Pound to £5k Challenge

Week Fifty-Three

WEEK FIFTY-THREE

And just like that, this is the last email of 2024

At the start of the year, I was concerned that I wasn’t going to be able to keep up with putting weekly emails out but I held myself accountable and have sent emails from all corners of Europe this year

From a personal perspective, building these weekly emails has significantly helped The Bank Engine’s growth over the last 12 months but it has also given hundreds of you the opportunity to put more money in your pockets which was my biggest aim for 2024

Following the popular demand, the weekly emails will continue into 2025

Many of the 2024 offers I have touched on so far are still available and can be checked out below!

£100 GIVEAWAY

LAST CHANCE TO ENTER (ENDS 23:59 GMT 28.12.2024)

To celebrate 4 years (!!!) of The Bank Engine and another great year, I am giving away £100 to one of you who fills in the linked survey below

It will take you a few minutes and is INCREDIBLY helpful for me to understand how The Bank Engine has helped you over the last year

Survey must be completed by 23:59 GMT 29 December 2024 to be in with a chance of winning. £100 will be in the form of cash or a gift voucher of your choice and will be announced shortly after this date

See forthcoming Instagram post for T&Cs

FREE SHARE OFFER IMPROVED!

The Webull free share offer is a good one if you haven’t yet done it offering 20 free shares worth at least $60 (~£46)

1. Sign up to Webull via my referral link: https://www.webull-uk.com/s/3cwteZfMOJAD3NkUiY

2. Download the Webull app and open an account

3. Deposit £100

4. You will get 20 x free shares worth $3 - $300 each

5. It is worth noting that, whilst Webull say the lowest option is $3 each they actually reward you with 0.02 Apple shares which are currently worth $5.10 each making this offer worth potentially $100+

CHEAP PINTS & FOOD?

Probably not the January sale you are expecting, but Wetherspoons are running a sale between 2 - 16 January offering the following:

• Pint of Worthingtons - 99p

• Pint of Ruddles - £1.29

• Pint of Doombar - £1.49

• 250ml wines (Chardonnay/Pinot/Rosé/Merlot) - £2.49

• Burger Meal deal (Classic/American/Chicken burger + chips + drink) - £4.99 with a soft drink or £6.52 with an alcoholic drink

• Breakfast muffin + hot drink refill - £2.99

• Breakfast butty + hot drink refill - £2.99

• Breakfast wrap + hot drink refill - £2.99

• Low & alcohol-free drinks - £1.49

Subject to availability and starts on 3 January in Scotland

£10 OFF MORRISONS SPEND

From now until Tuesday 31 December (or until codes run out) you can get £10 off a £40 spend at Morrisons whether you are a new or existing customer!

This works for delivery or click & collect but be quick as there are only:

• 5,000 code uses for England

• 1,200 code uses for Scotland

• 1,200 code uses for Wales

The code is “hotukdeals_10off_morrisons”

NATIONWIDE CUSTOMERS - GET READY FOR £100?

Earlier this year, Nationwide paid out millions to its customers as part of the Nationwide Fairer Share Payment

However, the £100 that was on offer wasn’t given to every customer due to some stringent rules so I’m keen to get everyone thinking about whether they will be eligible this year

Are Nationwide paying out again this year?

In 2023, Nationwide paid out £340 million to 3.4 million customers

In 2024, Nationwide paid out £385 million to 3.85 million customers

This is based out of profits and Nationwide has reportedly made a lower profit so far this year but has made a “gain” of over £2 billion from its takeover of Virgin Money

What were the criteria last time?

I can’t see the criteria to receive the £100 changing that much so if it was based on the same as last year then you need:

1. You must have had a Nationwide current account open on 31 March

2. If this was a FlexAccount, FlexBasic or FlexDirect, you must have

   either received £500 into the account and made 2+ payments out of the account in 2 months of January, February or March or have made 10+ payments out of the account

3. If this was a FlexPlus account, you must have continued to pay the monthly fee

4. If this was a FlexOne, FlexStudent or FlexGraduate you must have received at least one payment in or made one payment out during March

5. AND you must also have had at least £100 in a savings account with them at the end of any day in March

6. OR you must have owed at least £100 on a Nationwide residential mortgage on 31 March

What am I doing?

So I missed out on these payments in previous years, because I didn’t have any savings with Nationwide which was frustrating but it’s far enough

So this year, I have moved my tax savings account to a limited access savings account which will ensure there is a balance sat in a Nationwide savings account in March

Hopefully, this should be sufficient to gain me the payment this year!

Not a Nationwide customer but want to be?

Nationwide are still offering £175 to switch your current account to them

GET READY FOR PRICE HIKES

Another year, another bunch of bill increases which are worth factoring into your budgets and thinking about as we head into 2025:

Energy price cap up by 1%

From 1 January 2025, this tiny increase takes effect and whilst it is small it’s still a jump that we want to think about

E.On Next currently have a 12 month fix which is 9% cheaper than the new cap will be if you go via MoneySavingExpert

You can couple this with a current account like Santander Edge which pays 1% cashback on energy bills

Water bills up by 20%

Water companies are now going to be increasing their bills by 36% over the next 5 years with the bulk of that coming in April 2025 (20% jump)

One of my biggest grievances with the privatisation of the water companies is how monopolistic it is, so unfortunately you’re stuck with the provider you have so we may need to get creative with ways to save:

1. Water-saving freebies - lots of water companies give out free devices to help you save water so it’s worth checking your provider’s website

2. Low income or on Universal Credit - check out social tariffs

3. Not got a water meter? - see if you can get one for free