve been sceptical of getting involved. The more people stockpile, the more there will be empty shelves. This, in turn, could panic others into taking part too. Though supermarkets are stockpiling themselves, this run on the supermarkets could lead to shortages. And that’s even before the chaos of a no-deal Brexit. So I’ve held back writing about this so not to fan any flames.

Why stockpile?

However, when both Becky and I were recently ill and hardly left home for a week, we very quickly got through a lot of our everyday storecupboard and frozen supplies. It actually surprised me how poorly prepared we’d be for any prolonged period where we couldn’t get food.

Plus, though we don’t know how badly Brexit will affect our access to food, there are daily news reports out there which suggest even if the government manage to negotiate a smooth departure there will still be higher prices and stock problems. Both are reasons to begin stockpiling, especially if you’d struggle with the cost of food going up or if you have dietary requirements.

And as our illness showed, all sorts of emergencies could force you to delve into your stockpile. For example, if you live in an isolated area it only takes some heavy snow or flooding to stop you leaving your home.

So for all those reasons we’ve now started to build up our own supply of food and toiletries. Here are some basic rules you need to follow to make sure you’re not wasting money or food.

Stockpiling rules

Buy what you’ll actually use

For the most part, only buy things you’d usually have and use. As you use them in normal life you can just replace them in your stockpile.

There will, of course, be some things where the long-life version isn’t something you’d normally buy. For example, you might usually get fresh milk, fruit or fish rather than UHT or tinned versions. But it’s important to make sure you’ve got a supply of vitamins, protein and calcium. 

Stock up to on herbs, spices, stock cubes and so on. Plus oil for cooking with. 

However, avoid buying food you won’t eat. I’m thinking about things I wouldn’t normally touch like pot noodles or tinned all-day English breakfasts.

Check what you’ve already got

A lot of the things you think you might need might already be in your cupboards and freezers, so it’s just a case of replacing them as you use them.

Only spend what you can afford

Don’t get into debt by whacking a year’s supply of tins on a credit card. Work out what you can afford and stock up as and when you have more cash.

You’ll get more for your money if you downgrade to own branded items, and obviously, look for special offers. And look for reduced food to fill your freezer.

Check expiration dates

Some food won’t be suitable as it’ll be out of date sooner rather than later. But it’s worth checking everything.

We picked up six tins of tomatoes on special offer with a date of Dec 2019. Which is more than long enough. But we already had some in the cupboard with a date of Dec 2020! So do check for the longest dates possible. Also, remember that you can still eat anything past its best before date, but not anything past its use by date.

You’ll need to keep track too. Use any food which is nearing its end date and then replace it.

Think beyond food

Toilet roll, toothpaste, cleaning products and the like could all also be affected by problems with the supply chains or trade deals. These products will all last for ages. You should also think about your pets, and things like batteries, cling film and foil.

Extreme stockpiling

If you read any of the Brexit Prepper forums you’ll see people talking about water purification tablets, solar chargers, gas stoves and tents. I think this is extreme for Brexit, but as I said earlier, you should think about stockpiling for any kind of emergency.

So say water supplies were contaminated or energy supplies cut then some of those things could come in handy. I won’t get into it here, but you can search online if you want to take your stockpiling to the next level…

What if there’s no need to use your stockpile

There’s little harm buying supplies of things you’re going to eat anyway. If Brexit is delayed then you just won’t need to buy your supplies for a while. So pasta, rice, tinned tomatoes, etc are likely to all be storecupboard staples that you’ll get through.

Of course, you might not use everything. For example, if you bought powdered egg but there’s always a supply of fresh eggs, then you’re unlikely to use this alternative. Or if you’ve got huge numbers of some items – some people are stockpiling for a year – then you’re not going to want to solely eat these if you don’t have to.

In either of these cases, you can donate surplus supplies to a food bank. Aim to do this at least three months before the expiration date. You can find many local foodbanks via the Trussell Trust, but there could be others too.

Do you have a stockpile? What’s in it? Let me know in the comments below

February 27, 2020   |   Articles

How to stick to a budget

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Simple tricks that’ll help you stay on budget.

