The daughter of one of Ireland’s richest men Michael Smurfit, Sharon Smurfit has revealed that even though they didn’t have a close relationship growing up, he taught her some invaluable lessons on how to be ‘very money conscious’. Sharon, who worked closely with her business tycoon dad when he owned the five-star K Club and […]
The post ‘I’ve always kept my own’ Michael Smurfit’s daughter Sharon on why she kept her maiden name appeared first on RollerCoaster.
MARTIN Lewis’ MoneySavingExpert.com has revealed the exact date in days Disney+ is hiking the price of two of its plans.
The consumer website said the online streaming platform is upping the cost of its Standard and Premium bundles by up £24 a year from October 17 for new customers.
Meanwhile, existing customers will see prices hiked from their first billing date after November 21.
Disney+ is raising the price of its monthly Standard bundle from £7.99 to £8.99 from next Thursday – £12 more a year.
The package lets viewers watch their favourite programmes ad-free, stream through two devices at the same time and watch content offline.
The monthly Premium package will be hiked from £10.99 to £12.99 – £24 extra a year.
The bundle also offers ad-free viewing and customers can watch content offline, but lets you watch on four devices simultaneously.
For those paying yearly instead of monthly, the bundles will go up in price by £10 a year and £20 a year respectively.
Disney+’s Standard package with ads is not changing in price and customers will continue to be charged £4.99 a month.
New customers can go some way to beating the upcoming hikes though, MSE revealed.
New customers can sign up for an annual Standard or Premium subscription by 11.59pm on October 16 and lock in the lower price for an entire 12 months.
The consumer website said the trick should work for existing customers switching from a monthly plan to yearly plan too, but that Disney had not confirmed this was allowed.
If you are planning on doing this, it’s worth contacting Disney first to see if you can lock in the lower price.
Customers looking to save a little more should also check if they can make the most of any cashback or discount offers too, MSE said.
For example, Monzo and American Express are both offering 15% cashback on Disney+ bundles worth up to £16.50 off a year.
There are no guarantees this will work though as offers like this are personalised.
MSE also said customers new to Disney+ can combine these two cashback offers with a separate cashback deal from TopCashback or Quidco worth up to £11.55.
The latest announcement from Disney+ comes after the streaming platform started cracking down on users sharing passwords.
Since last month, it has started charging customers who share Disney+ accounts an extra £4.99 a month on top of their existing price plan.
The change, costing £60 a year, impacts those sharing their account with a friend or family member who doesn’t live with them.
All-in-all, the two changes from Disney+ could cost you an extra £84 a year.
Disney+ is not the first streaming platform to enrage customers with price changes in recent years.
Amazon Prime had streamers angry after adding adverts to the platform and charging £2.99 to customers to have them removed in December.
Netflix made a similar change in the UK in July last year.
The Sun asked Disney to comment.
Consumer reporter Sam Walker reveals how you can save money on your streaming costs.
Check for cheaper alternatives – there are plenty of streaming services available out there and prices start from just £3.99.
Paramount+ costs £6.99 a month while Channel 4+ is £3.99 a month.
Make the most of introductory offers – some streaming services offer new customers free trials.
Amazon Prime Video gives you 30 days free while Apple TV+ and Paramount+ offer you seven days.
Just make sure you cancel your membership before the rollover date if you don’t want to carry on using the platforms.
Switch up your platforms – rotate between different streaming services so you’re not paying for more than one at a time.
It’s easy to end up signed up to everything when you might only watch the bulk of your programmes on one platform.
Do you have a money problem that needs sorting? Get in touch by emailing money-sm@news.co.uk.
Plus, you can join our Sun Money Chats and Tips Facebook group to share your tips and stories
A WOMAN has been left considering a divorce after her husband told her he wanted to fight for custody of his love child.
In the post on Reddit, she explained that she and her spouse have been married for nine years, and it was in 2001 that they found out he was being sued for child support.
“Turns out my husband had an affair shortly after we were married,” she wrote.
“It nearly ended our marriage, but we went to counseling together and I agreed to stay in the marriage.”
However, she did have some provisions, including that her husband should get a second job so “that his child support payments did not affect our household budget”.
She also stressed that “at no point in time would I ever consider having a relationship with this child”.
“If he wanted to pursue one with them, fine,” she added.
“But I have absolutely zero interest in this kid.”
While she made her position clear, her husband has been “getting to know his kid over the past couple years”, during supervised visitations “once or twice a month” with a “social worker present”.
He recently came to her and admitted there’s been some “baby mama drama” going on.
