r/UKPersonalFinance

So I appreciate this is probably less of a financial advice question as it is a personal/psychological question. I'm 29 now and I'm on an above average wage (52k), and yet I have less than £1000 in savings.

The problem isn't really that I'm 'bad' with money in that I get myself into bad financial situations. Sadly I do rent but other than that, I'm completely debt free, and always spend within my means. I'm in the perfect position to be able to start saving money. But I spend pretty much to the limit of what I can and save very little of it.

I've never been able to break the cycle of enjoying all the money I've got, being materialistic and making impulsive purchases that I probably don't need.

It kind of grates on me because all my friends are doing well with mortgages and lots of savings, even though I know it's entirely my own doing. I'm wondering if anyone has been the same what helped them to change their habits.

My partner and I (both early 30s) have just had an offer accepted on what we hope is our "forever home" in a highly desirable area of our city in Wales.

The house is £527k but needs some internal structural renovation (no extensions) to bring it up to standard. My partner is worried about the sheer scale of the financial outlay and thinks we might be overstretching ourselves, especially as we plan to have a child in the near future. I’ve run the numbers and think we are ok, but we would love some advice.

Here is our financial breakdown:

Total joint savings: £242k (from a recent house sale + savings)

Purchase price: £527k

Deposit (15%): £79,050

Welsh Stamp Duty & Fees: ~£23,200

Renovation budget: ~£103,000 (maximum estimate for a knock-through, structural steel, plastering, full rewire and lighting, new kitchen, flooring, doors and windows, and loft work.

Cash buffer remaining: £36,750 (After the house is bought and the renovation is fully paid for).

Monthly income & outgoings

Joint net income (both civil/public servants): £7,314

New mortgage (Est. 5.36% on £448k): £2,388

House running costs (C.Tax, Utilities, etc): £500

Cars /transport (including a new PCP): £500

Food: £500

Gyms, leisure & holiday fund: £600

Personal items: (Clothes, haircuts, beauty etc): £400

Total monthly outgoings: £4,880

Estimated joint monthly surplus: £2,334

We'd like a baby soon but our biggest worry is the nursery years. We estimate that full-time childcare and baby consumables in our city will cost us around £1,558 a month.

If we drop that into our current budget, our monthly surplus shrinks to £776 (during the years before the Welsh Government funded childcare hours kick in).

My questions are:

Is a £36k cash buffer enough after a £100k renovation as an emergency fund? (Doesn't include some investments for retirement £~20k)

Does a £776 monthly surplus during the most expensive childcare years sound far too tight, or is it reasonable given that our budget already includes £1,100 of leisure/holiday/personal spending that we could cut back on?

Should we go for a smaller house now and expect to move again in a shorter time period?

Any advice would be hugely appreciated!

A friend of mine moved from the UK to Australia last year. He's still got around £5k left on a personal loan and another £3k on a UK credit card.

He's keeping up with the repayments for now, but money is getting really tight, and he's not sure how much longer he can afford to keep paying. He has no assets in the UK and doesn't plan on moving back.

For anyone who's been in a similar situation, what actually happened when you stopped paying UK debts while living in Australia?

Did the lenders just sell the debt to collection agencies and keep sending letters, or did anyone actually get taken to court? Has anyone had a UK CCJ followed up in Australia or had their Australian bank account or wages affected?

I'm particularly interested in firsthand experiences with relatively small debts (under £10k in total).

Thanks

Looking for advice from anyone who has dealt with a used-car rejection, a difficult dealership or a Section 75 dispute.

Earlier this year, I bought a used diesel car from an established dealership with around 200 cars in stock, paying £7000. Within just a few days, it developed serious problems with excessive exhaust smoke, poor running, a strong exhaust smell and DPF/emissions issues.

I reported the problems to the dealer, whose representative acknowledged an issue and suggested possible EGR or turbo problems. Over the following weeks, the car went back to the dealer three times for investigation and attempted repairs. The underlying problems continued despite being told they had been resolved.

