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How to get money back from your housemates (without getting in a fight…)
No one likes having to ask people to pay you back. This is particularly true when it comes to the people you live with. Fronting someone’s £600 rent payment and £100 portion of utilities is a big deal. You want to get paid back fast, but us Brits don’t like to ask.
I am beyond the house sharing stage, but have plenty of friends’ kids who are heading out to the big bad world of house sharing, whether as students or realising that it’s the time to move out.
Thankfully, there are a few things you or any young people you know can do to ensure you get paid back quickly without getting stuck in an awkward financial argument.
Set expectations before any money is due
The best way to make sure you get your …
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How improving your credit score can save you money
Until last summer, 32 million of us had never checked our credit scores, arguably one of the most important numbers in our lives. A credit report and score is like your ‘financial CV’. Essentially they’re used by a bank or lender to assess how reliable you are.
The difference between having an excellent credit score compared to a low score could save you thousands of pounds. In fact, the average Brit could save around £19,000 on credit card interest alone across a lifetime – that’s nearly a £1,000 more than the average annual take-home salary in the UK. People who actively manage their scores and keep on top of their money will be rewarded when they apply for financial products. Your credit score affects your life in a lot of different ways other than just …
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Zeek for cheap gift vouchers
I took a look at Zeek today and bought a £25 M&S gift voucher for £20, which is a nice saving. I recall Groupon used to allow you to buy £10 worth of M&S gift vouchers for £5 and who wouldn’t take up that deal? As that Groupon deal hasn’t been around for a while, Zeek is a great alternative.
Another great feature of the Zeek is that you can choose to share a special link and discount code with friends, qualifying you both for a £5 credit when you make your first purchase. If you’d like to share my code and get a free £5 to buy and sell your own vouchers, download the app and enter the code 2AEPJ7RC.
The permanent discount gift voucher site is impressive. I used it for M&S but …
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Claim £177 of cashback this week using CheckoutSmart
If you’ve not heard of CheckoutSmart, this is a neat little way to build up some extra cashback when you do your normal weekly shop, and it’s pretty simple to use. Just open a free account at www.checkoutsmart.com, browse their current offers and pop the products you like the look of in your basket when you go shopping. Upload a photo of your receipt and the cashback gets credited to your account!
Current top offers include:
• Arla Skyr Icelandic style yogurt, 150g, FREE at Sainsbury’s (1 claim of each) • Method washing-up liquid, clementine, £1 cashback at Morrisons • MOMA porridge multipack, 5x70g, £1 cashback at Sainsbury’s • Iams dry cat food £1 cashback at Asda and Waitrose (5 claims) • King Pot Noodle, sausage casserole & sticky ribs, 25p cashback at Tesco (6 …
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Summer family deals at Odeon cinemas
A family of four will be able to visit ODEON Cinemas to enjoy a film, food and drink for just £30*, until September 8th. At selected sites across ODEON Cinemas, this price is as low as £25 for a family of four!
ODEON are also running their continued ODEON Kids screenings every day throughout the Summer holidays at participating cinemas across the country – with tickets from just £2.50** each for all guests. For more information, families can visit: http://www.ODEON.co.uk/kids/
ODEON’s family offering for summer includes:
- Families of four can enjoy a visit to the cinema with a film, food and drink for just £30
- Families of three can also visit the cinema with a film, food and drink for just £26
- At certain ODEON Cinemas, including those in Manchester, Edinburgh & Birmingham, these prices
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Cost of raising girls higher than raising boys
New research and analysis into the cost of families from Sainsbury’s Bank has found that some children come with a heftier price tag than others. Parents of children under the age of 18 estimated that a daughter is more costly to raise than a son, across all age points(1).
The survey, which was conducted for the bank’s second Family Finance Report launched today, suggests that it is around £300 a year more expensive to raise a girl at ages 0-5; around £400 a year more at 6-13 years-old and around £600 a year more at 14-18.
Average cost of raising a child by gender and age group, 2016
Age Cost of Son Cost of Daughter 0-5 £5,475 £5,767 6-13 £6,414 £6,794 14-18 £7,172 £7,747The reasons for this may be varied but government data …
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Comparing mobile phone contract costs easily
The savvy shoppers amongst us will know that buying a mobile phone outright and taking on a SIM-only contract is usually cheaper than signing up for a pay monthly deal.
But finding out how much cheaper has never been really straight-forward has it? You need to go rooting around in comparison sites because, let’s face it, the networks don’t really want you to spend as little as possible do they?
Well, now there’s a website which will tell you whether or not you are actually getting the best deal for the tariff you require: www.HandsetExpert.com HandsetExpert.com is an independent comparison website dedicated to helping consumers find the cheapest mobile phone deals on offer so you never have to worry about being ripped off again. Like all mobile price comparison sites you can search for deals …
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Original Factory Shop launches complete festival kit for £250
There’s finally some good news for those that have always wanted to go to a festival but could never afford it. A cut-price range of essentials containing all you need to get you through a weekend festival goes on sale today at discount retailer The Original Factory Shop (TOFS).
The range (it’s huge and you don’t need all of it!) includes a waterproof travel rug, pop up tent, air bed and toiletries, and is priced at £246, £167 cheaper than expensive alternatives, and proves that you don’t have to splash the cash to see your favourite bands this summer.
Colourful wellies and designer camping equipment are just some of the things that young people have been known to spend their hard earned cash on to get festival ready.
The £246 festival survival range which saves …
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Six months to get financially fit for Christmas
• June 25th marked the six month countdown to Christmas • Plan ahead financially now to ensure a smoother run up to the big day
With just six months to go until the biggest, and often most expensive, holiday of the year, now is the time to start planning your finances so that you can begin 2017 free from Christmas related money worries.
With summer still ahead of us, many of us will shiver at the thought of planning for tinsel, turkey and gift tags. But thinking about Christmas sooner rather than later could be the difference between a financially red or black January. With this Saturday marking the official six month countdown, planning now will allow you to maximise your savings and reduce last minute stress as Christmas creeps closer.
The good folks at …
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Office shoes from 99p
Yes, you read it right. Did you know that Office has an eBay store, where it sells ex-display and slightly defect shoes online? Well it does.
The shoes start at 99p, and a standard £3.50 postage charge, though they offer a combined shipping discout of up to 10 items, and international shipping from £5. They run both auctions and buy it now. For buy it now, you can shop full price, sale or ex-display.
Office has a listing called New with Defects, which means that it may be in one of the following categories:
- Shop Soiled
- Ex-Display
- Minor Manufacturing Defect
- General Scuffs and Scrapes
They provide an image of the exact shoe you are bidding on (and if there is more than one defect they provide an image of each) and a brief description …
