Here are some of the latest offers to get you money off gift cards
When you buy gift cards for yourself or as a present, it’s really important you make a note of the expiration date and don’t forget about them at the bottom of the drawer! There are more details on what to watch out for in our article five things you need to know about gift cards.
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Gift card special offers
Tesco: 20% off New Look, Wayfair and Virgin Experience Days gift cards
Tesco is selling New Look, Wayfair and Virgin Experience Days gift cards for 20% off until 15 March 2026.
Head to the Uber app before Sunday 15 February 2026 and you can save 10% on gift cards. This can be used on Uber or Uber Eats.
You’ll find the offer by sliding along some offer based tiles on the homepage. Or you can tap Account and then select “send a gift”. You should see the discount at check out.
The person you send the gift card to must have an Uber or Uber Eats account.
It’s limited to just one purchase per account
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Amazon gift card bonuses
Over on our Amazon deals page, we’ve got a couple of deals where you get extra money when topping up your account or buying a gift card. These offers tend to run most of the year, though they are normally only for people who haven’t done either of these in the last three years.
Amazon also offers discounts on some retailer gift cards, especially in the run-up to Christmas and during shopping promotions like Cyber Monday and Black Friday.
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Cashback on gift cards
JamDoughnut: cashback when you buy gift cards
With JamDoughnut, you can buy gift cards both as gifts and for everyday purchases and earn cashback on them. Plus, if you’re a new JamDoughnut user, you can get a £4 welcome bonus using our link* (double what you’d usually get).
Retailers on the app include supermarkets like Asda, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and M&S.
TopCashback has a spin-off site called TopGiftCards with money back on brands including Asda, Ticketmaster, Uber, Costa and Clarks. You need to click through from TopCashback and choose your gift card.
These are all digital gift cards but check the individual retailer terms to see if it can be spent in-store, online or both. Cashback is then paid back to your TopCashback account.
You can earn cashback in two ways with Cheddar: buying gift cards through the app, earning instant cashback, as well as by spending at specific retailers with a linked account.
There are more than 80 brands in the app, and once again, you can get cashback from supermarkets like Tesco, Asda and Morrisons. Use the code CLEVER2 when signing up to get £2 welcome cashback.
Amazon: up to 20% off Nike, Vue, New Look and more gift cards (expired)
Amazon is currently offering a number of discounted gift cards and bonuses, including:
Nike
New Look
Hotels.com
Vue
Virgin Experience Days
Pizza Express
Some offers are for digital cards, while others are for physical ones. Check the terms on each gift card to ensure you’re meeting the minimum spend levels, and you may need to enter a code at checkout – you can find this in each listing.
Get the best deals on flowers for valentine’s, mother’s day and any other special occasion.
Here’s a round-up of the latest offers we’ve found. Don’t forget to check cashback sites such as Quidco and TopCashback – and if you’ve never used them make sure you get the new member bonuses available. Here’s more on how to claim those (worth up to £47.50 combined).
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Set three reminders for dates like mum’s birthday and you’ll get £5 credit added to your account. Head to the Bloom & Wild home page and scroll until you see the Save the Date offer.
Once you’ve joined the Rewards Club you’ll be prompted to add your birthday, and in return, you’ll be sent a voucher to get 50% off an order on that date each year.
Interflora: 15% off when you sign up to their newsletter
If you register for Interflora’s newsletter, you get a 15% discount on your first order. If you’ve already signed up, you can nab a £5 discount for each date you set a reminder for.
Save money and give to charity with these two cut-price will campaigns.
There are a few ways to get a will drawn up, but if you want a solicitor to do it for you, you’ll have to pay more than £100.
According to MoneyHelper, a single will drawn up by a solicitor could cost you between £144 and £240, while a joint will could go up to £300.
However, there are a couple of offers which run every year that could bring down those costs:
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Regular offers
Free Wills Month
Twice a year in March and October, over-55s can get a free will from participating solicitors with the Free Wills Month campaign. It’s done with several charities that sign up to take part. You’re not required to make a donation, though it’s hoped people will give something in return for the service.
You can register your interest ahead of time, then on 1 March or 1 October you’ll be able to sign up, choose which charity you’d like to write a will with and book an appointment. These can book up quickly, so be sure to get in soon if you want a free will.
Octopus Legacy: the cost of your will paid for by charity (ended)
Until 9 November 2025, Octopus Legacy has partnered with UK charities to to cover the cost of writing or updating your will, up to £150.
A simple will would be fully paid for, or you can get a discount on a will with trust. You can complete your will online yourself, or you can write it over the phone or face-to-face with one of Octopus Legacy’s Estate Planning Consultants.
Remember that these are charities — most people say thank you by choosing to leave a gift in their will. There’s no obligation to do so, but it lets you repay them for their help.
