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November 18, 2024   |   Articles

Where to price match and save cash

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It pays to get the lowest price, even after you’d bought something.

Shopping around is key to getting a decent price. You can do this by using comparison sites such as PriceSpy or Idealo. Now, you’d think the next step would be to buy the items at the cheapest shop.

But actually it can be advantageous to actually buy it elsewhere if that shop has a price matching policy. And you can even sometimes price match after purchase if prices dop again.

Here’s more about how price matching works, and where you can take advantage.

Some articles on the site contain affiliate links, which provide a small commission to help fund our work. However, they won’t affect the price you pay or our editorial independence. Read more here.

What is price matching

Price matching is exactly as it sounds. A retailer will sell you an item at a lower price if it’s sold for less elsewhere.

This isn’t just about the listed selling price. You can also often price match voucher codes and sale prices.

John Lewis is probably the most famous shop to offer a price promise, with its “Never Knowingly Undersold” slogan a key part of branding. Though it was closed a few years ago, the department store brought it back in the summer. And it’s not alone – you can also take advantage at shops including AO, eBay and Curry’s.

I’ve done price matching a number of times, from smaller items such as Diptyque candles through to a new TV and sound system. When we did our kitchen a couple of years ago I got our oven, fridge, freezer, dishwasher and flooring for hundreds of pounds less – all thanks to price matching.

And it’s not just “things” you buy that can be price matched. It’s possible to save money on hotels, holidays and other services if you look around. You can even find supermarkets matching the prices on some items sold by competitors.

It’s not just about getting a lower price

Since the price you pay will end up the same you might be thinking surely it’s easier to just buy it at the cheaper shop in the first place and avoid all the hassle.

Well, price matching to a different store might give you additional benefits. These include extended warranties, free delivery or longer return rights.

You might even be able to stack on extra savings on top, such as using a cut-price gift card or cashback. All of these can be worth a little extra, whether financially or just in terms of peace of mind.

Some retailers will beat the lower prices

Also, you might find a retailer will give you extra money off the lower price you find at a competitor.

It’s also worth checking if a high street shop will match its own website if there’s a difference in price (this does happen!).

Price matching after purchase

Best of all, some shops that price match also allow you to price match if prices drop elsewhere after you have bought the item. This is a great trick to use during big sale periods such as Black Friday.

I’ve actually done this a few times – even after I’d already price matched to get a lower price. When the price dropped again I was able to put in another claim and get the additional discount refunded.

So it can sometimes pay to choose a shop that offers this over another even if they are the same price – just in case there’s a significant drop later on.

How to price match

First look for a cheaper price. I tend to use sites such as PriceSpy or Idealo to compare. Or just a quick Google search can do the job.

Every retailer has a different policy, but in general you’ll need to provide proof that you’ve seen the item on sale elsewhere for less. This could be a webpage for an online retailer, or the price matching shop might want to phone up a physical shop.

You’ll also need to check that the shop does price match the place you’ve found the cheaper option. They might only price match certain competitors.

Some retailers will have a phone number you can call to put in your price match claim. Others have a form you fill in.

You generally have to wait for confirmation that your item is price matched before you can buy it, though some let you do it retrospectively. In this instance, you’ll also need to provide proof of purchase.

Once you’ve bought something it’s worth keeping an eye on prices for as long as the price promise lasts. To help you can set price alerts on both Price Spy and Idealo which will email you if the price does drop.

What can stop price matching

However, not all shops have a price matching policy, and they won’t always match every price you find.

The key one to watch out for is retailers that only match certain other shops. Many also exclude online-only retailers (i.e. they don’t want to price match Amazon!). Even some sellers which have a showroom or two can be excluded – often the case for the low prices found online for appliances.

The items will usually have to be the exact same model, colour, size and so on. This can prove frustrating if there’s a slight difference, and many retailers will only sell a version that’s exclusive to them that can be hardly noticeable.

The price must also be available to everyone – which means you wouldn’t be able to match a member or staff discount. Others might not match clearance sale prices, or some voucher code uses.

Items also usually have to be in stock at the cheaper retailer and available for delivery. Or if they’re in smaller local retailers you might find you have to live within a certain number of miles.

You might also find it’s rejected if there’s a difference in extras such as the type of delivery or the length of warranty on offer. For instance, if the cheaper model has one year but the price matching retailer offers two years then the latter can claim it’s not the same package.

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Where you can price match in the UK

This isn’t an exhaustive list, but I’ve highlighted some of the big retailers across a range of products and services that are worth looking into.

Just because somewhere isn’t on the list doesn’t mean it won’t price match. It’s always well worth asking if a shop has a price promise – even an unofficial one.

If you know of any more retailers that offer this service, then please do let me know via the comments.

All Beauty price matching

You can price match in advance at All Beauty if you find the product for less at selected retailers including Boots, LookFantastic, House of Fraser and The Perfume Shop.

As well as price matching before buying, there’s the option to request a price match seven days after purchase, although this is “at their discretion”.

AO price matching

To price match at AO you need to call their team with the product code of the item you want to buy and the link for where you’ve seen it for less. You can price match up to seven days of buying an item – great if the price drops again.

Retailers price matched:

  • UK retailers and websites selling UK products

Beaverbrooks price matching

Beaverbrooks will price match up to seven days after purchase if you find the items advertised cheaper by an authorised stockist with a physical store. Discount and voucher codes will also be matched if they can be verified at the time of reviewing the price promise request

Blacks price matching

You’ll not only get the difference back at Blacks but an extra 10% too. The price promise is valid for seven days after purchase. However, you can’t match the price against shops also owned by the parent company JD Sports, which includes similar shops Millets and Go Outdoors.

Booking.com

Matching hotel bookings can be a bit of a faff as it’s often hard to find the exact same listing as the booking sites often have a slight variation, such as check-out times or free breakfast.

But it’s certainly worth a look, and Booking.com is one that offers a refund if you find the exact same room and dates for less elsewhere. You need to contact them at least 24 hours before your check-in date.

Curry’s price matching

Call up Currys price matching team before you buy and share where you’ve found it for less. Currys will match both high street and online prices, including the use of voucher codes and offers, but not member exclusive discounts.

Normally, you can make a claim up to seven days after purchase, but it’s usually extended over Black Friday. In 2024, you can make a claim on purchases between 30 October and 2 December, as long as you let them know by 9 December. If you bought in-store you’ll need to go back there. If it was online you can use a webchat.

Retailers price matched:

  • Any UK retail store or website

Deichmann price matching

Deichmann price match if you find an identical pair of shoes on sale at any UK high street or online retailer at a cheaper price within 14 days of purchase. 

As well as the price match they also give an additional £1 to the customer. Price matches and refunds are processed by Deichmann sales staff in-store or by the Deichmann Customer Services team by emailing [email protected]

eBay price matching

You can even price match at eBay! It’s only for new items sold on the Amazon, Currys, Argos, Asda, John Lewis and Tesco websites. You apply online and if successful will be sent a voucher to use on your purchase within 24 hours.

You can only ask for one price match per day per eBay user and it’s only in advance of purchases – not after.

Retailers price matched:

  • Amazon.co.uk
  • Currys.co.uk
  • Argos.co.uk
  • Asda.com
  • JohnLewis.com
  • Tesco.com

ebuyer price matching

ebuyer.com states that their prices are lower than competitors. But if you find any of their products cheaper elsewhere within 7 days of purchase, contact their customer services and they will match that price and refund the difference. 

However, this will only be as credit on your account, and that has to be used within three months – so it could be that there isn’t anything you want or need to buy from them that doesn’t require you to spend more on top of the credit.

Euronics price matching

Euronics offer an in-store only price match guarantee and may include discount codes advertised by competitors. The price match policy is only available prior to order completion and can not be claimed back after the purchase.

The Fragrance Shop price match

You can match prices instore on the day of purchase at The Fragrance Store. However they won’t match promotions or bulk discounts.

Retailers price matched:

  • Boots
  • Superdrug
  • Debenhams
  • The Perfume Shop
  • House of Fraser
  • John Lewis
  • Selfridges

Goldsmiths price matching

Goldsmiths jewellers offer a price match promise, in-store and online. For in-store price matches, the competitor must be within 15 miles of the store the price match is requested in. For online price matches, the competitor must be a national authorised stockist.

Go Outdoors price matching

Similar to the Black’s price promise, you’ll get 10% back on top of the difference. However you do need to have a Go Outdoors Discount Card which costs £5 a year.

Halfords price matching

With Halfords it’s just the published selling price that is price matched – so you can’t use any additional vouchers or offers on top, such as buy one get one free or clearance. You’ve seven days after purchase to make the claim.

You can also price match instore if the items is sold for less on the Halfords website.

Retailers price matched:

  • UK based
  • Within 10 miles if price matching a service

H.Samuel price matching

H.Samuel is another jeweller that offers a price match promise online where they will price match jewellery or watches if you find them at a lower advertised price. 

There is an easy online form to submit before purchase, but for in-store purchases I can only find information about price matching watches which they will do in over 300 stores nationwide

Hughes Electrical price matching

You can phone Hughes Electrical or use a live chat or webform to request a price match before or up to seven days after purchase.