“Apparently, she has to self-surrender in May and is going to be incarcerated for 8 months,” she continued.
“My husband told me that he needed to take custody while his affair partner is locked up, otherwise the kid would have to go to their grandparents who basically live on the opposite coast from us.
“Their kid doesn’t want to have to change schools or be so far away from their friends, dad and mum (she will be doing her time fairly local to us).”
When her husband told her that, she “got up and left the house”.
“I went to the grocery store on the corner and grabbed a copy of our area’s apartment guide went back home and handed it to him,” she added.
When he asked if she was serious, she said she felt the same as she did three years beforehand, to which he stated he didn’t think it was fair “considering the extenuating circumstances”.
“I told him I don’t care about the circumstances,” she said.
“His kid is not welcome in my home.
THERE are two child benefit rates, one for the eldest child and another for younger children.
“If he wanted to take custody I will grant him an amicable divorce, but I am not changing my mind.
“I am not taking care of some other chick’s kid.”
People were quick to comment on the post, but the woman responded as they told her she should be the one to file for divorce if that’s what she wants.
“No. I will not,” she stated.
“I am not the one who created this situation. If my husband wants to pursue custody, I have told him I will not fight it.
“I will grant him an amicable divorce and let him be on his way.
“However, I am not going to waste my own time, energy, and money to do so!
“He is responsible for getting his own ducks in a row for the situation he created.
“That includes being the one to go through the headache of filing.”
And the majority of those weighing in on the situation in the comments suggested they should just call time on their relationship.
“Why are you still with him?” one wrote.
“In no way do I think it’s your responsibility to raise this child. But it is his responsibility. And this poor kid didn’t ask for any of it.
“The whole situation would be happier and healthier if y’all just split up”.
“I think you should divorce him and move on with your life,” another said.
“Not your job to take care of the kid.”
“She should do it the first time she found out about cheating, it would save her from so much drama that came after,” someone else wrote.
BIG Brother star Aisleyne Horgan-Wallace didn’t hold back while talking about new contestant Lily.
Hailing from Warrington, Lily, 20, is a Chinese takeaway server, but her lively personality and ‘screeching’ has quickly hit a nerve with fans and Aisleyne alike.
Here, our BB columnist reveals why she thinks Lily is playing a game and that she’s ‘copying the late Nikki Grahame,’ who famously starred on series seven of Big Brother with Aisleyne.
I told you. I called it. I knew Lily was going to be loud and doing the most and trying to get the most attention.
And that’s exactly what she’s doing on the second night of Big Brother in the storage cupboard.
It’s annoying – can someone please take her batteries out because it’s doing my head in. She’s doing my head in.
She is doing the most trying to get the most attention and being so loud.
I even think sometimes she’s trying to be like my Nikki, and there’s only one Nikki, God rest her soul.
You could never be Nikki.
Why do people do that? Don’t try and be someone else, just be yourself.
Anyway, that said, she’s annoying.
I liked her little rant in the diary room, she was quite entertaining in the diary room not going to lie.
But as a housemate, watching that for six weeks? Drop me out. She’s so annoying. She’s got to go.
But that said, I’m loving all the housemates, even the annoying ones.
A brand new batch of Big Brother housemates are living it up in the famous compound.
Meet the cast of the 2024 series:
Sarah – the posh contestant is how I remember her – she is giving me so much jokes.
How are you having a breakdown on the first night? She’s sobbing.
Honey, I don’t know – do you need a tissue? A hug? Babe, you can’t cope after one night then how about trying ten weeks.
I did ten weeks in there and you’re going to do six potentially and you’re crying and having a breakdown on the first night
I can understand why she’s getting upset about Lily, because that is a lot, but crying come on now, you’re on Big Brother.
I want to see more strength from her, so come on tomorrow you can pull it out the bag.
I’ve told you Ali is the one to watch guys, and she’s fast becoming my favourite.
You’ll have seen last night that she had to choose who was lying and she was right because she said both of them were.
She ended up sending Ryan to the storage, and to be honest guys he’s a bit bland for me.
He didn’t know how to lie and it was just a bit boring and bland.
I really can’t see him going that far in the game, I’m sorry to say it but I really can’t.
I think he might be the first to go.
Anyway, I’ll be back tomorrow with all of the Big Brother latest so watch this space…
Big Brother will air daily at 9pm on ITV2 and it will be followed each night by Big Brother: Late & Live – giving viewers additional exclusive content.
The Live Stream is also making a comeback, airing seven nights a week on ITVX.
This series of BB will be co-hosted by AJ Odudu and Will Best.
