From central London house prices falling, to supermarkets influencing shoppers and what UK unemployment and wage growth changes mean for you – here are our favourite must know money stories this week to help you get your head around your personal finances. 

Central London house prices suffer 

Central London property prices dropped almost 5% in the 12 months to March, reports Joshua Oliver for the Financial Times. This was the largest annual fall in three and a half years, with the price of property in prime areas of London dropping to £1,261 per square foot last month, down from £1,326 a year earlier. 

According to data provider LonRes, this is the lowest level since mid-2021. Anthony Payne, managing director at LonRes said: “The steam has come out of the market. It was a bit inflated last year.” 

Buyers have become more cautious over concerns prices could still fall further thanks to a combination of factors including concerns over the economic outlook and rising interest rates. 

James Forbes, director at London estate agency Forbes Gilbert-Green expressed his longer-term concerns around London maintaining its position as a global financial centre. ‘Brand London’ is the core of the housing market in Central London, and it is essential for it to remain positive to drive investment, he said.  

How supermarket loyalty cards influence buyers 

Gone are the days when loyalty cards encouraged shoppers to build up points to redeem at supermarkets. Now, supermarkets are rewarding financially-stretched customers with immediate discounts in the hopes of retaining their business, amidst the soaring cost-of-living, writes Kevin Peachey for BBC News.  

Supermarkets – such as Tesco, Sainsbury, and Boots – have repositioned their customer loyalty strategies toward day-to-day discounts, to try and compete with other discounters. Even the discount labelling is carefully chosen – for its warm and welcoming ‘yellow’ colour – attracting customers eyes and marking a change in tactics by retailers. 

However, the pitfall for shoppers is that these loyalty card discounts make it more difficult to compare prices and work out value for money. 

Consumer insight specialist Kate Hardcastle said that supermarkets: “Are reminding you that if you are loyal, they are literally treating you differently as a customer. They want a narrative that they are the best and the cheapest.” 

Retailers are also exploring potential options for loyalty programmes to reward sustainability. The clear benefit for companies is that they can meet their eco targets and boost sales because loyal shoppers will return to the brand for their next purchase. 

What do UK unemployment and wage growth mean for you? 

Wage growth remained at 5.9%, a higher level than expected, according to data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). However, this could prompt the Bank of England to hike interest rates again, reports Nicole Garcia Merida for Money Week.  

While growth in regular pay, excluding bonuses, held at 6.6% as of February 2023, inflation has been eating away at pay growth. When adjusted for inflation, real pay fell 2.3%, and total pay fell 3%. 

Unemployment rose slightly to 3.8% from 3.7% in January, reflecting business uncertainties as employers held back on recruiting due to economic pressures.  

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) expects the UK economy to shrink by 0.3% this year. Since the end of 2022 the UK economy has remained largely stagnant. Rising wages will mean businesses might continue increasing prices, pushing inflation higher and prompting the BoE to continue hiking rates.  

Photo Credits: Pexels

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The rising cost-of-living is still biting, increasing the need to stay on top of our finances.

Here are some of our favourite stories from around personal finance this week to help you get your head around money.

Pay rises at fastest pace in 20+ years, still below inflation

Michael Race writes for BBC News, as wages grow at the fastest rate in more than 20 years yet fail to keep up with rising prices.

Average pay rose by 6.4% between September and November 2022 compared with the same period in 2021.

Private sector wages grew by 7.2% – a large gap with the public sector which grew by 3.3%, according to the ONS.

However, living costs are at a 40-year high, with the current inflation rate at 10.7%.

The real value of people’s pay is continuing to fall, as each pound buys you less – becoming one of the biggest pay cuts in real terms this century.

Which was the cheapest supermarket in 2022?

Aldi was the cheapest supermarket in 2022, writes Hannah Walsh for Which?.

Which? compared prices of 48 popular groceries, with Aldi found to be the cheapest store at £81.63, followed by Lidl at £83.24. The same shop at Waitrose was £112.62.

Of the big four, Tesco was the cheapest supermarket at £93.42.

They also compared a larger trolley of 149 items, which included a large number of branded items that cannot be found in discounted supermarkets like Aldi or Lidl.

Asda was the cheapest traditional supermarket, with the cost being £355.62 for a large trolley.

Aldi has been the cheapest supermarket for the last seven months, thereby being crowned as the cheapest supermarket of the year 2022.

