Images

February 6, 2019   |   Articles

The ways hotel booking sites could mislead you

Hidden charges, overseas fees and pressure tactics could all make your hotel stay more expensive.

[box]

Contents

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.

[/box]

I’ve been using sites such as Booking. com and Expedia for years to find hotel rooms, and I’ve made some decent savings as a result.

But there are the odd little things on these and similar sites which have caught me out. And I’m not alone. The government’s Competitions & Markets Authority (CMA) has completed an investigation into misleading prices and results on sites like these. As a result six of the largest booking websites – Booking. com, Expedia, Trivago, Hotels. com, eBookers and Agoda have agreed to stop these practices.

But they don’t have to implement these until September 2019, so until then you could still get caught out. Plus there are many other booking sites who are yet to agree to these voluntary principles.

So here are a few things I’ve noticed some hotel booking sites do that could end up costing you more money.

Are hotel booking sites misleading you? What you need to watch out for

Hiding extra charges

Often the price you see displayed isn’t the total cost.

In the UK our tax (for hotels it’s VAT) is included, but it’s often added as extra overseas. I’ve just been to the USA and each State there will have a hotel tax, while many cities will have a city tax on top.

What’s frustrating is some sites will include this in the total price, while others will hide it elsewhere on the page. Confusingly, some sites do both depending on where you’ve clicked from.

I had this with Booking. com recently. Direct to the site prices were without tax, yet via comparison site Kayak (where I’d selected “all in” prices), the fees were included.

You might also find you have to pay “resort fees”, while Wi-fi, breakfast, parking are all often extra too.

All this information could be much, much clearer.

Charging you in the local currency

Longtime readers will know I’m well prepared to avoid currency conversion fees. But even with my selection of fee-free cards I’ve still managed to get caught out a couple of times.

There are a number of ways this can happen:

  • Though many hotels with free cancellation won’t charge you at the time of booking, some do – and it’s not always clear what currency you’ll be paying in. Booking. com for example makes the pound price most prominent.  Yet when I booked for Las Vegas recently, on the final page, in smaller letters further down that it’s easy to miss, it says you’ll pay in the properties currency. It could be, and should be so much clearer.
  • One booking I made with Expedia was listed as pounds, until I selected to pay with Amex. Then a small extra line appeared on the screen offering me the choice to pay in dollars or pounds. It wasn’t obvious that the extra option appeared, and the dollars option was pre-selected. It’s very easy to miss things like this and just click “Buy Now”. Again, it should be clearer – and more consistent!

  • The sites might ask for a card to hold the room, though at the same time making a big thing of “you won’t be charged for making this booking”. However if you don’t provide a different card when you check-out, it’s the first the card that will be charged – and that might come with heavy currency conversion fees. And even if you offer a different card at check-in, make sure that’s the one used. I found out too late that a hotel used the one from Booking. com rather than the one I gave them, costing me an extra £12.
  • Also, remember that any price for an overseas hotel quoted in pounds can go up and down with the exchange rates if you haven’t prepaid.

Sadly these variations seem down to the hotel you choose, rather than the booking site – meaning it’s going to be different every time you book, even if you use the same website for all your bookings. So you need to vigilant here.

Inflating discounts

Often when I search for hotels, it’s easy to be tempted by the biggest discount – and potentially pay more than I intended to get a “nicer” room. That sometimes works out and you get a real bargain.

But hotels notoriously have very fluid pricing. Weekends and peak seasons will generally cost a lot more than less popular times. So the 60% discount you’re seeing for a Tuesday might be the standard midweek price. And if you’re influenced by discount rather than price, you could get easily spend more than you need to.

Not putting the best deals at the top

The hotels you see at the top of a search result are likely there because the hotel has paid to be or offers a higher commission! So always change the order of the results to see all the options.

I tend to filter by review scores (usually 7 out of 10 and above), then order by price from low to high.

Pressuring you to book

These sites all use similar tricks: “only two rooms left!”, “This hotel has been booked 17 times today”, “77 people are looking at your location right now”.

It’s all there to push you to book now and not search elsewhere. But a lot of the time, people are looking at different dates to you. So take this with a pinch of salt.

If you are worried about rooms selling out then look for free cancellation. This way you’re protected if your plans change.

How to get an extra discount when using hotel booking websites

Despite all the issues above, I’ll still make most of my bookings via one of these websites – usually Booking.com or Expedia. Though price and the ability to cancel for free are big factors, I’m also able to knock the price down further by going via cashback sites.

