Everything Else

This includes everything else I discuss on Pounds and Sense, including Health, Holidays, Relationships, and so on.

How to Track Your Investments With Microsoft Excel

October 28, 2022

How to Track Investments With Microsoft Excel

Nick Investing, Everything Else guest post 4 Comments

Investing can be confusing, and it’s easy to lose track of where your money is going. Thankfully, Microsoft Excel has many tools that can help you effortlessly track your investments.

Excel offers many ways for users to easily track their investments, such as by tracking the value of their portfolio over time, analyzing past performance, and comparing how different asset classes performed in similar market conditions.

Excel can also help investors stay on top of balances and transaction activity across multiple accounts. It allows them to visualize how these transactions affect their total wealth over time. This information can help investors decide when to invest more or pull out some cash for other uses.

Excel can be beneficial for investment tracking, especially if you’re saving for retirement and want to see how much progress you’ve made over time.

You can either enrol in Excel training to learn a few tips or tricks to analyze your investment data (which will serve you well for life), or you can follow the guide below for a quick solution.

Create a Portfolio

A portfolio is a collection of individual investments held by an investor. A typical portfolio will include stocks, bonds, mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), options, and other securities.

If you’re looking to create a portfolio in Excel, here’s how to do it:

1. Open up the spreadsheet application on your computer,

2. Click on ‘File’ and select ‘New’.

3. Select ‘Blank Workbook’ from the new screen’s drop-down menu. This will open up a new file for you to start creating your portfolio in Excel.

4. Type the heading ‘Accounts’ in one of the columns. The accounts should be listed from largest to smallest by value or assets under management (AUM). We recommend listing these accounts as rows instead of columns to make it easy to track.

5. Create columns for the type of investment you have in your portfolio against each account. These include cash accounts, bonds, fixed-income funds, stocks and equity funds, commodities, and other assets like real estate or intellectual property rights.

6. Now create another column with the heading ‘Shares/Investment’ and enter the data for each investment appropriately.

7. You can add columns related to Date, Security Name, Number of Shares or Units Owned, Purchase Price Per Share/Unit (or Cost Basis), and Current Market Value Per Share/Unit (or Current Value). In addition, add columns for Cost Basis (the original purchase price), Gain/Loss Per Unit, and Total Gain/Loss For All Units (for each security).

8. You may also want to include columns for Percent Gain/Loss.

9. Save the spreadsheet as an Excel file and then close it.

Use the ‘Difference Formulas’ in Excel

Excel’s most useful feature is its ability to calculate differences between two numbers. For example, if you have a list of investment values and you want to know how much money you have made since your purchase, you can try the following method:

1. Click the cell where you want to calculate the difference between your asset’s current price minus its original purchase value.

2. Type the equal sign ‘=’ and then select the cell containing the current value of your investment.

3. Type the minus sign ‘-‘ and then select the cell containing the original purchase price of the investment.

4. Press enter, and the difference will be calculated.

5. Now click and press the small square at the end of that cell (containing the difference), and drag it downwards to calculate the difference of each dataset automatically.

Use the ‘Percent Return Formulas’ in Excel

To track the return on investment over time, you can use Microsoft Excel’s percent return formulas. These formulas calculate the percentage increase or decrease in an investment’s value over time.

The formula for percent return is: (Current price – Purchase price) ÷ Purchase price

Here’s how you can apply the percent return formula in Excel:

1. Select the cell where you want the percent return formula to be calculated.

2. Type the equal sign ‘=’ and add an open parenthesis ‘(‘.

3. Select the cell containing the current value of your investment.

4. Type the minus sign ‘-‘ and select the cell containing the original purchase price of your investment and then close the parenthesis ‘)’.

5. Now, type the forward slash ‘/’ and select the cell containing the original purchase price.

6. Press enter, and the percent return will be calculated.

7. To make values appear as percentages, right-click on the cell, select the option of Format Cells, and select Percentage under the number tab.

8. Once done, click and drag the small square at the bottom right corner of your percent return cell and copy the formula for the rest of the dataset.

Use Advanced Excel Features to Customize your Sheet

Functions in Excel are a way for you to manipulate data in Excel programmatically. They can be used to perform calculations, transform data, and create new values.

You can find a list of all built-in functions in the Formula tab menu in Excel. To access it, click on any cell, navigate to the Formula tab and choose the ‘Insert Function’ option. The Insert Function dialogue box will appear, from where you can choose the function you are looking for by going through the list.

Here are the 10 most popular functions in Excel:

SUM function
IF function
LOOKUP function
VLOOKUP function
MATCH function
CHOOSE function
DATE function
DAYS function
INDEX function
FIND, FINDB functions

The best way to learn about each function is by using it. Try out different arguments and see what happens.

To Conclude

Excel is an excellent way to track investments because it saves and calculates dependable data. Also, you can use the program to graph your data and see how they change over time.

Thank you to my friends at Acuity Training for an informative guest article.

I use Excel spreadsheets for keeping track of my self-employed earnings and send them to my accountant once a year so that he can produce my annual accounts from them.

I do also use Excel for keeping track of my investments, but only in a very basic way. This article has inspired me to be a bit more ambitious with Excel and use formulas to automatically calculate the total and percentage returns from my investments, and so forth.

As always, if you have any comments or questions about this post, please do leave them below.

If you enjoyed this post, please link to it on your own blog or social media:

October 11, 2022

Simple Hacks to Working at Home (Infographic)

Nick Everything Else infographic 4 Comments

Today I have an infographic for you from my friends at ecommerce platform Quill. It sets out some of their top tips for working from home, and especially making the most of technoiogy.

While the purpose of technology is to make life easier, working from home comes with its own set of challenges. But with time – and by following some basic tips and guidelines – remote work can go from feeling like an uneasy compromise to becoming an accessible, convenient and comfortable way of working.

Whether you’re a technology guru or a novice, remote work shouldn’t feel like an obstacle course. Technical problems such as lagging wifi, for example, can be resolved by means of an upgraded modem or network extender. Other common consequences of working remotely, however – including loneliness and lack of motivation – are more difficult to tackle and can negatively affect efficiency and productivity.

Fortunately a few changes to your remote working approach can make a huge difference. From your choice of attire to the design of your workspace and how you communicate with colleagues, this graphic shares a few simple but effective hacks to help overcome remote-working challenges.

The 4 most annoying wfh challenges (and how to solve them)Infographic by Quill

Many thanks again to Quill for their infographic and tips. I have been working from home for over 30 years myself now, so I do generally agree with all of the above. I have very occasionally been known to work in my pajamas but have to admit this is best avoided really!

I definitely agree it’s best to have part of your home as your designated workspace. Ideally this could be a separate study or office, but at least a quiet corner where you can set up your equipment and files and not have to pack everything away at the end of the day. Growing numbers of people are now using garden sheds or extensions for home working, and this can also be a good solution.

