It’s generally cheaper per month and you only need to commit on a month by month basis.
Despite this I think you should cancel NOW TV every month – even if you want to carry on watching.
Here’s why, and how to do it.
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Rather watch than read? Here’s my video on cancelling NOW TV
Please do click through to my YouTube channel to like the video and subscribe.
Cancelling because you’re not watching
Of course, cancelling NOW TV is a given if you aren’t watching it. You’re not saving money if you’re paying for something you don’t need.
But even if you are using it, it might not be enough to justify the price. We have so many streaming options that I think we don’t need more than one or two in any given month.
Any more than that there’s a good chance we just won’t watch more than an hour or two of our third or fourth option. If that.
So it’s better to pick and choose your service, and binge watch the ones you are paying for. Then switch to a different one the following month.
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Effective 6.45% rate for six months as a new Raisin customer
There are lots of ways to save money on NOW TV passes, though there are less than there used to be (here’s our regularly updated list of deals).
In fact, I never pay full price for a NOW TV pass. I rarely, if ever, pay more than 50%. And the easiest way to find a discount is to cancel.
When you go through the process (see the video above) the final page you get will usually offer you a discount for your next pass. It could even say that offer will last for longer, say three or six months.
Sometimes these are cracking deals, with huge savings. I’ve had £1.99 a month movies in the past, or £2.99 Entertainment. Sometimes they aren’t as good as what you can get elsewhere. And sometimes you don’t get anything.
But it’s always worth checking to see what is there rather than letting it auto-renew at full price.
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How to cancel NOW TV
Cancelling NOW TV is one of the more annoying ones to complete, but it doesn’t take long.
Navigate in your account to your passes, then select cancel. You’d think that’d be it, perhaps asked to confirm you mean to do this.
But you’ll actually be asked something along the lines of “are you sure” two or three times! I know people sometimes think they’ve done it but didn’t complete the process.
The important thing is to make sure you get confirmation of cancellation. This should show on the final screen, but I’d always double check in your account too to make sure it’s gone through.
More than 4 million mortgage, credit card and loan payments have been deferred since the pandemic began, and though most have started repaying what they owe, there are still hundreds of thousands of people who could find things even harder after 31st October.
In this episode, I’m joined by Sara Williams from the Debt Camel blog to talk through what you need to be doing if you’ve had a payment holiday, and what to do when your’s ends.
You’ll have to pay for some features with Monzo and Chip.
With another new account from Monzo (this one at £15 a month) and Chip introducing a £1.50 monthly fee, is this a sign that we’ll have to pay for fintech apps that help us manage our money and save.
I’ve taken a look at Monzo Premium, Monzo Plus, Chip and Curve, and asked whether you need to pay for them.
There’s another new Monzo option, this time a Premium account at £15 a month. Here’s what you’ll get.
Monzo’s standard free account is one of the best out there, but I was left underwhelmed by Monzo Plus which launched in the summer. At £5 a month you didn’t really get much more for your money.
Here’s a rundown of what to expect if you sign up, and my thoughts on whether it’s worth it.
Rather watch than read (or do both)? Here’s my video review of Monzo Premium
Please do head over to my YouTube channel to like this video and subscribe for more
How much is Monzo Premium?
Monzo Premium costs £15 a month. That’s £180 a year. There’s a minimum six month term when you first sign up.
Monzo claims that the insurance policies are worth £256 a year. That’s calculated by taking the average price charged for similar policies across a number of providers.
Who can get Monzo Premium?
As it comes with insurance there’s an age limit on this account. You have to be between 18 and 69 years old.
It’s only available as a sole account, so you can’t get it as a joint or business account.
If you are currently paying for Monzo Plus you can upgrade and you’ll get money back on any unused time from this month. So for example if you’re half way through a month you’ll get £2.50 back.
What do you get with Monzo Premium?
For a start you get everything that Monzo Plus customers get. This includes virtual cards, enhanced analytics and advanced round-ups. You can read my full Monzo Plus review here.
Here’s what you get extra with Premium:
Metal card
The card is a single 16g sheet of white steel with an engraved logo. Apparently it costs £50 to make, and a big part of that six-month minimum is to cover the cost.
The card is a single 16g sheet of steel with an engraved logo.
I genuinely don’t get why people are happy to pay for a metal card, but lots of people do like this! It does look very slick and shiny.
All your details are on the back, a feature I love (you also get it on Starling’s free account), so you can show off your new card with no fear others will steal your details.
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What you’re really paying for here is the insurance. Monzo says this mobile part is worth £97 a year, though I’m sure you can shop around and get it for less.
in return you’ll get up to £2,000 cover against theft, loss and accidental damage. They say this also includes cracked screens. This is only for the account holder’s phone.