Four things you’re paying too much for – and how to fix it

Consumer rights expert Martyn James writes for Mirror, running through ways you can cut costs for services you’re overpaying for.

Insurance

Many forget to cancel out old insurance policies while signing up for new contracts. Don’t pay for policies you don’t need!

If you have separate policies for each device you own, check for multi-gadget policies which could save you over £600 a year.

Broadband

Regulator Ofcom says that over seven million people are ‘out of contract’ with their broadband deals, generally paying higher than contract packages.

It’s better to switch to longer period but bear in mind that there are high exit fees if you want to break such contracts early.

Overdrafts

Overdrafts tend to be the most expensive form of borrowing, with higher rates of interest starting around 20% and hitting 40%+.

Subscriptions

From gym memberships, to streaming or cloud storage services- we often are unaware of how much this is emptying your pockets.

Go over your bills and end any unwanted subscriptions, or switch to other cheaper sources, saving £100s every year. 

Photo by Franki Chamaki on Unsplash

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As Christmas is fast approaching, the dinner table is at the top of most people’s worries.

You can however keep the cost of your Christmas meal down this year, thanks to some offers currently being hosted by supermarkets.

Here’s everything you need to know.

What is in the deal exactly?

In the weeks leading up to Christmas, supermarkets start trying everything to get you through the door and do your Christmas food shop there.

But one trick they use to get you into store might actually benefit you.

Right now, supermarkets are locked in a price war for their Christmas veg, where you can pick up full bags of vegetables such as potatoes, parsnips, carrots, Brussels sprouts and more for 19p.

These are all full size bags such as 2.5kg for potatoes and 1kg for carrots. This would easily be plenty to fill your Christmas dinner plates with vegetables.

There are currently 3 supermarkets announced that are dropping their vegetable prices to 19p, and they start on different dates.

Usually, other supermarkets join in too, but we’re awaiting announcements from them to tell us when they are starting.

Here’s the current supermarkets announced and when they start:

Lidl – Starts Thursday 15th December

Aldi – Starts Sunday 18th December

Sainsbury’s – Starts Sunday 18th December

Each supermarket has different veg on offer but each of them have discounted potatoes, carrots, parsnips, Brussel sprouts & swede for 19p.

Usually you’ll be paying a lot more for bags of veg, so it’s a great deal to take advantage of.

Why should I care?

The price of Christmas this year will likely be more than previous years. If there’s a way to bring down the cost of your Christmas food bill, this would be a good way to do it.

If you’re worried about filling the plate, getting some cheap veg (maybe all of it for under £1), will be a great help to your budget.

What’s more, you could freeze a lot of vegetables too, so if you wanted to, you can overstock on items such as potatoes and use them at a later date.

What’s the catch?

Not all supermarkets are going to be involved with this, so your closest might not have an offer.

There might also be a mad rush when these offers are released to pick up the cheap veg… so if it’s something you want, it’s probably a good idea to stock up early in the promotion.

What other options do I have?

If you’re cooking for a lot of people at Christmas, it might be having a look to see if you can bulk buy.

If you have memberships to places like Costco or Macro, you might be able to stock up for quite cheap.

Where can I find out more?

Head into your local store from the start dates to pick up your cheap Christmas vegetables. It’s also worth keeping an ear to the ground for retailers such as Tesco or Asda to see if they take part this year too.

Photo by ThermoPro on Unsplash

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Chocolate lovers should be on the lookout for post-Easter egg deals at their local supermarkets.

Easter may be over, but it doesn’t mean the shelves are stripped bare straight away. Usually, supermarkets put excess stock on clearance or massively knock down the price to clear excess stock.

So now is the time for bargain hunters to proudly emerge and head straight to the supermarket – where you may be able to pick up a large Easter egg for as little as 50p.

From reduced Creme Eggs to Easter eggs and even Percy Pigs – there’s a lot of discounts out there to be had.

What is in the deal exactly?

Supermarkets have now reduced all their Easter ranges of items to clear stock. Obviously, it solely depends on what your local store has left – but there could be some decent deals.

We’ve done some digging and found some deals reported around the country for cheap choc and Easter items.

It’s not a certainty that you’ll find the same things at your local stores like we did, however it’s worth a look if you’re close by – or was going to head to a supermarket anyway.