Garden office pods are another option that is growing in popularity. These can provide a space-saving refuge in which you can avoid noise and other distractions and focus on getting your work done.

I also think that if you’re working from home, it’s vital not to let yourself become isolated. It’s very important to keep up connections with colleagues, friends and family. Home working can be especially challenging if you like and are accustomed to having colleagues to talk to. You really do need to build some social interactions into every day if possible – ideally face to face, but at least via the phone and/or social media. Your mental health may depend on it 🙂

As always, if you have any comments or questions about this post, please do leave them below.

Disclosure: Posts on Pounds and Sense may include affiliate links. If you click on one of these and go on to make a purchase or perform some other defined action, I may receive a commission for introducing you. This will not affect in any way the price you pay or the product or service you receive.

If you enjoyed this post, please link to it on your own blog or social media:

October 7, 2022

My Short Break in Barmouth

Nick Everything Else reviews, travel 4 Comments

I recently returned from a three-night break in Barmouth in Wales. The town is also known by its Welsh name of Abermaw.

Barmouth is a traditional Welsh seaside resort. I’ve visited a few times over the last few years but haven’t actually stayed there for over 25. I thought it was high time I rectified that!

On this occasion I stayed at Tyr Graig Castle, a hotel I discovered online and booked via Booking.com. I’ll say more about the accommodation below.

Barmouth is about ten miles south of Harlech. The nearest large town is Aberystwyth. Here is a map of the area from Google Maps.

Accommodation

As mentioned above, I stayed at a hotel called Tyr Graig Castle. Unfortunately I neglected to take any photos of the exterior, but you can see the view from my bedroom window in the cover image (including a length of parapet!). There are, of course, more photos on the hotel website.

Tyr Graig Castle is a characterful Victorian building, originally constructed in the late 1890s. it retains the style of the Victorian era, with stained glass windows, wood panelling and highly decorated floors and ceilings.

Tyr Graig is a traditional Welsh name and translates as ‘House on the Rock’. It stands about 200 feet above Barmouth, overlooking Cardigan Bay, across which can be seen the Llyn peninsula and Bardsey Island. The building was completed in 1892 as a family home for W.W. Greener, a famous Birmingham gunsmith. It was designed in the Gothic style that was popular at the time. Its unique shape was chosen by Mr Greener himself. It resembles both a medieval castle and an open double-barrelled shotgun when viewed from above.

I stayed in a first-floor turret room. This had round walls, and windows providing stunning views across the bay. There was a small bathroom with a shower rather than a bath. While generally I found the room perfectly comfortable, I did find the lighting rather dim. There was no ceiling light, just some uplighters on the walls and bedside lamps with low-powered energy-saving bulbs. My eyes are admittedly not the best these days, but I had to use the torch app on my phone in the evening to see well enough to read!

The breakfasts (and optional evening meals) at Tyr Graig Castle are served in the dining room and adjacent conservatory. The latter has wonderful views out to sea and there was a bit of a rush to get one of the four window tables (see photo below). Early risers had a definite advantage here! I was pleased to discover that they recently reinstated the breakfast buffet, where you can help yourself to cereal, fruit, yogurt and so forth. You could then order a cooked breakfast which was brought to your table. These were excellent and set me up for the day 🙂

You could also opt to eat in the restaurant in the evening. Like most guests (as far as I could judge) I chose to do this, as Tyr Graig Castle is a little way out of the town centre and other dining options in the area are limited unless you want to drive. The food was good and the portions were generous. My only slight criticism is that the menu was the same every night. There was a reasonable choice, but a bit more variety day to day (even if just a daily special) would have been appreciated.

The service from both the staff and the charming owners (Mike and Trudy) was uniformly excellent. The hotel had free wifi which worked perfectly during my stay (not always the case in my experience).

One other observation is that this is the first time I had stayed in a hotel – as opposed to self-catering – since the days of the pandemic. I was pleased to discover that by and large things are back to normal now. One small difference is that I was asked at check-in if I wanted my room serviced every day. It was the first time I can remember being asked this, as pre-Covid it would have been assumed. But I guess some people are still nervous about having someone else in their room even if they aren’t there at the time. So I do understand why the hotel ask this now.

Financials

As Pounds and Sense is primarily a money blog, I should say a word about this.

I paid £336 for my three-night stay at Tyr Graig Castle, which works out to £112 per night (including VAT). Considering that included a substantial breakfast as well, I thought the price was very reasonable.

The optional evening meals were, of course, extra. The prices were, I would say, good value as well. I paid around £25 a night for my evening meals, which included a main course and dessert (or cheese and biscuits) and coffee. I generally had a small bottle of sparkling water with the meal, but if I had gone for wine or beer, that would obviously have pushed the price up a bit.

Things to Do

I won’t give you a full account of everything I did while I was there, but here are a few highlights.

Harlech

Harlech is about 20 minutes’ drive north from Barmouth (or a short train journey on the scenic Cambrian line). I spent my first morning here.

Harlech has some charming shops and cafes, and a long, sandy beach. But it is probably best known for its stunning castle (see photo above).

Harlech Castle was built by Edward I during his invasion of Wales between 1282 and 1289. Since then it has had a long and interesting history, including serving as the home and military HQ of Owen Glendower, the Welsh prince who led a long-running war of independence with England during the late Middle Ages. UNESCO considers Harlech Castle, with three others at Beaumaris, Conwy and Caernarfon, to be one of “the finest examples of late 13th century and early 14th century military architecture in Europe”, and it is classed as a World Heritage Site.

Admission to Harlech Castle costs £8.30 for adults or £7.70 for seniors (over 65). You can also buy a family ticket for two adults and up to three children for £27.40. Children under 5 receive free entry, as do people with disabilities and their companions. All prices are correct as at September 2022.

Harlech Castle is impressive and well worth a visit. You can climb the stone staircases in several of the towers and walk along the battlements (obviously you need to be reasonably fit to do this). From up here you can enjoy spectacular views across the sea and towards the mountains of Snowdonia. At ground level there is a room with some information about the castle and its history. I was glad to have this, as the ticket office had run out of guidebooks in English and only Welsh language ones were available.

I should maybe also mention that Harlech Castle has an excellent cafe with plenty of seating inside and out. I enjoyed a very nice cappuccino and cake here!

Portmeirion

Portmeirion is a beautiful Italianate village created by the architect Clough Williams Ellis. These days it is probably best known as the location for the 1960s cult TV series The Prisoner, starring Patrick McGoohan. I drove here in the afternoon after spending the morning in Harlech. It’s a wonderful place to while away a few hours.