They’ll match:

  • AO
  • Currys
  • Marks Electrical
  • Richer Sounds

Jessops price matching

Jessops only price matches against prices at authorised retailers for the brands they stock. It won’t match clearance prices.

Retailers price matched:

  • Argos
  • Currys PC World
  • Park Cameras
  • WEX

They also run a Black Friday price promise where they’ll refund the difference if your purchase with made between 1 and 28 November 2024 with is reduced during those dates.

John Lewis price match

The John Lewis Price Promise that returned in September 2024 was different to the one we were all used to pre-2022. For a start it’s limited to seven rather than 35 days after purchase to make a claim.

And the other change is only 25 retailers will now be accepted – though that does include Amazon now. We’ve gone into more detail how John Lewis price matching works in a separate article.

Mamas and Papas price matching

Companies trading in the UK can be price matched at Mamas and Papas, but not any closing down. You can do this in advance or within 14 days of your purchase. Retailers must have a UK high street presence.

Richer Sounds price matching

If you buy with Richer Sounds and find it cheaper you’ll get an extra discount on top of the difference up to 14 days after purchase. You can also price match in advance.

The beat the difference promise ranges from £5 extra on products up to £300, through to £100 on anything over £4001.

Wickes price matching

Wickes’ price match promise is in-store only. It’s valid before a purchase and up to seven days after. You’ll only be able to match with shops within 10 miles of the Wickes you shopped at.

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November 18, 2024   |   ArticlesReview

Monzo bank review

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Everything you need to know about Monzo Bank

With 10 million customers and counting, Monzo’s popularity has swept across the UK as customers flock to get their hands on its hot-coral card. The digital bank led the way with a variety of features to help customers manage their money from the comfort of their phones. 

From spending insights and overdrafts to opening a savings pot, you can handle most aspects of your finances from the Monzo app. This review focuses on Monzo’s standard free-to-use current account rather than the paid-for options.

Find out how Monzo works and whether it’s worth getting an account.

Some articles on the site contain affiliate links, which provide a small commission to help fund our work. However, they won’t affect the price you pay or our editorial independence. Read more here.

a monzo debit card on a blue background

What is Monzo?

Monzo is a digital bank that is operated entirely through its smartphone app. It started its days back in 2016 as a prepaid card, but Monzo is now a fully-fledged bank with millions of customers across the UK.

Monzo has upgraded its features over time, and now offers several types of current account and other services like borrowing, savings and even investing products to help you manage your money. We’ll be putting our focus solely into its free standard current account for this review, though we also have reviews of its Extra, Perks and Max accounts.

Types of Monzo account

Monzo’s expanded its offering over time, so it currently offers seven different types of accounts, with another on the way soon. 

Monzo app

One of the reasons Monzo is as popular as it is is the app. This is where you manage your Monzo account as there aren’t any branches. 

Design and customisation

The design of the Monzo app has been through a few iterations over the years, with the latest one a major update to the home screen design. 

A big part of this is customisation, so you can choose what you see and where. Straight away it makes it a lot easier to see your main Monzo account, and access key features such as your card and get statements. 

Above this you’ll see selected insights into your spending, while Pots can also be reordered and customised, giving you the choice between the “classic look” (with pictures) or a list.

You still have the Trends, Payments and Help tabs at the bottom of the screen to quickly jump between these sections. You’ll find more settings by hitting your initials (or a photo if you’ve set this up) in the top left corner.

Categorisation and notifications

When you make a payment, you receive a notification about the transaction, along with how much you’ve spent that day. The transaction is also automatically assigned to a category. With the standard account, you’re limited to a set number of categories, but they pretty much have all the ones you’d want, including groceries, shopping and bills. 

It’s easy to change the category of a transaction, and when you do, it offers to change similar past and future transactions in one go, so you don’t have to manually change several transactions in a row. 

You can also add tags and additional notes to your transactions to help sort your payments – this is particularly helpful in the joint account to better communicate a transaction. 

Budgeting features

One of the big benefits of Monzo is that it helps you budget effectively. Although, if you really want to get into the nitty gritty then you might be better off with a third-party budgeting app.

Monzo offers “Monzo Trends”, which gives you an overview of your finances in the app, both on the home screen and in a separate tab. 

Here, you can see your individual and combined balances across your different Monzo accounts and any Pots you’ve set up and track your spending and see how much you’ve paid for different categories of expenses. 

For example, it’ll show how much you’ve spent on things like transport, entertainment or groceries to name a few. It also lets you compare your spending insights month on month to highlight any changes.

You can set targets for your spending each month — this can be broken down into specific categories as well. This will then show you how much you have left to spend of your overall budget (and for each category if you’ve set specific targets for those).  

In addition, you can create up to 20 Monzo Pots. These can be used for different expenses, such as bills, food, and nights out. This is very similar to the “jam jar” or envelope budgeting method.

You’re also able to see a list of all of your regular outgoings each month including bills and subscriptions. 

More on Monzo Pots

Monzo Pots can be customised with pictures and bespoke titles.

These do not have their own sort codes and account numbers so you’ll mostly need to manually transfer cash into them, however, you can set Direct Debits to come out of specific pots – handy for allocating cash each month for things like bills. If there’s not enough in a pot, Monzo will pull cash from your main account — so you don’t have to worry about a transaction declining if you’re a little disorganised.

Monzo’s auto-savings feature allows you to round up your payments on the card to the nearest pound and it puts the extra money into a pot for you. This can build up to a nice chunk of change over time!

You can connect to a service called IFTTT (If This, Then That) to trigger auto savings. This can be anything from the 1p savings challenge through to moving money when an event happens such as rain. It’s a unique feature which might make it easier to add to your savings without any effort.

Integrations

The Monzo app is secured with biometrics or a passcode. You can also be emailed a “magic link” to log in. 

You can use Monzo with a great deal of apps that let you connect your account via Open Banking, including Cheddar, Emma, Plum and Airtime Rewards.

In addition, you can use IFTTT, which we touched on earlier. This can be used for auto-savings, but there are actually a fair few different things possible with this, from ridiculous (saving money whenever you Tweet) to sensible (putting your transactions into a spreadsheet or taxing yourself when you get a takeaway). 

These are, realistically, a bit of fun, but they could help you save money in alternate ways, like doing more steps – yep, you can connect it to Fitbit. You can even connect it to your Octopus Energy account and put away money when you save on energy. 

You can pay with Apple Pay and Google Pay, as well as using a smart watch like a Fitbit or Samsung Watch.

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Card controls and virtual cards

You can decide if you want a lower cap for contactless spending, set by default at £100 for single taps and £200 cumulative before you need to enter the PIN. You can also block transactions to gambling websites and services through the app.

Monzo allows you to check your PIN and debit card details, including the CVC, in the app. You can also copy these to paste elsewhere, though I find this doesn’t always work. 

If you think you’ve lost your card, you can freeze it in the app to stop payments from going through until you find it.

Virtual cards are limited to the Premium account holders. If you think you’d like an account that offers virtual cards, Starling might be a good option.

Sending and receiving money in the Monzo app

If you need to send or receive money, you have a few different options.

Firstly, you can easily share your account number and sort code via messenger, email and other apps. It preps a message for you with all the details, so you don’t have to go back and forth. 

If you’re requesting money from people, you can send them a QR code or create a unique Monzo.me link in the app for people to pay you back. You can choose the amount you’re asking for, too. You can use this to pay people, too.

How to find your Monzo.me link

It’s a little tricky to remember where this is in the app if you don’t use it regularly. Go to the Payments tab at the bottom of the app, then click the QR code icon at the top of the screen. You’ll then find a “Share link instead” button on this page. You can also access it from the “Request money” selection. 

If you have friends on Monzo, you can split bills and payments in the app by selecting “Split bill” from the transaction. You can find people with Monzo accounts nearby if you’ve got Bluetooth turned on, too. Great when you’ve just had dinner with your friends and don’t want to faff with entering bank details. 

If you’re regularly splitting bills with the same people, such as your partner, you can also set up a shared tab. This is similar to what Kroo offers, as it lets multiple people assign transactions and choose how to split the payments, and then it works out who owes who what when you choose to settle up.  

What happens to my Monzo account if I lose my phone?

If your phone is lost or stolen, you can freeze your account to prevent any payments or transactions from being made. You’ll just need to log into Monzo’s emergency webpage to activate the freeze. It’s a really basic version of Monzo that only allows you to see your accounts, check your balance, view recent payments from the last 90 days and freeze or unfreeze your card.

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Monzo current account

As a current account, Monzo is pretty decent. It’s a good choice for using abroad, although other accounts definitely trump it, certainly for longer holidays. 

Account basics

You get Monzo’s classic hot coral card with the account, although there have been promotions that can get you another colour when you refer friends. The card is sent out for free and you can get a replacement for free if you lose it. 

In addition, you can start using the card before it even arrives by setting it up with Google Pay and Apple Pay.

You’re also able to set up or amend standing orders or direct debits directly from the app. 

To pay in cash, you need to deposit it at a PayPoint. Monzo charges a £1 fee for making the deposit. You can deposit £5 to £300 at one time, and can pay in a maximum of £1,000 every 180 days. It appears in your account within ten minutes. 

