Money blog: Do you have a 'break-up fund'? Half of us secretly do (2025)

Asda is axing a discount scheme designed for NHS staff, teachers, the armed forces and emergency workers.

People who hold a Blue Light Cardare able to get 5% off fresh food, fruit juice, dairy products and bakery goods at the supermarket, but the scheme will be scrapped on 27 May.

The retailer introduced the discount during the COVID pandemic and is the only supermarket to offer it.

"We launched our partnership with Blue Light Card during the pandemic to provide additional support for emergency workers and would like to thank them for the opportunity to work with them during the last five years," an Asda spokesperson said.

"Our focus now is on providing all our customers with outstanding value every time they visit our stores or shop with us online."

Asda launched its new Rollback pricing programme in January and has reduced the cost of a third of its products since then.

Half of British adults are secretly saving for the end of their relationship, research suggests.

Many have opted to create an "independence fund" in preparation for the worst-case scenario, stashing away an average of £4,739, the survey by Novuna Personal Finance found.

Of those surveyed, 31% said they were hiding entire savings accounts from their partners, while 43% admitted they had lied about their finances.

Of Gen Z adults, 79% said they had savings set aside specifically in case of a break-up. But 34% said they had fully merged finances with their partner - a higher rate than among over-55s (24%).

Despite this, 89% of all respondents said they felt "financially compatible" with their partner, with the average couple talking about money seven times a month.

Every Friday, we take an overview of the mortgage market before rounding up the best rates with independent experts fromMoneyfacts...

Lenders are facing pressure from the government to help boost growth, and this week some have reduced their stress tests to help people get on the property ladder.

Stress tests are used to evaluate a borrower's ability to afford their mortgage payments if interest rates increase.

Nationwide became the first major lender to act, adjusting its mortgage affordability calculation by reducing its stress rates by up to 1.25 percentage points.

The change, which doesn't only benefit first-time buyers but home movers and those remortgaging as well, allows applicants to borrow an average of £28,000 more.

"Taking a more measured approach should give more flexibility to the right customers but still providing balance against over exposing borrowers in future," says David Hollingworth, associate director at L&C Mortgages.

"Customers with concerns that they wouldn't meet a new lender's criteria, due to the higher rate environment, could find that affordability is now more generous than they thought. That should open up more choice from the open market, rather than necessarily having to stick with an existing lender."

Hodge Bank also reduced affordability stress rate across a variety of products, saying the changes would give the average customer almost 20% more borrowing power.

Joint applicants with a household income of £45,000, for example, can now borrow an extra £38,000.

Rachel Springall, finance expert at Moneyfacts, says the relaxation is welcome but warns stress tests need to be "deployed with care" and not at the "detriment of borrowers down the line".

"Consumers concerned about their mortgage or struggling to find an affordable home would be wise to seek advice from a broker to assess the latest deals," she says.

Lenders making rate cuts

Prominent lenders have also cut rates across their fixed products this week.

Santander made reductions of up to 0.18%, Barclays of up to 0.19% and Newcastle Building Society of as much as 0.32%.

Week on week, the average two-year and five-year fixed rates fell to 5.12% and 5.08% respectively, according to Moneyfacts.

Economists are still expecting at least two more interest rate cuts by the Bank of England this year, which could bring mortgage rates down.

Springall says first-time buyers need "support and innovation" from lenders to keep the mortgage market moving.

Products to consider

Here are the lowest first-time buyer deals on the market...

Moneyfacts also picks out "best buys" that look beyond rates to take into account fees and incentives, which could come in handy if you have exhausted your savings for a deposit...

BySarah Taaffe-Maguire, business and economics reporter

There's been a lot of talk about GDP today.

We've told you what it means, how much it's grown (more than expected at 0.7%), when, and why.

If you've been wondering what it means for you, this is the post you've been waiting for.

Firstly, the GDP news impacts you in the way any other good news about the economy does: consumers and businesses feeling good about the economy drives good consumer sentiment, which can lead to increased spending and more hiring.

Aside from this, economic growth means there are more jobs out there. Even if you're not looking for new work, you could benefit as competition for workers can raise wages.

Secondly, there's the whole political dimension. The government has pinned improving public services on the money that comes from growth.

When the economy is performing better, people are spending more and tax receipts can be up. More tax means the government has more money for investing in services.

The other element is Chancellor Rachel Reeves's commitment to her self-imposed fiscal rules on borrowing and spending.

The wiggle room she'd left herself to avoid breaking those fiscal rules has come close to being eroded at points since she took office, as borrowing costs rose.

Taxes would have been increased or spending would have been cut by government had the rules been broken.

Higher tax takes through higher GDP can help avoid that and limit the chance of spending cuts and tax rises.

If you wear a uniform to work, you might not know about the free uniform tax refund you could be able to claim.

To be eligible:

• You must wear a recognisable uniform that shows you've got a certain job, like a branded T-shirt, nurse or police uniform;
• Your employer requires you to wear it while you're working;
• You have to purchase, clean, repair and replace it yourself;
• You paid income tax in the year you are claiming for.