Every November, as part of Will Aid, you can get a “free” appointment with participating solicitors to draw up a will. In return they ask you donate £120 for a single will and £200 for a joint ‘mirror will’ to one of the partner charities, which includes NSPCC, Save the Children and Age UK.
You can now book for 2025. The appointments go quite fast, so you have to be quick! The Will Aid website has a postcode-based search option so you can find any solicitors taking part near you.
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Other offers
National Will Register: Register for free in May (expired)
The National Will Register is offering free will registrations in May with the code FREEWILLREG24.
It’s not a legal requirement to register your will but if you had your will done by a solicitor, they may have done this for you already. You can also just let your executor know where your will is. However, having it registered means it can be located and prevents it from being lost, misplaced or forgotten.
Moving bank can bring you savings and make it easier to manage your money. But what does it do to your credit report?
I’ve had a few readers ask me recently about the impact of switching bank or opening up new accounts on their credit score.
When you switch bank there are two things you’re doing. Opening a new current account and closing an old one. Both these actions could have an impact on your credit report.
Though for most people the odd switch won’t make much difference, the more you do it, the bigger the impact. Here’s what you need to know.
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New bank accounts and credit checks
Each time you open a new current account to switch to, the new bank will look at your credit report. There are two ways they can do this.
One is known as a ‘soft check’. For a current account, this is essentially just to verify you are who you say you are. Although it could potentially be used to let you know the chances of getting an overdraft – perhaps even a pre-approved one.
Just performing a soft check won’t appear on your file. This is also what happens when you get comparison sites to provide a load of quotes or when you check your own file.
However, most banks and lenders will instead conduct a ‘hard check’. This is where the result of the application – good or bad – will appear on your report, usually for a year. With most bank account applications it will be one of these hard checks.
I’ve shared further down the article which main banks won’t hard search a new current account, so you can use it as a dummy account for switching.
When opening a bank account can hurt your credit score
Multiple hard checks on your report
If the bank is running a hard check when you apply for an account, this mark will appear on your report. Now, if you’re just opening a new bank account that’s not really going to be much of an issue.
But if you’re opening more than one current account in a short space of time, or also opening a credit card, switching your energy, applying for a loan and so on, they’ll see multiple searches.
This could indicate to a lender that you’re desperate for credit, and therefore not a good person to accept.
That doesn’t mean you can’t do it. If you have a healthy credit report and don’t have any essential applications for credit coming up you can probably get away with a number of applications – though your score will dip, it will recover.
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Just applying for one as part of your application can have a negative impact on your credit score – even if you don’t use it.
It’s not just that if you do this the bank will conduct one of those hard searches on your report. The overdraft itself will also show future lenders that you already have access to credit and they might not want to lend you more.
There’s a chance an unused overdraft could help your credit report in the longer term if it helps you keep your credit utilisation (i.e. the percent of borrowing you’re actually using) at under 25%. But using one will cost you unless it’s at 0%.
So if you don’t need an overdraft with your new account then don’t apply for it. And I’d suggest you look elsewhere for cheaper lending IF you eventually need it.
Opening a joint account
When you open any financial product with another person, your credit files become linked. So if the person you run the account with has a bad credit score then it could bring your rating down too. And it goes both ways, so you could hurt someone else’s ability to get credit.
When closing a bank account can hurt your credit score
Losing longevity
This is one to consider if you’re switching from an older bank account. A good signal for your credit score is a long relationship with a financial provider.
Often the longest one we have is with our bank, so switching away replaces years and years of this for an account with no history.
So even if the new account is just a soft search on your credit report, switching could still see a knock-on effect.
There are a few ways around this. First, it’s all your credit accounts, including credit cards, which are looked at, and it’s often the average age. So if you have an older credit card, that mitigates moving away from a long-term bank.
Or you avoid closing the old account completely. If you open a new account and can run a partial switch rather than a full switch. This will help you move all your direct debits, standing orders and balance without you having to close the old account.
However, you won’t be able to claim any of the free cash from bank switch offers or get the benefits of the seven-day Current Account Switching Guarantee.
Alternatively, you can open a new account designed just for switching. You might have to set up a couple of direct debits or make a minimum deposit each month, but you can use this to switch for bonuses.
Now we know the impact of bank switching, it’s important to clarify a few things about credit scores. First up, there are three different scores from three different credit reference agencies. They all assess your credit report differently, so each contributing factor might have a different impact on each score.
Second, though scores can give you an idea of how healthy your credit report is, it’s the credit file itself that banks and lenders look at – not the score.
The way they will interpret the data on the report will change from institution to institution, so they might not agree with the scoring set by the credit reference agency.
And the credit report isn’t even the only thing banks will look at. For example, they might have their own data about if you’re an existing or past customer, and you’ll provide some additional information when you apply.
That means even with a great score you could get turned down for certain applications, or even if you’re rejected for one product, another might accept you.
