Recently my energy supplier, EDF Energy, has been sending me invitations to sign up for what it calls its ‘Sunday Saver’ challenge.
The way this works is that you sign up to shift some of your electricity usage on weekdays away from peak hours (4pm-7pm). When you hit your target (which is set individually for each user by EDF), you earn free electricity the following Sunday.
EDF say, ‘The more you shift, the more you earn – reduce your weekly peak usage by 40% and you could earn up to 16 hours of free electricity per week.’
The challenge is due to take place monthly, starting on the first Monday of each month.
At first glance you might think this is a good offer. But as I have looked into it more, my doubts have grown. Here are my main reservations…
To benefit from this scheme you have to cut your daily energy usage every weekday between 4pm and 7pm. That’s quite a long period (three hours), and coincides with when I would normally be cooking my evening meal. To have any realistic chance of cutting my energy use during this time, I would have to eat either ridiculously early or significantly later than normal. For various reasons, including my health, I prefer to eat between 6 and 7 pm and no later. So that in itself is a big ask and would impact drastically on my normal routine.
Free electricity on Sunday sounds great, but the devil is in the detail. EDF say that you will get ‘up to 16 hours’ of free electricity if you meet their targets, but are very vague about what this means in practice. Specifically, they don’t explain how your energy-saving targets are calculated, how any reduction in usage translates to free hours, or when on Sunday you will be able to use the free electricity awarded.
In addition, they say there are ‘fair usage’ limits to how much free electricity you can have. Again, they are vague about what this means in practice. The obvious way to use your free electricity would be to charge your EV, and I strongly suspect limits would be placed on this. As for me, I don’t have an EV and don’t want one, so my options for benefiting from the free electricity would be limited. I could shift use of appliances like my washing machine to Sunday but doubt if I could save more than a few kw/h this way (obviously the exact number would depend on how many free hours I was allocated, which is anyone’s guess). That means my free electricity would likely benefit me by no more than a pound or two.
Lastly, as a solar panel owner I already get some free electricity anyway. My panels obviously generate less in the winter, but during daylight hours they still produce something. That means any benefit from free electricity on Sundays will be reduced, especially if (as is likely) the free hours are in the day rather than at night.
Overall, then, I am not much enamoured of EDF’s Sunday Saver challenges and won’t be signing up. Ultimately, I am not prepared to make major changes to my day-to-day schedule in pursuit of what will likely be (in my case anyway) minuscule rewards.
Obviously some will see this differently and I wish them well. And it’s good that EDF (and other companies) are exploring ways to help customers reduce their bills. I do just think this particular one – for me anyway – is a non-starter.
I would be interested to hear any comments from people doing this challenge (or similar ones from other energy companies) as to whether they find it worthwhile, and whether the benefits really do justify the changes you are required to make.
I do still recommend EDF Energy based on my personal experiences with them. And as I’ve said before on PAS, I can offer anyone switching to EDF £50 off their bills if they use my refer-a-friend link at https://edfenergy.com/quote/refer-a-friend/sunny-koala-9462 when applying. I will also get £50 off my bill if you do this, which is duly appreciated 🙂
UPDATE 22 OCTOBER 2024 – I am indebted to the readers (especially Harry!) who have taken the time to comment on this article and address some of the points raised in my original post. Based on this I have changed my views somewhat and am considering registering for the scheme when it reopens in November. If you’re still wondering whether to take the plunge, please do take the time to read the comments as (like me) they may influence your decision. I will publish an update in due course if I proceed with it next month.
UPDATE 28 NOVEMBER 2024 – Thanks again to everyone who commented on this post. Sorry I couldn’t reply to everyone individually. You may like to know that I just added a new post about why I changed my mind and registered for the EDF ‘Sunday Saver’ Challenge and how I got on in my first month. Please see https://www.poundsandsense.com/heres-why-i-changed-my-mind-about-edf-energys-sunday-saver-challenge/
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I’ll begin as usual with my Nutmeg Stocks and Shares ISA. This is the largest investment I hold other than my Bestinvest SIPP (personal pension).
As the screenshot below for the year to date shows, my main Nutmeg portfolio is currently valued at £24,625. Last month it stood at £24,525, so that is an increase of £100.
Apart from my main portfolio, I also have a second, smaller pot using Nutmeg’s Smart Alpha option. This is now worth £3,954 (rounded up) compared with £3,937 a month ago, a rise of £17. Here is a screen capture showing performance over the year to date.
Finally, at the start of December 2023 I invested £500 in one of Nutmeg’s new thematic portfolios (Resource Transformation). In March I also invested a further £200 from ‘Refer a Friend’ bonuses. As you can see from the YTD screen capture below, this portfolio is now worth £781 compared with £772 last month, a small rise of £9.
As you can see, September was another decent though unspectacular month for my Nutmeg investments. Their overall value has risen by £126 or 0.43% since the start of September. They are also up by £3,045 or 11.57% since the start of the year.
You can read my full Nutmeg review here. If you are looking for a home for your annual ISA allowance, based on my overall experience over the last eight years, they are certainly worth considering. They offer self-invested personal pensions (SIPPs), Lifetime ISAs and Junior ISAs as well.
Note that I am no longer an affiliate for Nutmeg. That means you won’t find any affiliate links in my review (or anywhere else on PAS). And you will no longer see the no-fees-for-six-months offer I used to promote as an affiliate. However, the better news is that you can still get six months free of any management fees by registering with Nutmeg via my Refer a Friend link. I will receive a gift voucher if you do this, which is duly appreciated
Don’t forget, also, that the current tax year began on 6 April 2024 and you have a full £20,000 tax-free ISA allowance for 2024/25. In a change to the rules, you can now open any number of ISAs with different providers in the same tax year, as long as you don’t exceed your overall £20,000 allowance. So opening a stocks and shares ISA with Nutmeg won’t prevent you from also opening one with another S&S ISA provider (should you wish to) later in the financial year.
Moving on, I also have investments with the property crowdlending platform Kuflink. They continue to do well, with new projects launching every week. I currently have around £833 invested with them in 7 different projects paying interest rates averaging around 7%. I also have £40 in my Kuflink cash account.
To date I have never lost any money with Kuflink, though some loan terms have been extended once or twice. On the plus side, when this happens additional interest is paid for the period in question.
There is now an initial minimum investment of £1,000 and a minimum investment per project of £500. Kuflink say they are doing this to streamline their operation and minimize costs. I can understand that, though it does mean that the option to test the water with a small first investment has been removed. It also makes it harder for small investors (like myself) to build a well-diversified portfolio on a limited budget.
One possible way around this is to invest using Kuflink’s Auto/IFISA facility. Your money here is automatically invested across a basket of loans over a period from one to five years. Interest rates range from 7% to around 10%, depending on the length of term you choose. Full up-to-date details can be found on the Kuflink website.
You can invest tax-free in a Kuflink Auto IFISA. Or if you have already used your annual ISA allowance elsewhere, you can invest via a taxable Auto account. You can read my full Kuflink review here if you wish.
Moving on, my Assetz Exchange investments continue to generate steady returns. Regular readers will know that this is a P2P property investment platform focusing on lower-risk properties (e.g. sheltered housing). I put an initial £100 into this in mid-February 2021 and another £400 in April. In June 2021 I added another £500, bringing my total investment up to £1,000.
Since I opened my account, my AE portfolio has generated a respectable £208.97 in revenue from rental income. Capital growth has slowed, though, in line with UK property values generally.
At the time of writing, 11 of ‘my’ properties are showing gains, 5 are breaking even, and the remaining 17 are showing losses. My portfolio of 33 properties is currently showing a net decrease in value of £42.75, meaning that overall (rental income minus capital value decrease) I am up by £166.22. That’s still a decent return on my £1,000 and does illustrate the value of P2P property investments for diversifying your portfolio. And it doesn’t hurt that with Assetz Exchange most projects are socially beneficial as well.
