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May 16, 2019 | Articles

Deciphering supermarket deals

Written by Andy Webb

Avoid these common mistakes when shopping at the supermarket.

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Some articles on the blog contain affiliate links, which provide a small commission to help fund the blog. However, they won’t affect the price you pay or the blog’s independence. Read more here.

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The problem with special offers in supermarkets is they’re, well, not all ways very special.

Three-quarters of us spend more than we planned due to special offers, and often those deals aren’t even the best value on the shelves. Misleading language, complicated deals and the desire to bag a bargain sometimes make us spend more than we should. So how do you know if it really is a good deal?

To make sure you don’t get fooled yourself, you first need to understand some of the mistakes we all make when buying food and drink on special offer.

You’re hardly making a saving

Ever see those multi-buy deals for yoghurts where it’s three for £1, yet they only cost 35p each? That’s a grand saving of 5p you’re making. Or the price cut sign that reveals you’re actually only saving a few pence.

These are useful, albeit small, discounts if you want those items anyway, but not if you’re only buying because of the offer.

You could have bought a cheaper option that’s not on offer

Supermarkets put the items they want you to buy at the end of aisles or at eye-level, and these are often ones on special offer. So it’s easy to assume these are the best value available and throw them in your trolley.

But if you actually turn down the aisle, or look high and low on the shelves, you might find a different product that’s not on offer, and still cheaper!

You’re confused by the discount you’re getting

It can sometimes feel like you need a maths degree to know how different deals compare.

Say there are three different 300g packs of cheese all costing £3. You’ve got the option of 33% off one, 50% extra free on another, and buy two save £2. Which is better value?

Well they actually all mean the same! It’ll cost you £2 per 300g, so the only difference between the offers is how much cheese you get.

It’s easy to think you’re getting more than you actually are, so it’s worth checking!

You buy more than you need

Many multi-buy special offers, such as “Buy One Get One Free” or “Three for £10” deals, are just making you buy more than you actually want – and that can lead to you throwing things out. So you might actually be saving money by spending more per item but buying less of them.

You buy things you don’t really want

I’ve certainly done this. You see something you wouldn’t normally buy, but since there’s a special discount you decide to give it a try. This is particularly a risk with supermarket cashback apps.

Sometimes you do get to try some premium brands for the price of a standard item, but more often than not you could still buy something you’re perfectly happy with for less.

You think bigger is better value

Just because a larger pack is called a “value pack”, it doesn’t mean it will be the best value. Of course it could be, but supermarkets are trying to get you to just grab what appears the best option without checking that it really is.

The same goes for multipacks, where it can often be cheaper to buy items individually.

The shortcut to working this out is to look for the price per unit. This should be on the shelf label. Use this to compare different special offers, different sized packs and even different brands to see which is actually the cheapest. Though it’s not always perfect.

You can buy it as part of a special offer more often than full price

From crisps to crumpets, there are products I regularly see on offer more often than I see them at full price. Wine is probably one of the worst offenders.

This means that the lower price is really the price the supermarkets want you to pay and you’re not really making a saving. Of course, that doesn’t mean it’s bad value – unless you buy it the higher price!

The mySupermarket app is fantastic for finding out if the price is above or below the average price, as well as see the price history for the last 11 months. You can also compare prices between supermarkets. You’ll be able to find out if one supermarket is cheaper than another and check out the different offers available.

You’re not actually buying something on offer

We’re trained through years of shopping to look for things like big red stickers and assume they’re a discount or special price. But sometimes these are just prices. It doesn’t mean they’re bad prices, but again, don’t assume you’re picking something up for less than normal.

More on supermarket savings

The problem with price per unit food comparisons

May 15, 2019 | Articles

Credit cards, Section 75 and your consumer rights

Written by Andy Webb

Buy something worth more than £100 with a credit card and you could get your money back if it’s broken, doesn’t get delivered or the company goes bust.

I’ve written a few times about how a credit card can save you money. They can earn you cashback. They can cut nasty overseas spending charges. They can even act as 0% interest loans or help build up your credit rating.

Of course, credit cards won’t be for everyone – and if you can’t afford to pay off the full amount each month they’re almost always worth avoiding.

But there’s one benefit which it’s really worth having a credit card for – and it’s called Section 75.