So the point is, though credit scores are useful for us as customers, it’s what appears in the file that matters to those doing the checks. And that means don’t get too caught up in your score dropping after a bank switch.
Saying that it’s still very important to keep your credit score in mind when thinking about the latest switch offer.
In particular, if you’re planning to apply for anything major in the next six months, such as a credit card or loan, and especially a mortgage, then it makes sense to avoid opening a new account and switching for six months to a year.
Are multiple bank switches a bad idea?
The more you switch, especially in a short space of time, the bigger the drop in your credit score. So it’ll make short-term applications harder.
Experian recommends spacing out new applications for any type of credit every three months or so. At best that’s four bank switches per year. And if you factor in other things like credit cards that could reduce further.
But you can switch more than this – I once switched three accounts in the same month, and I’ve regularly opened new types of credit in concurrent months. But I also didn’t have anything important to apply for that year.
Of course, this won’t be a probem if you’ve been switching for a while as you might find you’re only eligible for new switch deals once or twice a year, if that.
Bank accounts that won’t hard credit check you
No credit check bank accounts are obviously useful if you need a new current account to switch from.
Full current accounts
Starling Bank
This digital bank will only do a soft check when you apply. They’ll use that to verify who you are and check what overdraft they could offer you, but they won’t do the full hard search unless you say you’d like the overdraft. Here’s a full Starling Bank review.
Monzo Bank
There’s also no hard check for Monzo, another digital bank, as long as you don’t go for the overdraft. Here’s a full Monzo Bank review.
Chase Bank
You can switch in and out of Chase, though if you switch away you won’t ever be able to open another. The good news is there’s a work around. Here’s a guide to using Chase Bank for switching.
Basic bank accounts
Most major banks will offer these free accounts. They won’t be subject to a credit check and you can open one with just one form of ID. You can do everything with one that you can with a standard account. However if you’re eligible for a full account you probably won’t be able to get a basic account.
Some additional accounts
If you already have a current account with a bank, it might be possible to open an extra one without a hard search. Over on the Facebook group, some readers have reported this for Lloyds, Halifax and Santander, and I had the same experience. However I’d always approach doing this with the expectation that a hard search could happen.
You don’t need a Sky subscription to watch Sky Sports! Here are the latest deals for pay-as-you-go passes on NOW TV.
We’re big fans of NOW (or NOW TV as it was called). It’s a cheap way to watch Sky channels, doesn’t tie you in to long contracts, and if you’re a fan of the Premier League, golf, cricket, Formula 1 or dozens of other sports but can’t afford Sky, it can be a real money saver.
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Sky Sports on NOW TV
If you get your TV via Sky, or even Virgin or BT, then you’ll likely have to commit to a long contract with your TV provider, probably 18 months. And it can be really expensive.
In terms of TV programmes and film channels, it’s almost always going to be cheaper to get those exact same channels via NOW instead.
It’s slightly more complicated for Sky Sports channels. The day passes are perfect for occasional users at under £15 a go (or less if you use a deal). Sadly, it looks like the week pass is no longer offered.
The monthly passes, however, can be expensive. At £31.99 a month, you’ll probably pay more via NOW TV for this channel than with Sky if you have it every single month of the year.
But there are regular deals which bring the price down, currently to £28 a month and sometimes as low as £18. This makes the price much more comparable, and you have the added advantage that you aren’t committed to a contract. You can stop it or pause it month by month.
What is NOW TV?
Think of NOW (or NOW TV as it was called until spring 2021) as a pay-per-view iPlayer for the Sky TV channels. The sports passes give you access to all 12 Sky Sports channels without a contract, so you can watch per day or per month.
NOW TV can be streamed on your computer, tablet, some smart TVs, games consoles and devices such as the Chromecast, Roku and Amazon Fire Sticks.
The passes don’t include TV or movie channels, which you need to buy separate passes for – though there are plenty of discounts to be found and we’ve summarised the best on our NOW TV deals page.
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NOW TV Sky Sports free trials
Unlike the other NOW membership passes, there’s no free trial for any of the Sports options.
NOW TV Sky Sports day pass offers
Far better than a Sky contract is a £14.99 Day Pass. Despite recent price increases, we think this pass represents decent value for money for occasional viewing.
There used to be frequent discounts to be had, such as 20% off or bundles passes with a NOW TV smart stick. We’ll share any we find on this page but they aren’t as common now.
This offer or similar is regularly offered via emails sent to previous customers, giving 6 to 12 months at £19.99 a month.
It’s either a rolling contract for Sky Sports via NOW TV, or it’ll lock you in for a set period. You’ll save over 35% on the standard monthly price. Importantly, you aren’t tied into the full 12 months. You can cancel at any point. But you’ll pay full price if you restart at a later date.
