Your weekly money saving deals and news from money expert Andy Webb
My top content this week
BLOG & ARTICLES
Plum app review – can it help you save?
I've taken a look this week at the only auto-savings app that is still free to use - Plum. Here's how the "AI" savings work, which features are worth using and which options you should avoid.
Plus I've managed to negotiate a free £5 sign-up bonus just for Be Clever With Your Cash readers who sign up and save with the app!
The Licence Fee to increase by £1.50 a year
There's going to be a tiny increase to the Licence Fee from April 1st, and it's got people angry again - a poll in my Facebook community currently shows a slim majority feel it's bad value for money.
But I hope to change your mind. In this article, I've shared exactly what you get for the £13.25 a month, as well as why I think you get a huge amount of content for your cash.
Should you switch to a small energy company?
Energy prices are going to shoot up in a few months when the energy price cap increases by £94 a year (based on average use). That means it's time for anyone out of contract to get switching and fixing.
Sometimes the cheapest tariffs might be with energy companies you've not heard of. But with a couple going under last month, you might be worried about picking them. Here are the actual risks of choosing a small energy company.
Ask Andy #1
Seeing as I'm often answering your questions, I thought it might be useful for everyone to see my answers!
So here's the first Ask Andy, this time looking at John's question about managing multiple bank accounts, Darren's query about cashing out Amex cashback and Kim's quest to find bank details for a deceased parent.
--------------
THURSDAY 6pm: LIVE community chat
If you want to ask me questions about the content in today's newsletter I'll be live in the Be Clever With Your Cash Facebook community and on Instagram at the later time of 6pm on Thursday. It'll be great to see you there!
--------------
YOUTUBE
The best credit cards (February update)
Here's my monthly video looking at the changes when it comes to picking the best credit card.
Including information about balance transfers, cashback and credit building cards, as well as news of new Virgin Money rewards.
Rather read than watch? Check out this article with all the latest credit card offers
--------------
CASH CHATS PODCAST
Once again, there are two episodes for you this week.
#167: Negative interest rates, plus the best bank & savings accounts
In my latest episode of the pod, I take a look at why negative interest rates are in the news and share my top picks for current and savings accounts.
#166: Your Money, This Week
This look back at the top money news stories from the week covers the regulation of Buy Now Pay Later, the extra costs from January's lockdown, the trade unions' calls for a furlough extension and more
For this episode, my guest is personal finance influencer Clare Seal from the My Frugal Year page.
Look out for a new episode this Friday.
You can listen to both via all the normal podcasting routes or over on the blog.
--------------
The top deals this week
I only share deals and special offers on the blog which I think are really good value. Click the titles or links for more information.
I've also set up an extra Instagram account dedicated to the deals and offers I spot throughout the week. Do follow me there so you don't miss out on offers that are already finished by the time this email goes out on a Thursday.
1. New £125 bank bonus / Free wine switch ending
NEW £125 bank switching bonus from HSBC
Switch to an HSBC Advance account and you can get a £125 bonus. It's available to ex-customers too as long as you opened that old account before 1st January 2018.
LAST CHANCE: Virgin Money wine switch offer ends Sunday
If you fancy getting £180 worth of Virgin Wine then you've only a few days to switch to a Virgin Money account and nab this.
A new offer is coming on Monday but there's no detail about what it'll be. There's a chance it'll be better, but there's also a chance it'll be worse! So you'll need to make a call if you want to wait or not.
Read more about both of these switching offers here.
2. Savings hack: Get 0.6% easy-access for a year
More savings rates have fallen this week, including a drop from the Virgin Money easy access account you get with the Virgin Money current account (it'll drop from 0.5% to 0.35% in April).
So if you're worried that things could get worse a new account from Cynergy might be of interest. It's offering a fixed 0.6% for a year but remains an easy access account - so you can take the money out or add more in as you need to.
The problem is it's only open to existing customers. However, it's possible to be a "new" existing customer by opening up the bank's 0.5% paying ISA.
I've been told by Cynergy that you'll be able to apply for the 0.6% account 24 hours after becoming a customer, so don't delay on opening that ISA if you want to do this.
3. Get 88% off a Gousto box
If you're new to Gousto or Hello Fresh you can "deal stack" a welcome discount code with cashback from Quidco on your first box.
It effectively means you'll pay £8.65 for a four-person, four meal Gousto box instead of £47.75.