The overall fall in capital value of my AE investments is obviously a little disappointing. But it’s important to remember that until/unless I choose to sell the investments in question, it is largely theoretical, based on the latest price at which shares in the property concerned have changed hands. The rental income, on the other hand, is real money (which in my case I’ve reinvested in other AE projects to further diversify my portfolio).
To control risk with all my property crowdfunding investments nowadays, I invest relatively modest amounts in individual projects. This is a particular attraction of AE as far as i am concerned (especially after Kuflink raised their minimum investment per project to £500). You can actually invest from as little as 80p per property if you really want to proceed cautiously.
As I noted in this recent post, Assetz Exchange is particularly good if you want to compound your returns by reinvesting rental income. This effectively boosts the interest rate you are receiving. Personally, once I have accrued a minimum of £10 in rental payments, I reinvest this money in either a new AE project or one I have already invested in (thus increasing my holding). Over time, even if I don’t invest any more capital, this will ensure my investment with AE grows at an accelerating rate and becomes more diversified as well.
My investment on Assetz Exchange is in the form of an IFISA so there won’t be any tax to pay on profits, dividends or capital gains. I’ve been impressed by my experiences with Assetz Exchange and the returns generated so far, and intend to continue investing with them. You can read my full review of Assetz Exchange here. You can also sign up for an account on Assetz Exchange directly via this link [affiliate]. Bear in mind that, as from this financial year (2024/25), you can open more than one IFISA per year.
In 2022 I set up an account with investment and trading platform eToro, using their popular ‘copy trader’ facility. I chose to invest $500 (then about £412) copying an experienced eToro trader called Aukie2008 (real name Mike Moest).
In January 2023 I added to this with another $500 investment in one of their thematic portfolios, Oil Worldwide. I also invested a small amount I had left over in Tesla shares.
As you can see from the screen captures below, my original investment totalling $1,022.26 is today worth $1,305.31 an overall increase of $283.05 or 27.69%.
As you can see, my Oil WorldWide investment is showing 7.30% profit. That’s okay but not spectacular. Obviously my copy trading investment with Aukie2008 has been doing much better. The Oil WorldWide port was recently rebalanced by eToro, so I hope this may boost its performance. The investment team at eToro periodically rebalance all smart portfolios to ensure that the mix of investments remains aligned with the portfolio’s goals, and to take advantage of any new opportunities that may present themselves.
As a matter of interest, since I wrote the above war has effectively broken out in the Middle East. This has led to fears that oil supplies from the region will be compromised and the price of oil will rise. As a consequence of this (I assume) the value of my Oil Worldwide investment has gone up. I say this not to gloat over the tragedy that is unfolding in the area, but to highlight the fact that a diversified portfolio can often help to hedge against economic downturns resulting from world events.
You might also notice that I have a small holding in Prosus NV, a Dutch internet group. To be honest I don’t understand how I acquired this, but it may be connected to my copy trading investment with MIke Moest (who is Dutch). In any event, I am happy to have it in my portfolio as well!
eToro also offer the free eToro Money app. This allows you to deposit money to your eToro account without paying any currency conversion fees, saving you up to £5 for every £1,000 you deposit. You can also use the app to withdraw funds from your eToro account instantly to your bank account. I tried this myself and was impressed with how quickly and seamlessly it worked. You can read my blog post about eToro Money here. Note that it can also serve as a cryptocurrency wallet, allowing you to send and receive crypto from any other wallet address in the world.
I had three more articles published in September on the excellent Mouthy Money website. The first is Are Electric Boilers Better Than Heat Pumps?. As you doubtless know, the government are pushing heat pumps hard as a means of achieving their Net Zero goals. They are definitely not a one-size-fits-all solution, though. In this article I highlighted an alternative that may be more suitable for some, electric boilers. These are cheaper, smaller and quieter than heat pumps (though their running costs may be higher). You can read all about the pros and cons of heat pumps versus electric boilers in the article.
Also in September I revealed How to Get Free Stuff Online. In this article, I explained how you can get your hands on a wide range of freebies online, from samples and giveaways to promotional offers and rewards programmes – all without having to spend a single penny!
Finally, in September I discussed How to Save Money With Cashback Sites. If you ever buy anything online, you can almost certainly save by signing up with these sites. In this article I revealed how they work and set out some hints and tops for making the most of them.
As I’ve said before, Mouthy Money is a great resource for anyone interested in money-making and money-saving. From the variety of articles published in September, I particularly enjoyed Secondhand September: Good for Your Purse and the Planet by regular MM contributor Shoestring Jane. Jane writes mainly about money saving and frugal living. You can see all of her articles for Mouthy Money via this web page.
I also published (or republished) several posts on Pounds and Sense in September. Some are no longer relevant due to closing dates having passed, but I have listed the others below.
In Can You Still Make Money From Matched Betting? I discussed this tax-free money-making opportunity. As I said in the article, this is something I did for several years and earned about £3,000 from. I am not doing it nearly as much these days, for reasons explained in the article. But if you’ve never done it before, I do still highly recommend it as a way of making some quick tax-free cash. The article explains what matched betting is and how to get started.
The price of stamps is rising again on Monday 7 October 2024. That is the second price rise this year, after they also went up in April. So in How to Beat the Postage Stamp Price Rise, I revealed just how much (some) prices are rising and suggested ways to mitigate this.
In case you didn’t know, October is Free Wills Month. So in Get Your Will Written Free of Charge in October, I discussed how you can use this no-strings scheme to get your will written free at a range of participating solicitors across the UK. There are only limited slots available, so I recommend moving quickly if you want to take advantage of this opportunity.
Also in September I published How to Save Money on Your Heating Bills This Winter. As you doubtless know, gas and electricity bills have gone up considerably in the last year or two. And many older people will no longer get Winter Fuel Payments, as the new Labour government have opted to restrict this to just the very poorest pensioners (those in receipt of Pension Credit). So in this article I set out a range of ways you may be able to save money on your heating and energy bills. Following these tips could save you hundreds of pounds in the months and years ahead.
Finally, I published Amazon Big Deals Day is Almost Here. This annual event extends over two days, Tuesday 8th and Wednesday 9th October 2024. It is is a special event for Amazon Prime members only. Amazon say they will be offering members their lowest prices of the year on selected products from leading brands including Philips, Logitech, Oral-B, Braun, Tefal, Ghd, Swarovski, Bosch, Shark, and so on.
Next, some odds and ends. First up, Trading 212 recently reopened their free share offer, so I have updated my post Get a Free Share Worth Up to £100 With Trading 212. This explains how, if you haven’t done so already, you can get a free share when you open a new Invest or Stocks ISA with Trading 212. Note that opening a Cash ISA with T212 alone will not qualify you for a free share, but of course you can do both. My advice is to start by opening a Stocks ISA or (non-ISA) Invest account to qualify for your free share and apply (if you wish) for the Cash ISA after that. This new free share offer closes on 6 November 2024.
A few months ago I invested just over £1,000 in a Scottish wind farm project via a platform called Ripple Energy. The way this works is that you pay a fee towards building the wind farm, and in exchange receive lower-cost, ‘green’ electricity once the wind farm is up and running. This will continue for the life of the wind farm (an estimated 20 years). The original closing date for this was the end of May, but the date was extended and the share offer is still open at the time of writing. You can pay by 12 monthly instalments rather than a single lump sum if you like. If you’re interested in learning more, you can visit the Ripple website via my referral link. If you decide to invest, you will get a £25 bonus credited to your account when generation starts (and so will I). Note that you will need to invest a minimum of £1,000 to qualify for the £25 bonus, but you can invest from as little as £25 if you wish.