If you’re always overspending and struggling to stick to a budget you’re not alone. It can be tough keeping track of where your money is going.

So in this video I’ve got a few simple tricks you can use that’ll help you work out not only how much you really can afford to spend, but ensure you’ve got the flexibility to adapt.

Subscribe to Andy’s YouTube channel for more videos. Plus please click the “thumbs up” icon as it helps the video appear higher up in YouTube’s search results.

Further reading and viewing

> The Money Advice Service’s budget planner

> How to stop spending video

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February 24, 2020   |   Articles

Be Clever With Your Cash is six!

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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. 

The business

It’s been a pretty big year for me. Though I quit my job at the Money Advice Service in May 2018, I immediately went on to work at least two days a week on Shop Smart Save Money on Channel 5 for just over a year. So it wasn’t until that finished last summer that I was finally 100% self-employed.

I’ve been looking forward to this for a long time, but when it happened I actually found it really overwhelming. I’d put off so many ideas and tasks until I had more time that when that time finally came I had a bit of paralysis in terms of what to actually do. Which meant I didn’t actually do anything new!

Fortunately, that only lasted a few weeks after I realised I still couldn’t do everything I wanted. So I focused instead on kick-starting my Cash Chats podcast and YouTube channel which had both taken a back seat during filming (more on those later).

I still don’t have enough time to do everything I want, but I’m really enjoying the ability to help you all as well as reach new people via these other formats.

There have been other challenges too. I’m essentially on my own in my basement office five days a week, so I do miss having colleagues around me. One thing that’s helped is a weekly video chat with some of my fellow money bloggers from my UK Money Bloggers community, many of whom are in the same boat. 

But there are good things too. I love that I’m not constrained by working 9-5, or Monday to Friday. I’ve been playing tennis twice a week in the day and (despite how expensive my local David Lloyd club is) it’s the highlight of my week. I occasionally let myself sneak out to the cinema too!

The blog

My focus, of course, has been the blog itself, and it’s gone really well – though it’s not always been a certainty!

Most of my traffic comes from Google searches, which can be quite unpredictable. Every month or so Google releases an “algorithm update”, which (in theory) makes the search results better for everyone. As someone who runs a website these changes can actually be a little scary. 

I’ve had months where previously popular posts have lost most of their traffic after an update, followed by them regain much of what they lost with a later change.

It’s frustrating, and particularly hard to keep on top of this as a lone blogger when you’re competing for the top results with massive publishers backed by team’s who’s only job is “Search Engine Optimisation”, aka SEO.

But even with these ups and downs, pages on the blog have been viewed just under 1.6 million times in the last year, with November getting 179,000 odd views – both best-ever figures since I started. 

And obviously that all adds up. In a few weeks time, Be Clever With Your Cash will have been visited by its 4th million person since it launched. When I started the blog I never imagined I could help this many people. 

It’s impossible to know if every person has taken some action after they’ve read something I’ve written, and the amount they’ve saved or made as a result. But I like to think everyone one of them has saved at least £1. Just a quid.

I think that’s more than fair seeing as I’ve shared dozens of ways you can save hundreds of pounds over the years. And that means the blog has helped save the UK £4 million. At least! 

The blog also picked up Best Personal Finance Blog and was chosen as runner-up for Best Money Saving Blog and Article of the Year at the 2019 SHOMOs.

The podcast

I’m probably most proud of Cash Chats in the last 12 months. Though I started it three years ago, this year was the first time I really felt I knew what it was and who it was for.

Part of that was realising that it is its own thing with its own audience. Yes I’m sure of you regular readers also listen to the podcast, but many people are coming to the podcast without even knowing about the blog.

I’ve also been more committed to getting an episode out every week, and as a result the listenership has grown since the relaunch in July. I’m not quite sure how the Apple podcasts charts work, but it’s also peaked at number 20 in the Business chart and number 5 in the investing chart (even though it’s not about investing!).

There’s been wider recognition too, receiving recommendations as one of the best money podcasts by Good Housekeeping, the ‘i’ and Stylist, as well as featuring in Apple Podcasts’ “Be A Better You” curation.

