The 12 saves of Christmas
Put these money-saving tips into action now, and you can pocket almost £900 towards your festivities, says NISHA MAL
1. DON’T BIN IT, EBAY IT
THE top two things to sell on ebay in 2018 include items you’re likely to find lying around at home.
According to Good Housekeeping, this year the average price achieved by coffee tables or ceiling lights on ebay is £55.
And, if you have an old barbecue gathering dust, you can flog it for an average of £80.
Fitness clothing is also a big draw for shoppers, with old pairs of trainers, or football gear going for £25 each. If you sell these three items you can pocket a one-off amount of £160.
If you have branded goods, i.e. Nike trainers or a Black & Decker drill, include this in the description, as they’ll be more likely to sell. ■ Estimated cash earned: £160
2. SELL YOUR OLD PHONE
APPLE recently launched a new generation of iphones, which means now is a good time to sell your old model. This is because the value of the older devices has decreased – which is good news for people shopping around for a bargain.
Apple’s iphone 6, pictured, has a current trade-in value of £111 and the iphone 6 Plus has a trade-in value of £163.
Check out which.co.uk for a guide to secondhand iphone prices. ■ Estimated cash earned: £163
3. BUY TRAIN TICKETS EARLY
IF you’re going away for Christmas, book your tickets in advance to avoid steep train fares.
Contractually, Network Rail must have the timetable set 12 weeks prior to the journey, so train operators generally release cheap advance tickets shortly after. It’s not always dead on 12 weeks though, often more like 10.
Sign up and fill in your journey details with Trainline’s ticket alerts. You will get an email when cheap advance tickets for that journey go on sale. Visit thetrainline.com/ ticketalert, where advance tickets for the beginning of December are available now.
4. USE SAVINGS CARDS
SPREAD the cost of Christmas with Asda’s festive savings scheme, where you can also earn bonus points. Take out a savings card with the supermarket and pay in as much as £144, which will get you £6 in bonuses.
Shoppers can sign up to as many savings cards as they want, so in effect you could have two cards, save £188 and earn £12 in bonuses.
Once you’ve saved the money you can use it to buy your groceries and presents in Asda stores.
If you put away £12 each week, you’ll have £144 come Christmas time, plus your £6 bonus money.
Elsewhere, Tesco’s Christmas Saver lets shoppers collect vouchers throughout the year – which they can spend in stores.
Use yours to buy gifts and groceries. Plus you’ll get a bonus voucher when you top up £25.
You can also spread the cost of Christmas with Morrisons, thanks to its savers scheme. Top up your savings card every time you shop in store, and at the end of the year use your savings to buy what you need. The supermarket will also round up your total amount, for example if you’ve saved £49 you’ll get £50, and if you’ve saved £97 you’ll get £100 to spend. ■ Estimated cash saved and earned: £150
5. CUT THOSE COFFEES
A VENTI caffe latté from Starbucks will set you back £2.85. Cutting back on two shop-bought coffees each week will save you £5.70, saving you £68.40 by the festive season.
■ Estimated cash saved: £68.40
6. GET FREE DELIVERIES WITH AMAZON PRIME
IF you are planning on buying your gifts online, then do all you shopping with Amazon Prime and get your items delivered for free.
If you are not a member of Amazon Prime, you can sign up for
a 30-day free trial and enjoy the benefits of unlimited deliveries.
This means you can make multiple orders with the e-tailer and not pay a penny on delivery.
Sign up to your free 30-day trial here: amazon.co.uk/amazonprime
7. COMPARE PRICES ONLINE
ENSURE you are getting the best value for money by using a comparison websites. Pricerunner.co.uk lets you compare more than one million products from 3,000 retailers.
8. DITCH THE MEAL DEAL
THE average lunch-time meal deal costs £3 from the likes of Tesco, Morrisons and Sainsbury’s. Instead of opting for shop-bought sandwiches make your own.
Do this on three days a week you can save £9. That’s £108 over 12 weeks. ■ Estimated cash saved: £108
9. USE ONLINE CODES
THERE’S a hidden world of voucher codes waiting to be found online. These will tell you where the latest sales and offers are on the high street.
You can find sales and limited online offers from retailers such as Debenhams, John Lewis, The White Stuff and more. It’s best to shop the deals as soon as you find them, as they only tend to be available for a short time. Sites such as vouchercodes.co.uk and hotukdeals.com are worth monitoring.
10. SWITCH BANK ACCOUNTS
ACCORDING to Martin Lewis, founder and chair of Moneysaving Expert.com, HSBC’S Advance Account gives you the best one-off payment. If you switch to this account you could earn a one-off payment of £150, which will be paid in within 30 days. You will then get an additional £50 if you stay with the bank for one year. You will need to earn and pay in £1,750 per month in order to qualify, this must not include money transferred from other sole or joint personal accounts held with HSBC. You must also be aged 18 or over, and have a residential address within the EU.
Alternatively, if you’re an M&S shopper its Current Account could be the one for you. When you make the switch you’ll get a £125 Marks & Spencer gift card, and an interest-free £100 overdraft. ■ Estimated cash earned: £150
11. STAY OUT OF THE PUB
ACCORDING to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), in 2018 a glass of wine (175ml) costs £3.81 on average.
If you cut down on two glasses of wine, bought from the pub, each week you can save £7.62. Over the course of 12 weeks that’s £91.44.
■ Estimated cash saved: £91.44
12.SWAP CLOTHES FOR CASH
H&M and Marks and Spencer both have recycling schemes for old clothes.
H&M accepts clothes “in any condition”, from any retailer, whereas M&S will only accept clothing bought from its stores.
If you want to recycle clothing with H&M, you just bring in a “generously filled shopping bag” of clothes to get the voucher. You will then get £5 off when you spend £30 in H&M. You only need to recycle one item of clothing to get M&S’S £5 voucher, which you can use when you spend £35.