The Money Thread...

[Joer]

Another question for ya'll since i'm the noob of the thread! Just signed up to Quidco. Is it just a case of when i'm shopping online, searching for the site through Quidco first? And for in-store purchases, I don't have to do anything beyond spend money on my card? I don't need to say i'm going to use it here & here to get the money back? Is there any other sites that want to give me money for spending money?

[Slayerx]

Top Cash Back is similar to Quidco.

[Glowy69]

Top Cash Back is similar to Quidco.

I use topcashback.

[Cyburn2]

I know its tedious but I use Valued Opinions and IPSOs (i-say) to do surveys to get amazon vouchers.

[Slayerx]

If you want to make money with surveys etc

http://www.swagbucks.com/
http://www.gifthulk.com/

Apps

Roamler
Qustodian (Won my chromecast here)

[LewisD]

Just to add to the opposite side of this thread.

I bought a discounted pair of jeans for £7.50 today from sainsburys.
The missus has kicked off and is in a mood with me until I take them back - I know we're skint, but strawberry float me.. It's £7.50.

:/

[7256930752]

Has anyone here got a gas/electricity rebate after they've decided to switch company?

I'm thinking of switching from one supplier to the other, since it's cheaper. Open to a bit of haggling.

I've changed supplier 3 times and always wound up with a final bill of around £200 so no luck on the rebate front.

Having a bit of a nightmare at the moment, First Utility have somehow calculated my gas bill as £650 for June .

[Rightey]

Couldn't find another one, search won't work. Just thought I'd maybe start a thread..maybe we can help and advise each other.

Well there was this one...

t:managing-money?f=7&t=29703&st=0



In other news I'm trying to get into investing but I'm pretty noobish at it, not quite sure how I should go about researching companies etc. I have an investopedia account which is up over 35%, but if I had to actually do that with real money I don't think just choosing companies that I like because my gut tells me would be a good strategy.

[Andrew Mills]

Couldn't find another one, search won't work. Just thought I'd maybe start a thread..maybe we can help and advise each other.

Well there was this one...

t:managing-money?f=7&t=29703&st=0



In other news I'm trying to get into investing but I'm pretty noobish at it, not quite sure how I should go about researching companies etc. I have an investopedia account which is up over 35%, but if I had to actually do that with real money I don't think just choosing companies that I like because my gut tells me would be a good strategy.

Rightey, yesterday:

[Joer]

Just been speaking to Sky+BT trying to see what kind of deal I can actually do as it turns out it's nowhere near what the last person told me and i'm tempted to go down the route of removing it all and going for a no tv license and just streaming approach. Does watching things on ITV/BT online as it's broadcast count as watching live or is that ok as there's a delay?

[LewisD]

Just been speaking to Sky+BT trying to see what kind of deal I can actually do as it turns out it's nowhere near what the last person told me and i'm tempted to go down the route of removing it all and going for a no tv license and just streaming approach. Does watching things on ITV/BT online as it's broadcast count as watching live or is that ok as there's a delay?

I don't have a TV licence.
BBC iplayer, itv player, 4OD and TVCatchup are all fine to watch.
We've not missed television in the last 18 months, and I'm not looking to get tv anytime soon.

Add in the netflix account with a proxy on my browser and an American Hulu account and we've got it all covered!

Plus torrenting like a loon.

[Grumpy David]

I'm with Halifax at the moment and was hoping to stay with them for a credit card just to keep things all in one place but I can't see any mention of that Reward Clarity Card on the site. http://www.halifax.co.uk/creditcards/ has the Clarity Card but not a Reward Clarity Card. Are they the same thing?

Yes they're the same thing. According to MoneySavingExpert however you need to apply for it over the phone or in branch in order to get the £5 deal.

[BTB]

I have some savings in a Norwich and Peterborough monthly saver account (had a boosted 1.5% interest if you didn't make any withdrawals in the year and deposited between £50-250 a month) which get their interest soon. But after that the rate drops significantly.

I'm not sure if I should move it into another savings account, ISA or Premium Bonds.

Also thinking of switching my bank to First Direct as they have a good monthly saver and you get £100 if you switch. Don't seem to be many benefits with my NatWest account, which is currently a graduate account I believe.

Do these sound like wise ideas?

[Glowy69]

I have some savings in a Norwich and Peterborough monthly saver account (had a boosted 1.5% interest if you didn't make any withdrawals in the year and deposited between £50-250 a month) which get their interest soon. But after that the rate drops significantly.

I'm not sure if I should move it into another savings account, ISA or Premium Bonds.

Also thinking of switching my bank to First Direct as they have a good monthly saver and you get £100 if you switch. Don't seem to be many benefits with my NatWest account, which is currently a graduate account I believe.

Do these sound like wise ideas?

I've just switched to first direct £125 for me and I've opened a regular saver which is 6% for a year.

[Poser]

I'm desperate to switch to the First Direct account as Lloyds has pushed me too far with their sales tactics and monthly calls to attempt to carry out 'account reviews'.

Our ongoing mortgage application has meant I'm avoiding anything that'll spark a credit search, though.

[Glowy69]

I'm desperate to switch to the First Direct account as Lloyds has pushed me too far with their sales tactics and monthly calls to attempt to carry out 'account reviews'.