Speaking of energy, a quick reminder that if you switch to EDF Energy via my refer-a-friend link (below) you can get a FREE £50 credited to your energy account (and so will I). For more info and to sign up, click on https://edfenergy.com/quote/refer-a-friend/sunny-koala-9462
Finally, I wanted to highlight (again) the decision by the new government to abolish Winter Fuel Payments for all pensioners except those on pension credit. Like many others, I feel this is a terrible decision that will badly impact some of the poorest people in society and quite likely lead to increased deaths by hypothermia in the winter ahead (and others to follow).
it is therefore more important than ever that older people who may be eligible for pension credit apply for it. I recently updated my blog post about pension credit in light of the announcement. If you have older relatives, friends or neighbours, please encourage them to apply if they may be eligible. The application process is not as straightforward as it should be, so they may well appreciate some help with it
Even so, be aware that only the very poorest pensioners qualify for pension credit. If you get the full new state pension, even with no other source of income, you likely won’t qualify. I do therefore recommend writing to your MP and asking for this Draconian decision to be reversed. You may also like to sign one of the various petitions that have sprung up, including this one on Change.org and this one from Age UK. The former has over 100,000 signatures now and the latter over half a million.
That’s all for now. If you have any comments or queries about this update, as ever, feel free to leave them below. I am always delighted to hear from PAS readers
Disclaimer: I am not a qualified financial adviser and nothing in this blog post should be construed as personal financial advice. Everyone should do their own ‘due diligence’ before investing and seek professional advice if in any doubt how best to proceed. All investing carries a risk of loss. Note also that posts on PAS may include affiliate links. If you click through and perform a qualifying transaction, I may receive a commission for introducing you. This will not affect the product or service you receive or the terms you are offered, but it does help support me in publishing PAS and paying my bills. Thank you!
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In case you’ve not heard, Amazon Prime Big Deals Day is almost with us. It extends over two days, Tuesday 8th and Wednesday 9th October 2024.
This is a special event for Amazon Prime members only. Amazon say they will be offering members their lowest prices of the year on selected products from leading brands including Philips, Logitech, Oral-B, Braun, Tefal, Ghd, Swarovski, Bosch, Shark, and so on.
Some of the best deals will be reserved for Amazon’s own products, such as their Kindle e-book readers, Amazon Echo smart speakers and Ring video doorbells and security cameras. Discounts of up to 60% will be on offer for these products. If you’re thinking of buying any of them, Amazon Prime Big Deals Day is definitely the day – or two days – to do it.
There are also some great ‘early deals’ available now. For example, at the time of writing you can buy an Amazon eero mesh Wi-Fi Router 5 system (2 pack), offering up to 280 square metres coverage, for just £54.99. That’s a 57% discount on the normal £129.99 asking price (offer closes 10th October).
I have been a member of Amazon Prime for almost ten years now. As a regular Amazon shopper, I find it well worth while for the free one-day delivery on millions of items alone. But as a Prime member you get access to a host of other benefits and services as well, including Amazon Prime Music and Amazon Prime Video.
If you’re thinking of joining Amazon Prime, therefore, I highly recommend doing it in the next few days, so you can benefit from the Prime Big Deals Day offers. Personally I think it’s worth it for the free delivery alone, let alone everything else that’s on offer. But if you wish, you can get a 30-day free trial now, take advantage of the Prime Big Deals Day offers, and then cancel without owing any money. It’s your choice!
You can also see all the latest Prime Big Deals Day offers by clicking here.
As always, if you have any comments or questions about Amazon Prime or Prime Big Deals Day, please do post them below.
Disclosure: This post includes affiliate links. If you click through and make a purchase, I may receive a commission for introducing you. This will not affect the price you pay or the products or services you receive.
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Today I’m featuring a way you can get a free share worth up to £100 by signing up with an online share trading platform called Trading 212.
Trading 212 is unusual in that it offers commission-free and fee-free share trading. As a special offer, until Wednesday 6th November 2024 they are offering people new to the platform a free share just for signing up via a referral link (such as the links in this post). The share you will get is chosen at random, but could be worth up to £100. You can either keep this share or sell it.
Table of Contents
How to Sign Up
Signing up with Trading 212 is pretty straightforward. Just visit the Trading 212 website via any of the (referral) links in this post and follow the on-screen instructions to register. Note that you will be required to provide various items of information, including your date of birth, National Insurance number, annual income, employment status, and contact details. I understand that this is to meet their legal ‘Know Your Customer’ duty.
You will also need to indicate the type of account you want from the options available (see screen capture below).
As you will see, the four account types on Trading 212 are Invest, CFD, Stocks ISA and Cash ISA. You can apply for any or all of these if you like.
CFD stands for Contract for Difference. CFDs are quite complex financial instruments, and unless you know what you’re doing I recommend giving them a miss.
If you just want the free share my suggestion would be to tick the Stocks ISA box. An ISA is, of course, a tax-exempt Individual Savings Account. As from April 2024 you can open any number of ISA accounts in a year as long as you don’t exceed your annual £20,000 allowance.
If you have already used up your entire £20,000 this year, you should choose Invest instead to open a general investment account without any tax benefits. Obviously if you don’t want a Stocks ISA with Trading 212 for any reason, you can choose this option as well.
For more information about the new Trading 212 Cash ISA, see my review here. Be aware that you must open either an Invest account or a Stocks ISA account to qualify for a free share. Of course, there is nothing to stop you opening a Cash ISA account as well, but my recommendation would be to open an Invest or Stocks ISA account first.
Getting Your Free Share
There is one more step you will need to take in order to get your free share. You will need to deposit a minimum of £1 into your account. There are various ways you can do this, but i just used my debit card. There is no obligation to invest the £1 (or whatever you choose to deposit) and if you wish you can withdraw it once your free share has been credited.
The next business day you should receive an email confirming that a free share has been added to your account. As mentioned above, this is allotted at random. If you’re lucky you might get one worth up to £100. Even if you get a less valuable one, though, it’s still a share for free. If you choose to keep it, it may rise in value. There may also be dividends payable in future (and credited to your account).
Already have a Trading 212 account? You can also get a free ETF share worth up to £200 (and now guaranteed to be worth at least £10) with new DIY wealth-building app Wealthyhood. A minimum investment of £50 is required to get the free share (although if you’re not bothered about this you can start investing on the platform with as little as £20). Click through here for more info.
Selling Your Share
You can’t sell your share immediately. You have to wait three business days before doing so, but it is then just a matter of clicking the Sell button on your member’s dashboard.
The money will be credited to your Trading 212 account but you will have to wait 30 days before withdrawing it. So there may be a case for waiting to see if your share’s value goes up in that time. Of course, it could also go down!
In my case, I received a free share in the Ford Motor Company worth just under £8 at the time. Obviously this wasn’t as exciting as I might have hoped, but it was still – in effect – free money for almost no time or effort 😀
How Safe Is Trading 212?
Trading 212 is registered in England and Wales and authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. In addition, all clients’ funds are kept separately in segregated bank accounts which are covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. So even if the company itself were to go broke, any cash in your account would be protected up to a value of £85,000.
Of course, the FSCS guarantee doesn’t apply to the value of your stocks and shares, which can go down as well as up. All investments carry a risk of loss, although in the case of your free share you can never lose any more than the original cost, which was of course zero!
Referral Scheme
Any Trading 212 member can also refer new members. In this case, both you and the person concerned will receive one free share worth up to £100. Obviously, the links in this blog post include my referral code – so if you register and get a free share, I will receive one also. Under the terms of the current offer you can get up to five free shares in this way. Five is the limit per person. Although you can still refer new members who will get a free share after this, as a referrer you won’t receive one as well.
Final Thoughts
I first heard about Trading 212 a while ago, but wasn’t initially sure whether it was legit and here for the long term. And I thought the free share offer was, frankly, too good to be true. However, my own experiences have been entirely positive. My original free share in the Ford Motor Company was credited the next business day as promised and I received an email notifying me about it.