The rates you get from TopCashback and Quidco vary from week to week, but it’s often possible to get 4% back at Booking. com and as much as 10% back from Expedia. A word of warning – as with any cashback purchase you might not get the money. It’s rare this happens, but sometimes sales don’t track, or they track at the wrong rate. So always make a note of when you clicked and the rate you are expecting so you can put in a claim.

> Not signed up to Topcashback or Quidco? Get a new member bonus of up to £16 here!

Want more hotel booking tips? Read my article below.

My tricks to save money on flights

January 22, 2019   |   Articles

Fix your finances in 2019 part 4: Get the best deal

By paying less for your everyday services you’ll have more money in your pocket to spend or save.

In this final part of my January series to help you start the year getting a hold on your finances, I’m looking at the simple ways you can boost your income by getting the best deal every time you spend money.

Set aside half a day, or spread it out over the next few months, to do the following, and you’ll cut the cost of your bills and get better value of your spending. In total, you could easily be a grand better off thanks to all of these.

1. Switch your bank for a cash bonus

If you’ve never switched bank, you really should. It’s possible to get £150 paid into your new account at the moment just for moving from one bank to another. And you can do this again, and again, and again. You can read about the current bank switch offers in my regularly updated guide.

2. Open up another bank account

And once you’ve switched for a bonus, you can also open up more accounts to take advantage of other incentives – cashback on bills and interest on savings.

I wrote last week about the best places to put your savings, with a handful of current accounts offering the highest rates right now. You don’t need to switch to get these interest rates, though you might have to have a couple of active direct debits or pay in a certain amount each month.

You also don’t need to switch to have an account that pays cashback on your bills. Both Santander and Natwest offer these accounts. They do come with a fee, but you should easily clear it and make more on top if all your bills are paid out of this account. Of course if you don’t switch you do need to manually change all the direct debits.

3. Switch your bills

Next up, look to move your energy, mobile phone, insurances, internet and TV deals to cheaper providers. Sometimes this is as simple as switching who provides the utility. For others it might require a little bit more effort, but whatever you choose it’ll be worth it.

> My guide to switching energy

> My guide to switching mobile phone

> My guide to switching insurance

> My guide to switching internet provider

> My guide to switching TV 

4. Sign up to cashback sites

Right, now on to day-to-day shopping – though you can also use the following to save on your bills.

Every time you shop online you should go via a cashback wesbite. These sites will pay you for clicking from them to the retailer’s online shop. Though the amounts are often small, they really add up over the year.

The top two are Quidco and TopCashback, and if you’ve not signed up to them yet, there are bonus deals of between £10 and £16 available on your first purchase.

5. Get a cashback credit card

You should also consider getting and using a cashback credit card. I use these for everything and get between 0.5% and 1.25% back on each full pound I spend – it’s easily worth £150 on a normal year. My fave is from American Express – particularly as you can get 5% back for the first three months as a new customer. Here’s my guide to how they work and which ones to look at.

Of course this only works if you can clear the full balance every month. If that sounds unlikely then you should probably avoid most credit cards, not just the cashback ones.

Missed a previous part in this series? Catch up via the links below

The best bank switching offers (May 2025)

How to quickly clear your credit card debt

Fix your finances in 2019 pt1: Know your money

January 17, 2019   |   Articles

Are you oversharing on social media?

It’s easy to reveal more about yourself online than you realise – and that could help scammers and hackers.

This week a couple of blogging friends shared one of those little games that are so popular on Facebook. This one used your answers to tell you “Who you are”. The month you were born decided the first part of the answer, and the second part depended on which four-day date range your birthday fell into. So someone born between 12th and 15th of February would be a “Short Princess”, whereas 24th to 27th June would be a “Giant Unicorn”. Then you’re asked to post your answer in the comments below the picture.

Harmless fun right? Well, maybe not.

What those answers really reveal

Think about the information the quiz asks for.

By reading the comments posted for this game, I can work out the poster’s birthday within four days.

Ok, you might be thinking “What can they with just part of my birthday?”. Maybe nothing. But think about when you’ve had to go through security on the phone and date of birth has been one of the questions – particularly when asked for a four-digit memorable code.

People are rightly concerned when this kind of personal data is stolen in hacks like the ones on TalkTalk, Uber and Equifax, but they’re happy to share similar information when it’s presented as a bit of fun.

And this is done is in huge numbers. At the time of writing the game I mentioned above had 39,000 comments – and that’s just on one Facebook page. There will be many, many more comments on threads where people have shared the image.