You can pay in cheques with your Monzo app, too. These previously had to be posted, but you can now pay in a cheque up to the value of £500 using your phone’s camera.  

There’s a £10,000 daily transfer limit to UK bank accounts. This is lower than most banks typically offer, with Chase offering £25,000 and Revolut letting you transfer £50,000 per day. Starling is higher than this, at £1m. 

Unlike most other banks, there’s a limit to the amount of cash you can withdraw — you can take out up to £400 every 30 days in the UK (after that a 3% fee applies). However, if you’re using Monzo as your main bank there are no limits at home or in the EU.

How to make Monzo your main bank

If you want to lift some of the limits with the free Monzo account you need to do one of the following:

  • Pay in £500 and have one active direct debit in a rolling 35 day period 
  • Have a student loan payment made into your account in the last rolling 8 month period
  • Received a DWP payment in the last rolling 35 day period
  • Have a joint account with someone who’s met one of the above conditions

You can switch your bank account to Monzo using the Current Account Switching Service (CASS). This is likely to satisfy at least one of these points by default. 

Can I use Monzo abroad?

Monzo is a fairly decent account to use abroad. You can spend fee-free all around the world, and if you have it as a “main account”, then there’s no cap on cash withdrawals in Europe either.

However, if not, then you can only withdraw up to £400 for free per month in EEA countries. All users are capped at £200 of withdrawals in non-EEA countries. If you go over these limits a 3% fee applies.  

This isn’t the best account on the market — Chase offers fee-free spending and withdrawals and 1% cashback on your spending. Check out our roundup of the best debit and credit cards to use abroad for more. 

Monzo account fees

Although Monzo’s standard account is free to use, the following fees may kick in for certain payments or services: 

  • Cash withdrawals in the UK:  Monzo charges 3% on cash withdrawals over £400 in a 30-day period in the UK. 
  • Cash withdrawals abroad: A 3% charge applies to withdrawals over £400 in EEA countries and £200 in countries outside of the EEA. 
  • Cash deposits: You’ll have to pay £1 per cash deposit into your Monzo account
  • Card replacements: Monzo charges £5 for card replacements unless you meet the criteria for 2 free cards per year, your card expires, is stolen or you’re the victim of fraud. 

You get free card replacements if you use Monzo as “more of a bank”. Monzo doesn’t exactly explain how they decide this, but it’s likely to be regular money in and out of the account. You’ll get two replacements per year per account. 

Monzo overdraft

Monzo offers an overdraft on its account. Depending on your credit score, this could be 19%, 29% or 39% to use it. These rates are lower than most other banks, but it’s still an expensive way to borrow and there are better options.

You can borrow up to £2,000, though Monzo chooses this based on your credit score and current borrowing. 

Monzo keeps a tally of how much your overdraft will cost you each month based on the amount you have overdrawn and for how long. This stays at the top of your account, so you can keep tabs on the cost. 

Other things you can do with the Monzo current account

Monzo has a few additional features, including a salary sorter, loans, credit cards and a teen account. Here are the details.

Salary sorter

This feature splits your salary across different pots, such as money for spending, bills and savings. It works for any sums over £100 coming into your account with one of the below payment types. You can choose your sorting settings within 72 hours of money entering the account.  

Eligible payment types include:

  • Bank Transfers
  • BACS
  • Cash Deposits
  • CHAPS
  • Cheques 
  • Peer to peer

Get paid early

If your salary is paid into Monzo, you can be paid the money at 4pm the day before. This is for BACS payments up to £20,000. This is simply Monzo clocking that money is due to enter your account and passing it over a day early. It isn’t considered to be borrowing, so it won’t impact your credit score.

16-17 account

Younger students aged 16-17 can apply for a Monzo account as well. The Monzo 16-17 account works in the same way as the standard one, except there are spending blocks built into the account for age-restricted things like gambling. 

Mortgage tracker

You can connect your mortgage to the Monzo app and track your payment progress, explore overpayments and get more insights. Though, how useful this will be is questionable.

Loans and credit cards

Monzo offers loans of up to £25,000 for eligible account holders. It also offers Monzo Flex, which is basically a credit card with Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL). You can split the cost of your purchases into instalments over three, six or twelve months with this.  

Monzo rewards

Monzo’s not offered much in the rewards space during its time, but it’s slowly improving this. 

Savings rates with Monzo

To save money with Monzo, you can make use of the Pots feature to separate money from your main account. However, to earn interest on this money you’ll need to open a specific savings pot. This pays 3.6% at the moment, though there’s an account at 4.02% via Shawbrook too. Both can be beaten with other savings accounts. 

Monzo switch and referral offers

Monzo doesn’t offer any switching deals currently, though you can still switch as you would to any other bank using the Current Account Switch Service (CASS).

We have a round-up of the best bank switching deals which will tell you which providers are offering top-paying welcome bonuses, cashback and rewards if you switch to them.  

You can get £5 for you and a friend if you refer a friend.

Cashback with Monzo

Monzo launched cashback in late 2023.

You can’t earn cashback on all of your spending, as Chase offers. Instead, Monzo has a list of participating retailers, where you can earn cashback on your spending. These change fairly often, with Monzo notifying you each week of your cashback offers. At the time of writing, I can get 3% cashback at Sainsbury’s, 5% from Just Eat and 10% from Krispy Kreme. 

These need to be loaded before you can use them, and cashback will go into a separate pot, so you can keep track of what you’ve earned. We’ve written a full guide on how it works. 

The best savings accounts

Check out our list of the highest paying regular, easy-access, fixed and ethical savings accounts

How to apply for a Monzo account

You can apply for a Monzo account for free, here’s how:

  1. Download the app: Search “Monzo’” in the App Store or Google Play, then hit download. It’s worth seeing if any friends already use Monzo as you might be able to get a £5 referral link to use when joining.
  2. Personal details: You’ll fill in the first section of the application with personal details such as your name, home address, employment status and phone number.
  3. ID checks: Monzo will then verify your ID by asking you to snap a picture of your ID. You can use your passport, driving licence, national ID card or biometric residency permit. Then record a selfie video. 
  4. Choose your account: Once your ID is confirmed you can choose your Monzo account and card. 
  5. Activate your card: You’ll need to activate your card in the Monzo app to start using it. (It usually takes a couple of days for it to arrive at your home address). 

Will there be a hard credit check when you apply?

Monzo is one of the few UK current accounts that doesn’t perform a hard search on your credit report when you apply – as long as you don’t apply for any borrowing such as an overdraft or Monzo Flex. 

This means it can be a good “dummy” current account for bank switching. Though be aware that if you switch away you’ll have to wait at least 30-days to open another – and there’s no guarantee they’ll offer you one.

Is Monzo safe?

Monzo is a fully-fledged bank and is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). That means that it’s legally required to treat customers fairly and protect their funds. 

Up to £85,000 of the money held in your Monzo is protected by something called the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). 

This basically means that if Monzo goes bust, you’ll be able to get up to £85,000 money back. 

However, if you add money to some linked savings accounts (though not all), they may held with other banks. It’ll be clear who this is (if it’s not Monzo) when you open that savings pot.

What is the FSCS scheme?

FSCS protects up to £85,000 of your money held in banks regulated by the FCA. It’s important to note that the protection applies to a banking licence and multiple banks can be held under each one licence. 

So, let’s say you have three current accounts with different banks under the same licence – e.g. Lloyds, Halifax and Bank of Scotland, that means the £85,000 coverage would be split across all three, rather than applying to each account. Here’s more.

Will Monzo close my account?

There are often reports of Monzo closing or freezing bank accounts – there’s even a Facebook group devoted to impacted customers. And they’re not the only bank to come under fire for this, NatWest, Barclays, Monese and Revolut have also hit headlines for bank account closures too. 

Ultimately, as with all banks, Monzo has the power to freeze, block or close your account to protect other customers. 

Some of the reasons why they might close your account include: 

  • Unusual activity:  If they suspect your account is being used for criminal activity it may be blocked or closed. (This includes if their fraud systems pick up that someone else might have access to your account to protect your money from being stolen.)
  • Risky customers: Any account holders that are flagged as a risk to Monzo or other customers may have their accounts closed. 
  • Police instruction: Monzo will close your account if they’re asked to by the police as part of a financial crime investigation. 

We don’t think it should be something to worry about over other banks. Monzo argues they might appear to close more accounts, but that’s because their technology means they’re better equipped to spot dodgy behaviour. 

However, they won’t always get this right. So if you are affected, then contact the Financial Ombudsman.

Monzo Smart Money People rating

Customers have rated Monzo 4.92/5 over at Smart Money People. 

Positive reviews of Monzo’s standard current account highlighted the ease of use, app features and savings pots. 

Negative reviews of Monzo’s standard current account had issues contacting customer service and getting their queries resolved. 

How to get help with Monzo

Monzo is a completely digital bank and doesn’t have any physical branches for you to visit. So, most of the customer service is managed within the app. 

You can get in touch with Monzo’s customer services team 24/7 with urgent queries by tapping the “help” tab and starting a chat (at least you should be able to – check out the next box if it doesn’t appear for you).