The dealer eventually confirmed in writing that the DPF had been removed, professionally cleaned by a specialist and reinstalled, and that they considered the issue fixed. However, the problems persisted.

I then arranged an independent inspection through Automotive Consulting Engineers (ACE). Their report recorded exhaust fumes entering the cabin, intermittent smoke that worsened under load and at operating temperature, smoke returning at idle and other issues. ACE concluded that the faults would have been developing at the point of sale.

The dealer challenged the findings and requested further information, but the engineer maintained their position following the subsequent review. ACE’s follow-up correspondence stated that the car was not considered serviceable because the DPF still appeared defective despite the professional cleaning. It also raised concerns about the excessive smoke and the risks of continuing to use the vehicle before the problems were rectified.

There is another concerning aspect. I subsequently obtained video evidence suggesting that the DPF and catalytic converters had been removed and not refitted. I never authorised their removal, and the components have not been returned. This appears to have happened after the car had been in the dealer’s possession for investigation and repairs, although I cannot independently establish exactly who removed the parts or when. However, there are no weld marks on the casing, so there is no practical way they have removed it to clean it. I want the dealer to explain what happened.

I formally rejected the car under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 after the repeated unsuccessful repair attempts, but the dealer has refused to accept the rejection. I have now sent a final Letter Before Action and am considering issuing a small-claims case.

The money involved

I’m pursuing approximately £8,500 in total:

• £7,000: The original purchase price
• £1,500: Additional expenses, including work at the dealer’s garage that I authorised at purchase, the ACE inspection, unsuccessful repairs at a local independent garage following ACE’s recommendation, and further DPF/catalytic converter checks.

The Section 75 complication

The car and purchase paperwork are in my name, but a close family member paid the main balance in person at collection using their credit card. I paid the deposit myself.

The cardholder is my parent, and I live with them. I’m in full-time education and financially dependent on them. This was a family purchase, with the car put in my name for insurance purposes to help me build my own no-claims discount.

My parent was present when the deposit was paid, test-drove the car before I did, attended the purchase and collection, paid the main balance using their credit card, and is insured to drive the vehicle and uses it regularly. They also paid the £276 ACE inspection fee on their own card, dealt directly with ACE and the garages, and were involved in preparing every email I sent to the dealer.

The credit card provider rejected the Section 75 claim because the cardholder was not the named purchaser. We’re considering challenging that decision, but more than 120 days had passed since the transaction by the time the card provider was pursued. I appreciate this makes chargeback more difficult, although I’m unsure whether the relevant deadline could run from a later event or when the problem became apparent.

What I’d appreciate advice on

1. Right to reject: Given the three repair occasions and ACE’s findings, how strong is the position under the Consumer Rights Act 2015?
2. Deduction for use: I drove the car for around four months and 3,000 miles. It is now sitting unused following ACE’s concerns about its serviceability. How much might a court deduct for use, given the seriousness of the faults and the repeated attempts to get them resolved?
3. Additional expenses: Has anyone successfully recovered reasonable consequential costs on top of the purchase price, including independent diagnostic and repair bills?
4. Section 75: Has anyone challenged a rejection where a parent paid using their credit card, but the vehicle and purchase contract were in their dependent child’s name as part of a genuine family purchase?
5. Chargeback: Is there any realistic route when more than 120 days have passed, particularly where the underlying faults were reported to the dealer shortly after purchase?
6. Small claims: Is there anything important I should consider before issuing proceedings?
7. Emissions equipment: Would you report the apparent removal/non-refitting of the DPF and catalytic converters to the DVSA or another authority? I want to report the facts without making assumptions about who was responsible.

I have the purchase paperwork, dealer correspondence, evidence of the repair attempts, the ACE report and follow-up correspondence, the formal rejection and Letter Before Action, and video evidence relating to the exhaust components.

