@Rugsofhonour
Do you all work out what % return you are making on your investment?
Several people have said £25/month on a ~£30k holding which is really bad. Even £50 per month would be pretty bad.
Nothing for me on about £35k for the second month running, but I'm doing OK this year and did really well in 2019 and 2020.
I've worked it out for the last couple of years, not mega accurately just compared winnings with average balance over the year. I have a passing interest in statistics so looking at expected frequencies of different number of wins over time and how I compare with average odds.
But I disagree that £25 or £50 on £30k is bad, its within the expected range and significantly better than many savings accounts, which is what you have to compare with. You can't do any better without tying up your money or risking it by investing. It's as good a place as any to keep your emergency fund or savings for new cars, extensions or similar large purchases that you expect to make in the next couple of years.
The stated average payout is about 1% per year, so on £30k you would probably win about 8-10 £25 prizes a year on average (not quite 1% because the larger prizes skew this), say expect to win £250 per year.
The best instant access savings account pays about 0.5% per year, or £150, so most people will be ahead of this. Plus there's the gamble that you may win a much bigger prize or significantly beat the interest, without risking capital, like you would with investments.
You're effectively gambling guaranteed interest for the chance that you'll get more than what instant access will pay.