Why isn’t the chat function showing in Monzo?

Though some Monzo customers will be able to easily click to chat with Monzo, some users won’t find this option (including our Editor Andy). Luckily we’ve uncovered a workaround. 

On the Help tab, type “Contact support” in the search box, and it’ll pull up a page where you can open up a chat via a link called “Tap here to get started”. 

You’ll see some preset options, and even if these don’t relate to your query you can keep answering questions until you’re shown the option of “ I need to chat with someone”

Monzo also offers customer support via call between 7am and 8pm. You can call for free on 0800 802 1281 if you’re in the UK or +44 20 3872 0620 if you’re calling from abroad. 

There are some things Monzo can’t help with over the phone though. This includes sharing account information and updating your mobile number or email address registered to your account. (You can update these in the settings on your app).

Pros and cons of Monzo

Pros

  • Simple to set up and use
  • Lots of budgeting features and some spending insights
  • Fee-free spending abroad
  • Automated savings including round ups and your own scheduled savings pots
  • Ability to combine with IFTTT to boost savings
  • Potentially lower cost overdrafts
  • FCA-regulated and FSCS protection
  • No credit checks unless you apply for an overdraft

Cons

  • 3% charges on cash withdrawals over the free allowance in the UK and abroad if it’s not your “main account”
  • No bank branches or face-to-face customer support
  • £1 fee for each cash deposit you make (and you can only deposit £1,000 every 6 months) 
  • You have to pay for full functionality
  • No virtual cards on the free account
  • No bank switching offers 

Summary: Is Monzo any good? 

Beyond the fandom, Monzo’s standard current account is a decent all-rounder for spending and budgeting. 

The redesign is a return to a more intuitive experience, and it still offers lots of features that help you get to grips with managing your money, setting budgets and saving too.

Little things like being able to view your debit card number or PIN make paying so much simpler as well (though of course, many others offer this too).

Overall, if you’re looking for an easy way to budget and manage your everyday spending, it’s worth giving Monzo a look – as long as you’re comfortable with a fully digital banking experience.

However, we think there are better options, which we’ve listed below.

The best bank switch bonuses

Check out our list of all the bank switch offers you can get when opening a new current account

the best bank switch offers on a blue background

Alternatives to Monzo

For an everyday banking experience, Starling still has the edge in our opinion. Plus there are no limits on cash withdrawals and the ability to use the Post Office for cash.

Chase is also very easy to use but comes with the added bonus of 1% cashback at home and abroad. 

Alternatively, you could look at a reward based account from more established banks that have much-improved apps as well as access to high street branches (as long as they’ve not been shut down). Freebies include free Disney+ from Club Lloyds or £5 a month from Halifax Rewards. 

And, when it comes to saving, you’re probably better off automating the money you’d like to set aside to go to an account with another provider. This means that you’ll be able to take advantage of the best savings rates out there. 

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November 13, 2024   |   Articles

Amex Shop Small cancelled in 2024

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£5 back when you spend £15 at small shops won’t be returning

Every year, American Express ran a Shop Small offer giving money back for every £15 spent at small businesses. You could get money back from shops, restaurants, pubs and even places like hairdressers, galleries and dentists in the form of a statement credit.

But from 2024 it didn’t return. Here’s everything you need to know.

Some articles on the site contain affiliate links, which provide a small commission to help fund our work. However, they won’t affect the price you pay or our editorial independence. Read more here.

Amex shop small and be clever with your cash logo on yellow background

What happened to Amex Shop Small in 2024?

One of my favourite perks for being an American Express customer was always Shop Small. You’d spend a set amount (around £15) and get a fiver back. It encouraged you to support local businesses and make some money!

However in the last years of the offer, it got smaller and smaller, reducing how many times you could use the promotion and how long the offer ran for. Eventually it was just three times over just three days – a far cry from the two weeks and ten redemptions previously.

Well, American Express quietly killed it off completely in 2024. Their press office told me that a competition announced in October 2024 was instead of the cardholder credit offer, rather than as well as.

Cardholders nominated their favourite independent retailers. There were 50 cardholders who won £1,000 credited to their card. You could enter ten times until 7 December 2024, though it had to be a different shop for each nomination.

In addition, ten of the nominated small shops got a £10,000 grant.

We don’t yet know whether this competition will return for 2025.

When is Amex Shop Small 2025?

American Express won’t be running the scheme in 2025.

How Shop Small 2023 worked

Though it won’t be back this year, here’s how it last ran in 2023.

The pretty big change was a reduction in how many times you could use the offer.

  • Earned £5 back for a spend of £15 or more (before 2021 this was £5 for every £10 spent)
  • You could get the offer at up to three different small shops (previously five shops in 2021 and 2022, and before that in ten shops)
  • There was a cap of £15 earned per card (previously £25 in the last two years, and £50 before that)

It also lasted for just three days. THREE. This reduction was a huge difference to previous years. In 2022 it lasted for ten days, down on the 13 of winter 2021, and 16 days in the years before this.

Other conditions stayed the same, including the rule that you could only earn a Shop Small credit once per retailer, per card.

How you could make the most of Shop Small

Here’s how you could take advantage of the offer when it was running. Note the following all refers to the offer as it ran in 2023.

Add the offer to your card

The offer wasn’t automatically applied to your account. You needed to “add” the offer to your card to take advantage.

Throughout the year you also saw other decent offers. Over the years I gained £250 off a £500 United flight, £20 back from a Eurostar trip, 10% off LNER bookings and £100 back from a £250 hotel booking spend – and there were plenty more. I reckon I easily made another £50 to £100 each year from these offers, sometimes much more.

Add it to your partner’s card

If you had an additional, or ‘supplementary’ card on your account for your partner, then they could also add the offer to their card.

This meant you could both take advantage of the promotion, and you could shop twice at the same retailer – once with each card.

Apply for an extra American Express credit card

You weren’t limited to a single American Express card. Since the offer was per card not per person, if you got another card or two in your name it increased the retailers you could spend at.

You could also get a welcome bonus on a second or third card as the Platinum and BA Premium Plus had different eligibility conditions, depending on which cards you already held. I’ve written more about how to get multiple Amex signup bonuses here.

The latest Amex offers

Check out this article with details of boosted referral bonuses and other extra offers with your American Express card.

Think beyond your normal shopping

It’s easy to always buy things at the same big shops, or visit the same places. This was a chance to try new stores and businesses.

Some of the businesses I looked out for were:

  • Off-licences
  • Corner shops
  • Cafes and restaurants
  • Bars and pubs
  • Small boutiques
  • Museums and galleries
  • Services like dentists, dry cleaning or picture framing

Buy gift cards

If there was nothing you wanted to buy in the moment but you knew there would be purchases you’d make at specific businesses in the short term, then you could buy a gift card using Shop Small.

Split the bill

If you used Shop Small at a restaurant and you were with someone else using Amex, you could split the bill so you both got the credit.

Who paid for Amex Shop Small discounts?

The money all came from American Express. The shops and retailers weren’t be out of pocket at all. You genuinely were helping shops by using this offer which is why it’s such a shame it’s gone.

Our podcast

Listen to Cash Chats, our award-winning podcast, presented by Editor-in-chief Andy Webb and Deputy Editor Amelia Murray.

Episodes every Tuesday.

Listen now
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How I used Shop Small in 2023

What I planned on buying

The changes to the promo in 2021 changed how I took advantage, and that was even more so with the latest cuts in 2023. I used to mainly spend in restaurants and bars, using it as an opportunity to enjoy a meal out with a little discount, but that got harder over a weekend, especially over multiple cards.

So I looked out for retailers that sold gift cards. This meant I could extend the offer by a few weeks and months.

How to get an Amex credit card

It could take up to two weeks for your card to arrive, though it’s usually much quicker.

(A quick aside, if you don’t feel confident you’ll be able to pay off your spending every month, then don’t even apply! The interest charges will far outweigh the benefits you get).

Right now there are a couple of boosted refer-a-friend welcome bonuses, which is normally a great extra. You can get the increased deals via:

The latest Amex offers

Check out this article with details of boosted referral bonuses and other extra offers with your American Express card.

Read next

November 10, 2024   |   Deals

Craft beer discounts, deals and vouchers

Written by

Save money on beer from the likes of Brewdog, Beer52 and more.

This page is dedicated to special offers, sales and vouchers which will help you get already cheaper beers for less, or make rarer and more expensive small-batch beers more affordable.

Some articles on the site contain affiliate links, which provide a small commission to help fund our work. However, they won’t affect the price you pay or our editorial independence. Read more here.

Image of beer bottle and cans on a table

Free beer

Free 4-pack of Beavertown for Londoners (ended)

You can currently get a free four-pack of Beavertown Satellite Super Session IPA. All you’ve got to do is sign up, purchase a pack from a London Co-op and upload your receipt using the link you’ll have been sent to claim the money back. You can get up to £7 for a 4-pack.

This offer ends on 30 November 2024 or when 3,600 cashback redemptions have been made.

Get a free 4-pack of beer

Beer 52

Beer52 is a monthly subscription box full of beers and there are always deals out there to save on your first box. Alternatively you can also buy individual beer as you please via an online beer shop.