Some articles on the site contain affiliate links, which provide a small commission to help fund our work. However, they won’t affect the price you pay or our editorial independence. Read more here.

What is Section 75 and how does it work?

It’s not exactly a sexy name, but it’s a very powerful part of the Consumer Credit Act. This means it’s part of law.

If you buy something that costs more than £100 and less than £30,000 with a credit card, the credit card company is equally liable for your purchases with whoever sold it to you.

So if there’s something wrong with a purchase and you aren’t having any luck with the retailer, you can ask the credit card company to refund you.

And since it’s the law, they have to do it.

It doesn’t cost you anything

As long as the item you buy is over £100 you get the protection, and it won’t cost you anything! Plus all credit cards have to offer this, though it’s a different story for charge cards and some store cards.

You only need to spend £1

If you’re buying something particularly expensive you might find you don’t have the credit limit to buy it outright with your credit card.

Likewise, some retailers or businesses might tell you they won’t accept credit cards or charge you a fee.

Neither means you can’t get the Section 75 protection. As long as the item costs more than £100, you only need to pay for part of it on a credit card to be covered for the total amount. We did this for our wedding reception venue.

It’s single items, not total spend that count

Let’s say you’re out shopping and buy a suit jacket for £60 and suit trousers for £40. That’s £100 on your credit card. But since neither item cost more than £100, this purchase isn’t covered. However, buy a suit for £100 as a single item and you will get the protection.

Secondary cardholders don’t count

I’ve got an Amex cashback credit card. To maximise the money we make Becky has a supplementary card in her name. So when she spends we get more cashback.

But for some weird reason, anything she buys isn’t protected unless there’s proof I’m affected. So if she bought me something it would be covered, but something for herself wouldn’t.

Watch out for PayPal

You only get Section 75 protection if you spend directly on your card. This means PayPal and other middlemen like Groupon can sometimes break that link – meaning you might not get the cover.

It’s the same with travel money cards like Curve. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use these services as there are advantages to them, but it something worth considering.

However, Apple Pay and Android Pay don’t break the chain, so you still get Section 75 protection on these purchases over £100.

Chargeback could protect you if you spend less than £100

There’s a scheme called Chargeback that could get you a refund if your purchases were less than £100.

Here you ask the bank to claim the money the back from the trader’s bank on your behalf. It works for both debit and credit cards as long you claim within 120 days.

However, Chargeback isn’t enforced with a law so there’s no guarantee you will get your money back.

Fraudulent payments can be protected too

This isn’t part of Section 75, but there’s an extra protection bonus that comes with credit cards. The maximum you are liable for if your credit card is stolen is £50. And that’s only if money has been spent on it before you report it missing.

Of course, it’s different if you were negligible, say by leaving the PIN on a note with the card. Yes, people do this. I know it can be difficult to remember all your PINs (I completely forgot one the other week), but at least try to not keep any reminders with the card.

May 9, 2019 | Articles

The reusable cups that’ll save you money (and the planet)

Written by Andy Webb

Buy a reusable cup and save money at the coffee shop.

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Some articles on the blog contain affiliate links, which provide a small commission to help fund the blog. However, they won’t affect the price you pay or the blog’s independence. Read more here.

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Thanks largely to Blue Planet 2 last year lots of people who weren’t bothered about recycling and single-use plastic have had a change of heart. We’ve seen retailers taking action too, including straws disappearing from MacDonalds, and Morrisons trialing paper bags. But it’s not always easy to know what can and can’t be recycled – and something that often can’t is the takeaway coffee cup.

Now, I’m not a coffee drinker, but if I was I’d be getting in on the reusable cup trend (I already have an environmentally friendly water bottle which I refill). They can make a huge difference to what ends up in landfill.

Not convinced? Well what if I told you they can also save you money? Well the big coffee shop chains are offering a discount if you bring your own cup, and I’m sure lots of smaller, independent ones will be doing the same.

Coffee shop discounts for bringing your own cup

Here are the discounts from the biggest national chains:

Pret will take 50p off your drink
Starbucks offer 25p off any hot drink, though it’s actually 30p off as there’s a 5p charge for paper cups
Costa discount by 25p
Caffe Nero gives double stamps (nine stamps = a free drink)

You can also save at a few other national chains.