To cap it all off, it was awarded Best Money Podcast at the 2019 SHOMO awards in September, beating some excellent and well-established shows.

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

TV and YouTube

My Channel 5 series Shop Smart Save Money returned for another eight episodes last summer. It was such a privilege to work on this show, in particular getting to meet different families who really needed my help.

I really think we made some great TV, and I was delighted to be shortlisted for Financial Broadcaster of the Year at the 2019 Headlinemoney awards for the work on the show. I’m hoping I’ll be back on your screens soon (any TV producers are welcome to get in touch!)

In the meantime I’ve been upping my game on the videos I make at home for the blog and my YouTube channel. Previously I’d just used my phone, but this summer I invested in a decent camera, microphone, lights and even some fancy furniture for a nice background.

It’s hard work growing the YouTube channel – like the podcast it seems it’s a different audience again – and I’m still learning. It certainly takes up a lot of my time! But once more I’ve seen some really strong progress.

The big editorial change I’ve made from previous videos is the move from short two or three-minute clips to videos that last 15 to 20 minutes. I’ve always been someone who prefers to read an article, but it’s good to be able to help those who prefer to watch.

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

New this year has also been a special “deals of the week” video every Thursday morning for social media, which allows me to talk a bit more about the offers I feature in the weekly newsletter. You can watch follow me on Facebook and Instagram if you want to catch it.

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. 

February 20, 2020   |   Articles

How to stop spending money

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The tricks to help you avoid shopping addictions, impulse spending and payday splurges.

It’s easy to get carried away when shopping and come home with an impulse buy (or two). There’s nothing wrong with that – as long as you can afford it and use what you buy.

If you can’t, or there’s something else you’re struggling to save for, then it’s time to stop spending money when you don’t need to.

In this video I’ve shared how you can identify, reduce and then block your bad spending habits.

For more videos, please do head on over and subscribe to my YouTube channel. If you can also click the thumbs up for this and any other video on the channel I’d really appreciate it.

Further reading

> How to set savings goals you’ll actually stick to

> Finder’s Icebox tool 

February 5, 2020   |   Articles

Do you really need to switch bank?

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I’m a huge fan of moving from a bank that does nothing for you to one that will give you something back. But do you need to switch?

The latest figures show 6.3 million bank switches have happened since the 2013 launch of the new system and guarantee, with more than million taking place in 2019 alone.

But with a population of 52 million adults, and assuming some people are like me and switching more than once, that leaves a lot of people who haven’t done it.

Is switching bank a good idea?

So should you switch? Well, first of all, how is your relationship with your bank right now? Is it good? Are you getting any extras from them? If so it might not be the best option to switch to a different one.

You also need to consider the impact of ditching your old bank on your credit score. Having a long relationship with a single financial institution can be really important, so moving bank before you’re about to apply for a mortgage isn’t the best idea.

On the other hand if it’s a one-way relationship with you getting nothing in return, or worse a bad experience, then moving your bank can be well worth it.

Though in truth it’s not so cut and dried. In fact whether your bank is great or a bit of a dud, you could get a better deal elsewhere. For example you could make more money from interest on your account, or you could reduce how much you pay on overdrafts or overseas spending.

Alternatively, you might find that with so banks closing you want to have your cash at a brand that has a branch near you. Perhaps you want to try out some of these new digital app-only banks that promise to help you keep track of your spending.

All good reasons to try something different, and I’ll go through my thoughts on these and more below. You can also listen along via this episode of my Cash Chats podcast.

How switching works

When you perform a full switch you have to close your old account but your payments are moved for you and there are guarantees in case something goes wrong. There’s more information on how this works here.

 

The thing is, with the majority of the reasons to change bank you don’t actually need to switch. You can just open up a new account. In fact there’s no reason why you can’t open as many as I have.

And there’s a third option, known as a partial switch. With this method you can choose which payments are moved to the new account – and you can keep your old account open.

Whichever option you go for, make sure you check the requirements for the new account to ensure you get the bonus/interest/reward etc. You might need to pay in a set amount every month or have a couple of direct debits come out of the account. Get this wrong and you could miss out.