Also, from time to time Beer52 also offer heavily discounted boxes of beers that are close to or just past the best before date. They’re still good to drink, and I once picked up a fantastic Stone Brewery box with 8 beers for about £12. I’ll add any of these deals I spot below.

Beer52: Free beer box trial (pay £5.95 postage)

If you’ve never used Beer52’s monthly subscription box before then you should be able to get a free box of 8 beers for just the cost of postage (£5.95).

If you don’t want to keep getting beers in subsequent months, which will be charged at the full price, you’ll need to cancel. You can choose to take holidays if you’d rather where you miss the odd month.

Try the Beer52 club

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November 6, 2024   |   Articles

How to find cheap flights

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16 ways to save money on your travels

We’ll tell you how to find the cheapest flights, give you tips to keep the costs down, and we also lift the lid on all the so-called hacks to make your air travel as cheap as possible.

Photo of a plane wing

Some articles on the site contain affiliate links, which provide a small commission to help fund our work. However, they won’t affect the price you pay or our editorial independence. Read more here.

Make use of flight comparison sites and trackers

Google Flights, Skyscanner and Kayak are just three of the many flight comparison sites out there that can help you find the cheapest price possible for the flight you want.

If you are particular about a date and a place you want to fly to, then you can set up alerts on all of these sites. Then just sit back and leave the comparison sites to tell you when it’s best to book. If the price drops (or dare we say rises), these alerts will let you know.

Alternatively, if you are not fussed about the exact date you want to fly, then you can use comparison sites to look at a whole month and use this to pick the cheapest dates. 

This works too if you’re not set on a particular place as you can simply input ‘everywhere’ as your destination and see the cheapest places to visit in a particular month.

Using this method, you can even find great priced flights in the busiest travel months of the year. For example, input the month of August 2024 into Skyscanner with ‘everywhere’ as the destination and at the time of writing you’ll find return flights available to book for less than £50 to Denmark, Norway, Italy, Luxembourg, Germany and more.

Check for codeshare savings

Codeshares are a type of flight where one airline operates the flight, while other airlines may sell seats on it. Sometimes exactly the same flight is cheaper when you book through one or the other airline. You can check who will be operating the plane by checking the flight number. 

That said, you will need to watch out for transatlantic flights as US airlines aren’t part of stronger EU rules on delay compensation – even if you booked via an EU or UK partner.

Book budget flights earlier rather than later

Tickets are often less with budget airlines when they first go on sale. As seats sell, fares tend to increase in price with the most expensive ones close to travel.

However, buying early doesn’t mean they won’t get cheaper, since airlines often run promotions, but generally with budget, the earlier, the better.

Watch out for flight brokers

When you use sites like Skyscanner and Kayak, you’ll usually see prices from third party agencies, and these can often appear to be the cheapest option.

Booking through them should be the same as booking via a travel agency but we’ve seen several stories where the price changes or different flights are booked.There have even been cases where bookings haven’t been even made and customer service has been non-existent.

Do a little research before using one, as most have plenty of customer reviews. If there isn’t a great deal of difference in price, then it might be better going with the airline directly or using a more established agency such as Expedia or eBookers.

The best savings accounts

Check out our list of the highest paying regular, easy-access, fixed and ethical savings accounts

Consider indirect flights

To keep the costs down when looking for flights, consider flying indirect routes, as these are almost always cheaper. You can do one way or both ways indirectly.

It is best to book as one trip rather than booking individual legs separately, so you’ll be covered if you are delayed on any flight and will get moved to a later connection.

For peace of mind, it’s always best to choose connecting flights that give you at least one hour to get from plane to plane as you may need to go through customs or pick up your luggage on the way. This varies depending on the country you are passing through, so always allow yourself enough time so you’re not running to your next connection.

Just a heads up, when looking at indirect flights be aware that there are some connecting flights which require you to switch airports. I’ve seen this for US flights where the connection is in New York and you land in JFK but take off on the connecting flight from Newark airport. 

You would have the cost and hassle of lugging your cases across New York, making that low cost indirect flight you found, not quite as good as you once thought!

Make a stopover

If you don’t fancy extending your flight time or enduring lengthy layovers in the airport when flying indirect, it could be better to extend the interim stop and spend the night there. You’ll often save some cash and there’s the benefit of getting to visit another destination on your trip.

Go “open jaw”

An alternative to a stopover is an “open jaw”. These flights are booked at the same time but depart from and return to different airports.

A few years back, editor Andy flew from London to San Francisco and returned from San Diego to London. This allowed him to spend a day in San Francisco before getting a separately booked short and cheap flight to San Diego.  All three flights combined were actually cheaper than flying direct to San Diego!

To find options look for multi-destination options in search options. Or, if you want to book the additional flights yourself, we also like the site Skiplagged to find potential routes.

Fly into other airports

If a town has multiple airports or if there are alternative airports that are easy to travel to then it’s worth checking prices at each of those for both your departure and arrival. Do check exactly where these are though as you could find you’re adding on more time and money to actually reach your final destination for some.

You may actually find these smaller airports have less queues at passport control as they’re often quieter. I have also found with car hire it has been cheaper to pick up and drop off at the smaller airports. Obviously this is not always the case, but it’s worth checking all the costs involved with travelling before booking your flights.

Keep luggage costs down

The first price given on most airline websites is the cost of the flight without hold luggage, so if you want to keep the flight price as it is, then you need to travel light.

Now there are some circumstances where you have to take hold luggage such as if you have large cosmetics, golf clubs or a big suitcase. But rather than book the upgraded economy ticket to include this, work out the price difference if you add these as extras – it can sometimes work out cheaper. 

This can really save cash when booking for multiple people as the airlines apply a seat upgrade to all the tickets you are booking. Since you won’t necessarily need a hold suitcase for each person, you can just book all the travellers at the basic rate and then add on the amount of hold luggage you’ll be taking as an extra. 

This is how I book flights for my family as we never need 5 suitcases – I book the most basic ticket and add on 2 additional suitcases.

If you are adding sports equipment as an extra, such as golf clubs, and there’s space, think about packing your clothing and toiletries in with the equipment (up to the permitted weight), rather than paying for an additional suitcase. The additional padding from the clothes protects your sports equipment too!

Make your carry on luggage allowance go further 

Different airlines offer different carry-on luggage weights and size limits, but here are the airlines with the best carry on allowance included in their most basic fare, that we found:

  • Norse Atlantic 40 x 30 x 15 cm, no weight limit
  • British Airways 56cm x 45cm x 25cm and 23kg + a personal item like a handbag or small rucksack
  • Virgin 23 x 36 x 56cm and 10kg plus a personal item small enough to fit under seat in front (no weight specified)

Using the free carry-on luggage allowance to its max, which with some airlines will be a small suitcase and a rucksack, may mean you don’t actually need a large suitcase in the hold and this could save you money.

Make sure you read up on what you can put in your carry-on luggage as there are restrictions on liquids among other things.

Still need more room? Think about stuffing clothes into your neck pillow. You can buy one specifically designed to do this, or if you already have one with a removal cover, ditch the cushion and fill it with pants, socks, t-shirts and other soft clothes and you have a luggage carrier that’s also a comfortable neck pillow – great for those long haul flights.

Don’t pay to book seats when you book your flight

To book airline seats or not to book seats? A question everyone wants answered, but there’s no right or wrong answer. 

If you want to ensure you are sitting with your travel companions or, if you have a preference for a particular seat on the plane, then expect to pay a hefty price to guarantee this. The airlines are really cashing in when it comes to seat allocation and you can expect to pay anything from a few pounds to a few hundred pounds to guarantee your seats.

But Which? recently surveyed the major airlines who, all but Ryanair, confirmed they have systems that will always try to seat groups on the same booking together. 

So if you check in as soon as you’re able to, you should in theory get to sit together, as long as there are seats available. Now if the flight is busy and lots have decided to pay upfront for their seats, then this may stop you from getting seats together.

But you can keep checking the seat allocation on your flight right up to check-in. By going to the ‘manage my booking’ section of the airline’s website, you’ll be able to look at what seats have been taken and what’s available by doing a mock seat purchase.

The reserved seats will usually be greyed out so you’ll be able to see how much space is available on the flight and make a call as to whether it is necessary or not to pay to reserve seats.

If you’re willing to wait until check-in to select seats, ensure you check in at the soonest you can. This will vary by airline, also by ticket type and even by loyalty card status. For example, BA bronze executive club members get to select seats one week before departure whilst for Blue members and non-members it’s 24 hours.

Check your options if you’re travelling with kids

If you’re travelling with kids, then most airlines will aim to sit you together or as close as they can. Again it’s no guarantee, but they do go out of their way to ensure this happens so you don’t have to pay to reserve seats. 

RyanAir is a bit different and allegedly it separates parties unless you pay to reserve seats. To guarantee sitting with your children, they insist you pay to reserve a seat so bear this extra cost in mind before booking.

Make sure you pick a good seat

Before you book your seats, use a site like seatguru to find out which seats are the best and which ones should be avoided, as it maps out each plane and colour codes seats according to how good they are. If they’re colour coded green, then the seat has had a positive review.