It’s open to new NOW TV customers and existing customers who either don’t have a pass or are in the last 30 days of a previous offer – as long as you received the email.
Get an Unlimited Sky Sports membership for £28 per month (normally £31.99) for 12 months with NOW TV. The offer is open to new and existing NOW TV customers (for the latter, it’s as long as you’re in the last month of an existing offer).
However, you’ll be locked into the full 12 months – so you can’t ditch it earlier if you want. It’ll also renew at full price if you don’t cancel in the last month.
NOW TV no longer offers the week pass. Whether this is permanent or temporary remains to be seen. Occasionally you can still get the offers which we’ll share below, but chances are slim.
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Sky Sports on Virgin Media
You can get Sky Sports via the standard Virgin Media TV box, or via the Virgin Media Stream box. The latter only allows streaming, not recording.
You can add Sky Sports channels in HD for £34.99 a month without a contract commitment to Virgin Media Stream, but you’ll need to pay the set up fee first.
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Sky Sports on Sky
If you don’t want to ditch Sky for NOW, then you can still get Sky Sports channels direct. However, the best prices for the full package will usually require a new 24-month contract, which obviously ties you in, and will be more costly than the options above.
Prime costs £95 a year, or £8.99 a month and includes other Amazon features. However, if you just want the video channel for streaming sport, film and TV shows you can get this for £5.99 a month – which means you can pay just under £6 if you only want to watch the games. There’s also a free 30-day trial – just remember to cancel it if you don’t want to keep paying.
The highest paying easy-access and regular children’s savings accounts and Junior ISAs
Here’s our guide to the best children’s savings accounts. Check the date to see when this was last updated.
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Easy access accounts
These can be current accounts for kids or specific children’s savings accounts and are open to anyone under the age of 18. Rates are usually variable, which means they can change, and are often only on a limited amount of money.
With these accounts, your children will be able to manage the money themselves once they reach a certain age.
0.25% of the average balance of all Demelza accounts given to Demelza Children’s Hospice each year
Open it in branch or via post
HSBC MySavings (4% AER variable on up to £3,000 saved / 1.2% above this)
Min £10
Ages 7 to 17
Debit card from 11
Can be opened online if parent/guardian has HSBC account, otherwise in branch only
Regular Savers
These children’s savings accounts pay higher rates but you’re limited on how much you can save each month. Usually, it’s a fixed rate for a year. When the time is up, the account will close and the money will be transferred to a linked savings account.
You or your child can save £9,000 a year in a Junior ISA. These can be cash ones earning interest or stocks and shares ISAs which are invested (meaning the value can go up and down).
Though interest or gains earned in an ISA are tax-free, it’s unlikely it makes much difference as there are other allowances that will be more than enough for most kids.
Money in Junior ISAs is also locked away until the child turns 18. Then it’s their money to use as they want.
Parents or guardians have to open the account but anyone can add money – handy for grandparents and other family members who want to put money aside.
When choosing a children’s savings account, you probably won’t need to worry about tax on interest.
Children can earn a total of £18,500 from savings and other income each financial year. That’s the £12,500 personal tax allowance, the £5,000 starting savings allowance and the £1,000 personal savings allowance.
However, if parents (and parents only) are adding money to any of the non-tax free accounts then there’s a £100 interest limit each year per parent.
So say the child has £2,000 saved earning 3.75%, they’d make £75 in interest. That’s fine. If they amassed £3,000 in contributions from the same parent the amount earned would be £112.50.
That’s still ok if the money comes from both parents, as the allowances would be combined and the total interest that can be earned would be £200.
But if it’s from one parent, then the entire £112.50 would need to come out of that parent’s Personal Savings Allowance. That might not be a problem – but if it exceeds this, then the whole amount will be subject to tax at the rate the parent pays, which could be 20% or 40%.
To avoid this you might want to save into a Junior ISA.
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Other ways to save for kids
Premium Bonds
You can also buy Premium Bonds for children. These cost £1 each, but there’s a minimum purchase of £25. Grandparents are able to buy Premium Bonds, as well as parents and guardians.
The current prize fund is 3.6%, which isn’t the same as 3.6% interest. It’s very likely that with small amounts of cash in Premium Bonds you won’t win anything, but there’s the chance of getting up to £1 million every month.
Pensions
Yep, you can start putting money into a person pension for a child at any age. They won’t be able to access the cash until they reach 57 years old (though that will likely increase when they’re older). However, they can manage where the money is invested from the age of 18.
As with adults adding to pensions, they’ll get 20% tax relief from the government, meaning for every £80 that’s added, £100 will be invested.
There is an annual limit though of £2,880 where you’ll get this extra top-up.
Piggy banks
It can be good to get young kids familiar with coins and money by giving them a piggy bank to save with. Obviously they won’t earn any interest (unless you want to work that out yourself).