Reasons to switch

Switching bonuses

These are the big reasons people switch bank. In the last three months of last year the biggest gains from switching were at HSBC, First Direct and M&S with 46,118 people moving over. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that they all offered bonuses.

Now these bonuses, which can range between £50 and £175 are only offered if you go through with a full switch. There have been far less of these recently that at other times over the last few years.

Right now only HSBC and First Direct offer a straight bonus, while Nationwide and TSB are giving away a referral bonus. That means nothing from Natwest, M&S Bank, Barclays, Halifax or Lloyds, who have all offered free cash recently. These can and do change on a regular basis so check out this page where I’m always updating what’s available.

Now that could be a sign that we’ll see less of these incentives going forward. Or we could see the others bring back offers in the coming months.

Personally I would take advantage of as many switching bonuses as possible. Once you’ve got the money you don’t need to stay, you can switch again.

If you’re not keen on closing our existing account to do this then you could just open up an account at another bank and use that as a “switching account” – i.e. one that’s just there to get the bonuses and not your real banking.

Verdict: Switch

Overdraft charges 

You can’t have missed that there’s been a big shakeup in the world of overdrafts. The idea behind the changes was the banks would set a simple rate for the overdraft charges so people could compare and switch if they wanted to get a better deal. Great idea.

But what’s happened is everyone has come in with very high and very similar rates: Here’s what they’re charging or will charge by spring 2020.

  • Nationwide already up to 39.9%
  • First Direct, HSBC and M&S Bank will also charge 39.9% from mid-March, and Santander from April
  • Barclays increases to 35% in late march
  • Natwest, and RBS will charge 35% from the start of April
  • Starling will charge either 15%, 25%or 35%
  • Monzo will charge either 19%, 29% and 39%

The banks say most overdraft users will be better off, particularly those who just dip on occasionally. But people with a large consistent overdraft could see charges rocket.

Either way, it now seems like it might actually be pointless to switch in order to cut your overdraft.

However, there are a couple of options worth considering, and I’d say you should switch to them as they also come with a £100 bonus or referral bonus.

They are the Nationwide FlexDirect account which gives 12 months 0% of around £1500, though there’s no guarantee you’ll get that, or the First Direct 1st Account which comes with a £250 buffer.

However if you have an overdraft it’s better to clear it, perhaps with a 0% money transfer cards.

Verdict: Switch

Interest rates 

Some of the best interest rates right now are via current accounts.

  • Nationwide FlexDirect offers 5% on balances of up to £2,500 for one year (worth up to £125)
  • TSB Classic Plus gives 3% on balances up to £1,500

There are also regular savers offering 2.75% with HSBC, First Direct and M&S Bank. 

Once more I’d say it’s worth switching to all of these, other than M&S Bank right now, as you can also take advantage of a bonus.

Verdict: Switch

Rewards

Many banks offer a monthly reward with some accounts, often in exchange for a fee. Vitally, to get these rewards you don’t need to switch. You can just open up a new account.

The best of these is the Santander 123 Lite, which charges £1 month but in return you get cashback on your bills. It’s capped at £5 though most people will be looking at a profit of £5 or so. It’s possible to run a partial switch which will move over direct debits you select and let you keep your old account open.

Lloyds’ Club account is also a good one to get as you can claim six free cinema tickets or a year-long subscription to magazines such as Empire. In late 2019 Lloyds did offer a £125 switching bonus – the first time it had offered this. There’s always a chance it could come back.

The others aren’t worth a huge amount over the year, and probably not even worth opening an account for. However if you already have these accounts you should be taking advantage of the offers.

  • Barclays Blue charges £4 a month but gives £7 back if you have two direct debits going out (occasionally this is doubled to £14 for new customers).
  • Natwest and RBS charge £2 a month and give £5 back (the cashback on bills was scrapped in February 2020).
  • Co-op Bank offers money back depending on how much you use the debit card
  • Halifax Rewards are worth £2 every month

Verdict: Open a Santander 123 Lite and go for a partial switch, Switch to Lloyds if there’s a bonus.