There is an admission fee to get into Portmeirion, At the time of writing (September 2022) this is as follows:

Adult £17.00
Concessions £13.50 (this applies to anyone aged 60+ or a student with a valid student ID)
Children £10.00 (5-15 years)
Children (under 5 years) Free

There are also discounted family tickets for various permutations of adults and children.

You can also get free admission (in the afternoon) by booking a minimum two-course lunch at Castell Deudraeth; this is part of the Portmeirion estate, a short walk from the village itself. Free admission to the village is also available if you book a spa treatment or afternoon cream tea there.

More information is available on the Portmeirion website. One thing you may need to know is that they don’t allow dogs (other than guide dogs) into the grounds.

Fairbourne Railway

The Fairbourne Railway is a miniature steam railway. It’s a bit of a drive to get there from Barmouth, as you have to cross the estuary, which entails driving several miles inland and back again. However, you can get a ferry (actually a motorboat) from Barmouth seafront that takes you to the far end of the Fairbourne Railway in under ten minutes. This costs the princely sum of £2.50 (September 2022 price) and provides some wonderful views of Barmouth and the railway bridge. Highly recommended!

If you are energetic you can also walk from Barmouth to Fairbourne via the railway bridge (which isn’t open to cars). On this visit I ended up walking to the Fairbourne Railway and then getting a ferry back.

A one-way trip on the Fairbourne Railway costs £7.60. Alternatively you can buy a Day Rover ticket for £11.50 which entitles you to go up and down the line as many times as you like. This is obviously better value! You can choose whether to travel in an open or closed carriage (it all costs the same). There is a small museum at the Fairbourne end of the line with information about the railway’s history and some exhibits. There is also a separate room housing a large model railway. This is free to enter, but you have to insert a coin to watch the train go round 🙂

The ticket office at Fairbourne incorporates a cafe selling drinks, sandwiches and snacks (no cooked meals though). At the Barmouth Ferry end of the line there is also a cafe but this is only open during the peak summer months.

Final Thoughts

I enjoyed my short break in Barmouth and am happy to recommend both the town and the hotel where I stayed for a short break.

As mentioned above, Barmouth is a traditional Welsh seaside resort, and none the worse for that. It has a clean, attractive promenade and a beautiful sandy beach which goes out a long way to the sea. It is hard to imagine it getting overcrowded!

There is plenty to do for families with children, including a funfair and amusement arcades. There are various restaurants and fast food outlets along the seafront. There is also a railway station with regular trains to Pwllheli in one direction and Aberystwyth and beyond in the other. Road connections are good as well.

Also worth checking out while you are there are Ty Crwn, a 19th century lockup for drunks and petty offenders (picture below). There is also a small museum near the seafront dedicated to the town’s maritime history. Entry to this is free, though donations are appreciated.

Finally, as mentioned above, I recommend taking a stroll across the half-mile-long railway bridge over the Afon Mawddach river. This is the longest timber viaduct in Wales and one of the oldest in regular use in Britain (it opened in 1867). It offers some stunning views across the estuary. You can also walk on to Fairbourne and the Fairbourne Railway (see above).

As always, if you have any comments or questions about this post, please do leave them below.

If you enjoyed this post, please link to it on your own blog or social media:

October 3, 2022

My Investments Update – October 2022

Nick Investing, Everything Else reviews, travel, events 4 Comments

Here is my latest monthly update about my investments. You can read my September 2022 Investments Update here if you like

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). Withdrawals from the latter are still on hold, incidentally, to avert the risk of pound-cost ravaging.

As the screenshot below of performance last month shows, my main portfolio is currently valued at £19,292. Last month it stood at £20,344 so that is a fall of £1,052.

Apart from my main portfolio, I also have a second, smaller pot using Nutmeg’s Smart Alpha option. This is now worth £2,921 compared with £3,091 a month ago, another fall of £170.

Here is a screen capture showing performance since January 2022. As you can see, I topped up this account in February this year.

There is no denying that these falls are disappointing, especially with my Smart Alpha portfolio now worth less in total than I have contributed to it. As I’ve noted previously on PAS, however, you do have to expect ups and downs with equity-based investments. And this year there has been no lack of volatility, caused by rising inflation, the war in Ukraine and the aftermath of the pandemic (among other things).

About my only consolation is that things could have been even worse if – paradoxically – I’d opted for a lower-risk level with my investments. In their latest blog update, Nutmeg reveal that low and medium-risk portfolios actually performed worse overall last month than high-risk ones. I have copied below their explanation for this:

By design, Nutmeg’s low- and medium-risk portfolios have more exposure through ETFs to assets that are priced in sterling and with limited foreign currency exposure. As you will have seen in the headlines this week, the pound hit an all-time low against the dollar with markets initially placing little faith in the chancellor’s tax-cutting and pro-growth agenda.

This year it has been rewarding to hold foreign currency with sterling particularly weak versus the dollar. Some of our high-risk portfolios have benefited from currency moves, while low- and medium-risk portfolios have not. They haven’t lost money from having low foreign currency exposure, they just haven’t benefited from it.

Secondly, low- and medium-risk portfolios by design have more exposure – again through ETFs – to government bonds, which in ‘normal’ times are considered something of a safe haven and have much lower volatility than equities. After all, it is still highly unlikely that the UK government would default on its debts.

In a nutshell (no pun intended) low- and medium-risk Nutmeg portfolios hold a higher proportion of investments in pounds sterling and UK government bonds. These are normally regarded as lower risk, but last month both took a particular hammering. So in comparison nominally higher-risk portfolios like mine actually performed somewhat better.

This is one more reason I’m glad I opted for higher risk levels with my Nutmeg portfolios (9/10 for my main one and 5/5 for my Smart Alpha). If you haven’t yet seen it, you might also like to check out my blog post in which I looked at the performance over time of Nutmeg fully managed portfolios at every risk level from 1 to 10 . I was actually pretty amazed by the difference risk level makes, with higher-risk ports over almost any period of three or more years in the last ten generating significantly better overall returns. If you are investing for the long term (and you almost certainly should) opting for a hyper-cautious low-risk strategy may not be the smartest thing to do.

Since I started investing with Nutmeg in 2016 – and despite everything that has happened this year – I have still made a total net return on capital of £4,977 (35% or 52.35% time-weighted) on my main portfolio. So I can afford to be philosophical about the recent falls. Indeed, I am considering topping up my Nutmeg investments again now while asset values are depressed.

You can read my full Nutmeg review here (including a special offer at the end for PAS readers). If you are looking for a home for your annual ISA allowance, based on my experience over the last six years, they are certainly worth considering.

Moving on, my Assetz Exchange investments continue to perform well. 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 £76.51 in revenue from rental and £63.58 in capital growth, a total of £140.09. That’s a decent rate of return on my £1,000 investment and does illustrate the value of P2P property investment for diversifying your portfolio when equity markets are volatile.