If all the above applies to you, then you're probably wondering how much you're able to get.

The standard flat rate expense allowance for uniform maintenance is £60.

By claiming a uniform tax refund, you'll get back the amount of tax you would have paid on that £60 - so if you're a basic-rate taxpayer, that'll be £12. For higher-rate taxpayers, that's £24.

But on top of this year's allowance, you can also backdate your claim by up to four tax years.

It's worth noting there are more specific limits for some occupations, which often involves specialist uniforms.

Here's some examples of annual allowances to be aware of:

• Firefighters and fire officers' allowance is £80;
• Dental nurses and healthcare assistants' allowance is £125;
• Pilot and co-pilots' allowance is £1,022;
• Mechanics' allowance is £120.

After applying, HMRC say your tax code will change for the tax year, meaning you'll be taxed less in the future and see a slight increase in your take-home pay.

If your claim is for the previous tax year, HMRC will either make changes through your tax code or give you a tax refund.

Dior has become the latest retailer to be targeted by a cyber attack, with hackers accessing some of its customer data.

The luxury fashion brand told Money that it has immediately taken steps to contain the security breach and is working with experts to investigate the issue.

It reassured customers that no financial information, including bank details or credit card details, was accessed or stored on the breached database.

"The House of Dior recently discovered that an unauthorised external party accessed some of the customer data wehold," a spokesperson said.

"We are in the process of informing customers where necessary.The confidentiality and security of our customerdata is an absolute priority for the House of Dior.

"We deeply regret any concern or inconvenience this matter maycause our customers."

Last month, Marks & Spencer was hit by a cyber attack, with customers' personal data stolen and stores suffering for weeks afterwards.

The Co-op was also targeted. It was forced to apologise after hackers managed to access the data of a "significant number" of past and current members.

A new online mortgage lender tool could have "dangerous" consequences, brokers have warned.

Rightmove and Nationwide have teamed up to launch the "property lender check", which gives potential buyers real-time information about their chances of getting a mortgage approved for a property before they view it or put in an offer.

We first told you about it yesterday - you can read that post here.

But brokers have raised concerns that the tool only uses the lending criteria used by Nationwide. In comments supplied to the Money blog by Newspage,Craig Fish, director at Lodestone Mortgages & Protection, said it could lead to buyers being "wrongly put off perfectly good homes".

"Let's be clear: this is based solely on their criteria, and they decline more properties than most lenders," he said. "This feature could end up devaluing properties, reducing interest in homes that other lenders would be happy to finance.

"It may create false red flags that damage confidence rather than boost it. The risk is that sellers suffer, buyers get confused, and solid homes are unfairly sidelined."

Fish called it "potentially a dangerous" move.

His thoughts were echoed byStephen Perkins, managing director at Yellow Brick Mortgages, who questioned if it could lead to legal challenges being raised.

"So just because Nationwide may not like it, many lenders may find the property acceptable. Could vendors legally challengeRightmoveif this was detrimental to marketing their property unfairly?"

BySarah Taaffe-Maguire, business and economics reporter

Avid Money blog readers will have seen our post earlier on why the straightforwardGDP growth figure doesn't tell the full story.

We suggested that a better figure - to give you a sense of whether or not people are feeling better off - is GDP per capita.

It breaks down how much the economy is growing on a per-person basis.

Unsurprisingly, the figures have tended to be lower than the headline GDP figure in recent years.

But for the first three months of this year, GDP per capita rose 0.5%.

Not for a year (the first quarter of 2024) has there been such large GDP growth per head.

Monzo customers will soon be able to cancel a bank transfer if they have made a mistake, but they'll have to be quick.

A new feature gives users between 10 and 60 seconds to withdraw the payment.

The "undo payments" tool could also help to stop payments to fraudsters, if the sender suddenly has any doubts about the transfer.

Described as a "comfort blanket", the bank said the feature will turn a moment of panic into relief.

Andy Sacre, Monzo's head of payments, said: "We know it's important to be able to send money quickly and easily - but we also know that mistakes can happen, whether that's sending the wrong amount to someone or paying the wrong person."

How does it work?

Firstly, Monzocustomers will have the option to configure a timer, choosing between 10 seconds, the default setting of 15 seconds, 30 seconds, and 60 seconds.

The timer will show on the payment confirmation screen, with an option to undo the payment.

That "undo payment" button may be tapped from there, or from the home screen or payment detail screen.

If the button is tapped in time, the payment will not leave the sender's account.

The potential recipient will also be unaware the money was nearly sent to them.

MFI stores haven't been open for nearly two decades, but the chain is making a comeback.

The furniture store went into administration in 2008, as the global financial crisis took hold, and stopped trading.

It was revived in 2011 as an online-only retailer, but collapsed again in 2015.

Now, 10 years on from its last revival, MFI products will soon once again be a click away.

That's after e-commerce firm Victorian Plumbing bought the brand last year, with plans for a relaunch in the second half of next year.

Mark Radcliffe, Victorian Plumbing's chief executive, said he is "very excited" about the brand's "re-invention", which he said will help them to tap into "more of the £20bn UK homewares market".