Packaged accounts 

These premium accounts can come with a hefty fee, often between £13 and £18 a month. But in return you get things like travel insurance and car breakdown cover. The price for these via the packaged account can often work out as a lot less than buying them separately.

But you also don’t always need these extras. I’ve never had one as I’ve never needed each of the parts and it’s been cheaper for me to buy what I did need separately.

Now if you do have one of these already and think it’s good value, do shop around just to check you can’t get a similar but cheaper offer at a different bank.

Verdict: Open if you need one and it’s good value. 

Fee-free spending overseas

Most of the new banks such as Monzo and Starling offer fee-free spending and cash withdrawals overseas. My pick is Starling where there’s no cap on your how much money you can take out each month. And you can just open up this account – there’s no need to switch.

Verdict: Open

Budgeting features 

These new banks also have a great reputation for the budgeting and savings features built into their apps. In fact, Monzo had the second-largest net gain in the last three months, up by 21,576. Which shows how popular they are.

But once more you don’t need to switch to try this out. Open an account, transfer some cash over and see how the features work for you. You can easily perform a partial switch if you want.

Verdict: Open

Bank branch location

Finally, with so many bank branches closing (more will go this year), you might want to move bank to whichever one is still on your local high street. Again, you don’t need to switch for this, unless there’s also a bonus for doing so.

I’d open up the new account, perform a partial switch over and then potentially use the now useless account to harvest as many bonuses as possible.

Verdict: Open

The best bank switching offers

Deals can come and go, so I’ve got a separate page which I change every time there’s a new deal or an old one goes. It includes the best cash bonus incentives, as well as the highest interest rates and other rewards available.

The best bank switching, cashback, interest & overdraft offers (May 2021)

January 29, 2020   |   Articles

The problem with price per unit food comparisons

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Price per unit is a great way to find the best value at the supermarket – but it can also be frustrating and potentially misleading.

Logic says anything in the supermarket labelled “Value pack” or part of a special offer is going to be the cheapest option. Sadly that’s not always the case, which is why I’ll often recommend using the price per unit to compare exactly how much you’re paying. 

But at the same time, inconsistencies can make that comparison difficult. Call me cynical, but as you’ll see from the list below, I can’t see many decent justifications for not making it simpler – other than a deliberate attempt to confuse shoppers.

How price per unit helps you find the best value item

We generally use the same standard units in UK supermarkets. Weight is always in grams or kilograms – no need to worry about pounds and ounces. Volume is almost always in millilitres and litres.

Simply by checking the shelf label in the aisles or the slightly smaller print online you can quickly see just how much the pack your buying costs per standardised unit – normally something like per 100g or per 100ml.

So there’s no need to work out in your head whether the 1.25kg pack at £2.60 is actually better value than two 500g packs at £2.15. The maths has been done and is displayed right there below the price. (It’s actually the bigger pack at £2.08 per 100g vs £2.15 per 100g).

And with an increase of shrinkflation, where brands make pack sizes smaller but keep the prices the same (or just have a load of dead space in the box), you’re also better able to spot when the pack that looks like it’s a litre is now 875ml.

It really is a great tool – possibly the best one out there – to help you get as much or as little as you need at the supermarket for the lowest price. Great.

When price per unit doesn’t work

But sadly it’s not perfect. In fact, as useful as price per unit is, it can at times be misleading and confusing.

To help you avoid getting caught out, I’ve compiled this list showing where you need to watch out, and a few tools to help you get the right numbers.

Comparing special offers

This is the biggest fail by supermarkets with price per unit. More often than not the shelf label isn’t updated to reflect special offer pricing. And this makes it tricky to work out the cheaper of two similar products on different offers.

I’ve found this online too. In the past I’ve noticed the selling price has been lowered but the old price per unit hadn’t been changed. So watch out!

The app MySupermarket can help here though as it handily displays both the normal price per unit and the special offer price per unit. So you can see exactly what the different the deal makes.

Comparing conflicting units

From time to time you’ll see different measures used for similar items.

A good example is mayonnaise. At Tesco you can currently buy an 600g jar of Hellmann’s mayo for £2. There’s also a 750ml pack of mayo for £2 – also made by Hellmann’s. So which is best value? Well there’s no point checking the price per unit as the first is given per 100g and the second per 100ml.