I now have investments in 23 different projects and all are performing as expected, generating rental income and in most cases showing a profit on capital as well. So I am very happy with how this investment has been doing. And it doesn’t hurt that most projects are socially beneficial as well.

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. You can actually invest from as little as 80p per property if you really want to proceed cautiously.

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].

Another property platform I have investments with is Kuflink. They continue to do well, with new projects launching almost every day. I currently have around £2,500 invested with them in 14 different projects. 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. At present most of my Kuflink loans are performing to schedule, though two recently had their repayment dates put back by three months.

My loans with Kuflink pay annual interest rates of 6 to 7.5 percent. These days I invest no more than £200 per loan (and often less). That is not because of any issues with Kuflink but more to do with losses of larger amounts on other P2P property platforms in the past. My days of putting four-figure sums into any single property investment are behind me now!

Nowadays I mainly opt to reinvest the monthly repayments I receive from Kuflink, which has the effect of boosting the percentage rate of return on the projects in question

Obviously a possible drawback with Kuflink and similar platforms is that your money is tied up in bricks and mortar, so not as easily accessible as cash savings or even (to some extent) shares. They do, however, have a secondary market on which you can offer any loan part for sale (as long as the loan in question is performing and not in arrears). Clearly that does depend on someone else wanting to buy it, but my experience has been that any loan parts offered are typically snapped up very quickly. So if an urgent need arises, withdrawing your money (or part of it) is unlikely to be an issue.

You can read my full Kuflink review here. They offer a variety of investment options, including a tax-free IFISA paying up to 7% interest per year with built-in automatic diversification. Alternatively you can now build your own IFISA, with most loans on the platform (including the one shown above) being IFISA-eligible.

My investment in European crowdlending platform Nibble continues to perform as advertised. My latest investment was in their Legal Strategy. These are loans that are in default and facing legal action. Nibble buy these loans at a heavily discounted rate and then seek to recover as much as possible of the money owed. The minimum investment is 10 euros and the minimum period is six months. I invested 100 euros for 12 months initially at a target annual interest rate of 12.5%.

The Legal Strategy comes with a deposit-back guarantee. This is a guarantee to return the full investment amount at the end of the investment period and a minimum yield of 9% per year. The actual yield depends on how successful recovery efforts prove, so in practice you may end up with a return of anywhere between 9% and 14.5%. All has gone to plan so far, but I will obviously continue to report on this in the months ahead.

You can read my updated review of Nibble here if you like. You can also sign up directly on the Nibble website [affiliate link].

Moving on, I had another article published on the always-excellent Mouthy Money website. This one is entitled My Odd Smart Meter Story and Why Despite This I Still Recommend Them. In the article I discuss my rather strange experiences with a smart meter, which stopped working after I switched supplier and then rather mysteriously started again two years later! As per the article title, I do still recommend getting a smart meter, especially in these times of soaring energy bills.

Also in September I enjoyed a final (probably) short break of the year in Barmouth in Wales. I stayed at a Victorian Gothic hotel called Tyr Graig Castle. I was lucky with the weather, and enjoyed visiting nearby Harlech and Portmeirion (see cover image) as well as Barmouth itself.

I shall be publishing a full review of my short break in Barmouth soon. In the meantime, here is a photo of a rather splendid sunset taken from the hotel restaurant…

Finally, I know a lot of people are extremely anxious about the cost-of-living crisis. As I said last time, though, it’s important not to panic. I recommend a three pronged-approach of maximizing your income, minimizing your expenditure, and budgeting carefully (using your resources as effectively as possible, in other words).

Bear in mind, also, that a range of government support measures have been announced to mitigate the worst effects of the crisis. This government Help for Households website has a useful summary of all the help available and is regularly updated.

In the meantime, please do check out some of the other posts on Pounds and Sense for additional advice and resources, especially in the Making Money and Saving Money categories.

That’s all for today. As always, if you have any comments or queries, 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 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!

If you enjoyed this post, please link to it on your own blog or social media:

September 22, 2022

Buy Now Pay Later – What Is It and Should You Use It?

Nick Everything Else infographic, shopping, borrowing, credit cards 4 Comments

Today I am looking at Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL). This is a retail payment option that has grown massively in popularity over the last year or two. It is most often used online but is also available at some physical stores (e.g. New Look).

I am indebted to my friends at HSBC UK for their assistance in researching this post (and the graphics). The stats in the article refer to an online survey of 1,000 people conducted by HSBC UK in March 2022.

What Is BNPL?

Most people’s first contact with BNPL comes when they are shopping online and it appears in the list of payment options.

As the name suggests, BNPL allows you to buy a product (or products) now and pay later. This typically involves paying a deposit followed by a short series of instalments. You may also be offered the opportunity to pay the entire sum after 30 days with no initial deposit.

So if – for example – the product/s in your basket cost £90, with BNPL you may be able to purchase with a down payment of just £30 and two further instalments of £30 at 30-day intervals.

One big attraction of BNPL compared with credit cards is that generally if you pay your instalments on time, you will not be charged interest. The BNPL firms make money by taking a commission from the retailer, which means they don’t need to charge anything to customers.

Another possible attraction of BNPL is that you won’t normally be required to complete a formal (‘hard’) credit check. You will just be asked a few quick questions and will be told there and then if you are eligible. The fact that you applied for BNPL won’t generally appear in your credit file or affect your personal credit score (whereas applying for a credit card certainly will).

This is likely to change in future, however, with greater regulation coming to the sector from 2023. Hard credit checks may be required from then on, in response to fears that BNPL is encouraging some people to spend more than they can afford.

BNPL is offered by a range of financial services companies, the best known of which in the UK are Klarna, Clearpay and LayBuy.

Who Uses BNPL and For What?

Research from HSBC shows BNPL has become the second most used form of finance behind credit cards (see graphic below). Women are more than twice as likely as men (43% v 21%) to use it.

The HSBC survey found that BNPL was most popular among 25-34-year-olds, with nearly half saying they had used it in the past year (49%), followed by 18-24s (45%) and 35-44s (45%).

As regards what it is used for, the survey found that clothing was the most frequent purchase type with BNPL, followed by food & beverages, shoes, appliances & electronics, and games & toys. This is summed up in the graphic below.

What Are the Pros and Cons of BNPL?

In the HSBC survey, those using BNPL said they valued it over other forms of finance because of the ability to spread payments (20%). They found it quick and easy to use (15%) and more affordable (13%) – with 87% of people who had used it in the past 12 months saying they were likely to use it again in the next year.

BNPL is also popular among people who like to try before they buy (typically with clothing). By buying this way, you may be able to try your purchase without any monetary outlay and return it with no further commitment if you don’t like it.

Sixty percent of BNPL users in the HSBC survey did express some caution, however, saying one of the top three drawbacks was it was too easy to get into debt or overspend. One in five listed lack of availability as a key disadvantage (20%), while one in ten (12%) said the fact it didn’t build their credit score was an issue.