This isn’t the first time I’ve seen this kind of data harvesting. When Facebook first started a popular one was to find your “pornstar name”. There were a few versions of this but the most common one was first pet’s name followed by mother’s maiden name. Oh, how we all laughed. Go on, do it now. It’s either very funny or incredibly dull (which is also funny). But don’t share it. Because, surprise surprise, do that and you’ve given away two key security questions.

Giving away access (and your data) to games and apps

You could also be giving away more information than you realise when you add extras to your Facebook account. By giving permission to apps, games and permissions you need to agree to what you share.

Some will just want your name and email address. But others will want your friends list, birthday and location.

The risk here is the game has only been created to get your data. And once you’ve given permission for Facebook to share it, those scammers can use the info against you or sell it to others.

The personal information we’re not even tricked into revealing

Social media was named as such because it’s about being social. And that means we’re likely to celebrate and share the things we love. Favourite bands and sports teams, pet names, family connections, anniversaries – even where we went to school. You might even proudly display your full date of birth including the year.

Do these all sound familiar? Yup, they’re all common security questions.

How to stop scammers finding your data on social media

As well as using the information you share to try to bypass security on your accounts, it could be used against you in other ways.

Often small parts of data can be merged with data found elsewhere to build up a bigger profile of you and your information. There could even be enough out there for people to steal your identity.

So how can you minimise this happening?

Well the first thing to do is make sure your social media accounts are locked down. Limit your Facebook page just to people you actually know, and then go through removing the obvious security risks such as your date of birth. You can remove your birthday on Twitter too.

Then just be careful about the games and quizzes you take part in. If any part of the question appears to reveal personal data, don’t take part. And only give access to any of your account data to brands you trust. On Facebook you can check which apps you’ve given access to.

Other ways oversharing could affect you

I’ve written about how I never reveal on social media if I’m on holiday or away from my house if there’s no one at home. The danger is you’re effectively advertising to thief’s that there’s an empty home ripe for a break in.

It has also been known for employers and recruiters to check social media accounts of prospective employees. Anything dodgy and there’s little chance you’ll get the job.

And sometimes old tweets and posts can come back to haunt you. It seems every month or so a footballer, politician or celebrity has to apologise for something they said online. To be fair most of these examples tend to be racist, homophobic or misogynistic and I’ve few issues with those people being exposed. But you might want to audit your accounts for anything you regret typing, and deleting as appropriate.

Facebook hacking checklist: how to protect your data

January 16, 2019   |   Articles

Fix your finances in 2019 part 3: Sort out your savings

How to get in the savings habit, get the best interest rate and make sure you stick to it.

If you’ve been following these fix your finances posts over the last few weeks you’ll have a good sense of where your money is going and hopefully have also started reducing the cost of any debts. The next part is to focus on savings.

Savings might seem out of reach – various reports state most people don’t have much put aside, but there are some simple things you can do to help you get in the savings habit. Even managing to put aside £30 a month thanks to these tricks can make a big difference in 12 months time.

Work your way through each of these steps and you should be able to improve not just how often you save, but also how much money you make as a result.

1. Work out how much you can save and why

This is the first thing you need to do. Check what’s left each month after you’ve paid for the essentials, and work out how much of this amount you want to have for other spending and how much for savings.

It’s worth thinking at the same time why you are saving, perhaps even having a savings goal. This can really help motivate you.

2. Keep your savings separate to other money

If all your money is in one account it can be difficult to keep track of how much you’re saving up, and its easier for that money to be spent on everyday purchases. So set up a completely different account to store your savings.

3. Prioritise your savings

If you only save at the end of the month, you’re more likely to spend the cash elsewhere. Instead move the money immediately after payday into your separate account.

4. Pick the best account for you

This can be a simple savings account – but you won’t get much in interest like this. Likewise ISAs aren’t much use to most of us now because we can all earn a decent amount of tax-free interest in other accounts. Others can pay much more though. Here are a few options:

You want the highest interest

The best rates right now are with current accounts. You can have as many of these as you want with different banks, though individual banks might limit how many you can open with them. Right now the highest paying ones are:

  • Nationwide FlexDirect – 5% on savings up to £2,500 for one year
  • TSB Classic – 5% on savings up to £1,500
  • Tesco Bank – 3% on £3,000 (you can open two accounts)

You don’t have a lump sum but want to save every month

I love a Regular Savings account. You can get as much as 5% interest on monthly deposits for 12 months, with the interest paid and account closed when it reaches the end of the first year. You can then set up a new account and start again.

You are limited as to how much you can save each month, usually around £250 or £300, but that’s great if you are gradually building up savings and you don’t need to access the money for a year. The highest paying Regular Savers at the moment, which also require you to have a current account with the bank are:

  • First Direct – 5%
  • Marks and Spencers Bank – 5%
  • HSBC – 5%

If you’re not with any of the banks listed here or above it’s worth looking to see if there are other incentives, such as a £100 cash bonus, to get you to switch.

