If you have any credit card debts which are charging you interest then you really should try to get it on a 0% interest card. Obviously you need to check eligibility first, but it’s possible to get 18 months with no transfer fee from Santander, or 20 months from Natwest for existing customers.
If you have Amazon Prime and haven’t used Amazon Music Unlimited before you should be able to get this smart speaker and a two-month trial of the music service for £20.97. Here’s how.
There’s a new Lidl loyalty app launching in September but it seems to be live already – and you can get a coupon for £5 off when you spend £25. More here.
New packs of Walkers crisps are based on items from popular chain restaurants and come with 2-4-1 vouchers, which can be used alongside Eat Out to Help Out too.
The latest figures show that the UK economy is officially in recession, with a whopping 20.4% contraction in the last quarter.
In this week’s episode I explain what that means and what impact that’s likely to have on all of us. Plus the things we can do with our money to help weather the storm.
Legacy Sky TV plans could be costing you more than you need to pay.
Earlier this year Sky TV shook up its channel list and plans, just two years after the last revamp. The changes, in theory, bring you greater flexibility and potentially save you money too.
Though new customers when signing up would get the new suite of channels, existing customers haven’t been automatically switched over – and will have faced price increases too.
Though the latest changes aren’t too different in price (if you’re paying full price), older packages were much more expensive. You could be paying at least £32 a month for the Variety package or £38 for Box Sets – and getting less channels.
So what can you do about it? Well first a little about the differences
How the new Sky TV packages compare
Sky Signature & Sky Ultimate (2020 onwards)
There are two new TV packages. The prices below are the out-of-contract ones, but it’s likely you’ll get a discount for switching over/signing up to a new 18-month contract.
Sky Signature
In 2020, Sky Signature replaced Sky Entertainment as the basic TV package.
This package costs £30 (though new customers or those who re-contract will currently be able to pay less £5 to start – if not more).
It includes the Box Sets package as standard which was previously £5 extra a month, though you could pick and choose which months you had this.
Sky Ultimate
There’s also a Sky Ultimate package which costs an extra £6 a month (again there are discounts for new customers). You might be getting this a flexible add-on, or you might be signing up to a new 18-month commitment.
Sky Ultimate includes the basic Netflix subscription (which normally costs £5.99 a month). You’ll need to be on Sky Q to get this.
Extras
You have to pay extra for additional top-ups though you can pick and choose these every 31 days.
Sky HD (£6 a month)
Sky Ultra HD & Netflix Premium (£10 a month)
Kids (£5 a month)
You can also add on Sky Cinema channels and Disney +.
Sky Entertainment (2018-2020)
Sky Entertainment was introduced in 2018 and if you have this you’re set up as follows:
Entertainment (£24 a month for most) – all the entertainment and music channels from the Original and Variety packages
Then there were extra top-ups you can add or remove month-by-month.
Kids (£5 extra month)
Box Sets (£5 extra month)
HD Channels (£5 extra month)
Sky Original, Variety or Box Sets (pre 2018)
The previous changes saw the end of these old Sky TV plans:
Original (£20 a month) – the standard Sky TV channels (eg Sky One, Sky Atlantic, Fox)
Variety (£32 a month) – additional entertainment (eg Discovery), kids and music (eg MTV) channels
Box Sets (£38 a month) – The Variety bundle plus box sets and HD channels
Andy’s Analysis
Will you be paying more or less?
If you only want the very basic Sky TV package, Signature will be more expensive than Entertainment.
However if you have any extras such as box sets then it’ll be a similar cost. If you’re on the older Variety pack then you will be saving money and getting more channels.
The change in price also depends on whether you’ve got a discount right now or not. Often if you’re out of contract it also means the price you pay is more than it was when you signed up.
Should you pay for Netflix via Sky?
It’ll be tempting for lots of people to get Netflix as part of their package and pay for your Netflix via your Sky bill. But should you?