Greggs reduce by 20p
Paul take off 25p

If your favourite coffee shop isn’t listed here then just ask when you next pop in, and check they’re happy to fill a cup they haven’t supplied.

How much money a reusable cup could save you in a year

Practically speaking you’re not going use your reusable cup every time you buy a coffee, but let’s say you keep it at work and manage to use it three times a week. Take away a few weeks for when you’re on holiday and that leaves us with 150 cups of coffee over 12 months

So at Pret you’ll be £75 better off, at Starbucks it’ll be £45 cheaper and at Costa you’ll have spent £37.50 less. Decent money. While at Nero you’ll have bagged 30 odd free coffees rather than 15.

Of course you’ve got to factor in buying the cup! These can get quite expensive, with some of the snazziest ones coming in at more than £20. But there are lots of cheaper alternatives that start from £1. But even if you do want to treat yourself to a designer cup you’ll have paid for it after 80 cups.

You can save a bit more too by making yourself a brew first thing before you leave home.

Just make sure you don’t leave it in the office dishwasher – you just know you’ll never see it again.

My pick of reusable coffee cups

1. Starbucks £1 reusable cup

Yes it’s emblazoned with the Starbucks logo, but at £1 it’s a very cheap way to save.

Save 25p every time you use any reusable cup or tumbler in-store. You can get one of ours for just £1. #RecycleWeek pic.twitter.com/F2btZKcQbX

— Starbucks EMEA News (@StarbucksEMEA) September 25, 2017

2. KeepCup from £11

These cups get decent reviews on Amazon and look pretty smart. Medium 12oz sized cups start from £11, which is pretty much a “Tall” drink at Starbucks. Plastic ones are BPA free, or there are glass and cork alternatives.

> Shop for KeepCup reusable coffee cups at Amazon

3. Stojo and Pokito collapsible cups – £10 to £15

I like the idea of these as they collapse down to a size which will easily fit in your bag. The Stojo cups are 12oz when opened up, and you can also expand the Pokito ones to a size that suits the size of drink you want, up to a large 16oz/475ml. The cup is BPA free.

> Get a Pokito cup

> Get a Stojo cup

4. ECoffee cup from £10

If you want to shun plastics, then this ECoffee range is made from bamboo. There are a few with nice William Morris patterns too which are all very pretty.

> Check out the ECoffee range

5. Thermos ThermoCafe from £8

You can buy very expensive insulated mugs, but this is an option at the cheaper end, and it’s one that I’ve had stashed at the back of the kitchen cupboard (I think I won it in a competition!). It does the job well and has good insulation, plus it has a handle if that’s something you’re after!

> Find a ThermoCafe travel mug

Fancy a free tea or coffee?

Don’t forget you can pick one up from Waitrose, though you do need to buy something and take your own mug. As I cheekily investigated a few years ago you only need to spend 1p!

May 8, 2019 | Articles

My top “refer-a-friend” offers

Written by Andy Webb

Use bespoke codes to give friends a discount and earn you some extra cash or credit.

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Some articles on the blog contain affiliate links, which provide a small commission to help fund the blog. However, they won’t affect the price you pay or the blog’s independence. Read more here.

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Since you’re reading my blog, you’re no doubt already pretty savvy and like to use codes and offers to save some cash when you get the opportunity. You might not have realised it, but some of those codes were likely to be “Refer-a-friend” offers where whoever gave you the code also got a discount.

It’s usually a win-win for you and your mates. If you already use or shop with these companies it’s an easy opportunity to help out your friends and earn you a little extra too.

However, there are a few things to watch for.

Some of the rewards you get for referring a friend will have a minimum spend, possibly prompting you to spend money you hadn’t intended to part with
These won’t always be the best companies to use, both in terms of price and quality
You and your friend might be able to get better discounts a different way

Where to get refer-a-friend bonuses

It’s actually surprising where you can find these schemes. From your physiotherapist through to shops like Habitat and Glasses Direct it’s possible to get discounts for you and your friends.

The key is to check in your apps and accounts to see if there are unique codes for you to share. Or if you want to signup to a new service, see if any mates can refer you.

I’ve listed below the schemes I use, and a few others which could be great to explore. If I can share my code to get you a saving it’s below, then once you’ve signed up you can share your own codes with your friends.