I can log in to my Trading 212 account any time to see how my Ford share is doing. I have also collected a few other shares from referrals as well. These include a share in AMD (the semiconductor company), which is currently worth £117.92, and one in Nike, which is worth £105.83. I still have my original Ford Motor Company share and it has risen in value to £8.16. I also received an annual dividend payment from them a while ago. I haven’t sold any of my free shares yet but could of course do so any time I choose. I am not in any rush, as Trading 212 do not impose any platform or inactivity fees.
Although in this post I have focused on the free share offer, Trading 212 is worth considering as a share-dealing platform too. In particular, the fact that it’s fee-free and commission-free means it is well suited for people who are dipping a toe in stocks and shares investment for the first time. By contrast, the dealing fees and commissions charged by some other share-trading platforms can make small share purchases prohibitively expensive. This review by Money Savvy Daddy looks at the pros and cons of Trading 212 as a share-dealing platform in a bit more detail.
It’s also worth bearing in mind that Trading 212 pays interest on any uninvested funds in your ISA or Invest account, currently at a rate of 5.1% AER. You can also make money allowing your shares to be lent out. Rates on offer for this vary according to investor demand, with the process handled automatically by Trading 212 once authorized. You can read more about share lending on Trading 212, including the risks and safeguards provided, here.
In conclusion, I hope this post has inspired you to consider registering with Trading 212 to claim your free share. If you do, I hope you get a valuable one! Please let me know what share you receive in a comment below. And, as always, any other comments or questions are very welcome too.
Don’t forget, the current free share offer ends on Wednesday 6 November 2024.
Disclosure: The links in this post include my referral code. If you click through and register as described above, I will receive a free share (as will you). Please note also that I am not a qualified financial adviser and nothing in this post should be construed as individual financial advice. Everyone should do their own ‘due diligence’ before investing and seek advice from a qualified financial adviser if in any doubt how best to proceed. All investment carries a risk of loss (although not in the case of free shares, obviously).
This is an update of my original post about this special offer.
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For older people in particular, heating bills can be among their biggest expenses. And it’s especially important for older people to keep warm, as getting chilled can lower your body’s resistance to infection and – in the worst cases – lead to hypothermia.
In addition, as you doubtless know, gas and electricity bills have gone up considerably in the last year or two. And many older people will no longer get Winter Fuel Payments, as the new government have opted to restrict this to just the very poorest pensioners (those in receipt of Pension Credit).
So today I thought I’d set out some ways you may be able to save money on your heating and energy bills. Following these tips could save you hundreds of pounds in the months and years ahead.
Switch Energy Supplier
It’s important to check regularly whether you could save money by switching to a different supplier and/or tariff. The quick and easy way of doing this is via a price comparison website. There are a number of these available, including GoCompare and USwitch.
Just visit the comparison site and enter a few details, including your current supplier and tariff and how much you spend on gas and electricity in the course of a year (it doesn’t have to be exact). The site will then display the best deals currently open to you and how much you might be able to save by switching to them. In most cases you can also start the switching process by clicking on the relevant link. Before you do, though, it’s worth checking on cashback sites like Quidco and Top Cashback, as some energy companies pay cashback via these sites to people switching their supply to them.
If you are one of the 1.1 million households who use oil for heating, you can save money by shopping around for suppliers too. Check out the oil price comparison service BoilerJuice. Type in your postcode and how many litres of heating oil you’re looking to buy, and BoilerJuice will show you quotes from suppliers covering your area.
Switching energy suppliers is generally quick and easy, and can save you hundreds of pounds a year at a stroke. In these challenging times, it should be high on your list of potential money-saving strategies this winter.
Special Offer! If you switch to EDF Energy via my link, you can get a FREE £50 credited to your energy account. Terms and conditions apply. For more info, click on https://edfenergy.com/quote/refer-a-friend/sunny-koala-9462 [referral link].
Get Financial Help
If you’re in certain priority groups, you may be able to get cash payments to help offset your energy bills.
Winter Fuel Payment is a one-off annual payment of £200 to £300 which was previously made to everyone over state pension age. Unfortunately, as mentioned above, the new government have decided to limit this benefit to the very poorest pensioners who are in receipt of pension credit (or certain other welfare benefits). To qualify this winter, you must have been born on or before 23 September 1958 and been in receipt of a qualifying benefit for at least one day during the week of 16 to 22 September 2024 (the ‘qualifying week’). If that applies to you, this money should be paid automatically, but you can phone the Winter Fuel Payment Centre on 0800 731 0160 if you haven’t received the payment before and need to claim.
If you think you might be eligible for Pension Credit but are not currently receiving it, it’s now more important than ever to apply. Not only will it qualify you to receive Winter Fuel Payments, it can act as a gateway to a range of other discounts and benefits as well. See my blog post about applying for Pension Credit for more information.
In addition, those on certain welfare benefits (including Pension Credit, Income Support and Universal Credit) may be eligible for Cold Weather Payments. This is £25 for any period of seven consecutive days when temperatures fall below zero. More information can be found on this page of the government website.
You may also be eligible for £150 off your energy bill under the Warm Home Discount Scheme. This is run by some (not all) of the energy companies. If you get the Guaranteed Credit element of Pension Credit you will qualify automatically. But if you’re on a low income and meet the energy supplier’s other criteria, you may also qualify. Contact your supplier directly for more information. The large energy companies such as EDF and British Gas all operate this scheme, but some of the smaller ones don’t. The Warm Home DIscount scheme for 2024/25 opens in October 2024. More information can be found on the official website.
Finally, if you’re on a very low income, you may qualify for help from the Household Support Fund: This is money provided to councils by the government to assist pensioners and others on very low incomes. You will need to contact your local council to find out if you’re eligible.
More Top Tips
Here are some more ways you may be able to save money on your heating and energy bills.
Have your boiler serviced regularly, to ensure it is operating at peak efficiency.
If you have an old boiler that keeps breaking down, the time may have come to replace it. The Energy Saving Trust say that you could save up to up to 40 percent on your gas bill by installing a new ‘A’ rated condensing boiler with a programmer, room thermostat and thermostatic radiator controls.
Upgrading your insulation can also cut bills by reducing the amount of heat going to waste. Depending on your circumstances, you may be able to get a free boiler and/or insulation under the government’s Energy Company Obligation (ECO) scheme. You can apply for this via your energy company. Even if you’re not on a low income, you may be able to get a discount on home insulation, so it’s worth checking to see what’s available.
If your radiators aren’t heating up properly at the top, you may need to bleed them to release air in the pipes. Depending on the radiator, you may need a special key to do this or a flat-bladed screwdriver.
Turn down your thermostat by one degree - this can reduce your heating bill by up to 10%.
Ensure you don’t put furniture right in front of radiators, as this can block heat from entering the room.
Replace old light-bulbs with new energy-saving bulbs. The latest LED bulbs are just as bright as old incandescent bulbs and use a tenth of the energy. They last longer too.
Exclude draughts with heavy curtains and draught excluders by doors.
Turn off heaters in rooms you aren’t using and close the doors to keep heat in.
Place reflective foil behind radiators on exterior walls to bounce heat back into the room.
Don’t leave electrical appliances on standby.
Wash clothes at 30 degrees and try to avoid using tumble driers. Hang washing outside whenever possible or place it over an airer.
Consider investing in a smart thermostat system such as Nest or Hive. This will give you precise, automated control over your heating system, allowing you to use just as much energy as you need and no more. See this Money Supermarket article for more information.
If your funds are limited and you have or develop a disability you may be able to get a Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) from your local authority to pay for adaptations such as stairlifts.
By taking these steps you should be able to cut your heating and energy bills significantly this winter.
If you have any comments or questions about this post, as always, please do leave them below.
This is a fully updated version of my original post on this subject.
If you enjoyed this post, please link to it on your own blog or social media:
Free Wills Month brings together a group of well-respected charities to offer members of the public aged 55 and over the opportunity to have their wills written or updated free using participating solicitors across the UK.
