November 2, 2025 — Comments are off for this post.

TrainPal Review UK: Split Tickets, PalPoints and Real Savings

Last updated: 8 October 2026

By Stiv · Design, technology and personal finance

This is an opinion piece. Views expressed are the author's own and do not constitute professional advice.

This article contains affiliate and referral links, which are paid links. If you click one and buy or sign up, I earn a commission or referral bonus at no extra cost to you. Brands don't choose what I feature or what I say about them.

Cool Factor: 4/5, Stone cold

Welcome to my honest TrainPal review, where I put the app through its paces to find out whether it actually saves you money on UK train travel. After months of booking tickets, testing split fares, claiming Delay Repay and earning PalPoints, I'm sharing everything I've learned. On top of that, you can typically get £3 off your first ticket using my invite code 57807b9c.

Want £3 off your first ticket?

Use my TrainPal invite link with code 57807b9c, and the discount applies automatically to your first booking.

Get £3 off your first ticket

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September 28, 2025 — Comments are off for this post.

How to Reduce Mortgage Payments UK: Practical Ways That Work (2026)

Last updated: 13 October 2026. I checked every rate and lender option in this guide on how to reduce mortgage payments against the Bank of England, Moneyfacts and Citizens Advice on 13 October 2026.

By Stiv · Design, technology and personal finance

I've overpaid my own mortgage through Sprive every month since October 2021, and in June 2026 I remortgaged from Nationwide to Halifax. These are the moves I've actually used or weighed up for myself.

Disclosure: This article contains affiliate and referral links, which are paid links. If you click one and buy or sign up, I earn a commission or referral bonus at no extra cost to you. Brands don't choose what I feature or what I say about them.

Not financial advice. CoolCuration is not authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority. This article is for information only. Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage. Consider speaking to a qualified mortgage adviser before you change your repayment plan.

Want the Sprive sign-up bonus?

If automated overpayments appeal, the current Sprive welcome offer and the steps to claim it are kept up to date on our referral page.

Get the Sprive referral bonus

If you want to reduce mortgage payments, there are two different jobs to do. The first is cutting what the loan costs you: getting off an expensive rate, timing your remortgage and plugging the leaks that drain your budget. The second, meanwhile, is lowering the monthly figure itself when money is tight. Be aware, though, that some ways to shrink the monthly payment cost you more over time.

Looking to clear it sooner instead? Our guide to paying off your mortgage faster is the speed plan, and everything we have written on Sprive, the app I use to overpay, sits in our Sprive guides hub.

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August 24, 2024 — Comments are off for this post.

Sonos App Update: What Changed, What’s Fixed, and What’s Next

Last updated: 22 March 2026

By Stiv · Design, technology and personal finance

This article contains affiliate or referral links. If you click through and sign up I may earn a commission or referral bonus at no extra cost to you. It does not affect my editorial view.

The Sonos app update saga has been one of the most dramatic stories in consumer tech over the past two years. What started as a routine redesign in May 2024 spiralled into a full-blown crisis: broken features, a tanking share price, layoffs, and ultimately the departure of CEO Patrick Spence. Fast forward to 2026 and there's a new boss, new hardware, and yet another app overhaul on the horizon. Here's the full story of what went wrong, what's been fixed, and where things stand right now.

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July 3, 2024 — Comments are off for this post.

Emma App Review: Is It Worth Paying For?

Emma finance app

Last updated: 9 June 2026

By Stiv · Design, technology and personal finance

This is an opinion piece. Views expressed are the author's own and do not constitute professional advice.

This article contains affiliate and referral links, which are paid links. If you click one and buy or sign up, I earn a commission or referral bonus at no extra cost to you. Brands don't choose what I feature or what I say about them.

Want to test Emma properly?

Our referral link stretches the standard 7-day trial to a full 30 days on any premium plan.

Start a 30-day Emma trial

This Emma app review breaks down what the budgeting app actually delivers for UK users in 2026, from the limited free plan to the paid tiers that unlock the features most people will want. Emma connects your bank accounts, credit cards and investments into a single dashboard using Open Banking, and layers on budgeting tools, subscription tracking and spending insights. It is well-designed, useful and impressively well-connected to UK financial services. The main gripes? The pricing is steep for a budgeting app, and the constant nudges to upgrade to the Ultimate plan get old fast.

Cool Factor: 4/5

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December 15, 2020 — Comments are off for this post.

Airtime Rewards Review UK: Is It Worth It?

Last updated: 6 October 2026

By Stiv · Design, technology and personal finance

This is an opinion piece. Views expressed are the author's own and do not constitute professional advice.

This article contains affiliate and referral links, which are paid links. If you click one and buy or sign up, I earn a commission or referral bonus at no extra cost to you. Brands don't choose what I feature or what I say about them.

This Airtime Rewards review covers everything we think you need to know about one of the UK's most effortless cashback apps. Link a card, spend as normal, and watch credit build up towards your phone bill. It sounds almost too simple to be true, but after using it for years we can confirm: it actually works. We also have a referral code that gets you up to a £5 bonus when you join and spend £5 within 7 days.

Cool Factor: 4/5 — Stone cold

Want the Airtime Rewards bonus?

Our referral page has the current code and the steps to claim up to a £5 bonus when you join and spend £5 within 7 days.

Get the Airtime Rewards bonus

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