Our podcast

Listen to Cash Chats, our award-winning podcast, presented by Editor-in-chief Andy Webb and Deputy Editor Amelia Murray.

Episodes every Tuesday.

Listen now
Andy and Amelia with the text "Cash Chats Personal finance podcast"

Don’t forget your airmiles

If you collect the various airline points, then don’t forget to check the price of flights by paying with points in part or in full as you may be able to snag yourself deal. 

Most of the time we think you’re better off swapping your Avios into Nectar and shopping around for flight deals, but if you have companion vouchers you may be able to save on your tickets.

Use “incognito” or private browsing

Experts differ with their opinions on whether this actually happens or not but some say that flight websites use tracking cookies when you’re looking for flights to change the price if you’ve searched for the same route a few times. It’s been reported that you might even get higher prices if you use an Apple Mac rather than a PC.

There’s no guarantee you’ll get lower fares, but if you use the incognito option in Chrome or private in Safari you can hide your search cookies from them. Just remember to close the windows and open new ones for each search. 

Sign up for deals

Sign up free to Jack’s Flight Club and get an email every week with the best flight deals they have found. There’s also a premium membership at £39 a year where you’ll be sent even more deals. I’ve not signed up for this, but if you have the flexibility with work and family to get away on a whim, it could well be worth it. 

Secret Flying is another site worth looking at if you want a rock bottom price for a flight and are open to different destinations. 

Read next

November 6, 2024   |   Articles

Restaurant discount cards compared – are they worth it?

Written by
Tastecard, Dine, Meerkat Meals, Gourmet Society and Hi-Life Diners Club all offer good deals on dining out, but are they worth shelling out for?

You know me, I’m always looking for deals and discounts, and dining cards seem like a fantastic way to save some cash when eating out. But could you just be paying for something you don’t really need?

Rather than review them individually, I’ve compared what you get with each of the options and shared not just how much they cost, but whether they represent good value for money.

image of mobile with the apps

What restaurant discount cards are available?

There are currently four main options:

  • Dine Club
  • Gourmet Society
  • Meerkat Meals
  • Tastecard

How do dining cards work?

Sign up for one of the memberships and you’ll have access to discounts at thousands of restaurants in the UK. You can find out which restaurants are participating and what you’ll save via their websites and apps.

Once you join you’ll either be sent a physical card to put in your wallet or a digital card you access via an app on your phone.

Some restaurants require you to book in advance, but plenty allow you to just turn up. Let them know you’ve got one of these cards, present it when you ask for the bill, and you should get the money off your meal. Easy.

What discounts are available?

The offers used to be quite different, but now they are pretty similar. If there’s more than one type of deal it often depends on the individual restaurant which one applies.

  • Tastecard: 2 for 1 or 50% off, plus 25% off Caffe Nero
  • Dine Club: 2 for 1, 50% off or 25% off total bill
  • Meerkat Meals: 25% off the entire bill, 50% off pizza delivery
  • Gourmet Society: 25% off the whole bill including drinks, two for one meals or 50% off food

Anything to watch out for?

A few things you need to be aware of:

  • There are often exclusions on weekends, and some restaurants don’t let you use the card in December
  • Some restaurants have a limit of two people per card, though some let you use more than one card on a table
  • You might also have to book in advance
  • They will auto-renew! Make sure you cancel soon after you buy the card to avoid this as full-price is often (though not always) a rip-off. You’ll still be able to use it for the length of your membership and you can then look for a better deal if you choose to renew
  • I’ve had restaurants I’ve visited tell me they’re no longer accepting the cards, even though they’re still listed, so it’s worth checking before you turn up

Our podcast

Listen to Cash Chats, our award-winning podcast, presented by Editor-in-chief Andy Webb and Deputy Editor Amelia Murray.

Episodes every Tuesday.

Listen now
Andy and Amelia with the text "Cash Chats Personal finance podcast"

Where can you eat?

You’ll find some restaurants on all or most of the memberships, while others will only be on one.

Ultimately, which is best comes down to where you live and the type of place you want to eat. So if your local fave you often eat at is only with one membership, then that’s possibly the best for you.

There are plenty of chains too. You can check which restaurants are near you on the various websites and apps.

What free trials are there?

Half of the memberships offer free or £1 trials, with periods ranging from 30-days up to 90-days.

Check out the latest Tastecard and other dining card deals here. Typical free trial offers include 90 days Tastecard for free and 90 days Gourmet Society for £1.

You can even get a 24 hour pass for Dine for £1.99 which is perfect if you don’t need a long term membership.

Which is cheapest?

Dining membershipFree trial?Annual cost
TastecardYes (latest here)£39.99
Gourmet SocietyYes (latest here)£34.99
DineClubNo£49.99
Meerkat MealsNo£1 (via hack)

A year of Meerkat Meals can be picked up for around £1 using a simple little trick – and you get Meerkat Movies too.

With the others, an annual membership is likely to be the most cost-effective once you’ve had the free trials.

You can also choose to pay month by month for some of the memberships, which works out more expensive over a year, but possibly cheaper if you only need it a few times a year. And the £1.99, 24 hour deal from Dine Club is great to use if you’re not a frequent restaurant goer.

What extras can you get?

Tastecard and Gourmet Society have discounts on cinema tickets and days out whilst Meerkat Meals goes hand in hand with Meerkat Moveis.

The cinema offers tend to be discounted tickets at most major chains and some independents. This is pretty good, but as my ultimate guide to ways to save at the movies shows, there are other ways to save – often with bigger discounts. And you have to be careful that your local cinema doesn’t have an offer that beats this.

Should you get a restaurant discount card?

I think these memberships can each be really good value – but it mainly depends on four factors:

The price

If you have paid around £40 you only need to eat out two or three times to break even. As long as you’d do that anyway, it’s a no-lose situation and you will start saving afterwards. If you think you’ll use the cinema discounts too, then even better.

The discount

Two for one is great for two people, not for three. And though one card might give you 50% off food, another might give 25% off food and drink. Depending on how much you spend on booze, you might find the lower discount actually saves you more money.

The restaurants near you

It’s always worth checking what’s available near where you live and work as these are the places you’re more likely to visit – and then check if there are other savings you can get for free.

Will you actually use it?

I found that when I lived in London there were so many quality restaurants I wanted to eat at that I rarely used my membership cards. I’d rather enjoy my meal or try something new than go somewhere simply because there was 50% off.

But of course, if your fave place to eat is listed, then these can be brilliant ways to spend less when eating out. 

Andy’s top tips

I’d recommend taking out the trials rather than buying one straight away. This will help you see just how much you will use one. If it’s not much, then you know these might not be for you.

And you’ve always got the option with most to take out a monthly membership. Though your savings per meal will be less, you’ll be better off in the long run.

Do try, if you can, do support local restaurants though over the chains. So many are shutting their doors that our support can make a big difference.

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November 1, 2024   |   Articles

Black Friday Bootcamp – get yourself fighting fit

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The things you should do BEFORE the Black Friday sales begin.

Black Friday is nearly here. Almost. Even though it won’t take place this year until Friday 29 November, the emails are already beginning to filter through and some early sales have begun. This will really ramp up later in the month.

That’s going to bring in a huge temptation to spend money, but also the potential to save money on things you actually need.

If you follow my three steps below, you’ll not only be fighting fit to get the best deals, you’ll also be able to avoid spending money you really shouldn’t.

And when the sales do start we’ll be updating our epic Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales page so keep an eye out!

Some articles on the site contain affiliate links, which provide a small commission to help fund our work. However, they won’t affect the price you pay or our editorial independence. Read more here.

Get your money in shape

This first part is ensuring you are properly prepared financially for the sales.

Check what you’ve got

Obviously you don’t want to spend more than you’ve got. If you have savings you don’t need elsewhere then that’s your fund. But make sure you keep enough back to cater for emergencies.

Consider a cashback payment card

If you are confident you’ll only spend what you can afford, then it’s worth considering a cashback card. You’ll earn a little bit back each time you spend, including some new member bonuses on some cards.

If you don’t have one you still have time to get one. The Chase Bank current account gives you an instant digital debit card and you’ll the physical one in the post a few days later. This offers 1% cashback up to £15 a month.

A bigger rate could come from American Express welcome bonuses, and you should have time to apply and get your card in time. But to make these worthwhile you have to be able to repay the full amount of spending every month.

The best cashback debit and credit cards

Check out my list of the best cashback cards

Find extra cash

If you think you’ll be short of the funds you need then you’ve still got time to cut back on spending elsewhere or even look to earn a little more. There might also be some cash sitting in forgotten online accounts you can use.

Do your prep

Once you know what you can afford, it’ll help you work out what you are going to buy. This second step is making sure you don’t overpay in the Black Friday sales. Plus how to avoid getting carried away and buying things you don’t need.

Work out what you need

Avoid getting dazzled by a discount – it might not be something you are going to use. That’s a waste of money, no matter how much you use it.

Write a list of what you need and what you’re looking for. This’ll help you avoid endless scrolling through pages and pages of offers.

