12 saves of Christmas
Who doesn’t need extra cash come Christmas? NISHA MAL has some ideas to help save you more than £600 over the next 10 weeks
1 DITCH THE LUNCHTIME MEAL DEAL
THE average lunch time meal deal costs £3. Instead of opting for shopbought sandwiches make your own.
If you do this three days a week you can save £9. That’s £90 over 10 weeks. 2 LAY OFF THE LATTES A GRANDE latte from Starbucks will set you back £2.85 a pop. Cutting back on three shop-bought coffees each week will save you £8.55. Saving you £85.50 by the festive season. 3 SWITCH BANK ACCOUNTS SWITCH bank accounts and receive a one-off payment. New Co-Op Bank customers are given £125 for joining and setting up four direct debits (terms and conditions apply). New customers will get the £125 within 45 calendar days of the date your switch is complete. It’s a great way to add money to your Christmas fund, but make sure you choose an account that is right for you and your banking needs.
Visit co-operativebank. co.uk/currentaccounts
According to money saving guru Martin Lewis, founder and chair of MoneySavingExpert. com, the biggest bonus is hsbc.co.uk Advance account which pays new switchers £150, plus a further £50 after a year. Yet you need to pay in £1,750/mth (earn over £26,100 and it just means have your salary paid in there, as that’s £1,750+ after tax – you can take the money out straight away if you like). Alternatively firstdirect.com gives switchers £100 while bank. marksandspencer.com gives a £125 gift card and adds £5/mth to it for a year. And both require a smaller monthly pay in of £1,000/mth. With all accounts you usually need to be a new customer, pass their (not too tough) credit check, use their seven day switching service and switch 2+ direct debits. Estimated cash made: £125-£150.
4 TESCO VOUCHERS
USE your vouchers in store, online or at the pump to get money off. If you’ve lost your clubcard and have no idea how many points you’ve accrued you can check the value of your card at tesco. com/clubcard
The vouchers don’t just have to be spent on your groceries, use them to get money off Christmas presents across toys, electrical, beauty and other departments.
Or save pennies when you eat out by using vouchers to quadruple their worth. A £2.50 Tesco Clubcard voucher will get you
£10 to spend on food with a host of Tesco partners including Cafe Rouge, Bella Italia, Ask Italian and Zizzi.
5 PLAN YOUR WEEKLY FOOD SHOP
ACCORDING to a 2017 report from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) the average family weekly food shop comes in at £53.20.
Plan your weekly meals and go the supermarket, just once a week, armed with a shopping list. If you switch from premium brands to supermarket own brands, and avoid the temptation to impulse buy, it is possible to save between £10-£20. Cutting back £10 per week can save you
£100 in 10 weeks. 6 BUY ONE LESS BOTTLE OF WINE A WEEK ACCORDING to a market report by The Wine and Spirit Trade Association, due to rising inflation because Brexit, the average bottle of wine costs £5.56. If you buy one less bottle a week, you can make a saving of £55.60 come Christmas time. 7 BOOTS AND SUPERDRUG LOYALTY CARDS TAKE advantage of the points you earn from Superdrug and Boots and use them to buy Christmas gifts across health and beauty gifts.
To bump up your points look out for double point promotions and special offers. They will have more frequent incentives in the run up to Christmas.
Also keep an eye out for the Boots Christmas shopping event when you can earn triple points on your card. 8 CHANGE TO A SIM ONLY MOBILE TARIFF ACCORDING to uswitch, most mobile phone contracts are set at either 12 or 24 months. However it’s very easy to forget when your contract is coming to an end. Phone your service provider and ask how long is left on your contract, if you’re nearing the end enquire about switching to a SIM-only contract, these are much cheaper. For example EE’s best-selling iPhone 7 price plan costs £42.99 per month, if you’re on this tariff and switch to a £19.99 SIM only plan you could potentially save £23 per month. Saving you £57.50 over 10 weeks.
9 USE COUPONS
SAVE on your shopping with free vouchers and discounts on cleaning, beauty and baby products as well as groceries.
According to moneysavingexpert. com coupons can save you hundreds of pounds throughout the year. Coupons work by giving you money off everyday items. Sites like caringevery day.co.uk regularly have coupons across health, beauty, baby and hygiene items which will knock money off your regular Boots and Superdrug visits. You can get anything from £1 off Neutrogena facial wipes to £5 off dog food.