I’ve also seen milk priced per pint next to milk priced per litre. Again, not a like-for-like comparison.

There’s no real reason for the differing units, so it feels like a deliberate attempt to confuse shoppers.

Not comparing like with like

Some items are similar but not the same, so comparing price per unit doesn’t really help. I’ll give you an example.

Apart from quality, toilet and kitchen rolls are pretty much the same right? So comparing price per roll seems a fair enough. Except it’s often pretty pointless. What you can’t always tell from the packaging is how many sheets are on the roll. So a pack at 45p a roll might actually be better value than one priced at 35p a roll.

However price per roll is still useful when comparing the same brand in different sizes.

Comparing processed vs non-processed

We recently needed some pistachios for a recipe. The nuts still in their shells were far cheaper at £1.50 per 100g than those that had already been shelled, at £2.86 per 100g. Of course, the price per 100g also includes the weight of the shells. But how much?

We bought the cheaper pack of nuts in shells and I weighed out 100g. Then I removed the shells. That left me with 40g of edible pistachio. So the real price per 100g was £3.75 – almost a quid more than the other pack.

It similar with meats. OK, two packs of chicken breasts might look the same, but the unknown ingredient is how much water has been added in. You might actually be getting more meat for your money with the pricier option once it’s been cooked.

Obviously you’re unlikely to be able to work this out in the shops, making the price per unit figured not much use. At best you can use them to guess.

Comparing confusing units

This problem occurs when one pack is labelled, for example, as price per 100 grams, while the neighbouring pack is in kilograms. Ok, so you only need to add a zero to the price per 100 grams to make them comparable, but really this shouldn’t happen.

You see this with volume too, with an item priced per 100ml next to a similar item priced per litre.

Comparing price per items rather than weight

Let’s say you want to buy some bananas. You’ve a choice between loose or prepackaged. To find out which is cheapest I’d check the price per unit. But more often than not, the loose bananas are by priced by weight and the prepackaged bundles by the number of bananas. This leads to the frustrating “price per item”.

This is pretty common across fruit and veg. Sadly the only way to work out for sure is to weigh the single, loose item to find out how much it costs. This will give you a comparable price per unit. But it is a bit of a faff – I certainly wouldn’t bother.But that could well mean you’re paying more than you need to for the practically the same item. And there’s no rule to say loose is always cheaper or visa versa.

Elsewhere it’s more difficult to compare when this happens. You sometimes see price per biscuit, while eggs are all per egg, regardless of size.

January 19, 2020   |   Articles

The easy way to cut your gas and electricity bills

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Do you find that you’re constantly avoiding sorting out your energy bills? Think it’ll be too much hassle?

Well, it’s actually pretty easy, and could save you hundreds of pounds on your gas and electricity bill for minimal effort.

If you’ve never switched supplier, or had a fix that’s ended, you’re most likely on what’s called a “Standard Variable” – AKA the most expensive – tariff with your utility company. If you think you don’t have the time to look into your bills, or that it’s too complicated to work out, you’re mistaken.

It’ll take you no time at all to find a cheaper deal. Seriously. It’s quick. I’ve literally just done it using the tips below and it took me five minutes. Just five minutes. Ok, I’m a pro at this, but even if you take your time you should be able to sort it in no more than 20 minutes.

And the money you’ll save for this minimal effort? It could easily be hundreds of pounds. I’m paying almost third less than if I’d let my last fix lapse and move onto the variable tariff. That should work out over a year at more than £400 less! 

Ok, so I’ve got a large house with high ceilings, and since I’ve gone freelance I’m at home more (and using more energy), so you might not save as much, but it will be close. If you aren’t fixed or you have a fixed tariff that ends soon, I’m confident you’ll be able to save money.

To help you switch with the least pain, I’ve come up with this step-by-step guide. So, stop what you’re doing and make the easiest money of your life!

Find your bills

This is probably the hardest bit! Once you’ve found the unopened post or recovered your long-forgotten log-in details, you’ll be able to see what tariff you’re on and what you’ve been paying.