Banking refer-a-friend picks

Nationwide – £100 each

If you bank with Nationwide, you and your friend can both get £100 cash through a referral. The FlexDirect is a decent account too as you can earn 5% interest for the first year. Sadly I can’t share this one on the blog, but if you know me just shout and I’ll send you my code!

Santander – £50 Amazon voucher each

Recommend a mate to switch their bank account to Santander and you’ll both get £50 in Amazon vouchers. There are better switching offers out there for them though. However, existing Santander account holders who are recommended by a friend and move another account over into the Santander one can claim the reward too. This one ends 18th June 2019.

TSB – £75 each

Until 30th June 2019, switch to a TSB Classic Plus account with a referral link and you and your friend will both get £75! You’ll also get 3% interest on savings up to £1,500. Again, if you know me, shout and I’ll send you a link!

American Express – around £25 each

This varies depending on which card you have. With my Amex Platinum Cashback card it’s £25 for both the referrer and the friend, with others it’s Amex or Avios points. Again, this can only be shared with friends and family.

Tandem credit card – £10 Amazon voucher

My back-up cashback credit card for when I can’t use my Amex, Tandem offers 0.5% back on purchase – and new users can get a £10 Amazon voucher using a friend’s referral link. Here’s mine!

Tesco credit card – 1,000 Clubcard points

Tesco offers a similar scheme to earn 1,000 Clubcard points or £10 Tesco gift card each if you refer it’s credit card or insurance policies.

Monzo – £5 each

This bank doesn’t require you to switch your old account over – you just need to make a transaction with your new debit card. Do that and you both get a fiver.

Chip – 1% boost on your interest

Chip is a savings app where it automatically moves money from your current account to a savings account. I’ve been using it for a few years and it’s a good way to save. The basic interest rate is 1% (though I’ve an exclusive code – CLEVER3 – to start you at 3%), but for every friend you refer, you both get an extra 1% (up to 5%) It’s available via iOs or Android.

Bill refer-a-friend picks

Sky TV – £75 each

If you get a mate to subscribe to Sky you both get a £75 prepaid Mastercard. Great for you, but they might be able to get a better deal through cashback sites.

Virgin offers £50 each, though your friend will definitely be better off with cashback deals.

Mobiles – up to £40 voucher each

If you get your mobile with Three you can both get a £25 Amazon voucher through its refer-a-friend offer.

O2’s Tell a friend scheme offers £25 in vouchers too, while giffgaff gives you both £5.

Gas and electricity – between £20 and £50 voucher

You can get vouchers or credit if you get a friend to switch their energy supplier, including EDF, Ovo and First Utility. Of course, the key here is to get your friend to compare prices first, and they might get a better cashback deal via sites like CheapEnergyClub.

One that does look good is via Bulb, as you both get £50 which is usually better than cashback rates.

Money saving apps and websites refer-a-friend picks

AirBnB – £23 for you, £34 for them

You can get your friends £25 off their first stay and £9 off an experience, and in return you £23.

Topcashback & Quidco – Up to £20 for you

I’m a big fan of sites like Quidco and Topcashback. The latter is best for referrals as there are sometimes £5 incentives for friends, though most of the time it’s just you who will benefit. Premium members get £7.50 for every friend who signs up and earns £10 in cashback, and there are offers that increase it to £20.

However, new members are usually better off signing up on their own and earning up to £17 of free cash.

Shopmium – Freebies for them, £3 credit for you

This supermarket cashback app gives new users a free bar of chocolate (at the moment it’s Lindt) when they use a refer-a-friend code. In return, you get £3 credit on the app. Frustratingly you can’t cash this out. Instead you get the full cashback when you buy one of the featured products.

> Download Shopmium and get a free Nutella pot (use code KHMYEEFW)

Do you use any other referral schemes? Share them in the comments below

April 23, 2019 | Articles

My 14 bank accounts, and why I’ve got each one

Written by Andy Webb

Yeah, you read that right. I’ve got 14 different bank accounts.

That’s probably 13 more than most people. And you might think it’s 13 more than anyone could need. But from decent interest rates to cash rewards, there’s a reason I’ve got each and every one.

And there have been more, such as Lloyds and M&S, which I’ve switched away from. But to give you an idea of what each account offers me, here’s a rundown of why I got it in the first place, how I use it now, and whether you should be getting that same account too.