Once they get a little older to understand branch and online banking it might make sense to replace the piggy bank with the accounts above.
Apps
Starling offers a free app to help kids learn about money and spending while also giving the parents extra control over purchases called Starling Kite. You can also pay a monthly fee for apps like Go Henry and HyperJar. However, you’re unlikely to get any decent rate of interest from any of these.
Find a free business bank account for your business type
A business bank account is a separate bank account from your personal one that you maintain just for your business. These accounts are more tailored to business banking, so you can integrate accounting tools, make invoices and categorise your expenses. Some accounts are limited to certain types of businesses, so you’ll need to check that your business is eligible to have an account with your chosen bank.
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TransfersTransfers cost 20p per transfer after a 12 month promotional period
Integration with accounting toolsConnect your own accounting software or export transactions to share with your accountant for free
Invoicing toolsYes - send 3 per month free
Offer detailsGet £100 in cash when you open a Tide Business Account and spend £1,000 within 60 days of account opening. Use the code BCA100 when you sign up.
Eligible businessesRegistered limited companies or sole traders
Integration with accounting toolsFully integrated accounting tools
Invoicing toolsYes
Eligible businessesSole traders or registered limited companies
Fee detailsAfter the 3 month free trial, you'll pay a monthly fee depending on how much you deposit each month. Deposits up to £750: £3 per month; Deposits up to £7,500: £9 per month; Deposits over £7,500: £18 per month
Amaiz Business Bank Account
Customer rating4.7/5
Monthly fee
£0
Cash deposit fee
Not available
Fee for transfers in/out
Free (FPS transactions)
AccessOnline or via app
FSCS Protected?No
Cash withdrawalsUnlimited free withdrawals
Integration with accounting toolsNo
Invoicing toolsYes
Eligible businessesFor companies of all sizes and risk categories
Do you need a business bank account?
If you’re a sole trader or just earning extra via a side hustle then you don’t need to have a specialist business bank account. You can make do with a standard (and free) personal account.
You don’t have to use the same one you bank with day-to-day. It’s generally best to separate your business money from your personal cash, so it’s best to open a new account — it’s up to you whether you stick with the same bank you use for your personal banking or try a different one. Keeping them separate will be useful when it comes to doing your tax return and working out which purchases were business-related.
But, if you are part of a Limited Company then you’ll have to have a specific business account.
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What to look out for when searching for a business bank account
When choosing a business bank account there will be a few differences from regular bank accounts that you’ll want to consider.
Fees
You’ll be more likely to come across fees with these bank accounts. We’ve shown the free accounts above, although this refers to whether there’s a monthly fee. The other fees you might come across include:
Initial set-up fee
Cash deposit fees
Cash withdrawal fees
Transaction fees
Fees for payments in
Fees for transfers out
It’s important to consider what your business is likely going to need. For example, if you take a lot of cash payments, you might be more interested in getting free cash deposits, while a company that doesn’t handle cash much wouldn’t be bothered about cash deposits.
Eligibility
Some accounts aren’t available for all businesses. If you have a Limited Liability Partnership, for example, you’ll have fewer choices when it comes to business bank accounts. Check out “eligible companies” in further details above for an overview. You’ll also want to double-check with the bank directly. Generally speaking, sole traders and limited companies should be eligible for all of the accounts above, although there are often excluded business types.
Cash deposits
Many of the business bank accounts listed above are digital banks, which means there isn’t a high street branch for you to deposit cash into your account, however, most of them will let you deposit cash at the Post Office or using PayPoint. Some have associations with high-street banks — for example, Mettle is owned by NatWest so you can pay in cash at NatWest branches.
Integration
A lot of business bank accounts offer integration with accounting software like Xero or Quickbooks. Or, they’ll offer the option to export your transactions to give your accountant or upload them into your chosen software. If you don’t have accounting software, you probably wouldn’t need this, although it may be useful in the future.
Some business bank accounts come with a free trial of accounting software. While this is worthwhile if you think you’ll need accounting software, remember to cancel it if you don’t think it’s something you’ll need.
If you’re still paying for premium pay-TV via satellite or cable you’re paying too much.
Switching away from Sky TV, Virgin Media or EE TV to streaming alternatives can save you £100s of pounds – and you can still keep the exact same channels.
You’ll also get the added flexibility of choosing what you want to pay for and when. And you can even keep recording most channels if you want.
In this article I’ve shared why you shouldn’t be worried about ditching Sky, and how to watch the alternatives (such as NOW TV) on your TV.
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How much Sky TV costs
Sky TV isn’t cheap. From 1 April 2026 Sky Ultimate package costs £24 a month for new customers and could go up to a massive £55 a month if you add in Sports and Cinema, coming in at £660 a year. This is on a 24-month contract, where prices will likely go up each April.