Go to a comparison site

I like Cheap Energy Club, part of the Martin Lewis empire, as it gives the best results. Some of the others can be a little misleading if you’re half-way through a fix (read my Cheap energy comparison con blogpost for more on this).

All the info you’ll need will be on your bills. To get the most accurate comparison, enter the number of units you’ve used in the last year, rather than the amount you spent.

If this feels like too much hassle (it really shouldn’t) then you could consider an automated switching service at this stage. You put in the details from your bill and you’ll be automatically switched when you can make a saving – though you won’t necessarily be moved to the cheapest option across the whole market. More on these services here.

Take a look at all the options

After the comparison site has finished chugging away, you’ll be presented with quite a few different choices which at first can appear a little confusing.

Check the site is showing you all the deals and in price order (some are paid to put certain companies at the top of the list), then take a look at what’s on offer. Again, I’d really recommend Martin Lewis’s Cheap Energy Club as you don’t have to worry about missing the best deals.

Here’s what you need to consider:

Should you stay or should you go?

Unlike other bills such as broadband and mobile, you won’t be able to haggle yourself a discount, and loyalty doesn’t make the slightest bit of difference.

However, it might not be best to switch. Your current provider might be offering a good price, and you can get yourself moved onto that tariff by giving them a call. 

Strangely you might even be able to get paid to fix again with the same company. I’ve done this twice with EDF over the last four years, and once with British Gas, whilst I was under contract, to move to a cheaper deal – and earn cashback on top.

To fix or not to fix

A fix is when you agree a set price per unit for your energy for a fixed period of time. This will normally be cheaper than a variable rate, but not always.

Take a look to see if the fixes have any exit penalties, which are charges if you leave the contract early. If prices do drop significantly (I wish…), you might not be able to move to a cheaper deal. However some suppliers will take on your switching costs, and you can move penalty free 50 days before your fix ends.

And then there’s the question of how long to fix for… I tend to go for 12 months, though if a company offers a longer fix you will likely pay more per unit.

Smart meter or not?

You might also be required to have a smart meter for some of the cheapest deals. This is something which many people hate the idea of, and it certainly doesn’t do much for you other than automatically send through meter readings. If you do want to go for it, make sure any meter that’s installed is a SMETS2 (i.e. second generation) meter, as this means it should still work when you next switch.

Which company is best?

Who supplies your energy doesn’t affect the quality of your gas and electricity, it’s all the same stuff running through your pipes/wires. Even so, apart from what they charge, there are a few other differences.

Decent customer service can sometimes be worth paying a little extra for. I had a nightmare with NPower and I’d never use them again, even if they were the cheapest available.

Then there’s the problem of small companies going bust. Though you won’t be without power if this happens, it’s a hassle you can do without.

And if you want to be ethical, green energy will usually cost a little more.

Check for extra savings

You’ll normally get the cheapest price with “dual fuel”, where you get both gas and electricity from the same supplier.

Paying by Direct Debit will normally give a discount, and there could be more savings if you go paperless or opt for a smart meter.

Some comparison sites offer cashback to switch, giving you another £30 or so. 

If you have the 123 or 123 Lite account with Santander, you can get cashback on your bill payments too, though there are fees with both accounts. See my article on the best current account for cashback on bills for more information.

Make your decision and wait

Once you’ve decided which one to go for, enter your bank details – you’ll be credit checked – then just wait for it to go through. It will take up to 17 days for the connection to be moved and the savings to start.

You don’t need to let your old company know as the new supplier will do it all for you, though you will need to give a new meter reading.

You might actually pay more or less than the comparison site says as it all depends on how much you use. A cold year will be more expensive, a warm one cheaper. But you’ll still be paying far less than you do right now.

Don’t make one of the common energy switching mistakes

Last year I wrote about some common mistakes people make when they switch energy. It’s all stuff that’s very easy to avoid. Some of it’s been mentioned above, but do take a read of that article too to make sure you’re getting the best possible deal.

Eight mistakes you make when switching energy

Should you switch to a small energy company?

Why I’m saying no to a smart meter

Should you use an automatic energy switching service?