I’d appreciate hearing from anyone who has been through something similar, particularly with a dealer refusing a rejection after repeated failed repairs or a card provider rejecting Section 75 because the cardholder and purchaser are different people.

 

I was unsure on title, apologies.

I understand any advice or opinions given is NFA.

After following the flowchart:
-Not eligible to support from the government apart from child benefit at ~£110. Currently claiming.
-Don’t rely on credit cards. Use them for security, but pay off in full monthly.
-All items fully insured and paid in full at the start of the policy date.
-No debt apart from mortgage.
-Emergency fund of ~£10k in cash isa. Outgoings are 800 a month, halved with partner so if we separated the 10k would last 12 months paying all household bills on my own.
-Auto enrolled in workplace pension. Pay 7% of salary and employer adds an additional 13%.
-Financial goals: ideally become FIRE, but in reality that probably won’t happen. If it doesn’t happen, I hope to have a comfortable amount of money for retirement, which I can then pass on to my children when I’m not around.
-No premium bonds, or LISA, but I have a cash ISA and S&S ISA.

Reposting after following the flowchart, after my previous post was removed.

I’m 38 and really need to start and think about finance. Any help appreciated.

I had opened a stocks and shares ISA with with Trading212 a while ago. Didn’t really like it or know what I was doing, so moved it all back into my cash isa. I’ve since done some research and open to long term investing.

I decided to reopen the S&S ISA last week and looking for a bit of advice/opinion.

Currently have 25k in VWRP and 10k in a flexible cash ISA. I’m on £43k a year and pay 7% into a private pension. My workplace adds an additional 13%. Total pension balance is around 75k after 8 years.

I had £35k in a cash ISA at 3.6% but have recently understood this could be earning more in a S&S ISA. I opened one after researching and decided on VWRP. I’m aware there is VALL at a lower cost, but due to a lack of history, I’m not comfortable with it. I’ve put 25k into S&S ISA 100% in VWRP.

I will be inheriting around 300k. This will be when my grandfather passes, and I know this is in his will. Don’t want to go into details, but it’s as good guaranteed due to his son’s relationship (my dad) with his partner. Hopefully it’s not for a long time, however he’s 91, and I need to face reality of him not being around forever. While I can’t dump that all into my S&S ISA, there will be other options I can speak to a FA about.

I have a mortgage of around 60k (18% LTV) which is 600 a month shared with my partner. The total I contribute to all bills and food is around 800 a month. No debt apart from my mortgage.

I’m on around 2.8k after tax (after pension contributions also). What would you say is a realistic contribution I should make to the ISA?

As previously mentioned, all opinions and comments welcome.

So I recently moved from the Republic of Ireland to Northern Ireland for a job. When I started I didn't have a national insurance number, just an Irish passport.

I got a national insurance number that same week and submitted it to my employer. A few weeks have passed and I'm still paying emergency tax. I've discussed it with my colleagues and I'm paying more tax than them despite working the same hours.

I realise I don't have a P45 from my previous employer as it's my first job in the UK and I don't recall filling out a new starter form. Does anyone know how I can resolve this situation/get a refund for the tax I've overpaid?

Breakdown

Income: Conservative estimate 25k - 26k a year at current.

Current Savings:

A. £10,000 within easy-access ISA at 1.25% (yuck)

B. £4,500 within Stocks ISA diversified across 2 low-risk ETFs

C. £2,400 (pre-bills) within current account, would typically move to either A or B depending on what is left.

D. £1,250 within locked ISA at 3.3% (Self-Employment Tax savings)

Current Notable Debts:

A. Mortgage at 4.8%, started a month ago, locked for 5 years.

My plan was to move half of A in with B and leave 5k as 3-6 month emergency, but the current savings account at 1.25 is not ideal. If anyone thinks there is a better way to make the most of a modest situation, I'm all ears!