Plus, at the bottom of the article, some more info on where you can go to check out all the different offers and deals banks are running right now to get you to open an account with them.

You can listen to my podcast episode on this very topic here:

1. Nationwide FlexDirect

This is my main current account. For the first year, I got 5% interest on up to £2,500 saved there. That’s since dropped to a not-so-great 1%.

I also got £80 cashback when I opened it, and another £100 when I referred my wife to open one for herself.

Until recently I was also able to have a 5% regular saver, though this feature was closed in April. This could now be a “switching” account that I ditch in order to get offers elsewhere.

Why you should get it: The 5% interest for the first year can’t be beaten by any other account right now. And if you’re referred by a friend you’ll both get a £100 bonus.

2. Starling

One of the new app-only banks, Starling gives me fee-free spending and cash withdrawals overseas.

Why you should get it: There’s no better card for overseas spending. Plenty of budgeting innovations too that help you keep track of your spending.

3. NatWest Reward

This is a joint account with my wife and we use it to pay all our shared bills. In return for the £2 a month fee we then get 2% cashback on most of those outgoings, including Council Tax, energy and mobile phones.

Why you should get it: The cashback. RBS offers the same account, though there’s also the Santander 123 Lite which might work out better for you – it depends on the size of your bills.

4. First Direct

I had to open this account when I took out my mortgage, but I’ve kept it as it gives access to a 5% regular saver. This has a monthly limit you can save of £300.

Why you should get it: New joiners can get £100 for switching, and there’s a £250 interest-free overdraft.

5. Monzo

Like Starling, Monzo is a new app-only bank. I got it for the foreign transaction benefits, but these aren’t as good as they were and I’d rather use my Starling account or Tandem credit card when overseas.

Why you should get it: If you want to try out some of the innovative features to help you track your spending.

6. Tesco Bank

I opened this a few years ago to get 3% on up to £3,000 saved there. Sadly this amount is going to be dropped to 1% in June. I’ll be switching it away then, possibly to Lloyds to get some free cinema tickets.

Why you should get it: One to avoid now. If you’ve got it then you should be switching away.

7. Barclays

I opened the Barclays account as part of a switching deal to get double Blue Rewards for the first year. This should net me £120 over 12 months. After this it’ll drop to just £36 a year. Better than nothing, but not too special.

Why you should get it: Only switch to Barclays if there’s a double Rewards offer, or if you have extra things like a mortgage or insurance via Barclays.

8. Halifax Reward

I took advantage of a £100 switching bonus to get this account. I’ve kept the account as I get a £2 reward each month for having two direct debits and paying in a certain amount – though it’s not as profitable as it once was – the rewards have dropped from £5 when I first had the account.

Why you should get it: There’s currently a switching bonus worth considering, though the monthly reward isn’t that special anymore.

9. Transferwise

This is a different one. I sometimes get paid in US dollars, mainly for the advertising you see on the blog. Now it could get paid straight into my business account but then I’d be hit with extra fees to swap it to pounds. Instead I get it sent to a Transferwise account. It stays in dollars, which I can then spend without converting – lots of the software that runs the blog and podcast is American run – or swap to pounds later at a better rate.

Why you should get it: If are regularly paid or spend in different currencies.

10. Yorkshire Bank

This is my business account which I got for 25 months fee-free banking. Yep, fee-free. Most business accounts charge you a monthly fee and even extra for each time you have money paid in or out. My fee-free time is nearly over though so I’ll be looking for an alternative.

Why you should get it: If you have your own business and want to avoid extra charges.

11. TSB Classic

Another account I opened to get high interest on savings. In June it will be cut from 5% to 3% (on balances up to £1,500), but it’s still better than most other savings accounts.

Why you should get it: If you’ve already had the Nationwide 5% account for a year, then this is the next best place for your savings.

12. TSB Classic (number 2)

Sadly you can’t do this anymore, but I was able to have two accounts.

13. TSB Classic (number 3)

This is a joint account with the same interest rate.

14. TSB Classic (number 4)

The last one with TSB, and it’s another joint account. Again you can only have one joint account now.

> Check out all the latest bank switching offers and high-interest deals from current accounts

Why you need more than one bank account

The best bank switching, cashback, interest & overdraft offers (January 2022)

How many accounts do you have? Let me know in the comments below.