Personally I think it’s better to keep it separate as it gives you more control. The Ultimate package locks you in for the first 18 months, meaning you will pay for your Netflix even if you don’t watch it.
The only exception is if you want to add HD channels to your Sky subscription and use the mid-level Netflix package.
Signing up for HD channels on Sky will cost you an extra £6 a month every month. This combined with the Ultimate add-on to get Netflix (another £6 a month) totals £12 a month.
However paying for HD and keeping your mid-range Netflix separate (an extra £8.99 a month) means you’d pay around £2.99 more a month.
You can link your existing Netflix account to your Sky account via the Sky Q box or your Sky account.
What to do if you’re on an old Sky TV package
First, work out what you’re paying for now and how much it costs. You need to get a copy of your bill. It should clearly say what package you are on. If it says anything other than Signature or Ultimate for your TV then you’re on an old bundle.
You then need to find out how much they’ll charge you for the new packages. It’s likely they’ll be offering a discount if you agree to a new 18-month contract.
It can be hard to get through via the phone right now, but you should also be able to see on your online account – or even via your Sky box – whether you’re being offered discounts to switch over to Sky Signature or Sky Ultimate.
Before you agree to a new deal, even if it is a lot cheaper, I think it’s also worth asking why you’ve been overpaying – particularly if you’ve been on an older Variety for the last few years.
You should ask for the money you’ve overpaid back. They might not do this, but you might be able to get a further discount instead or have one of the add-ons (eg HD) given to you for free for a year.
However, it’s better to consider whether it’s even worth staying with Sky at all.
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You’ve got two options. One if you want to stay with Sky, and one if you’d consider leaving. With both you still get the same channels and you should save some serious cash.
I’ve not paid for Sky TV (or Virgin, Talk Talk or BT TV) for six years now. That’s because Sky has another service called NOW TV which has the bulk of the channels, including Sky Atlantic and lots of box sets, and it’s far cheaper.
You pay £8.99 a month for the Entertainment pass. You can actually get it for less through special offers and I never pay more than £5 a month.
Even at full price it’s £21 less every month than the full price Signature pass – which adds up to £252 a year. Even if you manage to get Signature for less, say £25, that’s still £192 a year more than the same channels with NOW TV. You’re also not committed to a 12 or 18-month contract so you can cancel at any time.
You can also buy Kids, Sky Cinema and Sky Sports passes. Kids and Cinema once more work out the same or cheaper than going through Sky and you are also on a 30-day contract.
Sports though is a different case and costs more on NOW TV if you want to watch it at least a few times a week. However there are day and week passes which represent goodvalue, and often discounts on month long passes too.
The big difference between Sky and NOW TV is this is a streaming service, like Netflix or iPlayer. So you can stream live or on-demand, but you can’t record. If you want to record Freeview channels (so BBC, C4, Five etc) then you can pick up a decent Freeview recording box for around £125. This should last you at least two years (ours is still going strong in its fifth year) – which means it’s the equivalent of £5.21 a month for 24 months – and then nothing after. Add that on to the NOW TV pass and you’re still saving decent cash.
Stay with Sky – Haggle for more savings
Ok, so if you want to stay with Sky, then don’t accept the first offer. Even if you are offered a discount to swap over, you might be able to negotiate further savings.
Try to get them on the phone or via live chat and politely tell them you think it’s too much money and ask them to see what they can do.
While you’re at it, if you also pay for movies or sports channels, or get internet too, see if Sky will also offer you a saving on these as well.
If you’re out of contract with Sky then you can help to push your case by saying you’re thinking of leaving. Ask to speak to the retentions department. It’s worth doing five minutes of research to see what other companies are charging.
You will probably have to agree to a new 18-month contract, so do check over the total prices before saying yes. There’s no point accepting free extras if you’re not going to watch those channels or use those services.
The first bank switching bonus in five months started on Tuesday and runs until mid-September. You can get £100 for opening a Halifax Reward account (reviewed here) or the Halifax Ultimate Rewards.
