Sprive gift cards are now reloadable. Here is how the one-card, Apple Wallet and auto top-up setup works, from my own use since 2021.
June 30, 2026Comments are off for this post.
Sprive Gift Cards: The Reloadable Card Explained
June 23, 2026Comments are off for this post.
Premium Bonds vs Investing UK: Which One Suits You?
Last updated: 9 September 2026
By Stiv · Design, technology and personal finance
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 is not financial advice. It reflects my own experience, so please do your own research or speak to a qualified adviser before making any money decisions.
Capital at risk. The value of investments can go down as well as up and you may get back less than you invested. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results.
Premium Bonds vs Investing2026 Guide
Premium Bonds vs investing: a prize draw, or the stock market?
Premium Bonds vs investing is a money question I get all the time. So here is my honest, first-person take, because I have held both at once for four years. Crucially, this is not an either or for everyone. In my experience, the two really answer different questions.
Want the hands-off investing option?
Maybe you want investing that mostly runs itself, like the Premium Bonds draw does. In that case, a ready-made managed portfolio is the closest fit. The current JPMorgan offer, and how to claim it, are kept up to date on our referral page.
See the JPMorgan investing offer
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June 22, 2026Comments are off for this post.
How Does Sprive AutoSave Work?
Sprive AutoSave2026 Guide
How Sprive AutoSave decides what to move each month
Last updated: 13 October 2026
By Stiv · Design, technology and personal finance
I have overpaid my mortgage through Sprive since October 2021, with Nationwide and now Halifax, making regular overpayments through the app. Because of that, this guide to Sprive AutoSave comes from steady real use rather than a quick demo.
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 is general information, not financial advice. Sprive deals with your mortgage, so your circumstances matter and it is worth doing your own research.
Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.
So what actually happens when you switch on Sprive AutoSave? In short, you set an amount, and each month it quietly moves that money into a holding pot inside the app, ready for your mortgage. Above all, you stay in control, because nothing reaches your lender until you tap to send it. Below, I walk through exactly how Sprive AutoSave works, where the money sits, and how to pause or switch it off, with notes from my own use since 2021.
Setting up AutoSave? The walkthrough is below. For every Sprive guide in one place, see our Sprive guides hub, updated as the app changes.
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June 18, 2026Comments are off for this post.
Tembo Money Review UK
My honest Tembo Money review after years of real use: HomeSaver rates, Lifetime ISAs, the mortgage service and the referral, tested for UK savers.
June 14, 2026Comments are off for this post.
Tom Insurance Review (UK): My Honest Take
Last updated: 14 June 2026
By Stiv ยท Design, technology and personal finance
This is an opinion piece. Views expressed are the author's own and do not constitute professional or financial advice.
Cool Factor: 3/5
Tom insurance review2026 Edit
Fixed-for-life cover, a handy virtual GP, and a lot of phone calls.
This is my honest Tom insurance review, written as an actual customer rather than someone skimming the marketing. I took out a lifetime serious illness cover policy with Tom, so this Tom insurance review is based on living with the application, the price and the perks, not on a press release.
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 a Tom quote?
If this Tom insurance review has you ready to compare cover, you can start a quote through my referral link below. Meanwhile, the current offer and how it works sit on our Tom life insurance page.
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June 3, 2026Comments are off for this post.
Can AI Turn $1,000 Into $10,000? My AI Stock Picking Experiment
My AI stock picking experiment: can four AI models grow $1,000 into $10,000 on Lightyear? I post honest, not-advice weekly updates.
May 10, 2026Comments are off for this post.
How To Read Your Energy Bill UK: The 2026 Guide
Last updated: 27 August 2026
By Stiv ยท Design, technology and personal finance
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.
Your energy bill arrives every month. You glance at the total, wince, and close it. Most of us have no clue whether the number is right, whether we're overpaying, or what any of the line items actually mean. So here's how to read energy bill statements properly, in about five minutes flat.