My first post here so if you'd like a little more info to make better judgements please let me know!

Hi guys! I’m a bit new to this, so I’d really appreciate it if someone could explain how this works.
I deposited £20k into a Trading 212 Flexible Cash ISA about two weeks ago, but I’ve now realised that I’d like to invest £10k of that in a Vanguard Stocks and Shares ISA instead.
Would I be allowed to withdraw £10k from my Trading 212 Cash ISA into my bank account and then deposit it into my Vanguard Stocks and Shares ISA? Or would this cause any issues with the ISA rules?

Hello. Today I was looking into Trading 212, I opened up a stocks and shares ISA instead of an investing account and put £10 in it. I already put £20,000 into another ISA this August. So I've gone £10 over the limit, I don't know what I should do now as I'm worried about being taxed on my main ISA. What should I do? Thanks in advance.

Hi I'm 19 and looking to open a new secret bank account from my controlling parents as they are trying to monitor every penny I get trying to make sure I have little to no money to do my own thing despite my age.

I'm trying to get a job in secret or any means of cash as of now and I'm wanting to know what high street banks I can walk into physically where I can collect my card either in branch or anywhere else but my current address and have nothing come through my letterbox.

I want to hide some cash in bulk instead of all over my room so I can't use virtual only debit cards as my local post office requires my card pin for cash deposits.

I have a bank account with Starling bank but my parents check the transaction history at random intervals and I had my provisional driving licence taken ages ago so the only means of ID I have are, my current debit card, my college ID and some bank statements which I can print in college which I'm doubting all this is enough to prove my identity.

Luckily I have a Samsung phone with secure folder so I can hide my private accounts and apps without a trace as long as notifications are off.

I just moved out of the UK and I’m in Bali, Indonesia for a few months alone before going back to Canada. I lived in the UK for 4 years and bank with HSBC. I sold my car before I left, for obvious reasons. The buyer has reported to her bank 12 days after driving away with it that she has been scammed by me and sold her a broken car. My funds are completely frozen and I’m terrified about it.

The car had a valid MOT at the time of sale and had been running fine the entire time I owned it, aside from normal wear and tear replacements due to the cars age. I even told her that a couple months after I bought it it broke down due to an old fuel injector needing to be replaced. 2 had been replaced before I bought it, and then another one went. I replaced that one but the 4th still was older and could need replacing soon.

It's a 16-year-old car with 100k miles on it, and I gave her £700 off the asking price, (she paid £1900) because I was travelling and needed it gone quickly. She paid me £1200 by bank transfer and the rest in cash. Everything I read online about selling my car was that it was SAFER to do it by bank transfer…

She mentioned she'd just come from We Buy Any Car after the car she'd bought prior to mine broke down the day after purchase, and was looking for a replacement urgently. They went with me on a test drive, complimented how clean and well taken care of it was, I gave her every receipt for all the work I had done on it in the 3 years I owned it.

10 days after our sale, 4 days after I left the country, she contacted me calling me a scammer, demanding her money back, not giving me any information as to what was wrong with the car. She stated she had reported me to the DVLA for selling her a broken car (not something that’s possible) and that her solicitor will be in touch unless I could “do something” for her. After I asked her twice what was wrong with the car, she said that the clutch was slipping, despite the car being an automatic with no clutch pedal.

She didn't provide a mechanic's diagnosis. She's since reported the situation to my bank, which has frozen my account pending an investigation, so I currently have no access to most of my funds, while I'm in Indonesia alone. She knew this as I told her I was going traveling before moving back home to Canada

Her messages to were aggressive, including personal insults and horrific discriminatory language. I believe she is scamming me, and has done this to others before successfully.

My bank can’t give me any information on time frame or anything about this. They won’t let me provide any of my own information or evidence until they request it, which they haven’t yet. I’m panicking, I’m a woman alone in a foreign country with very limited funds now. All of my savings and investments I built for years are in that account and I was going to move it all once I got home to Canada.