Think about why you are shopping

A study by the Money & Mental Health Policy Institute found that 54% of those with a recent mental health problem had shopped online to make themselves feel better.

If you find yourself putting something in the basket you hadn’t planned on buying then pause. If you can leave it a few hours, perhaps even a day, you’ve time to think about whether you really want to buy it.

The best deals

Find our picks of the best offers in our dedicated deals library

Research what a good price actually is

Often the advertised discounts aren’t the real saving. Just because it says it “was £390, now £199”, it doesn’t mean it really is. This isn’t a random example.

A few years ago Argos had a Dyson vacuum cleaner as one of its headline offers with these exact prices advertised. £190 off sounds great, doesn’t it? In reality, you could have picked it up for £250 just before the sales. So yes, it’s still a good £50 off, but it’s not £190 off. So you need to be wary.

It’s easy to research the items on your list. A simple Google search will give you an idea, or if you want to take it a bit further you can look at the price history. This way you’ll know the real selling price in recent months.

Stop spending money now

If there are things you want to buy, then try to hold off until Black Friday itself. That’s when most retailers save their best discounts. Amazon is a great example, and its Echo, Fire TV and Kindle devices are likely to be heavily discounted – that’s how they get you on the site.

If you really need something now, or there’s a good deal, then, of course, go ahead and buy it. You might be able to claim a refund if the price drops later (more on this later).

Check returns policies

Make sure anything you get early can be returned. If you spot any bigger discounts during the Black Friday weekend you can always get it again at the lower price, and take back your original purchases for a refund.

Make your savings even bigger

Fast forward a few weeks and the sales are finally here. You’ve got your list of what you need to buy and know your budget so you can be more focused on your shopping.

This last part is full of the tricks to make sure you’re getting even more savings when you shop in the sales.

Use cashback sites

Quidco and Topcashback give you a little more when you shop. If you’ve not signed up I’ve deals that’ll get you a combined £40 bonus the first time you use each one.

Don’t forget your cashback card

And if it’s a credit card make sure you pay it off in full when the bill comes. 

Use a discounted gift card

A hack that’s been around for years but has recently got easier, is to buy a gift card at a discount and then use that gift card to pay. Here’s more about the pros and cons of paying this way.

Don’t get carried away

These sales might often have low prices but if you can’t afford it now, wait. You can still get a decent price at other times of the year, possibly even better if you time it right.

Shop with intent

That list you made of things to buy? Stick to that by only searching for those items. Be wary of just browsing.

Try to price match

The John Lewis & Partners’ “Never Knowingly Undersold” price promise is back this year, and there are other retailers who offer something similar. This can help you bring prices down more – sometimes even after buying.

And there are some shops, including John Lewis, where if you bought from them and the price subsequently drops, you can get the difference refunded.

Our podcast

Listen to Cash Chats, our award-winning podcast, presented by Editor-in-chief Andy Webb and Deputy Editor Amelia Murray.

Episodes every Tuesday.

Listen now
Andy and Amelia with the text "Cash Chats Personal finance podcast"

Avoid Buy Now Pay Later services

I’m really not a fan of services like Klarna. They encourage people to buy more than they can afford, which can cause financial problems down the line.

The only reason they might be handy is if you are getting more than one size of an item and know you absolutely will return the ones that don’t fit. In that case you might be able to avoid paying for those extra sizes at all – though some refunds are taking a while to come through from shops, so don’t bank on this.

Sign up to our newsletter

Our weekly newsletter is worth signing up for anyway, but on the Thursday before Black Friday I’ll share the essentials you need, and hopefully some exclusive discounts.

Check out our ultimate list of Black Friday shops and deals

Our Black Friday deals page doesn’t have anything yet, but it will be updated with early deals when they start to appear. And then as more information is released, a huge list of who is doing what, and some of the top deals. So book mark it now and come back later in the month.

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October 28, 2024   |   Articles

Christmas savings schemes: boost your supermarket spending

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Asda, Morrisons, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Iceland and Co-op all offer Christmas schemes, and there’s a trick to get the bonus without risking your cash

The idea behind these supermarket savings schemes is to help people gradually save up some money that can be used at Christmas when food bills are usually higher.

As an incentive, some supermarkets offer a small bonus, normally between 2% and 6%. But you can take advantage of a loophole where you can get the full bonus paid out, yet you’d only need to “save” your cash for a day or two.

Here’s how they work, and how to get the best return possible.

image of Asda Christmas savings card and Sainsbury's Christmas savings card

This article might contain affiliate links, which provide a small commission to help fund the blog. However, they won’t affect the price you pay or the blog’s independence. Read more here.

Why I’m not a fan of Christmas saving stamps

First, these are marketed as alternatives to saving at a bank. Well, any money held in a bank is protected if the bank goes bust. If these supermarkets were to go under or you lost the gift card or voucher once it’s been paid out, you’d lose all your money.

You’ve also got less flexibility of how, when and where you spend your savings via these schemes. They tend to require you to spend your stamps in December, and obviously you can only spend them at one retailer.

Not only does that restrict the supermarket you use, but if you have an emergency you can’t use the money you put into stamps for any other reason. You might also not get change from your vouchers, pushing you to buy things you don’t need to hit the voucher value.

There are other options for people who want to save regularly in the build-up to Christmas, with banks and building societies currently paying rates of up to 6%. You can find the best rates in our summary.

So generally I’d say stay clear. But there is a trick where you can avoid most of the pitfalls but gain the free bonus.

Getting the most out of Christmas bonus schemes

Here’s the cash hack. The bonus on these cards isn’t paid until a set bonus day. So it’s only the amount saved on that date that counts. Plus there’s no requirement to save each week or month to use these schemes.

This means you can instead pay in as much as you can (up to the set limits) just before the scheme closes. Literally on the final day if you want.

Say you put in £120. You’ll then be entitled to the same bonus as someone who’s saved £10 a month since last Christmas.

Until you do this, you should be paying your money into a high-paying current account. So you’ll have earnt money in those accounts too. Double win!

But just make sure you’re aware of the risks and limitations with each card, such as deadlines to spend the money on your supermarket Christmas card.

The Christmas saver schemes

We’ve explained each of the main schemes and their deadlines below. But before you try this trick out yourself, do make sure you can spend the amount you save at that supermarket in the time given.

We are talking about small amounts of money unless you buy multiple cards. So it’s only worth the effort if you are shopping at those retailers anyway.

Asda Christmas Savings Card 2024

You can collect your card in-store, and then register it online.

The deadline to add funds onto an Asda Christmas Savings Card is 5pm Sunday 10 November 2024. The bonus will be applied by 9am on Monday 11 November.

The bonus increases the more you save

  • £1 bonus when you save between £30 and £79
  • £3 bonus when you save between £80 and £129
  • £6 bonus when you save between £130 and £179
  • £9 bonus when you save between £180 and £229
  • £12 bonus when you save between £230 and £279
  • £15 bonus when you save £280 or more (max amount per card)

With this and all the other schemes, those savings are not cumulative. So put £80 on the card and you’ll only get £3, not £1 for the first £70 and another £3 for getting over the £80 threshold.

However, you don’t need to put the money down gradually – you can do it in lump sums. We’ve found that you can put up to £140 in at a time, so you can make two payments to get the full amount available.

The most effective way to do this is to keep your cash in a savings account, and then pay whatever you can afford by 10 November to earn the bonus.

With the highest level (£280) it’s the equivalent of 5.3% extra free. If you only save £79 it’s 1.25% extra.

There’s no limit to how many cards you can have. This could be useful if you’re short of hitting the bottom of a new level. For example, it’s better to have two £30 cards than one with £60.

Also you can use them all year round, not just in December.

BEST VALUE: £280 earns £15 = 5.3% bonus

Asda Rewards Cashpot 2024

Asda has an additional Christmas savings scheme for Asda Rewards members.

The Christmas Saver Cashpot is a feature in the Rewards app that works by allowing you to transfer money earned from your regular Asda Cashpot to the Christmas Saver Cashpot. The maximum amount you can transfer is £300 in total.

Until 3 November, some customers have the opportunity to earn a £5 bonus in their Christmas Saver Cashpot by completing a mission. If you have a bonus mission, you’ll find it in your Asda Rewards app. The missions vary by customer – we’ve seen a mission to earn the £5 bonus by completing one shop over £40 and also a mission to shop twice before 3 November to earn the bonus.

You can transfer money into your Christmas Saver Cashpot until 3 November 2024 and you can convert your Christmas Saver Cashpot into vouchers to spend at Asda, in-store or online, from 8 November until 31 December 2024, after which they will expire.

Co-op Saving Stamp 2024

You buy actual physical stamps with the Co-op scheme. Each stamp costs £1 and you put them in a booklet which you can use at the till whenever you want.

But to get a bonus (£2) you need to have filled a full book, which is 48 stamps. Hand this over at the till and you’ll get £50 knocked off your bill. That’s the equivalent of 4% extra. This bonus is only available in December, though you can use and buy the stamps every month of the year.

There’s no limit to the number of cards you can have, so you can have multiple cards to add stamps to. But make sure you don’t lose your cards as there’s no protection.