You can even get this if you are already with Halifax – you just need to open a new account and switch from a different bank. Here’s more on the conditions.
On the 21st August you can stream a live gig from indie icons Supergrass for just £2 – and all the money will go to charities. It’s via American craft brewers Goose Island. More details here.
Though the football leagues have been decided there’s still sport on Sky Sports and this offer gets you two months of the channels on NOW TV for £25 a month. Get the deal here.
From Monday there’s a new way to save at restaurants – and it’s been set up by the Government! Called Eat Out to Help Out, you can get 50% off meals up to £10 per person throughout August.
The “Fix Your Bike” scheme from the Government is giving away 50,000 £50 vouchers to do up your bike. It launched on Tuesday night but was quickly paused due to so many applicants! It should return soon, so here’s how to get one when it does.
If you need to stock up on beauty this offer lets you keep saving on every £20 you spend, plus you can combine it with other offers and get your Advantage points. More here.
Though it’s not ideal circumstances, many of you with families will still want to get out with the kids this summer where you can. Two options which could save you money are Kids Pass and Little Bird. Both offer 30-day trials for £1 so it could be worth giving one a go over the school holidays.
Throughout August you can get up to £10 extra off your meals per person when dining out.
As part of the Government’s plans to stimulate the economy announced in July, the big surprise was an initiative called Eat Out to Help Out.
Despite speculation there could be spending vouchers or widespread VAT cuts, instead it looked like BoJo and the Chancellor Rishi Sunak were getting in on the coupon business in attempt to get us back in restaurants and cafes.
I’m not convinced that £10 off a meal is going to be enough to encourage those still unsure about their safety to change their mind, but if you are happy to eat out, not only can this save you money, but you can stack it with other offers to really bring the price down.
How Eat Out To Help Out Works
You can get 50% off your meal up to £10 per person at participating restaurants in August. It’s only valid Monday to Wednesday, and it’s only for food you eat-in. This means takeaways are not part of the scheme.
You’ll get the money off any food and non-alcoholic drinks you order – but any spend on booze won’t count.
The discount is also calculated based on the number of diners – not on who ordered what. So say the total bill for two is £40, but one of you spend £25 and the other £15, you’ll get the full discount of £10 each.
How to claim the discount
There’s no need for a voucher as you won’t need to do anything to get the saving – the money will be taken off your bill automatically. The restaurant then needs to claim the money back from the government.
How many times can you use the offer?
There’s no limit to how many times you can eat at a Eat Out to Help Out restaurant – as long as it’s a Monday to Wednesday in August.
What about tipping and service charges?
The discount is applied before extras such as tips are calculated. This means you should really tip based on the full price amount rather than the discounted amount.
So a £40 meal for two with 10% added would cost you £24 – £20 for the food and £4 for the tip.
Which restaurants are taking part?
There are a huge number of local restaurants and national chains taking part. Where I live there’s everything from my favourite local Thai through to McDonalds. Plenty of choice!
You can use a handy postcode tool to help you find out the participating venues near you (within a 5 miile radius). However it does seem to limit to 100 results, meaning some places might get missed off if you live in a town or city.
Obviously this is a great opportunity to support local business owners who really will have felt the impact of the shutdown, so I’d encourage you to take your custom to these places rather than big chains like Nandos or Burger King.
Don’t forget you can also use this in cafes, coffee shops, ice cream parlours… as long as you are eating in.
How to stack Eat Out To Help Out with other offers
The deal hunter side of me is excited about combining the EOTHO offer with other ways to save. This could be anything from special set meal offers through to other food discount schemes.
Remember, this 50%/£10 saving is something the restaurant will claim back from the government, so they are able to offer any additional savings they want to get you through the doors.
Here are a few to look out for:
Local offers
If you’ve got favourite places to eat, check out their websites or social media (or just ask) to see if they have other promotions and savings in place.