These concerns were also raised by those who hadn’t yet used a BNPL service – with 62% saying one of the main barriers to use was it appeared to be too easy to get into debt or overspend, and nearly one in three (30%) saying that was the primary factor.

One other possible drawback with BNPL is that anything you buy this way will not enjoy the same legal protections you get when buying with a credit card. The latter only applies to purchases of over £100, of course.

My Thoughts

Thanks again to my friends at HSBC UK for allowing me to share their survey results and graphics.

With the current cost-of-living crisis, many of us are feeling the pinch at the moment. So it is easy to see the attraction of BNPL for helping budgets stretch a little bit further.

In my view, BNPL can be a sensible option if you need short-term credit and are confident you will be able to repay the money over the period specified. One big attraction is that most BNPL offers do not involve paying any interest as long as you stick to the terms of the agreement. Neither is using BNPL likely to affect your credit score (though it won’t help build it either). And, as mentioned above, payment-in-30-day offers can allow you to try before you buy without any up-front financial outlay.

Some BNPL firms also offer longer-term credit up to 18 months. A hard credit check is required for this and interest will be charged, so this is more like a personal loan. Interest rates tend to be high and you may end up paying back considerably more than you borrowed. I do not recommend going down this route, unless you really don’t have any viable alternative.

Of course, BNPL does have the potential for encouraging overspending and drawing you into debt you then find difficult to repay. If you miss any of the scheduled payments, penalty fees and/or interest may be charged and your credit rating may also be adversely affected. Ultimately, a debt recovery agency may be called in. If you think this is a risk, it may be better to wait and save up before making a purchase in the traditional way.

As always, please feel free to leave any comments or questions about this post below. I would also be very interested to hear from any readers who have used BNPL themselves. What did you use it for and why? And would you do it again?!

You might also like to check out this article from HSBC UK about their BNPL survey.

If you enjoyed this post, please link to it on your own blog or social media:

September 6, 2022

My Short Break in Lavenham

Nick Everything Else events, reviews, travel 6 Comments

I recently returned from a four-night break in Lavenham in Suffolk.

Lavenham is said to be England’s best-preserved medieval town, with over 300 listed, timber-framed houses (see cover image). But I must admit I had never heard of it until I read that my favourite Pink Floyd tribute band, Darkside, were performing there in August. It seemed a great opportunity to see the band and visit somewhere new at the same time. As I live in Staffordshire I normally head west towards Wales for my UK short breaks, so it felt quite strange to be driving east on the A14 instead!

I stayed in a beautiful, self-contained cottage in the heart of Lavenham, which I booked through Airbnb. I’ll say more about the accommodation below.

Lavenham is around five miles north-east of Sudbury. The nearest large town is Bury St Edmunds. Here is a map of the area from Google Maps.

Accommodation

I stayed in a charming, self-catering cottage called The Hay Loft in the centre of Lavenham. It had two bedrooms and bathrooms, so was actually larger than I needed.

I originally booked it so my sister Annie could join me for some of the time. Sadly she broke her wrist in a fall the day before, however, which meant she couldn’t come after all. So I had plenty of room to spread myself out!

This being an Airbnb property, I am not supposed to say exactly where it is, but I guess I can reveal that it’s in a very convenient, central location. There was plenty of free parking on the road outside and in the village itself. The location was quiet and peaceful (in the evenings especially) and I slept well throughout my stay. You can see a photo of the front of the cottage below.

You can read more about the accommodation on this page of the Airbnb website. It had an open-plan lounge/kitchen/dining room on the first floor, and two bedrooms and bathrooms (one ensuite) downstairs. That’s a slightly unusual configuration, but I was actually very grateful for it as my visit coincided with a four-day heatwave. Being downstairs, the bedrooms stayed comfortably cool. Electric fans were thoughtfully provided, though.

The cottage had all the facilities you could want for a short (or longer) stay. The kitchen area was well equipped with a gas cooker, microwave, fridge/freezer, dishwasher, toaster, sink, and so forth.

The cottage had free wifi which worked perfectly during my stay (not always the case in my experience). There was also a small garden at the front, down some steps from the gate. This was well tended and pleasant to sit out in (when it wasn’t too hot!).

Financials

As Pounds and Sense is primarily a money blog, I should say a word about this.

I paid £550 for my four-night stay, which works out to £137.50 per day. I thought that was very reasonable bearing in mind the size and standard of the accommodation and the convenience of the location. Obviously as this was self-catering no meals were included, but there was more space and better facilities than you would get in any comparable hotel or B&B.

Things to Do

I won’t give you a blow-by-blow account of what I did while I was there, but here are a few highlights.

The Guildhall

Lavenham Guildhall is an impressive timber-framed building. It was originally built in the early 16th century for the Guild of Corpus Christi, an alliance of wealthy local merchant families. In later years, as Lavenham’s wool trade declined, it served as a bridewell (prison) and workhouse. More recently in WW2 it housed a social club for American troops and also served as a restaurant around that time.

The Guildhall became the property of the National Trust in 1951 and it was subsequently opened to the public as a local history museum. It has a range of interesting exhibits, though I did find some of the material about the building’s use as a prison and workhouse a little depressing. My favourite room housed an exhibition dedicated to Lavenham in WW2, including posters and other interesting documents from that period.

At one end of The Guildhall, with its own entry from the square, is the National Trust tea-room. This serves the usual range of snacks and light lunches. It also has a very pleasant garden outside. You don’t need to pay for admission to the Guildhall to use the tea room or sit in its garden.

Little Hall

Little Hall is a late 14th century hall house on Lavenham main square. First built in the 1390s as a family house and workplace, it was enlarged, improved and modernised in the mid-1550s, and greatly extended later. By the 1700s it was giving homes to six families. It was restored in the 1920s/30s.

Little Hall was restored by the Gayer-Anderson brothers, who were both soldiers. They filled the house with art and artefacts collected during their extensive travels, many of which can still be seen there. It is privately owned – by a trust, I believe – and open to the public most afternoons for an entry fee of about £5.

I enjoyed visiting Little Hall and hearing about its long and varied history from the volunteer guide. It also has an attractive walled garden. It doesn’t have any refreshment facilities, but then again the Guildhall tea-room is just a stone’s thrown away!

The Church of St Peter and St Paul

My Airbnb hostess Sheila told me that the Church of St Peter and St Paul was a ‘must see’ in Lavenham and she wasn’t wrong. To quote from the Wikipedia article about it, ‘It is a notable wool church and regarded as one of the finest examples of Late Perpendicular Gothic architecture in England.’

When I arrived a service was just ending and there were quite a few people milling around. While it’s obviously a beautiful building, it is also a busy parish church. I enjoyed browsing in the second-hand bookshop and spent some time admiring pictures by local artists in an exhibition by the main door. But what really impressed me most were the magnificent stained glass windows, such as the one below.