You might even be paying another £35 a month if you add on things like Kids channels, UHD viewing and multiroom. That’s potentially £90 a month and £1,080 a year.
But that’s for newbies… existing customers paying full price will see a huge increase. Ultimate, Cinema and Sports will add up to £87 a month (£1,044 a year), and with the extras like HD and skipping ads it’s £122 a month (£1,464 a year).
The Sky Essentials plan would save some money each month, though you’d only get Sky Atlantic, Netflix and Discovery+, losing all the other Sky-only channels.
I’ve also not included broadband costs here as you can easily shop around for deals elsewhere – there’s no need to get it direct from Sky or Virgin.
*initial 24 month contract price, otherwise 31 day rolling contract ** estimated price from 1 April
Sky Ultimate now comes with included streaming services
The big change from March 2026 is the addition of HBO Max and Disney+ to the Sky Ultimate package, with Hayu arriving in July.
Here’s what these extras would cost if you bought them separately (which of course you can do at any time). Like with the included Netflix, the HBO and Disney subscriptions are the basic ones which include adverts and other restrictions. You can pay the price difference to upgrade any or all of these if you wish.
Subscription
Included tier value
Standard cost
Premium cost
HBO Max
£4.99
£9.99 (£5 to upgrade)
£14.99 (£10 to upgrade)
Disney+
£5.99
£9.99 (so £4 to upgrade)
£14.99 (£9 to upgrade)
Hayu
£5.99
N/A
N/A
Netflix
£5.99
£12.99 (so £7 to upgrade)
£18.99 (so £13 to upgrade)
The three new services add up to £16.97 of value, so with Netflix Basic the total streaming part of the package is £22.96 a month. That means you’re paying only £1.04 for all the Sky channels at the introduction price, though it jumps up to £14.04 for those out of contract.
Is Sky worth the cost?
To accommodate the new streaming passes, prices have gone up by only £2 so at first sight, Sky could actually be really good value for money. But is it?
If you’ve just let your bill roll over to full price, and add on some or all of the extras, then it’s a huge amount to pay each month. And as I’ve shared below, it’s possible to get the same or similar for less.
But hopefully you’re not paying full price. £24 for all those channels and subscriptions as a new customer isn’t bad at all. And since Sky and Virgin are notoriously easy to haggle with and freebies are often thrown in – especially if you bundle your TV packages with your broadband and even your mobile phone, you will hopefully be paying something similar.
But the big question is, do you actually want or need all the channels and those four streaming services? And if you do, would you actually want them for the minimum 24 month contract you’re entering into for the lower price?
And what about other streamers, such as Prime Video and Apple TV, or the upgrades to get rid of ads on the included ones? You’ll need to pay extra for these on top, pushing your bill up.
If the answer is you’re happy to have less to watch at any one time, rotating through the streamers as and when, then you absolutely can pay less over the year by ditching the long pay TV contracts. I think you could be saving between at least £200 and £430 a year, more if you’re paying Sky’s full price.
Cancelling Sky TV
Make sure you are out of contract. It could be that you have different dates for TV and other bundled packages such as broadband or phones. If so, make sure you know what the effect of cancelling your TV could have on the price of those services.
If you have any time left to run you’ll be charged an early exit fee, which will pretty much be all the money you owe until that contract is due to end.
If you’re not out of contract for a while, make a note in your diary a month before it’s due to end to start the cancellation process in motion.
When you’re ready to cancel, you can phone Sky or use a live chat function. To leave Sky TV you need to give 31 days notice, so you’ll still pay for a month (and receive the channels) in that time.
When the service ends you’ll need to return your Sky Q or Sky Stream equipment – so you won’t be able to keep using them for other services.
How to watch free channels (including BBC, C4 & more)
The most watched TV channels are BBC, ITV and Channel 4. These are all available via Freeview. For free. And there are plenty more, including U&Dave, Dmax, Really, Food Network, HGTV, Quest and Yesterday.
Importantly you don’t need Sky to watch these. Most can get these by connecting their TV to an external aerial. If you don’t have one you can try indoor aerials which might work. Or, something called Freesat will connect to your satellite dish. You may need a separate box to connect.
And you can of course catch them live or on catch up via streaming apps on your TV such as BBC iPlayer, Channel4+, ITVx, Freeview Play and so on.
For a more traditional programme guide (EPG) experience when live viewing these channels, check out the live tab on devices like Amazon’s Fire TV (you’ll still actually watch in each broadcasters’ own app).
If you’re happy to focus mainly on these channels then you’re saving a grand a year, if not more.
How to record without Sky or Virgin
The downside with moving away from traditional Sky or Virgin is you lose your recording box.
If that’s essential to your viewing, you can buy a Freeview or Freesat box to record Freeview channels. This can cost between £165 (like the Manhattan T4-R) and £250. Sounds like a lot, but if that was to last you for four years (which it really should, if not longer), that £165 costs you £41 a year. Even when you factor that in, you’re still saving money versus Sky or Virgin.