The charities involved include the NSPCC, Dogs Trust, Samaritans, Mind, Age UK, The Stroke Association, PDSA, and many others. Free Wills Month happens twice a year, in March and October.
The scheme covers simple wills only, including ‘mirror wills’ for couples. In the latter case, only one member of the couple has to be 55 or over. If you need a complicated will (most people don’t) you can still have this done but may have to pay a top-up fee.
I have talked about the importance of creating a will and why you should get it done by a properly qualified solicitor previously on PAS. An up-to-date will written by a solicitor will ensure that your wishes are respected and will avoid causing legal complications for your loved ones after you are gone.
Free Wills Month means what it says. There are no catches, although the organizers hope that you will choose to leave a donation to charity in your will. There is no obligation to do this, however.
To take part in Free Wills Month click through to the website during October and fill in your details. You can then pick a solicitor from the list of companies taking part and contact them to book an appointment. Appointments are limited and on a first come, first served basis, so it’s best to apply as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.
Free Wills Month October 2024 starts officially on Tuesday 1st October 2024 but you can sign up on the FWM website to be notified when when the campaign starts in your area.
If you have any comments or questions about this subject, as ever, please do post them below.
Note: This is a revised and updated version of my original post on this subject.
If you enjoyed this post, please link to it on your own blog or social media:
A quickie today to let you know that the price of stamps is rising again on Monday 7 October 2024. That is the second price rise this year, after they also went up in April.
On this occasion a standard first class stamp is going up from £1.35 to £1.65, an inflation-busting 22%. The price of sending a large letter is going up even more, from £2.10 to £2.60. That’s an increase of 50p or 24%.
One bit of good news is that the price of sending a standard or large letter by second class post is not increasing this time. That remains at 85p and £1.55 respectively.
Standard letters can weigh up to 100g and measure a maximum of 24cm x 16.5cm x 5mm. Large letters can measure 35.3cm x 25cm x 2.5cm but still have to weigh under 100g. If they weight over 100g, higher rates apply, and if they weigh over 750g they have to go at parcel rates.
The cost of many of Royal Mail’s ‘Signed For’, ‘Special Delivery Guaranteed’ and ‘Tracked’ services will also rise from 7 October, as will the price of sending parcels first and second class. You can see a full list of prices by clicking here (PDF).
Saving Money on Stamps
So is there anything you can do to mitigate the impact of the latest price rises?
Well, my number one recommendation is to stock up now while stamps are still at the old price. Standard and large-letter stamps don’t have values printed on them and will still be valid after the October price rise comes in. If you can afford to buy (say) 100 standard first-class stamps and 100 large letter first class stamps, that will save you an impressive £80 in total.
The best bet for buying stamps is – of course – your local post office. If you don’t have one near at hand, however, you can also buy in bulk from The Royal Mail Shop (minimum order £50 for free delivery)..
Amazon also sell postage stamps, though costs vary and when I checked some prices were significantly higher than at post offices. But they may be worth a look, especially if you are an Amazon Prime member.
Another option you could consider is the online auction site eBay (search for “new UK stamps”). There can be good savings to be made here, but check reviews and ratings carefully and be wary of offers that are clearly too good to be true.
For the sake of completeness, though, I thought I should publish (or more accurately republish) a post about matched betting. This is something I did for several years and earned about £3,000 (tax-free!) from. I am not doing it as much these days, for reasons I’ll explain below. But if you’ve never done it before, I do still recommend matched betting as a way of making some quick tax-free cash.
Table of Contents
So Why Am I Doing Less?
There are two main reasons. The first is that since I started matched betting around six years ago I have had my account restricted (or gubbed, as we say in the business) by many online bookmakers. That obviously makes it harder to take advantage of the offers matched bettors need in order to generate their guaranteed profits.
My second reason is that during the pandemic, with many sporting events cancelled, there were far fewer matched betting opportunities. Thankfully that is behind us now and normal life (more or less) has resumed. Even so, the bookies are more cautious than they once were, and offers are somewhat thinner on the ground.
I still do a small amount of matched betting but keep it very low-key. There are only a few good online bookmakers I can now use, and I’d like to go on flying under their radar for as long as possible before they ban me!
If you are new to matched betting – or have let it fall by the wayside – then as stated above I do still recommend it. But be aware that it may not be quite as profitable as it was pre-Covid.
But let’s start with a recap of the basics…
What is Matched Betting?
Matched betting is a method for making risk-free profits by taking advantage of offers made by online bookmakers.
The best offers are those made to attract new clients. Here’s an example. The bookmakers Sky Bet offer £30 in free bets (3 x £10) for new online customers. To get this, you have to open an account with them and deposit a minimum of £5. You then have to place a minimum 5p bet at odds of evens (2.0) or better. Once you have done this, Sky Bet will immediately credit you with £30 worth of free bets.
So how do you turn this into a guaranteed profit? Well, that’s the clever bit. You make use of a website called an exchange (Smarkets and Betfair are two of the better known). These sites allow anyone to lay a bet (i.e. bet that the outcome in question won’t happen). By backing with a bookmaker and laying the same bet at an exchange you can ensure that however the event pans out, you will only make a small loss or occasionally a tiny profit (depending on the odds available).
With a normal bet this is obviously of limited value, as the two bets more or less cancel each other out. But when your first bet qualifies you for a second (and in Sky Bet’s case much larger) free bet, it suddenly becomes a lot more interesting. Here’s an example…
Let’s say Wolverhampton Wanderers are about to play Spurs in the Premier League. You can back Wolves to win with Sky Bet at 4.75 (15/4 in the more traditional but less useful fractional style) and lay them with Smarkets at 4.80. If you put £5 on Wolves with Sky Bet and at the same time lay Wolves to the appropriate stakes (something I’ll come to shortly) you can ensure that whether they do or don’t win, your net loss will be just 13p (allowing for Smarkets’ standard 2% commission charge). The lay bet covers you for the draw as well, as in effect you are betting that Wolves won’t win – so if Spurs win or the match ends in a draw, the lay bet will pay out.
But now, because you are a new member, Sky Bet will give you £30 worth of free bets. You can back and lay these again to generate a guaranteed profit. For the sake of simplicity let’s say you use the same market, Wolves v. Spurs, although you certainly don’t have to. At the odds mentioned, and backing to the correct stakes, if you use all three £10 free bets you can guarantee yourself a net profit of £23.05 however the match pans out. Subtract the 13p loss from your qualifying bet, and once the dust has settled you will have made a risk-free (and tax-free) £22.92. If your bet loses with the bookie, your profit will be in the exchange (remember, this is a free bet so it hasn’t cost you anything). If the bet wins at the bookie, you will lose money at the exchange, but your winnings with the bookie will exceed this, giving you the same net profit either way.
Those are the bare bones of matched betting. Of course, there’s more to it than that, but most matched betting opportunities boil down to this. You place an initial qualifying bet and lay it to ensure (at worst) a small net loss, and then back and lay the free bet you receive to make yourself a guaranteed profit.
One or two people have asked me whether matched betting is legal. The answer is a clear yes. It’s fair to say the bookies don’t like it, though. And if they suspect you are doing it, they may close or limit your account. As mentioned above, this is called ‘gubbing’ and it is an occupational hazard for matched bettors. As a matter of interest, I had to change the example used at the start of an earlier version of this blog post after being threatened with legal action by the bookmaker in question.
How Do You Get Started?
You can, of course, do all this yourself, researching opportunities and comparing odds to find the most profitable matched betting opportunities. When you are starting out, though – and especially if you are new to online betting – it obviously helps a lot to get some instruction and guidance.
Fortunately there are some excellent online services that will do all this for you and provide step-by-step instructions. You can apply these even if you have never placed a bet in your life before. Here’s the service I recommend for beginners to matched betting…
Outplayed
Outplayed (formerly Profit Accumulator) is a dedicated matched betting website. You can get a 7-day free trial which gives you access to over 60 welcome offers of the type mentioned above. If you wish to continue, you can then pay a fee (currently £39.95 a month) to become a ‘Platinum’ member and get access to Outplayed’s full range of betting offers and services.
