On the Money: How to tune in to cheap entertainment

The days when TV watching meant all the members of a household piling together to pick between one of a handful of channels are long gone — and now mobile provider EE wants to shake up the choice-packed home-entertainment market even more.

Britain’s biggest mobile operator’s new set-top box lets viewers watch up to four live and on-demand TV programmes at the same time on different devices — from TVs to smartphones and tablets. But in an era of free catch-up TV online, and a huge array of bundled packages offering TV, broadband and phone-line deals, which is the cheapest way to organise your home entertainment, and what’s included with all the major providers?

The myriad “deals” out there make it tough to compare all the packages on the market, but there are some fees that will apply in all of them. The first is line rental, since most TV services are now sold as part of a bundle with broadband. Line rental usually costs about £15 a month.

You may also face a set-up charge: some providers impose a fee for their TV set-top box or for installation, while others don’t. But since the market is very competitive, it’s worth bartering with providers to get this free if there is an advertised charge.

Check the length of the deal and what happens to monthly charges: some soar after an “introductory period”, and look out for inclusions too — are there free weekend calls, for example, and is the internet usage unlimited? Are the TV channels you like most included?

Comparison websites Broadbandchoices and SimplifyDigital will help you find the total cost of various packages.

EE’s new smart box (which includes access to some 70 channels and catch-up services, including BBC iPlayer, YouTube, and DailyMotion) is free to the telecom giant’s almost 800,000 broadband customers, or, for EE mobile customers, it costs £9.95 per month for the box, broadband and free evening and weekend calls. The line rental costs £15.75 per month on top of that.

But with no access to BT’s Sports channels or Sky’s Now TV, this won’t be a winning package for sports fans.

For them, the cheapest package is BT’s TV Essentials, Broadband and Weekend Calls offer, which costs £321.83 for the first year including all fees and line rental, broadband up to 17mb and free phone calls on Saturdays and Sundays, according to Broadbandchoices. BT Sport customers, however, can only watch 38 Premier League matches for the current season, whilst Sky subscribers can see 116 of them.

An alternative is Now TV, a £9.99 box, which plugs into your TV and lets you buy an entertainment, film or sports pass starting at £6.99 per match.

Movie fans will be best off with Sky’s The Movies Bundle + Broadband Lite + Talk Weekends, according to Broadbandchoices, which would cost £468.75 for the first year. Or, for a television, internet and phone package with no premium channels, TalkTalk’s Essentials TV package would cost a total of £252.90 for the first year, and that includes 70+ Freeview channels. Viewers can pay more to access Sky Sports channels, Sky Movies, Disney and box sets, (all sign-ups get a free YouView box) and free evening and weekend calls.

But if you’re happy just with a TV with no subscription, broadband or call packages, stick to Freeview, which is built in to most TVs or can be accessed free with a box costing about £15.

“Check what you have access to, as it is frustrating to sign up to a long-term deal only to find you can’t view your favourite programmes,” says broadbandchoices’ Dominic Baliszewski.

If you do pick a pay-TV package, you could save money by signing up via a cashback site, such a Quidco or TopCashBack, who will pay as much as £140 if you buy a deal through them.

If Christmas shopping is on the horizon, remember that going into festive debt is a near guarantee of an unhappy new year.

Research from the Government-backed Money Advice Service found a third of Britons knew they would start the New Year in debt after festive spending spiralled out of control — but it points out that making simple changes to everyday spending in the weeks leading up to Christmas, can prevent a financial hangover.

“Christmas can be an expensive time of year, but it’s important to know that you don’t have to live beyond your means to make it a fun time,” says Jane Symonds, of the Money Advice Service.

1. Fix your budget: List what you expect to spend on Christmas — from presents and decorations to all other expenses such as food, socialising and transport. Keep a detailed account of your expenses so you don’t blow your budget, and be mindful that you’ll need some cash to pay mid-January bills. At tinyurl.com/xmasbudget you can plan your spending with an online budget and calculator.

2. Boost your Christmas fund: Make savings on day-to-day spending. Taking a packed lunch to work and swapping your morning cappuccino for an instant coffee throughout December, for example, can boost your funds.

3. Online or offline? Watch for special offers, and check for discount vouchers online and in newspapers. When comparing costs, always check if delivery charges are included in the total cost so you don’t get a shock when you get to the checkout.

4. Credit warning: Payday loans are advertised as quick access to cash, but can cost more than you bargained for if you do not repay in full or on time. Explore all the alternatives before considering this option. For example, you could extend your overdraft, apply for a credit card or join a local credit union instead.

5. New Year’s resolution: Come January, next Christmas will seem far away, but it’s never too early to start saving for the festivities. Open a savings account and transfer a set amount by direct debit each pay day. Over a year, a small amount each month could accumulate to a tidy sum which may make a big difference.

London’s renters are more optimistic about one day owning a home than those in any other part in the country.

That’s according to research by insurer Aviva, which found that despite the capital’s housing stock commanding top prices, four in 10 renters in London believe they will buy a house in the future, compared to a national average of 27%.

Of the London would-be buyers, half said they were saving for a deposit, and the other half claimed they were waiting until they found the right house. But a third of tenants in the capital said they believed they would never own a home — in part because official data from the Valuation Office Agency puts the average monthly rent in London at £1461 per month, by far the highest across the country.

Land Registry figures reveal the average property price is at least £250,000 in every London borough.

The most popular reason for renting in London was being unable to afford a property purchase, followed by the pleasant lack of accountability — 27% of renters said they liked the fact that if anything went wrong it was the landlord’s responsibility — and the fact that it was cheaper to rent.

London’s tenants also proved to be taking a risk on unexpected events — less than half have contents insurance compared with a national average of 58%.

It comes as separate figures reveal mortgage holders in the UK are unprepared for potential rise in interest rates although that is expected early next year.

Research from the Money Advice Service found 56% of homeowners have no contingency plans should interest rates rise since the Bank of England base rate has lingered at its historic low of 0.5% since 2009.

Nearly half of UK mortgage holders would also find it difficult to meet an increase of up to £150 in monthly repayments.

“It’s a concern that where rents and mortgage repayments are the highest, a significant number are unprepared for ‘what if?’ scenarios and don’t have safeguards such as protection cover or contents insurance,” said Aviva’s Louise Colley. “We would urge all families to think about the future and put financial plans in place – just so they’re prepared, whatever their living arrangements.”