April 22, 2019 | Articles

Taking cash out on a credit card – all the ways you pay more

Written by Andy Webb

It can be expensive to use your credit card for cash – and you might not even realise you’re doing it.

I’ve been full-on with filming for the next series of Shop Smart Save Money so I’ve enlisted the help of my blogging friend Sara Williams for this guest post. Sara writes the fantastic Debt Camel blog, where she looks at everything to do with debt and credit ratings.

You probably know it’s more expensive to take cash out on a credit card than if you bought something costing that much. But did you know that most credit card companies have three different ways to rack up the charges on cash advances? And that these extra charges don’t only apply to getting cash at an ATM? They also apply to “cash-like” transactions?

The extra fees on cash transactions

There are three ways you pay more for these cash withdrawals.

First, the interest rate on a cash transaction is usually higher than on a “standard” transaction, when you buy something.

Second, you get charged this interest rate immediately you withdraw the money. When you buy something, there is a period of several weeks – usually between 45 and 60 days – when no interest is added. When you get your next statement, you won’t be charged any interest on the new purchases showing, so if you clear your whole credit card balance then, you never pay any interest. But if you have taken cash out, there will be an immediate charge on your next statement.

Third, there is often a transaction fee that is charged on top. This may be dependent on the amount you have taken out, say 3% with a minimum of £3. So it’s “cheaper” to take out c£150 in one go than in two transactions.

And if you use an ATM abroad, there may be extra foreign transaction fees, from your credit card and sometimes from the local bank as well. Though there are exceptions – more on this in a bit.

What are “cash-like” transactions?

Credit cards treat the following transactions as “cash-like” and charge you the higher interest and fees on them:

buying foreign currency, pre-paid foreign currency cards or Travellers Cheques at a bank or a Bureau de Change;
gambling and betting, including lottery websites;
making a cash transfer, to your bank account or to someone else by wire transfer;
adding money to a pre-paid card;
buying a Money Order to send to someone.

That isn’t a complete list. If you want to do something that is basically moving money around or using your credit card to “buy” a different sort of money, this may be treated as a “cash-like” transaction. Ask your credit card company what you will be charged before you do this!

If you are wondering how your credit card company will know you have just used your card on a sports betting website or to buy Lottery tickets, there is a Merchant Category Code (MCC) attached to each transactions. These identify types of gambling, as in some countries customers are not legally allowed to use a credit card for gambling.

Taking cash out on your credit card overseas

If you spend a lot on holidays abroad it may be worth getting a special “travel credit card”. These are cards that work just like a normal credit card – you spend on them abroad and get a monthly statement to pay off – but they are cheaper than using normal credit cards on holiday.

Andy has reviewed some in Travel money: my top ways to spend on holiday.

Some of these have:

no foreign transaction fees;
better exchange rates;
no ATM fees for cash withdrawals abroad (but you may still be charged by the local bank and you will also start incurring interest immediately).

These cards can work out to be the cheapest option for travel money. If you already have one, check it’s still the cheapest a few months ahead so you have time to get another card if a the is a better alternative this year.

A very expensive form of emergency cash

Apart from planned spending on these travel cards, it’s best to avoid taking money out on a credit card at all. All those extra fees add up to big profits for the card company and a big problem for you.

Once in a blue moon, in a real emergency, that’s fine.

But figures from UK Finance, the trade association for banks and credit card companies, show that £5 billion pounds was taken out last year in cash withdrawals from credit cards. There were more than 2.8 million cash advances on credit cards on November 2018 alone – that’s not peak holiday time. That seems like an awful lot of “emergencies”…

Lots of people are taking cash out just to scrape through somehow to the next month. But then the high fees make your situation worse. If your debts are too large and you have bills you can’t pay, read this article over on Debt Camel about Money and debt worries – because cash advances are making your position worse, not better.

April 18, 2019 | Articles

Cheap chicken isn’t something to shout about

Written by Andy Webb

Iceland has launched what it claims are the cheapest supermarket chicken breasts – and I’m not happy.

Late last week a press release popped into my inbox. The title read “Chick this out! Iceland launches lowest priced chicken in the UK”. You can see some of it in the image below.

Iceland’s press release announcing it’s cut-price chicken

So what’s the problem? Well, although I’m often celebrating saving money, I don’t think supermarkets should be shouting about the lowest price chicken.