Honestly, we stared at our own bills for nearly three years before any of it clicked. The numbers looked made up. The terminology was designed by people who hate clarity. Once you understand the four or five lines that actually matter, you can immediately tell if you're overpaying, if your tariff is competitive, and whether switching would save you money. This is the guide we wish we'd had back then.
Energy prices, tariffs, and government support schemes change regularly. All figures in this post are verified as of 27 August 2026. Always check your supplier's website or Ofgem for the latest information.
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May 9, 2026Comments are off for this post.
XTB App Review UK 2026: One Star Opinion (1/5)
Last updated: 10 June 2026
By Stiv ยท Design, technology and personal finance
I have used investing apps for over a decade, including Freetrade, Lightyear, Trading 212, Interactive Brokers and JPMorgan Personal Investing. This XTB app review is based on real, recent first-hand use on iPhone over the past few weeks.
This is an opinion piece. Views expressed are my own personal experience and observations. Other XTB customers have reported very different experiences, both better and worse, and you can read those views directly on the App Store, Google Play and Trustpilot. Nothing in this review constitutes professional, financial or legal advice, nor an allegation of wrongdoing by XTB. Capital is at risk when investing.
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 post does not contain any XTB referral links; where alternative brokers are mentioned, those links may include CoolCuration referral codes. We have no referral relationship with XTB and do not benefit financially from XTB itself.
Capital at risk. The value of investments can go down as well as up and you may get back less than you invested. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results.
Cool Factor: 1/5
Welcome to our XTB app review. After spending the last few weeks battling with the broker's iOS app, surviving a verification process worthy of a Kafka novella, and being chased around the screen by stock notifications I never asked for, I have reached a personal verdict. It is not flattering. So if you have seen the ads and the free share offers, this XTB app review explains exactly what you would be signing up for, in my experience.
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May 5, 2026Comments are off for this post.
Mortgage Overpayment Savings: How Much Could You Save? (2026)
Last updated: 13 October 2026
By Stiv ยท Design, technology and personal finance
I've overpaid my own mortgage through Sprive every month since October 2021, starting at ยฃ100 a month. This post is based on that real use and real numbers.
Most people know they should overpay their mortgage. Almost nobody knows by how much, or what it actually saves them. So we built a free mortgage overpayment calculator to find out. Then we ran our own numbers through it. The mortgage overpayment savings took us by surprise. We've since added a compare-to-savings toggle so you can see whether overpaying or saving the same money comes out ahead at your specific rates.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial or mortgage advice. Mortgage products, rates, and overpayment terms vary by lender. Always check your lender's overpayment policy before making extra payments. 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. Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage. CoolCuration is not authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority.
See your own overpayment savings
Our free calculator shows what your overpayments could save, and whether saving the cash instead would beat them.
Open the overpayment calculator
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April 29, 2026Comments are off for this post.
Sprive vs Plum vs Chip: Honest Comparison (2026)
Last updated: 13 October 2026
By Stiv ยท Design, technology and personal finance
I've used Sprive since October 2021, making monthly overpayments on my mortgage through the app. This comparison is based on that real use alongside Chip and Plum.
Sprive vs Plum vs Chip is the question that keeps coming up whenever anyone in the UK talks about saving money automatically. All three apps promise to do the hard bit for you. But they are not the same thing, and picking the wrong one means you are either missing features you need or paying for ones you do not. Here is how they actually compare after months of using all three.
Between the team, we run all three. Sprive handles mortgage overpayments. Chip is our primary auto-saver. Plum runs alongside Chip so we can see how the two compare in real life. Each has earned its place on someone's home screen, but for very different reasons.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Some apps in this comparison offer investing features, which carry risk including the possible loss of capital. Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage. CoolCuration is not authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority. 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.
Sprive's current sign-up offer
If Sprive ends up being your pick of the three, the latest welcome bonus is always on our referral page.
Comparing money apps? The three-way verdict is below. For everything we have written on Sprive in one place, see our Sprive guides hub.
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