Monday to Wednesday are usually quiet days with regular offers which could still be running. The classic “pre-theatre” set menu slot to get early diners in before 6.30pm won’t necessarily have disappeared even with theatres closed, and places might even have new offers for the month.
For example, my fave place to eat is Hawksmoor (London, Manchester and Edinburgh). They’re offering steak and chips for £20 rather than £30, meaning you’ll pay just £10. An absolute bargain. If I only I lived near one now!
Or you might find places like Beefeater (and other Whitbread pubs and restaurants) which are offering the full 50% off food and non-alcoholic drinks beyond the £10 cap. So spend £50 for two people and you’ll pay just £25.
Restaurant hopping
If you want to support as many places as possible and are likely to spend more than £20 per person, then you could consider splitting your meal between different establishments – especially those which don’t offer main courses.
For example, once you’ve had your main, you could pop to a crepe place for dessert, then onto a coffee shop for a post-meal brew.
You’ll get 50% off each time up to £10 per person. So say the starter & main is £20, the dessert is £8 and the coffee £3. At a single place the total would be £31 and you’d pay £21. But separately, you’d get the full 50% off, paying £15.50.
I appreciate this isn’t going to work most of the time, but it’s worth thinking about.
The 75% VAT Cut
Another measure in the Summer Statement was reducing VAT from 20% to 5% for leisure and entertainment businesses, including restaurants and cafes.
Now this doesn’t mean prices will be reduced – the owners might have understandably decided to keep them the same to help cover losses they’ve experienced since March.
But if prices have dropped, this will be already factored in before the Eat Out to Help Out 50% is applied. If you’re not sure whether the saving is passed on in the prices you see on menus, just ask.
Tastecard
If you’ve got a Tastecard, Gourmet Society etc then you’ll be able to use this at particpating restaurants to save money on your food and drink BEFORE the extra 50% is applied.
So say you and a friend spend £80 on food and Tastecard offers you 50% off (it could be 2 for 1 or similar), the bill would drop to £40. But you’d only pay £20 as half that amount would be claimed back by the restaurant.
I love this offer. Spend £10 at a participating restaurant and you’ll get £5 back to your Amex card. So This could mean a £20 spend costs you just £5 after both offers are applied. Here’s more on how Shop Small works and how to get the most out of it.
Don’t forget to check your other debit and credit cards to see if they are offering cashback on purchases in restaurants. For example on my Amex there’s 5% back at Five Guys, while on my Natwest Rewards account there’s 5% at Caffe Nero (which is also on cashback app Airtime Rewards too!).
Meerkat Meals
Similar to Tastecard (it’s actually run by the same organisation), the Meerkat Meals promotion will get you two for one on starters, mains and desserts.
With more job losses announced every day, and many more likely to happen as furlough begins to tail off, there’s talk of 10% unemployment this year. That means there’s a strong possibility we’re all going affected personally. So it’s really important we understand how redundancy works.
To help, I’ve been joined in this episode by employment lawyer Jodie Hill.
We talk about what your entitlements are for notice and pay, how people are selected for redundancy, whether furlough will effect how much you’ll get, what consultancy is, whether you’ll get more if you volunteer to leave and much more.
Which is best from the likes of Monzo, Starling and the high street banks.
Since I set up my business I’ve banked with Santander, Yorkshire Bank, HSBC and now Starling. The big surprise at the start was that most accounts have a monthly fee and there are additional charges on top!
But it is possible to pay nothing at all thanks to new accounts from the likes of Monzo and Starling, and tricks to avoid paying even if you go with a high street bank.
Here’s what you need to know if you have or need a business bank account.
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Watch my video discussing how to get free business banking, or keep reading.
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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 a specialist business account. You can make do with a standard personal account. And these are free!
It’s best to separate your business money from your personal cash, so I’d open up a new account. This is great for knowing what’s a business expense and what’s a personal one – handy when it comes to doing your tax return!