If you’re saving for your first home

Open up either a Help to Buy ISA or a Lifetime ISA. You’ll get a 25% bonus on savings, as well as the set interest rate, when you buy your first home – though do read up about the restrictions.

If you’ve got a lot of money

The options above don’t work for anyone with hefty sums put aside. If you don’t need to access the money then you should probably consider investing some of the money. It’s a risk, investments can fall as well as rise, and I’m no expert, so you should do plenty of research to decide if it’s for you.

Alternatively, you could look at an easy access account such as the one from Marcus, currently offering 1.5%. This is below inflation but better than you’ll get elsewhere.

5. Automate your savings

There are ways to make saving a lot easier too.

Set up a standing order to move your wedge of cash and you won’t forget to do it. This is really useful for regular savers.

You can also link your bank account to a smart app such as Chip or a Facebook Messenger bot such as Plum. They use algorithms to analyse your spending habits and decides how much you can afford to save. That amount is automatically moved into a savings account. Chip, in particular, is good as you can start off with 3% interest for the first year and earn as much as 5%.

Or you can see if your bank has a “top-up” feature. Banks including Lloyds and Monzo do this. When you spend money on your debit card, your account will round-up transactions to the nearest pound. So spend £1.30 and 70p will be moved to a separate pot.

Chip app review – Can it help you put money into savings?

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

January 8, 2019   |   Articles

How to spot a scam email

The telltale signs to look for that show an email probably isn’t legit.

This week I spotted news of a TV Licence email scam that has been doing the rounds, conning at least £233,455 out of 200 people – and that’s just the ones reported to Action Fraud.

Emails were claiming a direct debit had failed, and asking people to click through and enter in new details. This is known as “Phishing”. Once the crook has your bank, contact and other personal details they could use them to pose as someone from your bank, or maybe the police, saying you’ve been a victim of fraud. And then they try to con you out of some huge amounts of cash. Scary stuff.

The original email was familiar as I’d too received it, and used it on Twitter to show my followers how to spot a scam. So it makes sense to share those same photos and pointers to help you avoid getting caught out by this or similar dodgy emails.

The email

The smarter the hacker, the better the email. In this instance, the email has the look and feel of a real TV Licencing email. Here’s the first tweet I sent.

Tip one: Dodgy grammar

Often the biggest giveaway is that there are spelling or grammatical mistakes.

 

Tip two: Discover who really sent the email

Just because an email says it’s from “TV Licencing” it doesn’t mean it is. Likewise any word in the “from” field could be masking a dodgy address. In fact anyone can change who an email appears from. I could send one that says it was from the Queen if I wanted. But you can’t hide the real email.

Here are those photos in full. First

Here’s the real address hidden behind it. It’s closer than most scam emails to the real thing, but it should set alarm bells ringing. This is a major UK institution so you’d expect a “.co.uk” suffix. It’s best to Google the organisation to find the real web domain.

What happens when you click through?

So, first, don’t click through if you have concerns about the legitimacy of the email. I did it here just to show you why you need to be extra careful at the email stage. First the fake TV Licencing site:

And then the real thing. Really similar!

Worried you’ve been scammed?

If you’ve fallen for this particular scam, or you’re worried you might have given your details after receiving similar emails, then you can report it to ActionFraud online or on the phone. They’ll also be able to give you some simple advice on what to do next. But if you’ve shared any passwords change them ASAP, and if you’ve given your bank details out call your bank immediately.

More articles on scams

Listen to the phone scammers trying to take over my computer

January 7, 2019   |   Articles

Fix your finances in 2019 pt 2: Better manage your borrowing

From credit cards to mortgages, it pays to get on the best deal possible on any debts or money you borrow.

Last week I shared the basics of fixing your finances, from working out what you really have through to identifying the easy places to trim your spending. This week I’m showing you how to better manage and reduce the cost of any money you borrow.

This can make a decent difference every month. Reducing the interest you’re paying will not just mean you’re shelling out less, but it gives you extra cash to clear any debts faster. And once that debt is completely gone, there’s even more money every month to save or spend as you want.

So here are a few steps to take:

1. Identify the state of your debts

In last week’s article I suggested you analyse all your statements and bills, and look for things like interest charges or fees on debts, from credit cards to overdrafts. It’s also worth totalling up all the different debts. How do they look?

