Best UK mobile operators and SIM plans

Signal

Best to worst signal from hours of my own testing:

1. Vodafone 
2. O2
3. EE
4. Three

Vodafone and Three are going to merge. All UK signal is crap right now because of banning Huawei, anti-5G locals, and lack of infrastructure funding after Brexit.

Check signal coverage here: https://checker.ofcom.org.uk/en-gb/mobile-coverage

Another plus for Vodafone, their "Ultra 5G" which currently only works on some phones. Google Pixel 8/9 Pro also has ULCA for faster uploads which is unique to Vodafone 

https://www.stuff.tv/news/heres-why-some-uk-pixel-owners-will-notice-faster-5g-speeds/

Customer Service

If you care about customer service, best to worst: 

Tesco, Nomad, Giffgaff, Lebara, O2, Vodafone, BT, Anywhere, 3

Ofcom reports on customer service: https://www.ofcom.org.uk/phones-and-broadband/service-quality/numbers-up-best-and-worst-telecoms-customer-service-revealed/ 

I recently tried Honest Mobile as well, which roams EE, O2 and Three. I only tried the Smart SIM, which I personally, would only use as a backup in case of patchy signal, but they have a main SIM I may try. 

Anywhere SIM offers similar thing, but more expensive, it's really if you want to get the best signal everywhere but money isn't a problem.

Cashback

Highly recommend mobiles.co.uk for your SIM and TopCashback/Quidco. I get the Red Entertainment plan for Spotify, so after all that, my effective monthly cost goes from £42/mo to about £5/mo.

From using TopCashback/Quidco/Rewards Gateway, I've earned over £2,200 back from all sorts. Referral codes for minimum £10 back

https://www.topcashback.co.uk/ref/robertcathles

Mobiles.co.uk

https://aklam.io/njFNc8

If you want cheap as possible, look out on HotUkDeals for SIM cards, the best ever deal was 1 pence a month for 12GB data with Lebara, for 6 months. So overall cost me 6 pence 😁

Also don't buy a handset with a SIM combo, if you can afford it - it's always cheaper to buy a handset, get insurance, and get SIM only. 

Also here's a thread with tips on cancelling phone contracts

https://x.com/rjc_uk/status/1306409373175078912?s=19

And general tips on upgrading Android phones:

https://x.com/rjc_uk/status/1834272448457445799?s=19

Tips for earning more money as you spend

I've earned £3000 so far from Topcashback/Quidco/Reward Gateway. I earn £300 cashback a year by getting my SIM through Mobiles.co.uk + TCB. I earn hundreds by switching bank accounts, and moving money around 10 different bank accounts so I can get the monthly transfer bonus. I have a Barclaycard Reward for zero international transaction fees when abroad. Some cards have cashback on purchases. I have bonds with NSI, which is basically a free lottery ticket every month, earning over £1000 a month best case. I use Compare the Market to find me the lowest insurance every year rather than stick with the same plan. I use Zen Internet because they are super reliable and it's a fixed price forever. I use Vodafone because from tests and Ofcom charts, they have the best signal - though their customer service is not the best. Vodafone also have VeryMe (similar to O2 Priority) with ocassional freebies. I don't use Trainline because you don't get charged fees if you order direct, typically a ticket is valid for any operator, and their refund feature undermines better compensation via Delay Repay. Loyalty cards and reduced section can be a godsend. More advice on Money Saving Expert (by Martin Lewis), and good offers on HotUKDeals.

I'm a part-time vegetarian - here's why

Carbon footprint

The real problem of meat, beyond ethics or if it is healthy, or even the ruthless handling of animals, is the carbon footprint. Beef in particular is the worst offender. 

1. Cows release a lot of methane, which causes global warming 10x faster than CO2.
2. Some 3/4 of the water we process goes just into growing animals for food.
3. Huge areas of land previously occupied by biodiverse forests are now cultivated, which endangers the resilience of life and the intricate symbioses in the ecosystem, which ultimately threaten our ability to grow food for ourselves and any animals we farm.

https://ourworldindata.org/food-choice-vs-eating-local

https://www.waterfootprint.org/resources/Vanham-et-al-2013_2.pdf

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-46459714

A vegetarian or vegan diet, at least if you only do it some days and not every day, means demand for meat will go down, and we can return land to nature. Also, limiting consumption of beef, and instead having meat that produces less CO2, like chicken or fish, would drastically reduce the damage.

Health

Meat is also not necessarily healthy, too much red meat causes high blood pressure, and processed meats like bacon, sausage and pepperoni cause cancer.

https://news.cancerresearchuk.org/2021/03/17/bacon-salami-and-sausages-how-does-processed-meat-cause-cancer-and-how-much-matters/

Vegans also live longer than omnivores:

https://www.purdueexponent.org/nation_world/article_ba11a723-6959-568d-85a6-ee64cda22ae3.html

https://plantyou.com/do-vegetarians-really-live-longer-than-meat-eaters-the-shocking-truth/

https://www.mdedge.com/obgyn/article/105574/heart-failure/vegetarianism-may-protect-against-heart-failure

Ethics

On ethics, cows especially are mistreated. Calves are taken from their mom right after birth, fed and milked to exhaustion like a machine, fed and washed in strong chemicals, killed without question if unhealthy or past their use, extremely bloated, trapped inside for most of their lives (they might get one day a year they are allowed to go outside, they actually jump and hop around like dogs when they are free to roam a grassy field), and it's clear they feel suffering. 

What do I eat instead?

• Huel (£10 off first order)
• Quorn
• Nuggets are especially good, just cook on a higher temp so they are more crispy
• Pepperoni is also really good

• Impossible burger is probably the best, cannot tell the difference
• But many decent ones are also out there
• Linda McCartney's vegetarian sausage rolls are also excellent

Find out more

• "Cow" (2021). The up-close footage clearly shows the cows scared, in pain, restless, worn down, and bellowing for help. Cows are not nurtured, they are treated like industrial tools.
• "Gunda" (2020). In particular, the ending.
• "Seaspiracy" (2021)
• David Attenborough's "A Life on Our Planet" (Netflix, 2021)
  
  
  
  
  
• Climate change food calculator: What's your diet's carbon footprint?
• Kurzgesagt on YouTube:

  

Response to "what is a woman?"

Woman is one possible adult gender or sex, typically associated with a certain range of genotypes and phenotypes that are associated with the term female.

Conditions: 

It's a spectrum (i.e. not binary, for example intersex people and women that produce more testosterone than some men) so the definition depends on if you're asking about biological sex, legal sex, or gender - they are not necessarily in alignment.

As only individuals can know their own gender, same as goes for things like sexual orientation, that means if someone says they are that gender, the best thing you can do is accept it at face value. This is accepted regardless of the underlying biological sex, because there are few situations that require the biological sex to be known, and it stands in solidarity with people who have gender dysphoria out of respect, as it is not a choice. This is why gender recognition certificates allow people to change their legal sex, because it is a valid and real thing.

Biological sex may appear immutable but ultimately is not immutable, in the same way that all DNA is not immutable, because genes mutate and can be edited, such as with CRISPR. It is also possible that genetics may differ based on other state information, in other words some genetic markers change given hormones applied to them. Hormones and their impact on sex and gender expression are best seen as two ends of a string, or a sympathetic and parasympathetic pathway, in the same way that when trees grow and drop their leaves, it isn't two discrete processes, but in fact one process under given conditions.

Science is not an absolute truth generator either because it can't answer things like are parrots good, and there are actually very few things that are objective - if any at all.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/feb/02/gender-critical-beliefs-under-the-microscope