4. £5 movie rental and pizza deal
Asda shoppers can pick up a £5 meal deal containing two medium pizzas, a large bottle of drink and a voucher worth £5.45 to spend at Sky Store on a movie rental. Here's how to claim it.
5. The Entertainer: £5 off £25 spend
If you've got a kid's birthday coming up this offer at the Entertainer might help you save a little. Ends Monday.
6. Valentine's meal deals compared
Supermarket meal deals can be a great way to save a little - as long as you actually want to buy all the different courses.
They all go for it a little over Valentine's so here's a quick look at what they are each offering and an idea of how much you'd save.
7. LAST CHANCE: Valentine's flower offers
You might still be able to order a bouquet for delivery on Sunday so I've had a look for some of the best offers.
It includes £5 free credit for existing Bloom and Wilde customers, and 50% off for new Freddie's Flowers users.
8. LAST CHANCE: Free £4 Nectar and double points until mid-April
This one is a little bit fiddly, but worth it if you shop at Sainsbury's. If you've got enough Nectar points in your account then there's a promo to earn you double points at Sainsbury's for the next couple of months and 800 bonus Nectar points (worth £4).
To get this you need to swap 1,600 Nectar to Avios before the 14th of February - but you can then swap them back to Nectar later if you want. Here's how it works.
9. Amazon Fire Stick and Prime bundle
Regular followers might know I'm boycotting Amazon in 2021, so I struggled with sharing this offer with you. But I know some of you will still want to hear these offers. So...
...if you're in the market for a Fire Stick 4K, there's not only £13 knocked off full price, but you'll also get three months free Amazon Prime thrown in.
----
Follow me on social media
Want to stay connected throughout the week?
I'm on Instagram, Facebook & Twitter.
Quick deals
Banking offers
- Top bank switch: £180 worth of wine reward for switching
- The best cash savings accounts - inc up to 3% interest
- Student bank accounts: 0% overdrafts & freebies
- Best business bank accounts: Free accounts
- Investing: Free share worth up to £100
Cards and bills deals
- 20 months 0% balance transfer credit card with no fee
- Up to £125 bonus from American Express
- Free £5 with Curve card
- Three SIM-only 12GB of data for £5.50 a month
Shopping vouchers and other deals
- Up to £10 off Amazon - for some
- Free £5 credit when you trade in old CDs, books, DVDs or game
- 0% finance deals on new Samsung or Apple phones
- Free £3 from Holland & Barrett
Entertainment deals
- 12 months of Spotify for the price of 10
- Six months free Tidal music streaming
- Beat the Disney+ price hike
- Netflix savings
- One-year free Mubi streaming service hack
- Free and cheap Kindle books
- Free issue of Ethical Consumer magazine
- Free postcode competition
- Free month of Lucky Voice at home
Food and drink offers
- Tastecard 90-day free trial
- £1 off at M&S with app
- Free Pret coffee for one month
- Supermarket cashback freebies
- £10+ off craft beer
- £10 off your first Uber Eats / Deliveroo orders
- 50% off Meatliquor when restaurants reopen
- Up to 30% off posh home meals
- New Lidl Coupon Plus promo
------
Recent content you might have missed
I know it can be tricky to read, watch and listen to everything I create each week, so here are some articles, videos and podcasts from the last few weeks you might have missed.
- Three reasons to check your final bill when you switch
- Are recipe boxes worth the money?
- PODCAST: The best money apps for 2021
- There's a new best rewards credit card
- How to cut the cost of your overdraft
- YOUTUBE: What are supermarket loyalty points really worth?
- PODCAST: Paying less for your TV and streaming bills
- Santander cuts interest and lowers fee on 123 account
- 0% balance transfer credit cards – the good and the bad
- HSBC to close 82 branches
- YOUTUBE: What to do with spare cash due to lockdown
- PODCAST: Bitcoin Basics
- The best current accounts for 2021
- The best cashback and reward credit cards
- PODCAST: Entering and winning competitions
- Finding the perfect SIM for lockdown
- The top ways to pay during lockdown
- PODCAST: The lockdown no-spend challenge
Are you following me on YouTube?
If you haven't already I'd really appreciate it if you could head over to YouTube to click "subscribe" and the little notification bell that appears next to it.
Please do tell any friends you think would find it useful too. Thanks!
0 comments