It’s all a bit scary

If you are worried about the size and monthly cost of all your borrowing and think they are out of control, then the tips below might not be enough. It’s worth reading this guest post from the top debt blogger Debt Camel explaining a few methods to try and where to get help. Don’t, whatever you do, ignore the situation.

You can afford the repayments

Hopefully you think what you owe is manageable and not pushing you further into debt. Great. There’s no need to panic, though you should take it seriously.

Work out which debts are the most expensive. That’s generally the ones with the highest interest rate. These should be your focus, though don’t ignore any which could mean you end up in the courts or without power.

There are no debts… at the moment

Or you might not have any debts at all. Even better! But there’s a chance you might need to borrow money in the near future. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

Borrowing can be good too. It can be used to spread out the cost of expensive items we don’t have the cash for now. That’s not just things like student loans or mortgages, but even buying a car so you can get to work can be a “good debt”. The key is to make sure it’s as cheap as possible, more on this in a bit.

2. Are any of the costs avoidable?

Next up, a very simple exercise.

Have you got savings as well as debts? In most cases, it makes little sense to have lots of savings if you also have lots of debts. The interest you’re paying on your credit card bill or loan is likely to be a lot higher. So if you’ve got savings, use them to clear your debts. In the event of an emergency then you can still use your credit cards.

Have a think about why the debts are being built up. Some might just be down to bad management. You might only be going overdrawn because you’re not checking your bank balance regularly enough. Or your bills might be going out the day before payday rather than a few days after. These are easy to fix.

And, unless something is urgent, it’s better to save up and buy something later with no interest charges than to whack it on a credit card now. Basically don’t spend money you don’t have or can’t afford!

3. Find more money to pay the debts off faster

You’ll hopefully already be finding ways you can cut back on spending from last week’s article, and I’ll be sharing more ways to spend less on bills and shopping over the next few weeks. It really is worth using any extra cash you find or make to pay off debts.

4. Cut the cost of borrowing

If you can’t clear existing debts immediately or are likely to borrow money in the future the trick is to make it as cheap as possible.

Here are a few basic things you can do to reduce how much you pay on credit cards, overdrafts and mortgages, but similar principles apply for other money you owe.

Credit cards

I’ve already written about clearing credit card debts fast, so do read that article for more details. But basically, it’s best to clear the cards as fast as possible, potentially with any savings. If not you can look to transfer your balance to a 0% card or a lower rate, long-term card. This will reduce the interest you are charged.

With new or existing credit card debt it’s good to pay off as much as you can each month, ideally the full balance. Avoid just making the minimum. it’s also worth, automating your repayments. The easy way to do this is via a direct debit. Just make sure you’ve enough in your account to you don’t hit your overdraft.

Zero per cent credit cards can also be useful to spread out the cost of big purchases – and can even save you money in some instances. The key here is only to use them for things you know you can afford but don’t have enough cash for now. For example, buying a new iPhone outright is usually cheaper than getting one via a contract. However, at a cost of around £1,000 it’d be tough for many to afford it in one go. So say it’s spread out over 20 months at 0%, then it’s a more manageable £50 a month. Just don’t overextend yourself.

With any type of 0% card make sure you have a plan to clear the full balance before the initial interest-free period ends. You’ll also need to make at least the minimum repayments every month.

Overdrafts

If when you went through your accounts you found you’ve gone into your overdraft, even once, then you’ll also probably have been charged. Yep, overdrafts are a debt. You’re borrowing from the bank, and charges can be very expensive. As with credit cards, it’s worth clearing this as soon as you can, and savings held elsewhere can do the job.

Another option is to switch banks to one which offers a 0% buffer. First Direct will give customers a £250 interest-free overdraft which is good if you occasionally dip into the red. If the amount is more substantial, and happening regularly, then look at Nationwide’s Flex Direct account. A larger fee-free overdraft (subject to approval) is available to new customers for the first year, which should hopefully be enough time to clear it without getting pesky additional charges.

If neither of these work for you, it’s worth comparing the fees at other banks for going overdrawn. Some charge a monthly fee, others charge each time you go overdrawn so the best option depends on the amount and how often you use the overdraft. You can also talk to your current bank to see if they’ll help with your existing overdraft.

Mortgages

Your mortgage is probably your biggest debt, meaning even at a low rate it’ll likely be your most expensive. And this means finding a cheaper deal can make a big difference to your monthly costs.

The lowest rates could well be with a different lender, though when I reduced mine a few years ago the cheapest was with my existing provider. Make sure you’re not just comparing the interest rate. Look for additional charges and restrictions on things such as the ability to overpay.

You also need to watch out for early repayment charges, which could make it more expensive to move your mortgage.