Really cheap chicken can only mean one thing – poor welfare. And it could be a signifier that it’s lesser quality meat too, perhaps pumped full of water. Yes, ok it could be a subsidised loss leader to get people through the doors. But not to an extent that mitigates my concerns.

And according to the RSPCA, most people don’t want this either. Eight out of 10 people think the chicken they are buying is higher welfare – but it’s not.

Animal and bird welfare

To sell chicken at this price must surely mean these birds will be enduring horrific conditions. It’s not just the overly crowded pens with little or no natural light, which are both pretty horrendous.

The RSPCA has further concerns about the consequences of intensive farming of the birds. Many are genetically selected for faster than natural growth which means the chickens can’t walk or stand, and even suffer heart attacks.

And intensively farmed birds aren’t likely to have been slaughtered to any sort of humane standard.

The scale of the problem

Chicken is the UK’s most popular meat, with one billion chickens reared each year. Yet, according to this infographic from the British Poultry Association, less than 4.5% of UK reared chicken is free-range or organic. That means there’s a huge amount of chicken that’s potentially raised in these shocking conditions.

Infographic by the British Poultry Association

What supermarkets should be doing

Rather than trying to find the cheapest chicken, I think Iceland – and the other supermarkets – should be trying to find a more sustainable way to give us ethical and affordable meat.

Instead most are actively making it harder for consumers to find and afford it. Labels can mislead people into thinking the chickens are living on an idyllic farm, or just that there are any kind of humane conditions. The RSPCA even found higher-welfare meat positioned away from shoppers’ eyelines and rarely in promotions.

And by offering even cheaper intensively farmed chicken, they are also making the price difference between it and free-range and organic chicken even wider.

What Iceland says

I was surprised to see this come from Iceland because they made such a strong stance on palm oil and deforestation at Christmas with their banned Greenpeace advert, which focussed on saving a sad cartoon orangutan. Are they saying they only care about animals they don’t sell in a party platter?

It’s unfair to single them out though – I’ve just picked out Iceland for actively trying to promote the cheapest chicken. The majority of chicken you buy in a supermarket isn’t going to have been raised in the conditions you imagine.

I wanted to let Iceland respond to this. Here’s what they said about the welfare conditions of their chicken.

“We offer a range of poultry products across our chilled and frozen ranges, with tiered price points to appeal to all of our customers. We work closely with our suppliers and have reduced the level of margin on our lowest priced chicken in order to offer these lines at such low prices.

We are committed to offering our customers choice, and alongside our ‘lowest priced chicken in the UK’ we offer slightly higher tier products which are Red Tractor Assured, for example. All of our suppliers must adhere to our strict animal welfare policies and we work with them to ensure high standards based on the ‘Five Freedoms’ endorsed by the Farm Animal Welfare Council.”

Personally, this doesn’t make me any more confident about the standards used to farm the chickens, and I wouldn’t buy any chicken from Iceland. But the same goes for any other low-welfare chicken at most supermarkets.

So what can you do?

How to be ethical and pay less for your chicken and other meat

For most of us, we can’t afford to live a life that’s 100% ethical. You need to pick your battles – and I think better conditions for chicken is one which can be fought. Here are just some of the ways you can eat higher-welfare poultry and other meat without breaking the bank.

Look for RSPCA Assured, free-range or organic chicken

The only labels you can trust are RSPCA Assured and Soil Association Organic. These are certifications which require the farms to adhere to certain standards. And though free-range isn’t certified, it will be fine too.

Don’t be fooled by Red Tractor logos – something Iceland and others offer on some poultry. These are the minimum legal animal welfare and food safety standards – which in reality doesn’t mean much if you are concerned about the life an animal led. Jamie Oliver has said he wouldn’t feed his kids anything labelled Red Tractor.

Only buy your chicken from certain supermarkets

If free-range or organic prove too expensive – and they can be – then you should buy your meat from supermarkets which have their own higher welfare policy. Though they won’t be at the same level as RSPCA Assured, they won’t be far off.

I tend to buy my meat from two supermarkets. Waitrose’s basic “essential” fresh chicken meets RSPCA standards and Marks & Spencer has committed to meet higher standards across all poultry by 2026 (it already does a lot better than most with the bulk of its fresh chicken).