Our ongoing mortgage application has meant I'm avoiding anything that'll spark a credit search, though.

You know that if you switch bank accounts it won't affect you dealings to do with your mortgage? Because they're searches for quite clearly different things, so lenders won't see it as an issue.

Good old account reviews. Is that so they can push that club lloyds account onto you?

[Poser]

I'm desperate to switch to the First Direct account as Lloyds has pushed me too far with their sales tactics and monthly calls to attempt to carry out 'account reviews'.

Our ongoing mortgage application has meant I'm avoiding anything that'll spark a credit search, though.

You know that if you switch bank accounts it won't affect you dealings to do with your mortgage? Because they're searches for quite clearly different things, so lenders won't see it as an issue.

Good old account reviews. Is that so they can push that club lloyds account onto you?

I didn't know that, but I have reached Defcon 1 paranoia about my credit record after being in a mess in the past so I'm steering well clear. Also desperately need a new phone but am holding off. I totally believe you are right, but I'm just going to play it (incredibly) safe. My score is currently 993

Lloyds rant, spoilered to avoid derailing:

And yes, Club Lloyds. They obviously have no cohesive CMS system because I've had three different 'managers' from the same branch call me to arrange a review. The first one I agreed to do, over the phone. He called half an hour late, at the end of my lunchtime as opposed to half way through it.

The second guy, I just explained what had happened the previous time, and said I had no interest in applying for any financial products at that time. He said they had noticed I had some loans with other companies and wanted to 'look at those for me'. Being as polite as I could, I explained that the only reason those two loans weren't with LLoyds was because when I applied for them, Lloyds would only offer me an APR of 21% (and my credit rating was ok at this point). 21% on a £6k loan. strawberry floating dickwads: that's more than my current credit card. I got 8% with Sainsburys in the end and it'll be paid off in five months' time.

The third person, female this time, I explained the above, again. I said I didn't want or need an account review and that they had not offered competitive products for some time. I asked her to put a note on my account not to call again. I don't believe they will pay any attention.

I know they have a business to run but I really strawberry floating hate them.

[Lotus]

Managed to get my Sky TV bundle down from £67.25 to £43.50 just now. That's gonna be just for the basic TV and Sports. Still seems like quite a lot though. Next up will be Gas & Electric.

In terms of gas/electricity...who's your supplier(s)? How do you pay? How old's the place you live in? (I'm thinking insulation). Do you know what kind of tariff you're on? When did you last change?

At the moment i'm with npower. My gas is done monthly which is at £40.34 a month, the electric I have one of those key things that I top up when it runs out. Tend to spend about another £40 a month on that at least as well. I've no idea about the age of the property. The tariff according to the bill is a "Price Fix March 2016 DD" which looks like it ends 31st of March 2016 according to my bill i'm looking at. The account used to be in the wifes name which was set up back in 2012, but it was all put into my name when she moved out in March so I imagine that's when they'll say it started. Is there a way to actually pay less for electricity when you've got a key you top up or is it really just a case of you use what you pay for and that's the end of that?

I've also got a credit card which i've been using to build my credit score which according to Noddle. Is at a rating of 4/5 which basically says I shouldn't have to worry about being accepted for anything now. After seeing your mentions of credit cards that offer cash back i've obviously had my interest raised at that. Is there any particular cards that I should be looking out for? I've seen most charge a monthly fee but is there one that doesn't? I've seen one from Capital One which is the Capital One Classic Extra Credit Card which offers 0.5% cashback on all purchases. I'm terrible at maths and just can't do that in my head, but is that 50p back for every £100 I spend? Or am I just that bad at maths?

Sorry Joer I missed this.

Not sure how your gas and elec bills compare really. Per quarter that’s double what I pay, but I don’t use much, so am probably below average. I think as long as you’re not wasteful with it, not heating rooms you don’t use, leaving lights on, etc, you’re pretty much doing what you can to keep costs down. While I don’t have experience of using a pre-pay meter for electricity, I do know that people tend to get charged slightly higher rates, and obviously you’re excluded from the best deals that providers offer, as those will always exclude pre-pay meters. If you want to switch from using one though you’ll get charged, and I’m not sure how much that would be. Might be worth investigating and working out the cost/benefit.

No idea on the credit card side of things as I don’t use them, but yeah 50p for every £100 spent in the example you’ve given.

[Gario]

Is there anyone on this forum who lives independently of their family, works for a living, and struggles to get by from month to month? You earn your money, spend your money, then pay day rolls round again and the cycle repeats. You can't really afford to save anything, and when an unexpected cost comes up, like car repairs, you're strawberry floated. Anyone like that here? Cos I get the impression most of you are successful high earners with money in the bank.

[LewisD]

Is there anyone on this forum who lives independently of their family, works for a living, and struggles to get by from month to month? You earn your money, spend your money, then pay day rolls round again and the cycle repeats. You can't really afford to save anything, and when an unexpected cost comes up, like car repairs, you're strawberry floated. Anyone like that here? Cos I get the impression most of you are successful high earners with money in the bank.

*Raises hand*

I'm constantly worried about money.
I got paid and was still overdrawn.

Yaaay...