5. Build up your credit score

Credit scores are really important for borrowing money as they’re a key indicator of what rate you’ll get. So start doing what you can to improve it and in time you’ll be able to get even cheaper borrowing.

Next week, the third part in this series will help you get the best return from your savings.

Credit scores explained

How to quickly clear your credit card debt

January 2, 2019   |   Articles

Fix your finances in 2019 pt1: Know your money

If you’re looking to finally get on top of your finances this year, this series of blog posts will help you kick things off.

Over the next few weeks I’ll be giving you tips on managing your debts, your savings and your spending – all essential to being in control of your finances.

But first, and most importantly, you need to do a little bit of prep. Think of it a bit like a warm-up before doing exercise.

At its most basic that means following a few simple steps to work the real state of your money, and then setting up some low hassle way to keep track.

You need to do this before anything else as it’ll make sure you focus in the right place. Say your goal for the year is to save more. That’s great, and I’ll show you ways to help in a few weeks. But it might be your energy would be better spent elsewhere.

Here’s what you need to do:

1. Make some time

If you’re serious about sorting things out, then set aside a couple of hours this week. It’s never going to be as enticing as other options, but it will be worth it.

Grab a beer or glass of wine, out some music on, gather your bills and statements and get your head down.

2. Work out your bottom line

In an ideal world you’ll set up a budget. For me that means using a spreadsheet to put all my income and spending together in one place. It’s actually really simple and it’ll give you the most accurate indicator of where any problems might be.

Just list out what you’re spending every month in one column and everything coming into your account in another column. Everything. Then subtract the spending from your income to see whether you’re spending within or outside your means. It’s well worth doing it.

There are also online tools like the Money Advice Service budget planner that can help, or even workbooks and diaries you can buy for this. Go for whatever works best for you.

3. Audit your paperwork

Simply going through all your bills and bank statements will be a big help. First look for the following:

  • Anything you pay for that you don’t really use or need
  • Old subscriptions or bills you thought you’d cancelled but are still paying for
  • Expenses that are higher than you expect

Anything you spot in one of these categories is where you can quickly cut back through cancelling or spending less.

While you’re at it, make a note of all of these figures and dates. I’ll come back to what to do with them over the next few weeks.

  • Bills where you’re out of contract, and the end dates for those where you are still in contract
  • How much you’re paying on loans, overdrafts, credit cards or other debts
  • Fees or charges from your bank
  • How much interest you’re getting for your savings
  • Which retailers you use more than others

4. Track your spending

You can drill even deeper into where your money goes if you start a spending diary. I did this a few years ago, going into a very forensic amount of detail, but you don’t need to go that far. All you need to do is write down everything you spend money on for a few weeks, perhaps a month.

The idea is you’ll be able to see how even the small things quickly add up. It’s a real eye-opener, and it’s another way to identify the areas where you probably are overspending.

5. Make it easier to manage your money

Now you’ve got a sense of where your money is going, don’t lose track. I update the basics on my spreadsheet every month, and there are some smart apps such as Yolt which allow you to see all your bank and credit card balances, even from different banks, on the same screen.

It’s also worth automating as much of your regular spending as you can. This means direct debits for bills and credit cards, and standing orders for savings. If you can set the dates for these so they are just after payday it means the money goes when you have it, and reduces how much you’ve got left to spend on the non-essentials.

Next week I’ll be writing about clearing or better managing your debts.

December 11, 2018   |   Articles

Best TV streaming: Amazon Prime vs Netflix vs Now TV

If you’re looking for something good to watch on the box, your best bet is often to head online. But how do you choose between NOW TV, Amazon Prime and Netflix?

I still love “normal” TV, and there are great shows on the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5. But more often than not, the programmes I watch are online. In fact, there’s too much choice!

But if you sign up to all three subscription services, it can quickly add up. Of course there are always deals, tricks and cheats to bring down the price – I’ve currently got all three of these streaming services. But if you are paying full price it’s probably best to pick and choose.

The tough choice then is which to go for? Well as a regular user of each one I’ve weighed up the pros and cons, plus the ways to get them for less.

Best for TV

I don’t think there much to chose between them all, but my number one pick is NOW TV entertainment. It’s the cheapest way to watch Sky Atlantic shows such as Game of Thrones and Westworld, and also gives me access to Fox, Comedy Central and Sky One. The main downslde is programmes tend to come and go, and then come back. Which is frustrating.

Netflix has a huge range of new exclusive dramas and comedies, as well as a huge box set back catalogue. The Good Place, The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and Sinner are my favourite shows from this year, and I’ve still to catch up on the latest Daredevil and shows like Maniac.