So the best option here is to buy 48 stamps just before you want to shop. Stick them all in, then hand it over. As with Morrisons, you will need to spend the full amount. So that’s a shop of £50 or more.

BEST VALUE: £48 earns £2 = 4% bonus

Iceland Bonus Card Christmas boost 2024

This scheme from Iceland runs all year so isn’t technically a Christmas scheme, but the loophole works the same. You get £1 for every £20 you add to your account, worth 5%.  The bonus should be added within 48 hours.

This year, the Christmas bonus is available if you are invited to take part by email. If you hit the savings target of £100 by 4 November, you’ll get a £10 Christmas bonus on top of the standard bonus. You should receive your bonus by 22 November.

The £10 Christmas bonus must be spent by 23 December 2024.

You can use the app or pick up a temporary card in Iceland stores, and will be posted a full card once you register online.

It’s a limit of one Bonus Card per invited customer and there’s a maximum of £1,000 that can be added to your card. Cards expire 24 months after you last use them.

BEST VALUE: £100 earns £15 = 15% bonus

Morrisons Christmas Savers 2024

The Morrisons Christmas card is linked to the Morrisons More app. Morrisons Christmas Saver stamps are purchased in-store by asking the cashier to add your chosen amount of digital stamps to your account. You will need to go online to monitor and manage your savings.

The cut-off point to buy stamps is 31 October 2024. The total saved and bonus added will be converted into a voucher to use in-store or online. You have to select on your My Morrisons account which you want. If it’s in-store you have to collect them yourself.

You also can’t get change from a voucher. So if you have a £100 voucher you need to spend £100 or more in a single transaction at the till.

The maximum bonus you can get is £6. It’s calculated as follows

  • £1 bonus when you save between £49 and £96
  • £3 bonus when you save between £97 and £145
  • £4 bonus when you save between £146 and £193
  • £6 bonus when you save £194

The biggest return is £3 when you spend £97 or £6 when you add £194, gaining you 3%. I’d be wary of adding too much to this card as you need to spend your voucher in a single transaction, and there’s the end of the year deadline to spend it.

BEST VALUE: £97 earns £3 = 3% bonus

Sainsbury’s Christmas Club 2024 (including Argos)

The money you save on the Sainsbury’s Christmas Club card can be used online and in-store at Sainsbury’s and Argos. The bonus is worth 5% on every £50 you save.

The deadline for this one is 1 November 2024. Whatever you have on the card by 11:59 pm that evening will be used to calculate the bonus. There’s a minimum of £50 and a maximum of £500. Here’s how much you’ll get:

Card balanceBonus Value
£0.00 – £49.99£0.00
£50 – £99.99£2.50
£100 – £149.99£5.00
£150 – £199.99£7.50
£200 – £249.99£10.00
£250 – £299.99£12.50
£300 – £349.99£15.00
£350 – £399.99£17.50
£400 – £449.99£20.00
£450-£499.99£22.50
£500 and over£25.00

You can only add money to the card in a Sainsbury’s store, both at a normal and self-service checkout.

The bonus will be added to your card by the end of November and you’ll have until the date printed on the card to use it.

BEST VALUE: every £50 earns £2.50 = 5% bonus

Tesco Christmas Saver 2024

The Tesco Christmas Saver 2024 is live so you can start saving now. Here’s how it works.

You’ll need to opt in to switch your usual Clubcard vouchers for Christmas vouchers before 17 October 2024. 

To earn a Christmas bonus, you can top-up your Clubcard with money throughout the year via the Tesco app or Clubcard website, up to £360. Just click on the Christmas Savers banner on the app or website and select top up now. Bonuses are calculated as follows:

  • £1.50 bonus when you save between £25 and £49.50
  • £3 bonus when you save between £50 and £99.50
  • £6 bonus when you save between £100 and £199.50
  • £12 bonus when you save £200 to £360

You get the top-ups and any bonuses sent as vouchers in your November Clubcard statement, alongside any Clubcard vouchers you’ve earned. You can then spend them in Tesco online, in-store or on petrol. You can’t boost them with Clubcard partners.

Clubcard vouchers and top-up vouchers are valid for 2 years, and the bonus vouchers are valid for 3 months.

BEST VALUE: £100 earns £6 or £200 earns £12 = 6% bonus

Saver scheme deadlines

To make sure you don’t miss out, here are the last dates to add money to the schemes for 2024:

SupermarketLast date to add moneyMaximum bonus
Tesco17 October 20246%
Morrisons31 October 20243%
Sainsbury’s1 November 20245%
Iceland6 November 202420%
Asda10 November 20245.3%
Co-op31 December 20244%

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October 23, 2024   |   Articles

How to get free Amazon returns

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The reason you choose when returning an item can affect how much money you get refunded

Amazon’s dominance and often low prices means you’ve probably bought something from the online giant over the last few years – even if, like me, you’ve been trying to support local businesses.

But what happens if you don’t want or need something you’ve purchased? Well it’s pretty easy to return something online with Amazon. But one of the steps is more important than you probably realise – the reason why you want to make the return. Pick the wrong one and you may end up having to pay the postage.

image of a parcel on a doorstep

Some articles on the site contain affiliate links, which provide a small commission to help fund our work. However, they won’t affect the price you pay or our editorial independence. Read more here.

Amazon’s returns policy

As with most online purchases from any retailer, you’ve 14 days after you get the goods to return them. You don’t have to justify the return. In most cases, Amazon actually extends this period to 30 days.

A few items can’t be returned, generally anything that’s been customised or is perishable. You also can’t return media (such as CDs or DVDs) that have had their seal broken. You can read about these and a few other exemptions on Amazon.

But just because you can return a purchase within this time, it doesn’t mean it’ll be free.

Andy Says: Think twice if you’re returning to a small retailer

It’s worth noting that the refund rules apply across all of Amazon. But not everything you buy with the retailer is actually sold by them. It might not even be dispatched by them.

When you buy from third parties, they’ll obviously have to shoulder the costs of returns. And this can make quite a difference to their profit margins. 

So if you are returning the item because it genuinely is one of the chargeable reasons, consider whether you really should opt for a free option instead.

If it’s sold by Amazon though, I’d say it’s fair game to get them to fund the return costs. If it’s “fulfilled by Amazon” or sold by another shop, then it’s best to pay to return (as long as it’s not their fault).

When Amazon will charge you to return an item

There are three options you can choose which will mean you will get your refund minus £3.99. These are:

  • Accidental order
  • Better price available
  • No longer needed

The first one is easy to do with Amazon’s “One Click” buying option. I know I’ve accidentally hit that button when browsing but realised in time to cancel the order before dispatch. But if you’ve not realised until the package arrives at your front door Amazon wants to charge you the cost of sending it back.

This is possibly also the option you’d choose for any mistakes you made – perhaps you selected the wrong colour or didn’t properly read the description.

The common theme with the other two options is that you’d rather not keep the purchase, either because you want to pick it up for less elsewhere or you simply changed your mind. In each of these instances, Amazon is saying yes you can get your money back, but we’re going to charge you for having to bring the items back to the warehouse.

It is possible however, to avoid these charges by choosing one of the other options instead.

When Amazon won’t charge you to return an item

Now if you’ve brought something that is broken or faulty then Amazon has to either offer you a replacement or a full refund. And you’ll also get the delivery cost back. You will have to explain how it or the packaging is broken.

You can also get a free return and full refund if an item has arrived after it’s estimated despatch time. This is a really useful one. I think lots of people shop on Amazon for the fast delivery, often when they’ve left something to the last minute. And if a delay means you get something too late, then it’s worth returning the items and getting the full refund.

But what if it’s not damaged and arrived on time? Well, there are alternatives reasons you can choose, including the following:

  • Incompatible or not useful for the intended purpose
  • Performance or quality not adequate
  • Description on website was not accurate
  • Unauthorised purchase

I think the first three here are all justifiable selections if what you’ve bought isn’t what you hoped it would be. I wouldn’t use unauthorised purchase unless this really has happened – which could well happen if you’ve got kids talking to your Alexa smart speaker!

A final group where you can get free returns, and all your money back, is anything categorised as clothes, shoes, jewellery or watches. With these, you have to be able to try something on, so it’s near on impossible to know if it’s right before you order. If you’re not with Prime, here are some tricks to save money on your Amazon delivery.

What happens if you paid for speedier delivery?

One caveat with these reasons for returning is that you’ll only get the cost of the cheapest delivery refunded. Now, if you’re a Prime member buying from Amazon then this is irrelevant, as you won’t have been charged delivery.

But non-Prime members, or anyone buying from a third party might have paid extra. Of course, if the item is faulty you will get all the money back.

How to return purchases to Amazon

It’s actually very easy. Go to the orders section of your Amazon account and find the item you want to send back. Choose one of the reasons above which gives you free returns, then select whether you want a replacement or a refund.

If you choose refund you can have the money put back on your payment card or added to your Amazon account. Credit to your account will happen as soon as the item is received. If you choose your card, it’ll take 5 to 7 days.

Then you’ll be able to choose your return option. You can drop your parcel off at a number of drop off points including a Post Office or an Evri ParcelShop or arrange a collection. You don’t even need a label for some options, as they can be provided when you hand over your package.

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