Final Thoughts

As you may gather, I enjoyed my short break in Lavenham and am happy to recommend both the village and the accommodation where I stayed for a short break.

Lavenham is a lovely place to relax and chill out. It is full of beautiful, historic buildings to admire (and photograph) and several you can visit to get a sense of the village’s long history.

Of course, my initial reason for going was to see Darkside (pictured at the foot of this post), and that was inevitably a highlight for me. The concert took place in a large marquee (‘Lavenham Air Theatre’) in a field between the church and the local tennis club. It was a magical setting as the sun went down and a full moon appeared in the clear summer sky. And yes, the band did perform the classic Pink Floyd album Dark Side of the Moon!

Although I didn’t eat out in the evenings, there are some highly regarded pubs and restaurants which if I hadn’t been on my own (and staying in a self-catering cottage) I would certainly have tried. I had lunch at the National Trust tea-room at The Guildhall on two days. Another day I had a delicious light lunch at The Nook, a cosy bookshop-cum-cafe just down the road from the church.

There are also some lovely circular walks from Lavenham (ask at the tourist information office near the Guildhall for more details). And a bit further afield there are other National Trust properties such as Melford Hall and Ickworth, and the historic village of Long Melford. Because it was so hot during my stay I didn’t really want to go out in my car (which doesn’t have working aircon). But if – or more likely when – I return, I will certainly explore this beautiful area a little more widely.

As always, if you have any comments or questions about this post, please do leave them below.

If you enjoyed this post, please link to it on your own blog or social media:

September 3, 2022

Credit Card Borrowing Set to Boom

Nick Everything Else events, borrowing, credit cards 6 Comments

Today I am sharing some information and advice from my friends at Smart Money People, the UK’s largest financial services review site

With UK inflation now running at around 10 percent (and forecast to go even higher), many people are feeling the pinch right now. For the large number who have little or no savings to fall back on, borrowing may be their only option to make ends meet.

Research on Borrowing

New research undertaken by YouGov on behalf of Smart Money People shows that the UK’s adults will borrow £101.1 bn on new credit cards, loans, overdrafts and other forms of new credit arrangements in the next 12 months.

The company found that 71% of people currently have less disposable income than they would usually have on average per month due to the current rise in the cost of living. This is leading people to consider other ways to make ends meet:

Two-fifths (40%) of UK adults will have some form of credit over the next year due to the cost of living crisis (i.e. rising prices for fuel, energy and food).
Borrowers predicted they would look to borrow an average of £5,259 each.
43% of people who will take out new credit are already worried about how they are going to meet the terms of their repayments.
A fifth (21%) of the adults who say they expect to take out a new form of borrowing in the next 12 months, will do so to cover day-to-day expenses. This is equivalent to 8% of the adult population as a whole, or 5.5 million people.
One in ten (10%) people borrowing over the next 12 months will do so to consolidate existing debts.

The bulk of this new borrowing is predicted to occur during autumn (15%) and winter (32%). A further 13% were unsure exactly when they would borrow but expect it to be when energy price rises affect them.

Smart Money People’s survey also revealed that the most popular type of credit in the next 12 months will be a credit card: 34% of expected borrowers say this will be their preferred method of credit.

Based on the survey, the other most popular types of borrowing in the next year are expected to be an agreed overdraft (17%) and Buy-Now-Pay-Later (15%), a relatively new form of credit where the method of payment is in instalments with low or no interest rates.

Twelve percent of people stated they would borrow from family and friends.

Other Findings

Other findings from the survey include:

68% of people are more worried about their finances now than during the pandemic.
A quarter (25%) of people don’t understand how inflation and interest rates will affect their finances.
36% of people are unsure whether they have the best financial products for the current situation.

Jacqueline Dewey, CEO of Smart Money People said: “We know that many people have very little, if any, savings to help them get through this period of high inflation, and if they have already made cutbacks, they have almost no choice but to turn to credit.

“Providers will do credit checks for some forms of lending but Buy-Now-Pay-Later schemes do not apply the same rules, and of course, family and friends don’t either, so it is entirely possible to accumulate a worrying level of debt very quickly.

“Anyone who needs to take out a new credit card or another form of credit would be wise to check out the company and the contract and not simply jump at the first provider who will lend to them. Take time to understand if they have good customer service and offer channels that suit your style of managing money.”

Guidance for Borrowers

Smart Money People offers the following guidance for people who are considering taking out a new form of credit:

Borrow responsibly: if you miss a repayment your credit score will be affected for six years.
Don’t simply borrow from the provider who will lend you the highest amount.
Check you understand the product: what you will owe and by when.
Does the interest rate look reasonable compared to other lenders?
You may be penalised if you pay back the debt early – understand the T&Cs.
Find out if the lender has a reputation for good customer service by checking ratings on a financial review site.
When borrowing from family and friends, make sure both parties agree on how and when monies will be repaid.
If you are struggling to make repayments, speak to the credit provider as early as possible to avoid defaulting on a payment. They should work with you to find an affordable means to repay.

My Thoughts

Thank you to Smart Money People for their help in compiling this article, and in particular for their valuable tips and advice about borrowing sensibly.

I would say, though, that borrowing to pay bills should only ever be a last resort. At the risk of stating the obvious, any money you borrow will sooner or later have to be repaid, probably with interest. And credit card borrowing, once the interest-free period has elapsed, is one of the most expensive ways there is to borrow money.

if you’re worried about your finances, before taking on any type of credit, my top tip is to ensure you’ve done everything possible to maximize your income, minimize your expenditure, and budget smartly (using your existing resources to best effect, in other words). These are all subjects I cover regularly on Pounds and Sense, especially in the Making Money and Saving Money categories. By doing these things you may be able to reduce the amount of money you need to borrow, or even avoid the need entirely.

Remember, also, that the government has already set out a range of financial support measures, with more promised when a new prime minister is (finally!) in post. You can find a useful summary of support currently on offer from the government and local authorities on this official web page.

As always, if you have any comments or questions about this post, please do leave them below.

If you enjoyed this post, please link to it on your own blog or social media:

August 2, 2022

My Investments Update – August 2022

Nick Investing, Everything Else reviews, property, events 4 Comments

Here is my latest monthly update about my investments. You can read my July 2022 Investments Update here if you like

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 of performance last month shows, my main portfolio is currently valued at £20,407. Last month it stood at £19,357 so that is a (very welcome) rise of £1,050.

Apart from my main portfolio, I also have a second, smaller pot using Nutmeg’s Smart Alpha option. This is now worth £3,108 compared with £2,942 a month ago, a rise of £166

Here is a screen capture showing performance since January 2022. As you may be able to see, I have topped up this account several times this year.