Does anyone have any other advice to help me with this? I’ve filled out a police report for fraud claiming she is trying to scam me and falsely reporting to the bank, and I have requested my bank investigate her for scamming me in return. I’m so worried the bank will take my money from me and she will get my money AND my car. I’m also so scared they will keep my account frozen and investigate all the money I have in there and it will be a nightmare for me to solve while out of the country. Please help

Hello all,

I have recently moved out of my parents' house for work, starting a job where I am taking home £2000/month. My essential bills (Rent, utilities and other bills, groceries, vehicle insurance and petrol costs) come to £1790.

• Rent - £750
• Electricity - £100
• Oil - £80
• Phone - £18
• Groceries - £160
• Car petrol - £330
• Car insurance - £75
• Motorbike insurance - £123
• Council tax - £100
• Personal care (haircuts) - £30
• Water - £20
• Dining out - £12 (fish and chips once a week)

I haven't been using my motorcycle recently as I haven't had chance to repair it - however, I'll make sure that I get it done over the coming week or so.

Once I have that done, I intend to save loads on petrol by commuting on it etc. I get 160mpg out of it riding sensibly as it's only a 125cc motorcycle, so it should save me a fortune (more than I'm paying on it for insurance), as then I can only use the car for awful weather or ridiculously long journeys.

What else haven't I thought of? As I said, I have no clue what I'm doing, so please be firm, but fair.

UK, first-year degree apprentice. After holidays and bank holidays I drive about 14,000 miles a year commuting. My employer pays 55p a mile in my own petrol car, which is about £7,700 a year.
They also have a company car scheme where the company pays the lease, the insurance and all maintenance costs, and I can charge at work for free. I'd just pay benefit-in-kind tax. The car I want is a BYD Seal (P11D £48,665, 4% BiK, so about £32/month at 20% tax). The catch: no mileage is paid on a scheme car.
My rough numbers:
• My own petrol car now: ~£640/month mileage, minus ~£165 petrol, £167 insurance (£2,000/yr), £16 tax (£190/yr) and some servicing. That leaves roughly +£260/month before tax.
• Seal: about -£32/month and no other costs.
Questions:

1: MOST IMPORTANTLY: How should I go about asking this? I feel as though it could seem rude in a way to ask - but the company technically would be saving the £650+ minimum payment to me every month they're currently giving

2.	Is the 55p/mile partly taxable? HMRC's approved rate drops to 25p after 10,000 miles, so how much tax would I really pay on it?  
3.	Am I missing anything in the comparison (depreciation, resale value of my own petrol car, private use)?  
4.	Would you give up \~£250-300/month for the company car?  
5.	Does having a company car affect things like car finance, mortgage affordability or my own insurance?  

Thanks!

Thanks!

Hi all!

Just need a sounding board, really.

Unfortunately, my grandmother died last year. She left me a considerable inheritance. And a part of that inheritance is just under £150k worth of HSBA shares (when she passed they were worth around £80k). I was pretty shocked when I had looked at the share price recently as I didn't think to look.

I haven't submitted a form of intention yet (waiting on another party's decision). I have just created a memorandum of appropriation with other beneficiaries as a way of using our own CGT allowances (£12k) instead of just the estates measly £3k.

I was thinking of selling 95% and transferring 5% into my name. My reasoning is keeping 150k in the same stock would make me feel uncomfortable - too risky.

Maybe it is silly transferring/keeping the 5%? I guess my reasoning for this is to defer the CGT to another tax year (and 5% is probably the amount I feel comfortable keeping in one stock).

I was thinking of adding an amount into my old workplace pension (maybe 20k - might reduce CGT a bit). Current workplace pension is with NEST (relief at source) so I don't want to add to that (funds are terrible).