One to avoid though would be Tesco, which according to this Huffington Post article sells more intensively farmed chicken than Asda and Morrisons combined.

Choose cheaper cuts

You can bring down the cost of your chicken if you switch breasts for thighs, which are generally cheaper and tend to have more flavour and moisture than chicken breasts. Skin-on will cost less, you just need to remove it.

Use the whole bird

If you’re buying a whole chicken, don’t waste any of it. Get into the carcass and pick out all the bits to make sure your money and meat go further. You can even go one further and use the carcass to make chicken stock for use in soups and gravy.

Raid the reduced shelves

I do all the above, but my biggest savings are down to picking up some reduced to clear bargains. I’ll separate the packs into portions and then put them in my freezer. This makes shopping more affordable at supermarkets such as Waitrose or M&S where I know the standards are higher even if I’m not able to find free-range or organic.

Eat less of it

A few generations ago a chicken was a treat. Now it’s a daily meal in some households. Realistically the price of ethical chicken means most of us will have to eat less of it. But that’s no bad thing either – there’s a whole other article that could be written about farming and its impact on the environment, particularly cattle.

Lobby the supermarkets to change

Finally, you can sign up to the RSPCA’s Better Chicken Commitment campaign, which emails Tesco a message asking them to improve their standards.

April 14, 2019 | Podcast

Cash Chats #83 – Save money at the cinema

Written by Andy Webb

This week I’m talking about going to the cinema.

I love watching films on the big screen but it doesn’t always come cheap. Still, I manage to pay around £6 or less each time I go, and you can too.

In this week’s episode find how you can get your hands on six free tickets to Vue or Cineworld, have a year of 2-4-1 movies for around £1 and why you should shop around. Plus, I’ve taken a look at whether memberships are worth it.

Don’t forget to subscribe and please do leave me a review and rating – it really helps other people find the podcast. iTunes is the most popular way to listen, but there’s also Spotify and lots of other podcast apps.

Debenhams in danger – your rights

Written by Andy Webb

The department store has gone into administration.

It’s no surprise that Debenhams has been struggling, with rumours abound for ages that it couldn’t cope with the realities of modern shopping.

Now it’s entered into administration, meaning it’s searching for new owners. This could happen, as it did with HMV earlier this year. Or it could end up like Maplin and close down completely.

For now though it’s apparently business as usual. But should you shop there? Here’s what you need to know to protect your money and your purchases:

Use gift cards now

Gift cards are still valid. But that could change if new buyers change their mind – or the administrators fail to find anyone who wants to take the chain on. And if that happens the cards become worthless bits of plastic.

So check your wallets, purses and random drawers where you put stuff to sort at a later date. If you have a gift card or voucher use it now.

It’s also best not to buy any new ones as gifts. I popped into my local store on the morning administration was announced and they were still selling them. It’s a big risk.

Shop in store rather than online

The high street dilemma rears it’s head again. Avoid going to Debenhams and it’s more likely to fail. But at the same time there are greater risks buying from a shop that could be about to go under.

Personally I’d be wary of using the Debenhams website as there’s no guarantee your order will be shipped quickly. If it went bust and you hadn’t received your order you might not get it at all.

At least if you go to an actual shop you can walk out with your purchase. And if it’s something you know you need at the right price, then it’s not necessarily a bad buy

Use a credit card for big purchases

If something you’re buying costs more than £100, then pay for it with a credit card. This gives you added consumer protection as should Debenhams go bust and something goes wrong with your order the credit card company will refund you.

This is only for individual purchases over £100, not a total spend of £100. So it won’t cover four shirts at £25 each, but it would cover a coat of £100.

Returns policies could change

Right now you can take back items within 28 days for a full refund as per Debenhams’ returns policy. But it could be changed by any new owners.

This could stop you getting your money back if you change your mind, so think carefully about what you’re buying.

And if you’ve anything waiting at home to be returned do it now!

Some shops are likely to close

Debenhams already had plans to close up to 50 of its 166 stores in the next few years. and that, or at least something similar, could still happen.

With HMV closures happened very quickly in some places, with shops shutting overnight. So again, don’t delay spending those gift cards or returning items in case you no longer have a shop to go to!

The flip side is there could be clearance sales of impacted stores. So keep an eye out as you might be able to make some big savings.