The rises in July are obviously encouraging. In particular, it is nice that my Smart Alpha portfolio (which I haven’t had as long) is worth more than I put into it once again!

Nonetheless, this month’s rises still don’t quite cancel out the falls of last month. And the total value of my Nutmeg portfoiio is still around 8% less than it was at the start of 2022.

As I’ve noted previously on PAS, you do have to expect ups and downs with equity-based investments. And this year there has been no lack of volatility in world markets, caused by rising inflation, the war in Ukraine and the aftermath of the pandemic (among other things).

Even so, since I started investing with Nutmeg in 2016 – and despite everything that has happened this year – I have still made a total net return on capital of 42.56% (or 61.15% time-weighted) on my main portfolio.

I should say as well that I selected quite a high risk level for both my Nutmeg accounts (9/10 for the main one and 5/5 for Smart Alpha). This has served me well generally, but I’m sure investors who selected lower risk levels will have seen smaller falls over the last few months. If you also have a Nutmeg portfolio and plan to withdraw from it soon, there may well be a case for switching to a lower risk level now.

If you haven’t yet seen it, check out also my blog post in which I looked at the performance of Nutmeg fully managed portfolios at every risk level from 1 to 10 (as mentioned, my main port is level 9). I was actually pretty amazed by the difference the risk level you choose makes. If you are investing for the long term (and you almost certainly should be) opting for a hyper-cautious low-risk strategy may not be the smartest thing to do.

I talked about the performance of my Assetz Exchange investment in my July update and also in this recent blog post about ethical investment options. I don’t therefore intend to provide an in-depth report about it on this occasion. I will just say that AE continues to provide steady returns for me, with a lot less ‘excitement’ than my equity-based investments. And as mentioned in my recent post, I like the fact that my money is being used ethically as well (e.g. to provide accommodation for people with learning difficulties or physical disabilities). 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].

Another property platform I have investments with is Kuflink. They continue to do well, with new projects launching almost every day. I currently have around £2,200 invested with them in 14 different projects. 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. At present all my Kuflink loans are performing to schedule, though two are showing as ‘pending status update’, which may translate to a delay in repayment.

Nowadays I mainly opt to reinvest the monthly repayments I receive from Kuflink, which has the effect of boosting the percentage rate of return on the projects in question

I recently updated my original review of Nibble, which you can read here if you wish. You can also sign up directly on the Nibble website if you like [affiliate link].

As mentioned last time, I recently set up an account with investment and trading platform eToro, using their popular ‘copy trader’ facility. I chose to invest $500 (about £412) copying an experienced eToro trader called Aukie. My investment initially dipped, but as the screen capture below (of the app page on my mobile phone) shows, I am now about $16 in profit. That’s an increase of over 3% in just over a month. Obviously if it continues to do as well as this, I shall be delighted 🙂

In any event I am looking on this as a long-term investment so won’t be judging it yet. I am also considering a further investment with eToro, possibly in one of their themed portfolios. You can read my full in-depth review of eToro here if you like.

Moving on, I had another article published on the always-excellent Mouthy Money website. This one is titled Is Car Leasing Right For You? I found this very interesting to research and it gave me food for thought about what I may do when the time comes to bid goodbye to my current vehicle.

Turning to non-financial matters. I hope you are enjoying the (mostly) fine summer weather and making the most of our greater freedoms as we (hopefully) leave the pandemic behind. I recently enjoyed a day out with my friend Jeff at the National Trust’s Snowshill Manor and Gardens in Gloucestershire (pictured in the cover photo).

It was my first visit and I found it a fascinating place. The manor was owned by Charles Wade, an eccentric ex-Army officer. He used it to house his extensive collection of objects of all kinds, from musical instruments to children’s toys, bicycles to Samurai armour (see my photo below). I will try to find time to write a proper review of my trip to Snowshill soon.

And on the subject of summer, can I also remind you about the collaborative Summer Giveaway I am sponsoring in association with other UK bloggers. It’s free to enter, and the lucky winner will receive not only an MSpa hot tub worth almost £1,000 but a range of other great prizes as well. The contest closes on 14 August 2022. Here’s a link to my blog post with details of how to enter.

That’s enough for today. As always, if you have any comments or queries, feel free to leave them below. I am always delighted to hear from PAS readers 🙂

If you enjoyed this post, please link to it on your own blog or social media:

July 31, 2022

Summer Prize Giveaway from Top UK Bloggers!

Nick Everything Else events, competitions, families 2 Comments

Summer is here, so it’s high time for another exciting giveaway on Pounds and Sense 🙂

I have joined forces with some of my fellow UK bloggers to bring you the chance of winning a fantastic MSpa Hot Tub with £100 toward the running costs along with a range of other great prizes as well (details below).

After the last couple of years years we all need and deserve a treat, so here’s your chance to grab not just one but a selection for free!

This giveaway has been organized by my colleague Rowena from My Balancing Act, so I should like to thank her very much for this. More details provided by Rowena herself, along with instructions on how to enter, can be found below…

Summer Prize Giveaway

Over 50 top UK bloggers have come together to offer one lucky winner an amazing prize package to ensure your summer will be spectacular! We have an MSpa Hot Tub with £100 towards running cost as well as some other lovely prizes for one lucky winner…read on to find out more!

The Prizes

An MSpa Aurora Hot Tub with £100 to go towards running costs

Thanks to the incredibly generous folk at MSpa, our lucky winner will receive a stunning MSpa Hot Tub worth £949.99. The MSpa Aurora Urban Series U-AU061 features a striking black out-wall fabric with six colour light design. The transparent inner wall is printed with silver stripes, creating an elegant look even in the daytime. And at night, when the light is on, it will look incredible in your garden!

The MsSpa Auroa Urban Series U-AU61 comes with:

All-in-one control box and wired controller
Heat tech anti-icing system
Three levels of bubble speed
03 ozonator to kill odors and bacteria
Energy saving timer
Smart filtration
Child safety lock function
Antibacterial fabric
UVC sanitiser

Not only that, we will give you £100 towards the running costs of your hot tub!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXu2ogn-wNQ

Amazing Garden Toy Bundle from Jaques of London

Now for the kids. To keep them happy this summer our friends at Jaques of London are offering our winner the below prizes:

1 x swing
1 x skittles game
1 x rapid rocket
1 x gardening set

Jaques of London has been inventing and making toys and games since 1795. They care about our children’s future and create games that nurture children’s development and education. Not only that, but they also care about the environment. Their toys are sustainably and ethically sourced, with each order being replanted into new trees.

Citronella and Lemongrass Soy Candle and Room Spray insect repellent

Get rid of those pesky bugs with the help of a Citronella and lemongrass soy candle and spray from Lumiescents.