Some more information about me... my salary is £40k per annum. I am 40 years old. Other inheritance assets are around £150k in life assurance bonds (already being sold). A flat that will have a CGT gain when sold, but I am not sure how much - maybe £25k for my share (hopefully will be sold next year). There is some cash too.

Anyways, does anyone have opinions on what I'm doing? Are there any better ideas? Curious to know what you guys think.

Hi, sorry if this is a dumb question but I just want to make sure I understand this properly.

I’ve been working part time for a couple of years and it’s a cash in hand job. Before anyone says it, yes the earnings have been declared because they show up on my HMRC app.

If I go onto the HMRC app and click on PAY, I can see my payroll number, tax code and estimated taxable income, which is showing £10,800. It also shows all the years I’ve worked there. I get paid around £900 cash a month and HMRC is showing the same amount.

So does that mean my cash in hand job is definitely declared to HMRC?

The reason I’m asking is because over the years I’ve accumulated quite a lot of cash. I haven’t actually counted it all yet but I think I have around £30k+ sitting at home.

If I wanted to put this money into my bank account and the bank asked me where the money came from, would I just say it’s savings from my cash in hand job and show them the HMRC app as proof that the income has been declared?

I’m only asking because I saw another thread on here where people had quite a lot of cash saved at home but apparently hadn’t declared the income. In my case it has been showing on my HMRC account for years, so I just want to make sure I’m understanding everything correctly.

Sorry if this sounds dodgy lol, I’m genuinely just asking because I don’t want to do anything wrong when I deposit it.

Not sure if this is the right subreddit to post this on but needed a bit of advice regarding purchase of a new car on PCP finance. Signed a PCP agreement with Volvo last week for a new car which was one of the existing new vehicles they already had in stock. Since then Volvo are now offering a £10000 finance contribution. When I bought the car last week this contribution was only £5000.

If I bought the same car now with the same deposit I put last week, my monthly payments would be significantly less or I would be able to get a car with a better trim level.

After a bit of googling it says you can cancel a car finance contract within 14 days - is that even after paying the initial deposit? Would Volvo be able to transfer the existing finance agreement to a new car or add the finance contribution to this existing car? Or am I just stuck with buying the car at the wrong time.

Thanks in advance

Back in June I raised a credit card dispute with NatWest regarding a £191 charge from a motorhome rental for damage (a plastic clip was broken). I have photo & video evidence showing I did not cause the damage.

I have been told they are closing the case because they never received my response providing evidence. However, one of the emails I received from them stated they couldn't accept videos as evidence, meaning they have already received part of my evidence as well as a statement of account.

The evidence I provided included the following:

Photos from check-in and check-out showing no damage.

Stills of the video

Evidence of my unanswered emails and phone calls to the company

A screenshot of the live chat stating this damage is normally covered by the additional insurance which I had purchased

Link to the insurance terms

Contact I had signed with the company I had hired from before they were sold to the new company. A new contract was never provided so all the documents are with the original hire company name.

The checkout report which I received 11 days after returning the vehicle, highlighted incorrect details. For example, the mileage stated 90k, but I received the van with 60k miles. Additionally, the report indicated 210 miles were driven upon return, but we had only driven 99 miles.

The email I received from the hire company stating they would withhold my deposit until I posted a positive review on various review sites, which I did not do.

I received an email confirming they had received my request and that a conclusion could take 45 working days.

After 50 working days, I reached out for an update and subsequently received all the evidence provided by the merchant.

I responded by showing that the photos provided by the hire company differed from mine; mine showed the wall was wood-panelled up to the corner while their photo showed a small section of wood panelling followed by a cream-coloured wall.

I had asked for time-stamped photos because the photos provided to me were unclear: they were a screenshot attached to a PDF document, occupied about 1/16 of an A4 page and were low quality and the time was just typed underneath

The link to the insurance had since been updated to exclude this damage from coverage. I pointed out that a live website that can be updated should not be used as evidence, as I never received a copy of this insurance as it stood at the time of purchase.