Though I’d challenge you whether you actually need this feature. If you already watch most things on catch-up you can probably do without a box.
Even if you really hate adverts on the likes of Channel 4 or ITV, you can pay £3.99 and £5.99 a month respectively for their ad-free streaming services. Do this as and when there’s something you want to watch (rather than every month), it’ll be cheaper than buying a new box.
How to watch major Sky channels elsewhere
There are actually only a handful of channels not available to watch via Freeview. These are mainly the Sky channels (eg One, Atlantic, Comedy, Witness etc) and a few others such as U&Gold, Discovery and Nat Geo. But even these can be watched without Sky or Virgin and at a far lower price.
NOW (formally NOW TV) is the main player here. It’s actually owned by Sky and allows you to watch most of the above channels and more via your broadband connection. There are also options for Sky Cinema, Sports and Hayu (reality). I’ve written in more detail about NOW TV in my review here.
The main differences to Sky’s packages are Entertainment includes Kids and HBO Max (TV only, not movies), but not Netflix, Disney or Hayu. Meanwhile Cinema does not have Paramount+ nor the two free Vue tickets you get direct from Sky. It does however have the HBO Max movies.
You also have a single add-on bundle with NOW to cover advert skipping, better quality picture and sound and multi-room, rather than separate additions with Sky.
The great thing is you’ll be paying on a monthly basis rather than on a long contract so you can ditch it at anytime, though new introductory offers now require a 12-month minimum term.
Personally I prefer to pay full price for the first month, and then bring the prices down even more by going through the cancellation process each month. Doing this usually results in a lower price offered, often without a minimum term.
Full price per month
Typical new customer offer
Typical cancellation offer
Entertainment (incl HBO Max)
£9.99
£4.99*
£2.99-£4.99
Sports
£34.99
£26*
£18-£25
Cinema
£9.99
£2.99-£4.99
Hayu
£5.99
Add on
Boost (HD, no ads and 2 x streams)
£6
£2
Boost Ultra (4k, no ads and 4 x streams)
£9
£6
* 12 months contract
Sky vs DIY package: price difference
If you’re looking at Sky Ultimate vs NOW, price wise, it’s most fair to compare exact like for like.
If you got Entertainment, Sports, Cinema and Boost a full price from NOW it’d add up to £59.97. Along with separate subs for Netflix with Adverts, Disney+ with Adverts, Hayu, Paramount+ with Adverts and Discovery+, you’d pay another £24.94. That’s a total of £86.92 a month, or £1,043.
Full price for these via Sky – so Ultimate (with Netflix, Disney, Hayu, HBO Max and Discovery+), Sports, Cinema (with Paramount+), Kids, Multi-room, Ad skipping and Ultra HD – would total £1,464 a year. So that’s £421 more expensive.
A reduced Sky price, based on new customers, for the same package, adds up to £1,080 a year. So you may be able to haggle something similar.
However, there are three key differences. One, it’s possible to get lower NOW and prices, so the difference will be bigger. There are also plenty of deals throughout the year for the other streaming services, with the exception of Netflix.
Next, you don’t need and probably don’t want all the extras all the time. By paying for just one or two of these at any time, you’re looking at £20 a month at most (unless you add Sports). That’s £240 a year, if not less! A huge saving.
Finally Sky will lock you in to two years, and prices are likely to increase during that time which you’ll have to pay. Since most NOW and streaming prices are 31-day contacts, you can ditch them when you don’t want or can’t afford them.
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How to watch other channels from Sky
The other major mainstream channels you might want to keep that aren’t on Freeview or NOW TV are probably Discovery and TLC. Both are available from Discovery+ (£3.99 a month) or as an Amazon channel (you’ll also need Prime).
TNT Sport is also available as a monthly pass at £30.99 a month. That might be more than what you pay for the channels elsewhere, but combining it with the other savings should bring the overall cost down.
Indian channels such as are also available to stream, with Zee TV costing £7.99 a month and Hotstar (including UtSav) at £5.99.
When Sky or Virgin might be better value
There are a few exceptions though when paying for TV via Sky or Virgin could work out either better value or just a better user experience.
If you watch a lot of sport
Though occasional viewers can get a day pass for Sky Sports on NOW TV, the month pass comes in at £34.99. There are often deals that bring the price down to around £25 for a month, sometimes £20.
But if you know you are going to want and watch the main sports channels every week AND you want tojust Sky Atlantic and Netflix with Adverts via the Sky Essentials package, you might be better off with Sky or Virgin.
The cost for Sky Essentials (£15 a month as a new customer) and Sports (£20 as a new customer) would add up to £35 a month.
However, don’t forget you are tied into a long contract.