Amazon Prime has generally been the weakest for new programmes, but that’s changed in the last couple of years. The Man in the High Castle, Mr Robot and The Marvellous Mrs Maisel are all fantastic.

Whichever you pick, I don’t think you can go wrong. You’ll always find something great to watch, whether something new or old.

Scores out of 10 for TV choice

  • Amazon Prime – 9/10
  • Netflix – 10/10
  • NOW TV – 10/10

Best for films

NOW TV’s film pass is essentially Sky Cinema (formerly Sky Movies). It has the largest number of recent releases, and plenty of classics. The problem is you need a separate subscription from the Entertainment pack so it could get expensive if you want both.

Netflix and Amazon Prime have recently come into their own through the films they fund or produce to be exclusive on their platforms. On Netflix this means big Hollywood films such as the new Mowgli and the latest Coen Brother’s movie are premiering online rather than in cinemas.

But all three have a lot of rubbish and it can be a pain to find what you want to watch.

Netflix get’s the edge for me as it’s the only place to watch some very good films.

Scores out of 10 for film choice

  • Amazon Prime – 7/10
  • Netflix – 8/10
  • NOW TV – 8/10

Best for extras

Amazon Prime has a bunch of extra features worth considering. The best is you can download the videos to your phone or tablet, letting you watch when you don’t have any wifi.

You also get access to Amazon Prime Music (like Spotify), a Kindle lending library, 2 hour delivery with Amazon Prime Now and free next day delivery, even if the item is under £20.

You can also download certain programmes on Netflix, while this feature is coming to NOW TV in early 2019.

Scores out of 10 for extras

  • Amazon Prime – 8/10
  • Netflix 7/10
  • NOW TV – 5/10

Best for free trials

The good news is all of them offer a free trial!

>> Get a 7 day NOW TV entertainment free trial
>> Get a 30 day Amazon Prime Instant Video free trial
>> Get a 30 day Netflix free trial

These are all once per person. The best way to get value from these is to do one at a time, giving you more than two months of free films and TV. If you’ve housemates or family living with you, there’s no reason they can’t sign up after to get another three months.

Scores out of 10 for free trials

  • Amazon Prime – 9/10
  • Netflix – 8/10
  • NOW TV – 6/10

Best for price

This is looking just at the basic price. I’ll get on to deals in the next bit.

  • Amazon Prime price: £79 a year, though this includes extras such as free next day delivery
  • Netflix price UK: starts at £5.99 a month, rising to £7.99 for two screens and HD, then £9.99 a month for four screens and Ultra HD
  • NOW TV entertainment price: £7.99 a month
  • NOW TV movies price: £9.99 a month

I think you’re wasting money if you pay full price for more than one. There’s no way you’ve time to properly utilise each service if you’re flicking between them – and hey, box sets are built to binge!

Scores out of 10 for price

  • Amazon Prime – 6/10 (for an annual subscription)
  • Netflix – 6/10
  • NOW TV – 5/10 (as a combined price)

Best for deals

I’m yet to see any money off Netflix, though you can sometimes get free passes via other purchases (eg with a new mobile phone contract). You can also choose different prices packages which let you choose how many users can log in at the same time. This allows you to share with family and friends and split the costs. See my cash hack to saving through sharing for more info.

Amazon Prime is available at a discounted price from time to time, and I’ll list these on my Amazon deals page when they happen, though this is a lot rarer than it used to be.

NOW TV, on the other hand, is usually available cut price. I regularly update my NOW TV deals page with the latest offers, and I’ve probably spent less than £20 in the last 12 months for a year of Entertainment and three or four months of movies. That’s a saving of nearly £120.

Scores out of 10 for available deals

  • Amazon Prime – 4/10
  • Netflix – 4/10
  • NOW TV – 9/10

Easiest to watch on your TV

There are a few options here.

My top choice is via a smart TV. Our new Samsung was a game changer as it had apps for all three. No more wires!

If you don’t have one of these then there are a few different options. In the summer I wrote about how to make your TV smart, listing the pros and cons of devices such as the Roku, Now TV stick, Amazon Fire and Chromecast. If you are watching all three, you’ll want to go for the Roku.

Otherwise, it depends which service you want to stream. For example, you can’t watch Amazon or a NOW TV stick or via a Chromecast, and you can’t watch NOW TV via a Fire Stick. Netflix is available on all.

Or you can of course just connect your laptop to your TV with a cable.