During the initial checkout, the staff member who checked us out took photos of the van and stated she could not see any issues. These photos have not been provided but they would show the van's status at the exact time of drop-off.

I also pointed out that if the time stamp is correct the checks were done over 24 hours later and there is no evidence I caused the damage, as it is unclear who else might have accessed the van during that time.

I had also requested a breakdown of how they arrived at this amount as the only evidence they provided to the bank was that the charge resulted from their internal estimates.

6 days after I sent all this over I called the fraud team because I saw the charge had appeared again. This happened two days before the deadline for my reply. I initially thought the hire company was charging me again, which other have reported happing to them via online reviews.

The fraud team said the case has been closed but they reopened it and added a note stating I sent over further information.

6 days after this phone call I was told the case had been closed because they did not receive any evidence from me.

Apart from asking for this to be turned into a complaint, can I do anything at this point to get my money back as I think I cannot raise this any further with Mastercard.

Hi all I am looking to fix my electricity and just been stung by Octopus Intelligent Go tariff. I have a EV tariff as I need it for my car. I have been trying to calculate how much my family use (4 of us) and it's about 3500 per year. We have a gaming pc, a home server and a few gaming consoles.

Anyway, Octopus is now charging me 54.362p per standing charge with unit rate of 36.097p and night rates of 6.600p (from 11:30pm to 7am). I do have £200 in credit in preparation for the winter but the cost of it all has skyrocketed. I was paying 53.866p for standing charge. 28.63p for day unit rate and 6.571p during the night.

I have been on go compare and saw EON Next. They have a Next drive fixed for 12 months, with no exit fees at 32.22p for day (6.01am to midnight) and 9.52p from Midnight to 6am. The standing charge is 57.14p

I know both standing charge and night rates are more expensive for Eon next, however day time is where my family uses their electronics . My father works from home and my mother act as my carer. Assuming I use 3500 kw per year with a 90% (for day) to 10% (night just charging my car and running things in standby mode). That works out to be £100 cheaper for Eon next. For 30% it works out to be cheaper than £50. This is not including winter prices going up even further which I know Octopus would increase due to the tariff being variable.

Ps. I'm currently off work due to how bad my mental health and been struggling for months (on the waiting list for therapy) so please be gentle with me. My maths isn't all good and I did use AI to help write down the formulas so I could do it. But I'm not too savvy with numbers especially with daily standard charges.

On another note Octopus does have a loyalty scheme with 6.6p at night with the day rate (05:30 - 23:30) and 35.7p/kwh for Standing charge which is still cheaper then the intellegent go. But Eon next is cheaper by 3.48p per kWh for daily but more expensive in terms of both Standing charges and night.

TLDR;

Just not sure which to go for;

Option 1: keep with Octopus: Octopus is going to be charging me 54.362p per standing charge with unit rate of 36.097p and night rates of 6.600p (from 11:30pm to 7am

Option 2: Switch to their Smart scheme: Octopus has another scheme which is for their loyal customers and 6.6p at night with the day rate (05:30 - 23:30) and 35.7p/kwh for Standing charge with £50 exit fee

Option 3: Eon Next: 32.22p for day (6.01am to midnight) and 9.52p from Midnight to 6am. The standing charge is 57.14p no exit fee,

I'm just wondering which one is cheaper as I think done the maths wrong but would like some help please. My current mental health isn't good so please don't be rude/say it's obvious because I'm currently going through a lot of things IRL.

I'm hoping that someone has has experience doing similar and can answer the below so I know whether I'll be wasting my time or not.

1. I earn over 100k but salary sacrifice to approx 99k for tax efficiency. Would this stop me qualifying for the bonus or is it just the 15k paid in within 90 days they look for?

2. Can I do a bank switch with a secondary current account I have, rather than my main one, then transfer my salary from main current account into the natwest one? Or does the money have to be paid directly from my employer?

Thanks in advance.