As well as detailed instructions on offers, Outplayed also provide various online tools you can use. Their oddsmatcher, for example, helps you find markets where the back and lay odds are as close as possible, so you can minimize your losses on qualifying bets and maximize the value of your free bets. They also have calculators where you enter the back and lay odds and how much you want to bet at the bookmaker. The calculator then reveals how much you need to lay at the exchange to guarantee a set profit (or qualifying loss) with either outcome.
A further advantage of joining Outplayed is that you get access to the members-only community forum, where you can get any questions you may have answered by more experienced members and/or the Outplayed team.
For more information about Outplayed and its different membership levels, just click through this link [affiliate].
If you are at all sceptical about the Outplayed service, you might like to check out the reviews on the independent Trust Pilot website. They currently average 4.7 out of 5 stars, with 89% of respondents awarding them a five star (‘Excellent’) rating. That is among the highest average ratings I can recall seeing on Trust Pilot.
What Happens When You’ve Exhausted the Welcome Offers?
This was something I wondered about before I started, and I know other people do as well.
First of all, it will take you quite a long time to work through all the offers on the Outplayed website. Not all are as simple and straightforward as the Sky Bet offer mentioned above, but nonetheless if you follow the step-by-step instructions they can all generate a healthy profit for you.
After that, you can move on to ‘reload’ offers. These are offers made by bookmakers for existing members to encourage them to keep coming back and using their service. Reload offers work in a wide range of ways. Some provide a guaranteed profit if you apply them correctly, while others may sometimes make a small qualifying loss but other times produce a much larger profit, generating a good net profit overall. Reload offers are also listed on the Outplayed website and updated every day.
Is Matched Betting for Everyone?
In principle anyone can do matched betting, but it is probably more suitable for some people than others. In particular, it will help if you have a small amount of capital to get started – at least £50, preferably £100 or more.
If you have less you can still do it, but it will take longer to build up your earnings. Remember that you will need money to fund your qualifying bets at the bookmaker sites and also your exchange account. You don’t lose this money – it simply moves between bookie and exchange according to how events pan out – and you can always withdraw it if required. But to operate as a matched bettor you do need to have some ‘working capital’.
Another requirement to make a success of matched betting is that you need to be organized and methodical. Matched betting is not difficult once you grasp the basic concept, but if you make a mistake it is possible to lose money doing it. Initially at least it’s important to take it slowly and steadily and follow the instructions on Outplayed (if you have signed up with them) to the letter. It helps to be reasonably numerate as well, although the actual calculations are done for you by the oddsmatching tool and calculators.
And finally, if you think you might get drawn in to gambling through matched betting, you may be better giving it a miss. This applies especially if you have ever had a gambling problem in the past. To emphasize again, matched betting is NOT gambling if you do it properly and follow the correct procedures. But if you are tempted to go off-piste and start placing random bets, the likelihood is that you WILL lose money overall.
Final Thoughts
If you are looking for a tax-free sideline earning opportunity, matched betting can certainly fit the bill. Done properly it is risk free, and (as mentioned earlier) I have made around £3,000 from it myself.
For reasons discussed in this blog post I don’t recommend matched betting as a substitute for a full-time job. In these challenging times, however, if you need another tax-free string to your money-making bow, it can certainly perform that role. But be aware that the first few months are likely to be the most profitable. After that, as you run out of welcome offers (and are perhaps ‘gubbed’ by some bookies) it will get harder.
As always, if you have any comments or questions about this post or matched betting more generally, please do leave them below.
This is a fully updated version of an earlier post.
Disclosure: This post includes affiliate links. If you click through and make a purchase, I may receive a commission for introducing you. This will not affect the price you pay or the service you receive.
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I’ll begin as usual with my Nutmeg Stocks and Shares ISA. This is the largest investment I hold other than my Bestinvest SIPP (personal pension).
As the screenshot below for the year to date shows, my main Nutmeg portfolio is currently valued at £24,525 (rounded up). Last month it stood at £24,237, so that is an increase of £288.
Apart from my main portfolio, I also have a second, smaller pot using Nutmeg’s Smart Alpha option. This is now worth £3,937 compared with £3,895 a month ago, a rise of £42. Here is a screen capture showing performance over the year to date.
Finally, at the start of December 2023 I invested £500 in one of Nutmeg’s new thematic portfolios (Resource Transformation). In March I also invested a further £200 from ‘Refer a Friend’ bonuses. As you can see from the YTD screen capture below, this portfolio is now worth £772 compared with £769 last month, a small rise of £3.
As you can see from the charts, August was generally a decent month for my Nutmeg investments, despite a hiccup early in the month. Their overall value has risen by £333 or 1.16% since the start of August. They are also up by £2,919 or 11.08% since the start of the year.
You can read my full Nutmeg review here. If you are looking for a home for your annual ISA allowance, based on my overall experience over the last eight years, they are certainly worth considering. They offer self-invested personal pensions (SIPPs), Lifetime ISAs and Junior ISAs as well.
Note that I am no longer an affiliate for Nutmeg. That means you won’t find any affiliate links in my review (or anywhere else on PAS). And you will no longer see the no-fees-for-six-months offer I used to promote as an affiliate. However, the better news is that you can still get six months free of any management fees by registering with Nutmeg via my Refer a Friend link. I will receive a gift voucher if you do this, which is duly appreciated
Don’t forget, also, that the current tax year began on 6 April 2024 and you have a full £20,000 tax-free ISA allowance for 2024/25. In a change to the rules, you can now open any number of ISAs with different providers in the same tax year, as long as you don’t exceed your overall £20,000 allowance. So opening a stocks and shares ISA with Nutmeg won’t prevent you from also opening one with another S&S ISA provider (should you wish to) later in the financial year.
Moving on, I also have investments with the property crowdlending platform Kuflink. They continue to do well, with new projects launching every week. I currently have around £833 invested with them in 7 different projects paying interest rates averaging around 7%. I also have £40 in my Kuflink cash account.
To date I have never lost any money with Kuflink, though some loan terms have been extended once or twice. On the plus side, when this happens additional interest is paid for the period in question.
There is now an initial minimum investment of £1,000 and a minimum investment per project of £500. Kuflink say they are doing this to streamline their operation and minimize costs. I can understand that, though it does mean that the option to test the water with a small first investment has been removed. It also makes it harder for small investors (like myself) to build a well-diversified portfolio on a limited budget.
One possible way around this is to invest using Kuflink’s Auto/IFISA facility. Your money here is automatically invested across a basket of loans over a period from one to five years. Interest rates range from 7% to around 10%, depending on the length of term you choose. Full up-to-date details can be found on the Kuflink website.
You can invest tax-free in a Kuflink Auto IFISA. Or if you have already used your annual ISA allowance elsewhere, you can invest via a taxable Auto account. You can read my full Kuflink review here if you wish.
Moving on, my Assetz Exchange investments continue to generate steady returns. Regular readers will know that this is a P2P property investment platform focusing on lower-risk properties (e.g. sheltered housing). I put an initial £100 into this in mid-February 2021 and another £400 in April. In June 2021 I added another £500, bringing my total investment up to £1,000.
Since I opened my account, my AE portfolio has generated a respectable £200.41 in revenue from rental income. Capital growth has slowed, though, in line with UK property values generally.
At the time of writing, 10 of ‘my’ properties are showing gains, 6 are breaking even, and the remaining 17 are showing losses. My portfolio of 33 properties is currently showing a net decrease in value of £43.69, meaning that overall (rental income minus capital value decrease) I am up by £156.72. That’s still a decent return on my £1,000 and does illustrate the value of P2P property investments for diversifying your portfolio. And it doesn’t hurt that with Assetz Exchange most projects are socially beneficial as well.
