mortgage overpayment Archives

May 22, 2026 — No Comments

We’re Paying Off Our Mortgage with Our Food Shop Cashback. Here’s How.

Last updated: 21 May 2026

Can grocery cashback from your weekly food shop pay off your mortgage? Not entirely, no. But we've been routing our regular shop through Sprive's cashback feature for over a year, and the numbers are starting to look genuinely interesting. A percentage of every Tesco and Sainsbury's shop now goes directly off our mortgage balance. We didn't change what we buy. We didn't change where we shop. We just changed how we pay, and our mortgage is shrinking faster because of it.

By Stiv · Design, technology and personal finance

I've been using Sprive with my Nationwide mortgage since October 2021, making £100 monthly overpayments through the app. The cashback feature has been running alongside this for over a year. This post is based on real use and real numbers.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial or mortgage advice. Cashback rates, retailer availability, and mortgage terms can change. Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments. CoolCuration is not authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority. We have a referral partnership with Sprive. Our experience and opinions are independent.

Published by Stiv in Cashback, Finance, Saving

Tags: cashback on groceries, food shop cashback, grocery cashback pay off mortgage, JamDoughnut, mortgage overpayment, pay off mortgage faster, personal finance uk, Sprive app, Sprive cashback, supermarket cashback UK, TopCashback

May 5, 2026 — Comments are off for this post.

Mortgage Overpayment Savings: How Much Could You Save? (2026)

Last updated: 10 May 2026

By Stiv · Design, technology and personal finance

I've been using Sprive with my Nationwide mortgage since October 2021, making £100 monthly overpayments through the app. This post is based on over four years of 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 genuinely surprised us. 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. Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments. CoolCuration is not authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority.

Published by Stiv in Finance, Money, Money saving, Personal finance, Services

Tags: money saving, mortgage overpayment, mortgage overpayment calculator, mortgage savings, mortgage tips, mortgage vs savings, pay off mortgage early, personal finance, Sprive, uk mortgage

April 29, 2026 — Comments are off for this post.

Sprive vs Plum vs Chip: Honest Comparison (2026)

Last updated: 29 April 2026

By Stiv · Design, technology and personal finance

I've been using Sprive with my Nationwide mortgage since October 2021, making £100 monthly overpayments through the app. This comparison is based on over four years of 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. CoolCuration is not authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority. Some links below are referral links which support the site at no cost to you.

Published by Stiv in Apps, Finance, Money saving, Personal finance, Saving

Tags: app comparison, auto-saving apps, Chip, Chip vs Plum, fintech UK, money apps UK, mortgage overpayment, personal finance uk, Plum, savings apps UK, Sprive, Sprive vs Chip

April 1, 2026 — Comments are off for this post.

Best Mortgage Overpayment Apps UK: Tested and Compared (2026)

Last updated: 29 March 2026

Looking for the best mortgage overpayment apps in the UK? Whether you want an app that automates everything, a savings tool that builds your overpayment pot, or a budgeting app that finds spare cash you didn't know you had, there are more options in 2026 than ever. We've tested and compared the main contenders so you can pick the right one for how you actually manage money.

Published by Stiv in Finance, Mortgage, Saving, Services

Tags: best mortgage apps UK, cashback apps UK, Chip, chip app, Emma, mortgage apps UK, mortgage overpayment, mortgage overpayment apps UK, mortgage overpayments, Open Banking, pay off mortgage faster, personal finance uk, Plum, Plum app, savings apps, Sprive, Sprive app

March 17, 2026 — Comments are off for this post.

Overpay Mortgage or Invest? UK Guide to the Right Call (2026)

Last updated: 10 May 2026

By Stiv · Design, technology and personal finance

We faced this decision ourselves. Since October 2021 we've chosen to overpay our mortgage consistently, totalling £3,294.55 through Sprive alone, including cashback from weekly shops. This guide covers how we thought through the trade-off and what we'd suggest considering.

Should you overpay your mortgage or invest the spare cash instead? It's one of the biggest personal finance questions UK homeowners face right now, and the answer isn't as obvious as either side would have you believe. With the Bank of England base rate at 3.75%, average fixed mortgage rates above 5%, and top savings accounts paying around 4.75%, the maths is closer than it has been in years. This guide walks through the key factors, the trade-offs, and a practical framework to help you decide what makes sense for your situation. Our free mortgage overpayment calculator now also has a compare-to-savings toggle, so you can run both sides of one of those scenarios in seconds.

Published by Stiv in Finance, Investing, Mortgage, Saving

Tags: FTSE 100, investing vs mortgage, mortgage interest, mortgage overpayment, overpay mortgage or invest, pay off mortgage faster, personal finance uk, savings rates UK, Sprive, stocks and shares isa

October 29, 2025 — Comments are off for this post.

Amazon UK Cashback Hack: Turn Spending Into Mortgage Savings

Last updated: 24 March 2026

If you want to squeeze more value out of every Amazon UK order, this Amazon UK cashback hack is worth knowing about. The idea is simple: instead of buying directly from Amazon, you buy Amazon gift cards through the Sprive app, earn cashback on each card, and then funnel that cashback straight into your mortgage. Over time, those small percentages quietly chip away at your balance and interest. Combine it with a spending tracker like Emma to see exactly where your money goes, and you have a tidy little system that turns routine shopping into purposeful saving.

This is not financial advice. Always check your mortgage terms before making overpayments.

Published by Stiv in Cashback, Finance, Money saving, Mortgage, Saving

Tags: amazon cashback hack, amazon gift card cashback, amazon savings uk, amazon uk cashback, amazon uk discount, cashback apps UK, cashback mortgage hack, cool curation, emma app, money saving tips uk, mortgage overpayment, Sprive app, uk homeowners finance

October 8, 2025 — Comments are off for this post.

How the Sprive App Works: Step-by-Step UK Guide (2026)

Last updated: 19 April 2026

By Stiv · Design, technology and personal finance

I've been using Sprive with my Nationwide mortgage since October 2021. This guide is based on the actual setup process and over four years of daily use.

If you're trying to figure out how the Sprive app works, you're probably weighing up whether it's worth the setup effort or whether you'll download it and never open it again. This guide covers the mechanics only: what you do in the app, what happens next, and what to check so you don't accidentally trip over your lender's overpayment rules.

Published by Stiv in Finance, Personal finance, Saving, Services

Tags: cashback apps, cool curation, finance app, how Sprive app works, mortgage helper, mortgage overpayment, mortgage saving, Open Banking apps UK, pay off mortgage faster, personal finance uk, referral app, smart money apps, Sprive app, uk money tools