But if you are part of a Limited Company then have to have a specific business account.
Digital banks vs high street banks
Whether you are required to have a proper business bank account, or just want to take advantage of some of the additional features, there’s a huge range to choose from. So what to consider?
Do you need to pay in cash? or cheques? Do you need a high street branch? If these are important then you’ll be better off at a high street bank.
If not then you could try one of the newest banks such as Monzo or Starling.
With all banks there are ways to get your banking for free.
The best free digital bank business accounts
Monzo & Starling Business accounts
Monzo and Starling both have free business accounts. They are essentially the same as their popular personal current accounts.
So you get budgeting/tracking features, the ability to put money in separate pots or spaces and fee-free spending overseas. You can also take photos of receipts and attach them to the expense on the app.
And if you’re worried about relying on your phone to manage the account, don’t worry. Unlike standard accounts, both have the added feature that you can manage most of your money on a desktop computer too.
Starling also lets you integrate with accounting software such as Xero, Quick Books and Free Agent for free. Plus you can pay in cheques up to £500 via the app.
Though free, if you want to pay in cash you will get charged each time by both accounts.
For most small businesses this should be enough, though there are paid-for versions with extra features.
Personally I opted for Starling, though you can always try both the personal versions of the accounts for free to see which you prefer.
There are a few other digital business accounts. Tide and Coconut for example are worth a look.
Tide’s free account includes read access for others and accounting software integration but does charge 20p for transfers in and out.
Coconut’s free account includes the tax estimate feature and lets you to sending three invoices a month, but it charges for cash withdrawals and deposits.
However these two accounts are not fully regulated banks they don’t have FSCS protection. Since Monzo and Starling do I think they have the edge.
Paid for digital Business accounts
All four of these accounts also have paid for versions.
These let you do things like send invoices, record VAT, estimate your tax liability and give other employees or accountants read-only access.
If that’s of interest it’s worth comparing what you get, and looking at the features that’ll work best for you
Monzo Business Pro and Coconut Grow are both £5 a month. The Starling Toolkit is £7 per month, though add it by 31st July 2020 you’ll get three months free. Tide has a Plus account at £9.99 + VAT a month or Premium at £49.99 + VAT a month.
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Editor’s pick: £100 savings bonus
Effective 6.45% rate for six months as a new Raisin customer
As I mentioned, the big problem with the digital accounts is you will get charged to pay in cash. And of course there’s no branch to visit. So if those are likely you’ll need to go to a high street bank.
But these aren’t actually free accounts. They all charge monthly fees. Between £5 and £8. And on top of this there will be charges for bank transfers and even those important cash deposits.
However you can avoid the fees for a limited time as a new customer. Some only offer the discount for new businesses, generally within the first year of starting.
But others will let you switch an existing account over even if you’ve been trading for years.
So you could start of with a free year with one bank when you start, then move to another for 18 months free banking, and then move again, and so on.
It’s easy to do, and you’re protected by the same guarantees you get switching your personal account. So payments in and out, standing orders and direct debits – all are moved and compensated for if something goes wrong.
Do check you are eligible for these accounts – there could be an annual turnover limit for example. And the free offers might also be subject to other restrictions. Plus, don’t forget there will be charges if you don’t switch again once the free period ends.
Though the bank account is the most important card to get, you can also get separate debit cards which can be really handy. I’ve got both a Curve card and a Paypal card.
Curve
Curve is a smart card where you can add a mix of personal and business debit and credit cards as the underlying payment, and then choose which one you want to use when you make a purchase.
The big reason I love it is the feature to “go back in time” and move a transaction from one card to another. So if I buy something for my business but accidentally use a personal account, I can switch it later – or visa versa.
Here’s my full review and a code to get £5 when signing up.
Paypal debit card
This Paypal debit card is only available to those with a Paypal Business account. When you spend on it, it takes money from your Paypal account, or the connected account. Why bother? Well you get 0.5% cashback on transactions!