The overall fall in capital value of my AE investments is obviously a little disappointing. But it’s important to remember that until/unless I choose to sell the investments in question, it is largely theoretical, based on the most recent price at which shares in the property concerned have changed hands. The rental income, on the other hand, is real money (which in my case I’ve reinvested in other AE projects to further diversify my portfolio).
To control risk with all my property crowdfunding investments nowadays, I invest relatively modest amounts in individual projects. This is a particular attraction of AE as far as i am concerned (especially after Kuflink raised their minimum investment per project to £500). You can actually invest from as little as 80p per property if you really want to proceed cautiously.
As I noted in this recent post, Assetz Exchange is particularly good if you want to compound your returns by reinvesting rental income. This effectively boosts the interest rate you are receiving. Personally, once I have accrued a minimum of £10 in rental payments, I reinvest this money in either a new AE project or one I have already invested in (thus increasing my holding). Over time, even if I don’t invest any more capital, this will ensure my investment with AE grows at an accelerating rate and becomes more diversified as well.
My investment on Assetz Exchange is in the form of an IFISA so there won’t be any tax to pay on profits, dividends or capital gains. I’ve been impressed by my experiences with Assetz Exchange and the returns generated so far, and intend to continue investing with them. You can read my full review of Assetz Exchange here. You can also sign up for an account on Assetz Exchange directly via this link [affiliate]. Bear in mind that, as from this financial year (2024/25), you can open more than one IFISA per year.
In 2022 I set up an account with investment and trading platform eToro, using their popular ‘copy trader’ facility. I chose to invest $500 (then about £412) copying an experienced eToro trader called Aukie2008 (real name Mike Moest).
In January 2023 I added to this with another $500 investment in one of their thematic portfolios, Oil Worldwide. I also invested a small amount I had left over in Tesla shares.
As you can see from the screen captures below, my original investment totalling $1,022.26 is today worth $1,303.27 an overall increase of $281.01 or 27.51%.
As you can see, my Oil WorldWide investment is showing 12.85% profit. That’s okay but not spectacular. Obviously my copy trading investment with Aukie2008 has been doing better. The Oil WorldWide port was recently rebalanced by eToro, so I hope this may boost its performance. The investment team at eToro periodically rebalance all smart portfolios to ensure that the mix of investments remains aligned with the portfolio’s goals, and to take advantage of any new opportunities that may present themselves.
You might also notice that I have a small holding in Prosus NV, a Dutch internet group. To be honest I don’t understand how I acquired this, but it may be connected to my copy trading investment with MIke Moest (who is Dutch). In any event, I am happy to have it in my portfolio as well!
eToro also offer the free eToro Money app. This allows you to deposit money to your eToro account without paying any currency conversion fees, saving you up to £5 for every £1,000 you deposit. You can also use the app to withdraw funds from your eToro account instantly to your bank account. I tried this myself and was impressed with how quickly and seamlessly it worked. You can read my blog post about eToro Money here. Note that it can also serve as a cryptocurrency wallet, allowing you to send and receive crypto from any other wallet address in the world.
I had three more articles published in August on the excellent Mouthy Money website. The first is Win Fame and (Maybe) Fortune as a TV Quiz Show Contestant. This can be an exciting and occasionally lucrative pastime. I revealed how to find opportunities and apply for them. I also explained how the auditioning process works, and offered some tips on how to boost your chances of success.
Also in August I revealed my Ten Top Tips for Working From Home. This is something I’ve done for over 30 years now, so in this article I set out my top ten tips based on my experience. If you have recently started working from home, or expect to do so in future, you may find this article helpful.
Finally, I wrote an article titled How Understanding Cognitive Dissonance Theory Can Help Us Manage Our Finances Better. This article drew on my experiences of studying psychology back in the 1970s. Developed by psychologist Leon Festinger in 1957, cognitive dissonance theory explores the discomfort we experience when we simultaneously hold conflicting beliefs or attitudes. By understanding this, we can gain insights into our financial behaviour, helping us make more informed decisions and achieve better financial results.
As I’ve said before, Mouthy Money is a great resource for anyone interested in money-making and money-saving. From the variety of articles published in August, I particularly enjoyed How to Save Money on Your Home Removal by regular MM contributor Shoestring Jane. Jane writes mainly about money saving and frugal living. You can see all of her articles for Mouthy Money via this web page.
I also published several posts on Pounds and Sense in August. Some are no longer relevant due to closing dates having passed, but I have listed the others below.
In these challenging times, we all need to ensure our savings stretch as far as possible. So in How to Maximize Your Savings Interest l set out a range of tax-free allowances you can use to help do this. They include the Personal Savings Allowance (PSA), Starting Rate for Savings, Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs), and various others.
I also published How to Win Cash and Prizes in Online Competitions. This can be another tax-free way to boost your finances! In this post I revealed how to find online competitions to enter, why you should set up dedicated ‘comping’ accounts, how to identify potential scams, and more. Good luck if you decide to try this 🤞
As we all know Labour achieved a landslide victory in the general election, and it appears that austerity measures are on the way now. So in How to Reduce the Impact of Tax Rises in Rachel Reeves’ First Budget, I set out some recommended steps to try to protect your finances in the months (and years) ahead. The Chancellor’s first budget is scheduled for 30th October 2024, with tax rises and cuts to public services widely anticipated.
Finally, in August I published What Alternatives Are There to Heat Pumps? The government are currently pushing heat pumps hard in their frantic quest to achieve Net Zero. For a range of reasons, however, they are not suitable for every property. And even if your home might theoretically be suitable, there are good reasons you might not want one (discussed a while ago in this Mouthy Money article). So in this post I set out some possible alternatives you might like to consider instead.
Next, a few odds and ends. I recently invested some money (just over £1,000) in a Scottish wind farm project via a platform called Ripple Energy. The way this works is that you pay a one-off fee towards building the wind farm, and in exchange receive lower-cost, ‘green’ electricity once the wind farm is up and running. This will continue for the life of the wind farm (an estimated 20 years). The original closing date for this was the end of May, but the date was extended and the share offer is still open at the time of writing.
If you’re interested in learning more, you can visit the Ripple website via my referral link. If you decide to invest, you will get a £25 bonus credited to your account when generation starts (and so will I). Note that you will need to invest a minimum of £1,000 to qualify for the £25 bonus, but you can invest from as little as £25 if you like.
Speaking of energy, a quick reminder that if you switch to EDF via my refer-a-friend link (below) you can get a FREE £50 credited to your energy account (and so will I). For more info and to sign up, click on https://edfenergy.com/quote/refer-a-friend/sunny-koala-9462
Finally, I wanted to highlight the decision by the new Labour government to abolish Winter Fuel Payments for all pensioners except those on pension credit. Like many others, I feel this is a terrible decision that will badly impact some of the poorest people in society and quite likely lead to increased deaths by hypothermia in the winter ahead (and others to follow).
it is therefore more important than ever that older people who may be eligible for pension credit apply for it. I recently updated my blog post about pension credit in light of the announcement. If you have older relatives, friends or neighbours, please encourage them to apply if they may be eligible. The application process is not as straightforward as it should be, so they may well appreciate some help with it
Even so, be aware that only the very poorest pensioners qualify for pension credit. If you have any source of income apart from the state pension, even a tiny one, the chances are you won’t be eligible. I do therefore recommend writing to your MP and asking for this Draconian decision to be reversed. You may also like to sign one of the various petitions that have sprung up, including this one on Change.org and this one from Age UK. The latter is up to almost half a million signatures now.
That’s all for now. If you have any comments or queries about this update, as ever, feel free to leave them below. I am always delighted to hear from PAS readers
Disclaimer: I am not a qualified financial adviser and nothing in this blog post should be construed as personal financial advice. Everyone should do their own ‘due diligence’ before investing and seek professional advice if in any doubt how best to proceed. All investing carries a risk of loss. Note also that posts on PAS may include affiliate links. If you click through and perform a qualifying transaction, I may receive a commission for introducing you. This will not affect the product or service you receive or the terms you are offered, but it does help support me in publishing PAS and paying my bills. Thank you!