We love summer but we do not love the pesky insects that come with it! That’s why we are offering our winner this max strength blend of insect repelling essential oils Citronella & Lemongrass from Lumiescents. Our winner will receive this as a room and linen spray and as a beautiful soy wax candle. Perfect for those summer walks, or lazy back garden bbq’s.

The insect repellent from Lumiescents are a summer must have.

Melomania 1+ True Wireless In-Ear Monitors (in white)

We have the Melomania 1+ wireless in-ear headphones in white for our winner, which feature custom-designed 5.8mm Graphene-enhanced drivers. You can listen to all your favourite tunes whilst out and about this summer.

The Bloggers

How to Enter

You can enter the Summer Giveaway by completing as many Rafflecopter widget entry options below as you like. All entries will be collected and one winner will be randomly chosen. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Terms and Conditions

UK entries only
The giveaway will run from 6pm 31 July 2022 to 11.59pm 14th August 2022.
The winners 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, Twitter, YouTube, BlogLovin, Pinterest or any other social network.
Prize open to over 18s only.
If any prizes are out of stock then we will do our best to find a suitable replacement but can not 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 RoyalMail 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 these.
We will do our best to get the prizes to you as soon as possible but cannot guarantee a date and there may be some delays.
In the unlikely event one of the companies withdraws a prize we cannot offer an alternative.
The winner’s name will be stated on some the brands and bloggers websites and announced on twitter and other social media channels. By entering this prize draw you give your permission for this.

Good luck, and I really do hope a Pounds and Sense reader wins this amazing prize collection!

If you enjoyed this post, please link to it on your own blog or social media:

July 9, 2022

My Short Break in Criccieth

Nick Everything Else reviews, travel 4 Comments

I recently returned from a three-night break in Criccieth. This is a village on the Llyn (or Lleyn) Peninsula in NW Wales. It was the first time I had stayed in Criccieth, although I have visited a few times before.

The place I stayed was a self-contained, self-catering apartment facing the sea-front. I booked it using the website Booking.com. I’ll say more about the accommodation below.

Criccieth is by the coast, roughly half way between Porthmadog (home of the Ffestiniog Railway) and Pwllheli (famed for its Butlins camp, now run by Haven Holidays). Here is a map of the area from Google Maps.

Accommodation

As mentioned, I stayed in a self-catering apartment in Criccieth. This was on the second floor, with a view of the sea from the kitchen/lounge. The owners’ name for the apartment is Foel Wen.

The main Criccieth beach was ten minutes’ walk away, but I was happy where I was. It was quiet, there was plenty of free parking on the road outside, and while it wasn’t the most stunning length of beach, there was a small promenade which was pleasant to walk along in the morning or evening. You can see a photo of the beach opposite my apartment below.

You can read more about the accommodation on this page of the Booking.com website. It had a lounge/kitchen at the front, a small bedroom with bunk beds in the middle (which I didn’t use) and the main bedroom at the rear. The bathroom was next to the small bedroom; it was quite compact but fine for a short stay. There was a good-quality modern electric shower but no bath.

The kitchen area was well equipped with an electric cooker, microwave, fridge/freezer, dishwasher, toaster, sink, and so on. On my first and last nights I cooked for myself (Criccieth isn’t exactly crammed with eating places) and on the middle night I got fish, chips and peas from a local takeaway, Castle Fish and Chips, which was excellent 🙂

The apartment had free wifi which worked perfectly during my stay (not always the case in my experience). The location was quiet and peaceful, and I slept very well.

Financials

As Pounds and Sense is primarily a money blog, I should say a word about this.

I paid £355 for my three-night stay, which works out to around £118 per day. I thought that was very reasonable bearing in mind the high standard of the accommodation and the convenience of the location. Obviously as this was self-catering no meals were included, but there was more space and better facilities than you would get in a comparable hotel or B&B.

Things to Do

I won’t give you a blow-by-blow account of what I did while I was there, but here are a few highlights.

Portmeirion

This is about 15 minutes’ drive from Criccieth (or a short train journey to Minffordd and a ten-minute walk). I spent my first morning here.

There is an admission fee to get into Portmeirion, At the time of writing (July 2022) this is as follows:

Adult £17.00
Concessions £13.50 (this applies to anyone aged 60+ or a student with a valid student ID)
Children £10.00 (5-15 years)
Children (under 5 years) Free

There are also discounted family tickets for various permutations of adults and children.

More information is available on the Portmeirion website. One thing you may need to know is that they don’t allow dogs (other than guide dogs) into the grounds.

Ffestiniog Railway

This heritage steam railway has two separate lines, both of which run from Porthmadog.

The Welsh Highland Railway takes you on a scenic two-and-a-quarter hour trip through the heart of Snowdonia to Caernarfon, while the original Ffestiniog Railway takes you on a one-hour trip to Blaenau Ffestiniog. On this occasion I took the shorter journey, but I have done the Welsh Highland Railway trip before and highly recommend it as well. You can get more info on both (and book in advance) via the Ffestiniog Railway website.

The harbour station in Porthmadog has a small car park which quickly gets full, but there is a free car park for people travelling on the railway at the back of the public car park opposite (Llyn Bach). I used that myself on this occasion. There were plenty of spaces when I arrived at around 10 a.m. but I noticed it was full later. So my top tip if going by car is to book a ticket on a morning train rather than leaving it until the afternoon!

You can also travel to Porthmadog via the mainline railway if you wish. This is on the beautiful Cambrian Coast line which runs from Pwllheli at one end to Aberdyfi (and beyond) at the other.

Criccieth Castle

My accommodation was literally five minutes walk from Criccieth Castle, so of course I had to pay it a visit.

The castle itself is a ruin but (as the photo shows) plenty of the walls are still standing. There is also a visitor centre where, as well as buying your ticket and guidebook, you can learn more about the history of the castle and see some relics that have been found there.

Arguably the best reason for visiting the castle, though, is the spectacular views. The photo below shows the main Criccieth beach. You can even see as far as Harlech Castle from here, although you might need binoculars!

Final Thoughts

As you may gather, I enjoyed my short break in Criccieth, and am happy to recommend both the village and the accommodation where I stayed for a short break.

Criccieth is a lovely place to relax and chill out. It has excellent road and rail connections, and – as mentioned above – there are also some high-quality tourist attractions nearby.

One thing I really enjoyed about this holiday was the number of casual conversations I struck up with other visitors, staff, locals and so on. This applied especially on my Ffestiniog Railway trip, where I ended up chatting with half the people in my carriage! I’d have to say it did help that only a small minority of people are nowadays wearing face-masks. That human contact is something I missed during the pandemic, and as a solo traveller especially it is great to be able to get back to chatting with strangers again 😀

As always, if you have any comments or questions about this post, please do leave them below.

If you enjoyed this post, please link to it on your own blog or social media:

«< 3 4 5 6 7 >»