Scores out of 10 for watching on your TV

  • Amazon Prime – 6/10
  • Netflix – 9/10
  • NOW TV – 6/10

Final thoughts

Overall scores out of 10 

  • Amazon Prime – 49/10
  • Netflix – 52/10
  • NOW TV – 49/10

So the scores show a slight win for Netflix – and that’s mainly down to having what I think is the best library of new and old content.

Both Amazon and Netflix lost points as there are very few deals available to cut the price. The only real way to save is to share your subscription costs. But if you can do that it becomes more affordable to get more than one service.

NOW TV, on the other hand, does have my favourite “can’t miss” shows each week and can be picked up very cheap if you get the right deals. Even better if you only get one of the Entertainment or Cinema passes. But if you want both, then you do have to pay for it, hence the lower score. Plus there’s the chance you’ll miss something if you don’t watch shows close to broadcast.

Ultimately I think it comes down to want you fancy watching and what you’re willing to pay.

Despite the scores, If I was forced to only have one it would be NOW TV. Largely it’s because that’s how I watch my top shows like Game of Thrones and WestWorld on Sky Atlantic, but also, you can get it so very cheap.

If you’re still not sure, maybe this simple breakdown will help:

  • The biggest selection of the latest movies – NOW TV Sky Cinema Pass
  • The big American shows the day after the states – NOW TV Entertainment Pass
  • The best classic box sets – Netflix
  • The best for box set binges – Netflix
  • Extra services – Amazon Prime
  • Watching offline – Amazon Prime or Netflix

How to make your TV smart for less

October 29, 2018   |   Articles

Budget 2018: What it means for you

How you’ll get to keep more of your wages before tax is taken away, and other announcements.

This year’s big financial statement from the Treasury was long. And boring. Oh so boring. I’ve reported on every Budget, Spring Statement and Autumn Statement since 2014 for the Money Advice Service and this has to be one of the dullest.

But that doesn’t mean some of the announcements won’t affect your bank balance, with top earners looking to keep £860 extra each year.

I’ve rounded up the changes which I think it’s worth you knowing about – though bear in mind it could all change if there’s a no-deal Brexit.

Income Tax changes

In recent years the Income Tax thresholds have risen in April, mainly to meet a Tory manifesto pledge to hit certain levels by April 2020. Well the Chancellor said he’s bringing that total forward by a year.

This means from next April you’ll pay less tax on your salary and income. You’ll be able to earn £12,500 each year tax-free (currently £11,850), which is worth £130 to anyone earning over that amount.

The next bracket will go up from £46,351 to £50,000. This means you’ll pay 20% tax rather than 40% tax on any earnings in that range. If you earn £50k or more then it’s £730 on top of the £130, so it definitely benefits higher earners.

Though anyone earning over £125,000 will see the tax relief on that first £12,500 gradually reduce to zero.

Pay increase for low income earners

The National Living Wage will go up in April from £7.83 an hour to £8.21 an hour. There will also be increases for all groups under 24 years old on the Living or Minimum Wage.

Longer breathing spaces for debt

There could be an a new 60-day period for people to get on top of debts before creditors can take action. When this was announced last year only six-weeks was proposed. There will also be a pilot of interest free loans, based an a scheme run in Australia.

High street help

If like me you’ve seen more and more shops and restaurants close in your local town centre then another announcement might help.

Business rates for many businesses will be cut by a third. It’s estimated that 90% of shops, cafes and restaurants will benefit. Fingers crossed it makes a difference.

Another move that could help is a new tax on the really big digital businesses like Amazon and Google.

Universal Credit isn’t going away

Despite some fierce lobbying in the last few weeks, Universal Credit will continue. This benefit system reform has been criticised for long waiting times that push struggling people into food poverty and homelessness.

However the Government announced a few changes. First the work allowance – how much people can earn and keep their benefits – will go up to £1,000.

There will also be an additional £1bn put into funding the transition from the old systems such as Job Seekers Allowance and Housing Benefit to UC so people moving across don’t lose out.

Shared ownership stamp duty refunds

If you were first-time buyer of a shared ownership property since the last budget (22nd November 2017), you’ll be able to claim all or part of your stamp duty back – as long as your home cost less than £500,000.

And the same rules will apply for all first-time buyers from now on.

Potholes to be filled

The Beatles sang, there were “Four thousand potholes in Blackburn, Lancashire”. And that was in 1967. Who knows how many there are today, but it’s a lot. And not just in Blackburn.

So there’s a new fund of £420 million available immediately for local authorities in England to start fixing them.

Good news for beer and spirit drinkers (and drivers), bad news for wine drinker and smokers

Tax is frozen on beer, spirits, petrol and air passenger duty on short haul flights. But it goes up on wine, tobacco and long haul flights.