If you don’t have great broadband
On-demand streaming does require decent broadband, so you will probably want to look at upgrading to fibre if you don’t already have it. If that’s not possible – especially in rural areas – then you might need to stick with Sky (not Sky Stream) or Virgin Media for your TV.
The latest free trials, vouchers, discounted annual passes and hacks to save money on Spotify.
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A couple of times a year there tends to be a new customer deal offering three months for 99p. When these come about I’ll list them below. Otherwise, new customers can always get one month for free.
Four months free Spotify with Just Eat
New customers can get four months free via Just Eat until 28 February 2026. You can cancel anytime or pay £12.99 once the free trial ends.
New subscribers can get three months free if you apply via the free H&M membership.
Head to the H&M app and in the offer section of your H&M account you’ll need to generate a code to trigger the free Spotify trial.
You need to redeem the offer by 5 November 2026.
This isn’t open to current subscribers, and remember to cancel the subscription if you don’t want to pay full price, as it’ll renew at £12.99 per month after three months.
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Previous Spotify customer deals
These offers for ex-customers are rare, but still appear from time to time.
Four months free Premium if you’ve not tried it before (ended)
New Premium customers and those who haven’t tried it before can get four months until 31 December 2025. You can cancel anytime or pay £12.99 once the free trial ends.
This “welcome back” offer gets you two months of Premium for the cost of half of one month. This one runs 17 November to 31 December 2025.
It’s for those who had a Spotify Premium account but cancelled it more than 30 days ago. But if you’ve used one of these offers in the last 24 months, you won’t be eligible this time.
Look out for an email offering you this, or you can also log in and see if the offer is displayed in your account. It’s for the individual Premium account only, not Duo, Student or Family.
We usually see it run two or three times a year, usually April, August and November.
Here are the previous dates from recent offers to give you an idea of when it might return.
17 November to 31 December 2015
Mid August to 22 September 2025 (for those who cancelled before mid July 2025)
Mid April to 19 May 2025 (for those who cancelled before mid March 2025)
End of November – 31 December 2024 (for those who cancelled before November 2024)
Mid August to 17 September 2024 (for those who cancelled prior to 12 July 2024)
Mid April to 14 May 2024 (for those who cancelled before 18 March 2024)
Mid January – 14 February 2024 (for those who cancelled before 1 Jan 2024)
27 November – 31 December 2023 (for those who cancelled before 27 October 2023)
August to 12 September 2023 (for those who cancelled before 16 July 2023)
21 April – 16 May 2023 (for those who cancelled before 19 March 2023)
29 November – 31 December 2022 (for those who cancelled before 28 October 2022)
August/September 2022 (for those who cancelled before mid-May 2022)
April – 19 May 2022 (for those who cancelled before 14 March 2022)
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Existing Spotify customer deals
You don’t need to pay full price for Spotify as an existing customer. Here are my top ways to save.
12 months of Spotify Premium for the price of nine (ish)
This is a decent deal from Currys for existing Spotify Premium customers. It’ll cost you £120 rather than £155.88, so you’ll get almost three months free based on the new prices.
You can it as a digital or physical gift card that is sent in the post. Frustratingly you can’t use gift cards with Family, Duo or Student accounts. It also won’t work on Basic plans.
You can stack this with an existing gift card, or buy one now to add at a later date, though you can’t have more than 18 months of credit on your account at any time.
This new, slightly cheaper, version of Spotify started in May 2024 but seems to have disappeared.
However if you see it in your account, you get everything that Premium offers such as offline listening (downloads) and no-adverts, but you do sacrifice audiobooks. Not all users will be able to get this, so you’ll need to check your accounts to find out. Here’s everything you need to know about Spotify Basic.
Shared Spotify subscription deals
If you live with others who pay for their own Spotify Premium you can save cash by combining them via a Duo or Family plan.
Here’s the breakdown per month per person, with annual costs per person in brackets.
Plan
1 person
2 people
3 people
4 people
5 people
6 people
Premium
£12.99 (£155.88)
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
Duo
£17.99 (£215.88)
£9 (£107.94)
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
Family
£21.99 (£265.88)
£12 (£144)
£7.33 (£87.96)
£5.50 (£66)
£4.40 (£52.80)
£3.67 (£43.98)
Monthly cost per person on each plan (annual in brackets)
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Spotify Family for £21.99 a month and get six accounts
A decent option if there are three or more of you with your own Spotify accounts. Subscribe to a Family pass and you can pay £21.99 all in. So the more of you, the cheaper it gets. You can share with two people but the Duo option will work out cheaper.
Duo is the best option for two people living at the same address, and this is the one we use.
You’ll pay £17.99 a month for Spotify Duo, so £4 cheaper than the family option (£50sh less a year), or £8 less than two standard Premium accounts (£96 total less a year). You will be asked to verify your address.
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Customer rating
3.8/5