Here’s what was spotted on Tuesday 19 April:

Lidl

• Cadbury’s Creme Egg 5 pack – 87p (was £1.75)
• Favorina Easter Chocolate Bar 100g – 29p (was 59p)
• Large Galaxy Enchanted Eggs Easter Egg 206g – £1.39 (was £3)

Tesco

• Aero Bubbles Medium Easter Egg 121g – 50p (was £1)
• Cadbury’s Heroes Large Easter Egg 236g – £1.50 (was £3)
• Cadbury’s Creme Egg 10 pack – £1.98 (was £3.95)
• Lindt XL Easter Egg With Truffles 348g – £7.50 (was £15)

Marks & Spencer

• Percy Pig Easter Party Time Sweets 150g – 88p (was £1.75)
• Colin The Caterpillar Medium Eater Egg 227g – £3 (was £5)
• Extremely Chocolatey Biscuity Easter Egg 370g – £4 (was £8)

Sainsbury’s

• Cadbury’s Creme Egg Medium Easter Egg 138g – 63p (was £1.25)
• Lindor Double Chocolate Truffles 200g – £1.25 (was £5)

Asda

• Cadbury Freddo Medium Easter Egg 122g – £1.50 (was £3)
• Cadbury Creme Egg Medium Easter Egg 138g – £1.50 (was £3)

If your local supermarket isn’t listed here – it doesn’t mean there won’t be any stock. It’s still worth a look to see if you find anything.

Why should I care?

You can’t get much better than cheap chocolate! It’s good to treat yourself every once in a while, and although these eggs won’t have the best before date to take you to next Easter – it’s a nice thing to have in the cupboard.

Also, if there’s someone over the Easter weekend who you haven’t been able to see (but will soon), you can buy them an Easter egg for a fraction of the cost.

What’s the catch?

It may be very hit and miss as to whether you find any reduced stock. The sooner you head to the supermarkets, the better – before it’s all snapped up.

What other options do I have?

It’s still worth having a look at Morrisons, Iceland, Aldi, Waitrose and other supermarkets to see if they have any reduced eggs.

This is a constantly moving deal over the next week – and eggs may be reduced even further if there are still some left at the end of this week.

Where can I find out more?

Head out to your local supermarket and head to either the ‘seasonal’ aisle, or the reduced section to see what offers there are.

You may sometimes find promotional end caps and stands also – so keep an eye out.

Photo by George Dolgikh @ Giftpundits.com from Pexels

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Waitrose has been voted the UK’s worst online grocery retailer for freshness, an investigation by consumer group Which? has found.

Which? used a team of undercover shoppers to determine who delivered the freshest produce with the longest shelf lives.

Waitrose came last, with its produce lasting an average of 8.6 days. It found Tesco had the freshest produce, with products having on average 10.8 days of shelf life, followed by Asda (10.5 days) and Ocado (10.4 days).

Which? excluded Iceland from the results as it failed to deliver enough equivalent items to make a comparison. A smaller selection of six items put Iceland at the bottom.

An Icelend spokesperson told Which?: “These findings are not reflective of our approach to providing the freshest products possible.”

Waitrose told The Guardian: “We always train our partners to pick products with the longest best-before date for online deliveries. We’re sorry this fell short of our high standards and are committed to making this better for our customers.

“From time to time we sometimes shorten the date codes on certain fresh produce to ensure it’s at optimum quality, so this may also have been a factor behind the results.”

The consumer group has compiled a handy table if you receive subpar or out of date goods for how to complain:

Find out more about the Which? investigation here.

First-time buyer mortgage rates drop

First-time buyers were among the property market’s biggest casualties during the early days of the pandemic, but things look to be improving.

An increasing number of small deposit loans are becoming available, thanks to the Government’s 5% mortgage scheme, and rates are falling.

Building society Nationwide has lowered the rate on one of its first-time buyer mortages to just 2.24%, with a fee of £999. Just one other mortgage has a lower rate and fee, from Halifax at 2.15% and £995 in fees. Both mortgages require a 10% deposit.

The average two-year mortgage rate has dropped by 0.14% between July and August, according to financial data firm Moneyfacts.

PayPal launches UK crypto services

Payments firm PayPal has introduced crypto buying and selling services to UK users.

Customers will be able to trade four different cryptocurrencies – bitcoin, bitcoin cash, ethereum and litecoin.

For now however users won’t be able to make payments using cryptocurrencies.

WATCH: Mouthy Money co-editor talks to James Max on talkRADIO on all today’s personal finance stories

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