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Yes, it’ s time for another exciting giveaway here on Pounds and Sense. This one has a ‘back to school’ theme. In most parts of the UK, of course, this occurs in early September. Scottish schools generally return a bit earlier, around mid-August.
Again I have clubbed together with some of my fellow UK bloggers to provide a plethora of great prizes. And the best news is, it’s entirely free to enter. The giveaway is open now and will close on September 1st 2024.
The prizes have been hand-picked for children and young people returning to school this autumn, so they should be ideal for your children or grandchildren. But if you want to keep any for yourself, we promise we won’t tell!
This event has (again) been organized by Rowena Becker, who blogs at My Balancing Act. No small amount of effort has been involved in arranging and co-ordinating it, so many thanks again to Rowena for her hard work and dedication.
Without further ado, then, I’ll hand you over to Rowena to introduce the giveaway…
Back to School Giveaway
Get ready for an exciting opportunity as some of the top UK bloggers unite to bring you a fantastic back-to-school giveaway! We’ve teamed up to offer one lucky winner a fabulous collection of school essentials that will make heading back to the classroom a breeze.
From stylish lunch bags and durable water bottles, to school shoes and jackets, this giveaway promises to equip you with some great goodies to kick off the school year in style. Join us in this collaborative celebration and enter for your chance to win these amazing prizes. Let’s make this school year the best one yet!
In order to be able to bring you this incredible giveaway, some of the UK’s top bloggers got together. A massive thank you to all involved! The bloggers taking part are:
Start-Rite Shoes is giving one lucky winner the chance to win a pair of school shoes for their child.
The foundation of any school uniform is a quality fitted pair of shoes, but there is nothing uniform about a Start-Rite school shoe! With 12 new styles added to their school shoe collection this season, Start-Rite is more prepared than ever to protect your children’s feet. No one size fits all, as every pair of feet has individual requirements to ensure healthy physical development.
Whether you’re looking to support wide or narrow feet, a high instep, or shoes that double for a special occasion, Start-Rite has a style to suit every child.
EcoSplash Fleece Lined Jacket Navy from Muddy Puddles
Gear up for the ultimate back-to-school season with Muddy Puddles’ in our back-to-school giveaway! Included in the prize bundle is a top-tierkids waterproof jacket that ensures your young adventurers are ready for any weather.
This navy raincoat features an impressive waterproof rating of 10,000mm to keep your child dry during heavy downpours, perfect for rainy days. Crafted from durable, breathable fabric made from recycled plastic bottles, it’s both eco-friendly and long-lasting. The soft fleece lining provides extra warmth, while the jacket’s design makes it easy to layer across various seasons. Fully taped seams offer robust protection against the elements, and reflective details enhance visibility in low-light conditions for added safety. Plus, it’s machine washable at 30 degrees for easy care.
Muddy Puddles has your kids covered for back to school with theirback to school jackets, waterproofs, and more—ensuring every rainy walk to school, puddle-jumping session, and chilly playground adventure is tackled in style and comfort!
Smash lunch bag and water bottle set
Gear up for the school year with an essential lunch bag and water bottle set! TheSmash Lunch Bag is your kids perfect lunchtime companion, designed with full insulation and an antibacterial lining to ensure their meals are as fresh as possible. Made from premium neoprene, this lunch bag is not only fully washable but also brings a splash of personality and fun to every meal.
Stay hydrated in style with theSmash Twin Wall Soda Bottle. Made from durable stainless steel, this sustainable bottle features a sleek design and a removable cap, making it an ideal everyday accessory. It’s BPA-free, food-safe, non-toxic, and offers a smart, twin-walled construction.
Create-a-Space™ Storage Centre from Learning Resources
Introducing a stylish addition to any back-to-school setup: the Create-a-Space™ Storage Centre from Learning Resources, which is part of our exclusive giveaway prize bundle! Perfectly blending modern design with practicality, this white 10-piece set will seamlessly fit into any décor theme, whether at home or in the classroom.
The carousel-style design features 8 removable containers, providing the perfect solution for organising essentials like glue sticks, crayons, pens and more. Keep your workstation clutter-free and enjoy a space that is as functional as it is chic with this versatile storage centre.
LittleLife Flip-Top Water Bottle!
Family active outdoors brand, LittleLife, is giving one person their choice of aflip-top water bottle, perfect for the school day.
Made from impact-resistant Tritan copolyester, a watertight lid and holding 550ml, these bottles are durable and fit fuss-free into your child’s school rucksack or backpack. LittleLife’s water bottles also come with a chew-resistant straw to avoid lingering tastes and odours due to being BPA-free.
Brainstorm Toys Children’s 14cm Desktop World Globe
Discover new horizons with the Brainstorm Toys Children’s 14cm Desktop World Globe, a shining star in our back-to-school giveaway prize bundle! This compact yet high-quality globe is a treasure trove of knowledge, showcasing detailed political boundaries, natural wonders like lakes, rivers, and deserts, as well as capitals and major cities.
Perfect for curious minds, this globe is ideal for home or school, making it a must-have for any aspiring explorer. The sturdy base ensures stability, while its easy rotation allows young adventurers to seamlessly explore different areas of the world. Enhance your child’s learning experience and ignite curiosity with this engaging educational tool.
Little Brian Scribble Paint Sticks
Unleash your creativity withScribble Paint Sticks by Little Brian, a standout addition to our giveaway prize bundle! These innovative paint sticks are perfect for adding intricate details and patterns to your artwork, thanks to their finer tip. Featuring 12 vibrant classic colours, they bring your child’s artistic visions to life with ease. Enjoy a mess-free painting experience where paint twists up and down just like a glue stick and dries in under 60 seconds. Whether you’re working on paper, card, wood, or glass, these versatile paint sticks make it simple to explore your creativity without the clean-up hassle.
How to Enter
You can enter this Back to School Giveaway by completing as many Rafflecopter widget entry options below as you like. All entries will be collated, and one winner will be randomly chosen via Rafflecopter.
The giveaway will run from 4 pm 23rd August 2024 to 8 pm 1st September 2024.
The winner will be notified by email from rowena@mybalancingact.co.uk
The winner will have 7 days to respond, after which time we reserve the right to select an alternative winner.
This prize draw is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook, Instagram, X, YouTube, BlogLovin or Pinterest or any other social media platform.
Prizes open to over 18s only. Age verification may be required to receive some prizes.
Some or all of the prizes may take a few weeks to arrive.
If any prizes are out of stock then we will do our best to find a suitable replacement but cannot guarantee it.
Anyone who unfollows before the giveaway ends or doesn’t complete the required entry action will be disqualified.
The prize is non-transferable, non-refundable and cannot be exchanged for monetary value.
We may be using a parcel service or Royal Mail for some of the prizes and their standard compensation will apply in the event of loss or damage.
Some items may be sent directly by the supplier and we do not have responsibility if these go missing and we cannot replace such items.
In the unlikely event that one of the companies withdraws a prize, we cannot offer an alternative.
The winner’s name will be stated on some or all of our bloggers’ websites and announced on Twitter/X and other social media channels. It will also be displayed on the Rafflecopter entry form. By entering this prize draw, you give your permission for this.
Please note the winner may have the same name as you so if you see your name displayed, be aware that you are not the winner unless you have been notified by us.
There may be some delays in receiving prizes.
Good luck, and I hope a Pounds and Sense reader wins this fabulous prize bundle!
Note: This post (and others on Pounds and Sense) includes affiliate links. If you click through and make a purchase or perform some other specified action, I may receive a commission for introducing you. This will have no effect on the product or service you receive or the price you pay for it, but it does help me pay my bills. Thank you!
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