Monzo Perks goes from £7 to £9 a month and Max from £17 to £19. Here are all the new plan prices, the dates that matter, and the honest maths.
May 22, 2026Comments are off for this post.
We’re Paying Off Our Mortgage with Our Food Shop Cashback. Here’s How.
Last updated: 16 August 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 surprisingly compelling. 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 on your mortgage. CoolCuration is not authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority. This article contains affiliate or referral links, including to Sprive. 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.
Sign-up bonus before you shop
The current Sprive welcome offer, plus the claim steps, are kept fresh on our referral page.
Curious about the food shop trick? The full story is below. For every Sprive guide in one place, see our Sprive guides hub.
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May 5, 2026Comments are off for this post.
Stocks we bought in May 2026: our first portfolio diary
Last updated: 5 May 2026
By Stiv · Design, technology and personal finance
Welcome to the inaugural edition of "Stocks We Bought This Month", a new monthly portfolio diary on CoolCuration. Each post records what I personally added to my own portfolio in the previous few weeks, the reasons each company caught my eye, and the things that could absolutely trip me up. In short, this is what we bought, why we bought it, and what we plan to revisit in future editions.
The stocks we bought this May were three: Brookfield Corporation (BN), Meta Platforms (META) and Tencent Holdings (TCEHY). All three went through self-managed UK broker accounts.
Affiliate disclosure. 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.
Important disclaimer. I personally hold positions in all three companies named in this post. This is a personal disclosure diary, not a recommendation, not a tip sheet, and not a personalised view of your circumstances. CoolCuration is not authorised or regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Capital at risk. When investing, 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. Please do your own research, or consult a qualified independent financial adviser, before making any investment decision. All content here is for informational and educational purposes only.
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April 29, 2026Comments are off for this post.
Sprive vs Plum vs Chip: Honest Comparison (2026)
Last updated: 20 August 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. 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 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.
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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April 22, 2026Comments are off for this post.
Best Apps to Save Money UK 2026: The Ones We Actually Use
Last updated: 10 June 2026
By Stiv · Design, technology and personal finance
There are hundreds of money-saving apps in the UK app stores. Most of them are rubbish. The best apps to save money are the ones we've tested over the past few years, narrowed down and kept on our phones because they actually work. No fluff, no apps we downloaded once and forgot about. Just the ones that earned a permanent spot.
Between the team we've got about 12 money apps installed. Half of them we actually use. The other half sit there judging us. We tried about 20 apps before settling on this list. Some were too fiddly. Some had great ideas but terrible execution. A couple were brilliant but shut down. These are the survivors.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Some apps in this list offer savings and investment features. Your capital may be at risk. CoolCuration is not authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority. 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.
Our top money-saving pick
If you only set up one, make it Chip: it is the app that has quietly saved us the most by moving money before we miss it.
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April 15, 2026Comments are off for this post.
How Does Sprive Make Money? The Business Model Explained (2026)
Last updated: 19 July 2026
By Stiv · Design, technology and personal finance
I have a Nationwide mortgage and have used Sprive to make overpayments since October 2021, over four years of regular use.
Disclosure: 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.
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.
Want the sign-up offer?
Should you fancy trying the app while you read, the current welcome bonus and how to claim it are set out on our referral page.
View the Sprive referral offer
If Sprive is completely free to use, how does Sprive make money? It's a fair question, and one worth asking before trusting an app with your bank account and mortgage details. The short answer: Sprive earns from remortgage commissions and a share of gift card cashback revenue. The longer answer is worth reading, because understanding the business model helps you judge whether the app's incentives actually line up with yours.
Digging into how Sprive works? Good instinct. For every guide we have written on the app, from safety to cashback, see our Sprive guides hub.
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April 1, 2026Comments are off for this post.
Best Mortgage Overpayment Apps UK: Tested and Compared (2026)
Last updated: 19 July 2026
By Stiv · Design, technology and personal finance
I have a Nationwide mortgage and have been testing mortgage overpayment tools since 2021, including Sprive alongside manual standing orders and savings apps.
Disclosure: 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.
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.
After the Sprive bonus?
Sprive leads the comparison below, and the sign-up offer it currently runs is covered on our referral page.
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. I've tested and compared the main contenders so you can find the right one for how you actually manage money.
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March 28, 2026Comments are off for this post.
Monzo Sign Up Bonus: Up to £100 Is Back (2026)
Last updated: 22 August 2026
By Stiv · Design, technology and personal finance
The Monzo sign up bonus is back at the top end. New customers who join through a referral link now get a randomly selected reward of £20, £50 or £100, so the £100 tier that vanished last year is live again. However, before you get too excited, it is worth knowing that 94% of people land on £20.
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. This is not financial advice.
Want the Monzo sign up bonus?
The current offer, the odds and the exact steps to claim it are always kept up to date on our referral page.
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March 17, 2026Comments are off for this post.
Overpay Mortgage or Invest? UK Guide to the Right Call (2026)
Last updated: 9 June 2026
By Stiv · Design, technology and personal finance
We faced this decision ourselves. Since October 2021 we've overpaid our Nationwide 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 factors are worth 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% (held 30 April 2026; next decision 18 June 2026, per the Bank of England), average two-year fixed mortgage rates around 5.64% as of early June 2026 (source: Moneyfacts), 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.
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. This is information, not financial advice, and CoolCuration is not authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority.
The Sprive bonus, if overpaying wins
Should the overpayment side win out for you, the current Sprive welcome offer lives on our referral page.
Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.
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.
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March 12, 2026Comments are off for this post.
Sprive Cashback Explained: Gift Cards, Rates and Real-World Tips (2026)
Last updated: 19 July 2026
By Stiv · Design, technology and personal finance
I have used Shop with Sprive for my weekly shops since October 2021, alongside £100 monthly overpayments on my Nationwide mortgage, so everything below comes from over four years of buying gift cards at real checkouts.
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. CoolCuration is not authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority, and this is not financial advice.
Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.
Get the Sprive bonus first
Before we get into the mechanics, the current welcome offer and how to claim it are detailed on our referral page.
"Cashback towards your mortgage" sounds brilliant, until you hit the fine print: gift cards, checkout friction, and that one purchase that never tracked. This Sprive cashback explained guide covers how Shop with Sprive actually works in practice, which retailers are worth the effort, and a simple test for whether it's a genuine time-saver or just another app you'll forget about.
Getting more from Sprive cashback? The mechanics are below. For every other Sprive guide in one place, see our Sprive guides hub, updated as the app changes.
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