They’ll either repair or replace damaged phones, and replace lost or stolen phones. The replacements will be refurbished handsets, but they can’t guarantee the same colour.
Headphones, chargers, cases and other accessories are also covered up to £300, but only if they are damaged/lost at the same time as it happening to your phone, not on their own.
If someone nicks your phone and uses it for unauthorised calls or data use you can claim up to £1,000.
However, the excess is £75, meaning you’ll pay that on each claim. You can also only make two claims per 12 months
Worldwide Travel Insurance
This cover is estimated to be worth £159 a year. You get cover you and your family, including children up to 19-year-old (it’s extended to 21 if they’re in full-time education).
The maximum trip duration is 45 days, which is going to be more than fine for most holidays. Excess is £50 per claim.
You’ll need to look at the cover details to make sure it includes everything you need. It looks decent enough on cancellation and medical cover, but some things aren’t there such as valuables.
Once again, it’s worth comparing it against stand-alone cover- especially if you don’t want cover for a partner or children.
Whereas Monzo Plus offers 1% on £2,000, Premium increases that to 1.5%. You’ll earn it in your main balance and regular pots, but not separate savings pots.
Increased overseas withdrawal limits
If you are overseas you can take out £600 every 30 days without paying a charge. This is £200 more than you get with Monzo Plus, and £400 more than the free account.
Free cash deposits
You can deposit cash five times a month for free. There’s a £1 charge for the free account and Monzo Plus only gives you one each month.
Discounted airport lounge access
You get access to lounges in the LoungeKey programme for £24 per person per visit.
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Effective 6.45% rate for six months as a new Raisin customer
Since the big benefits here are the insurances we’ll start here. First you need to ask do you need both sets of insurance.
I’d question the need for travel insurance at the moment as it’s hard for us to travel full stop. If you are going abroad, then you need to consider:
Do you need worldwide cover?
Do you need annual cover?
Do you need family cover?
If the answer is no to at least one of these you might easily find you can get cheaper travel insurance.
And phone insurance isn’t something we all need. If you look after your phone with a screen cover and a case you reduce the chance of it breaking. And if you’re at home much more there’s a much smaller chance it’ll get lost or stolen. Plus you might already have cover on your home insurance.
Even if you still want to have insurance for your phone, it’s once more worth getting quotes for a standalone policy to see how much it would be.
So it could be good if you definitely want both insurance policies at the level on offer. But if not, crunch those numbers to see if you are getting close to that £160 annual charge.
Metal card
Like I said, I don’t get the appeal of paying for this when so much of Monzo is geared to saving you money by better budgeting!
Extra travel features
The increased travel ATM quota can easily be beaten by the free account from Starling or a specialist travel credit card.
And the airport lounge discounts aren’t much use right now either. But if you want them then the American Express Gold Credit card gives two free passes.
Monzo Plus features
It’s important not to forget that you also get the Monzo Plus features. Though I don’t think they’re worth £5 a month above what you’d pay for the free account, you could argue they’re worth at least a couple of quid.
Alternatives to Monzo Premium?
There are a number of packaged bank accounts offering similar insurance coverage. Pick of the bunch is Nationwide’s FlexPlus account.
For £13 a month you get worldwide family travel insurance, worldwide family mobile phone insurance and UK and Europe breakdown cover. So it’s cheaper and you get more for your money.
Conclusion
Right now, while travel is so restricted it’s really not offering value for money. That could change once we’re able to go abroad more, but even then you need to be taking advantage of all the features of Plus and Premium to beat the Nationwide account’s increased cover and cheaper price.
With more areas of the country going into level two or three of lockdown I expect home drinking is going to increase. So here are a few offers to keep you going at home (though do drink responsibly).
25% off six or more bottles of wine
This Tesco offer can be stacked with other discounts. For example 19 Crimes Red is down from £9 to £7. With the extra 25% off you’ll pay £5.25 a bottle.
This offer is now available via Amazon as well as PayPal, saving you £20 on a year of Spotify Premium. You can only use it towards the £9.99 option, not Family, Duo or Student.
First Direct accounts are finally open to new customers. Though they’ve not brought back their £100 switching bonus, they will give you £100 if you switch but decide to leave after 6 months. More in my bank switching offers article.
Everything you need to know about reducing your spend on electricity, gas and water bills.
With everyone being at home more in 2020 and probably 2021 we’re using a lot more energy – and our bills will increase as a result. So it’s vital to make sure we’re taking the easy steps to bring down the cost of electricity, gas and water.
In this episode I’ll take you through why not all comparison sites are equal, whether you should bother with auto-switching sites and when a water meter can and can’t save money.
