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’vebeen 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.
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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.
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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.
We review which site is best for selling DVDs, books and CDs
Over the years I’ve accumulated hundreds of CDs, books and DVDs. Yet thanks to Spotify, Netflix and my Kindle they’re just gathering dust. So if you want to sell books, CDs or DVDs then trade-in apps may be your answer. We put the market favourites to the test to see if you’ll make pennies or pounds from your unwanted items.
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Sites to sell CDs, books, games and DVDs
I looked at three different companies which all promise to buy your unwanted physical media and also compared these to what you could potentially make on eBay and Amazon Seller.
The apps I used were:
Music Magpie
We buy books
World of Books (known as Ziffit at the time of writing)
All three also work by entering details into a website if you don’t want to use a phone.
I also looked for others out there and it seems that MoMox and Zapper are not currently up and running.
How these buying sites work
Just scan the barcode with your phone and instantly receive an offer (or not) for your media.
Reach the minimum amount – one of the frustrations with some of these apps is you can’t trade in until you reach a minimum amount. This figure ranges from an achievable £5 through to £15, and when many items are offered to you for 10p, that’s quite a few to sell before you reach the threshold.
Package and post – once you’ve accepted the figures for the trade, you need to box the titles up. Most allow you to drop the box off, though some will collect by courier. There isn’t usually a charge for this.
Wait for payment – you only get paid once the items have been received and checked. With CDs, DVDs and games in particular this involves a condition check. If they aren’t of the desired quality you might get less cash, or even none at all.
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How the trade-in apps fared
Having just moved house, I was still clearing out as I unpacked boxes and found books, CDs, DVDs and sheet music books that I hadn’t touched in years. So I grabbed five of each and used the apps below to see just how much money I could make. You can sell computer games too but I didn’t have any to sell.
I’ve summarised the results in this table so you can see how Ziffit (now World of Books), Music Magpie and We Buy Books compared:
Trading app
Amount offered (for 24 items)
Minimum payout
Extra incentives
We Buy Books
£3.92
£15
10% extra with code APP10
World of Books (was Ziffit)
£3.41
£5
10% extra for new traders with code WELCOME10
Music Magpie
£1.52
£5
10% extra with code GET10EXTRA
We Buy Books
We Buy Books accepted a few more items than the others (10 out of 20) but offered slightly lower individual prices. And the funny thing is, quite contrary to their name, they didn’t accept any of the five books I tried to sell! That said, I’ve used them to sell books before and had some success, mostly 10p offers but I did get a random £6 offer for a grown-up version of a Where’s Wally book!
I was disappointed this time with their offer prices for the sheet music books. Most offers were around 50p which I guess is better than the price they offer for most books, but the one I found could possibly sell for around £25 on Amazon, they only offered just 12p for!
Summary: OK for sheet music books and DVDs but didn’t accept any of my reading books. It would take quite a lot of products to get to the £15 minimum for payout, so not great if you only have a few items to sell.
World of Books (was Ziffit)
Ziffit, as they were known as at the time of research, were good for their offers on the sheet music books and DVDs but only offered 10p on one book and made zero offers on the CDS. In total, they made offers for 9 out of the 20 items with prices ranging from 10p to 50p, so nothing to shout about.
Summary: Good for sheet music, although don’t expect any offers higher than 50p. The £5 minimum payout is much more achievable and good if you have fewer items to sell. Not great for CDs or books in this particular case.
Music Magpie
Music Magpie would only take 7 out of 20 the items and the prices they offered were very low – in fact the best offer they gave was 40p for a Shawshank Redemption Blu Ray. They didn’t accept any of the books and offered just pennies for the sheet music books. They gave more offers for CDs than the other apps, but don’t expect anything big, the maximum was 22p.
Summary: Better than Ziffit and Music Magpie for CDs, but low prices across the board. £5 minimum payout is easier to achieve, so good if you’ve only a few items to get rid of.
Are these trade-in apps worth it?
From my test the answer is generally no. This kind of physical media just doesn’t hold its value, and with people also not really buying these items second hand, these websites don’t always offer a price which makes it worthwhile.
But you will get larger amounts for special editions, rare items, recent releases and textbooks, though you’ll probably get more for them on eBay.
And if you’re struggling for extra cash and don’t think you have the time to eBay your unwanted items, then these sites may just be the quick answer you’re looking for.
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Are Amazon Seller and eBay better?
Since none of the buying apps came up trumps, I thought I’d compare their offers to what I could get elsewhere. CEX doesn’t buy books, but you can list these on eBay and Amazon (through Amazon Seller).
Obviously this is based on an estimate of what you could potentially make. For eBay, I looked at the same items and what price they are currently offered for. And for Amazon Seller, they give you the price after fees for the lowest price the item has sold at.
Other things to take into account are the photos, listing and packing for making Ebay sales, which all takes time and it would have to be done for individual items (although you could possibly sell in bulk). For Amazon Seller, if you go down the route of FBA (fulfilled by Amazon), then there are the storage fees to take into account if the products don’t sell.
And with both eBay and Amazon, there’s no definite sale. You could be holding on to the items for months or even years.
That could be an issue, unlike with the apps mentioned above where you have a definite income (once the products have been received and assessed).
How much could I make?
So what can I potentially make from Amazon Seller or eBay? Amazon Seller to me seems the best to go with but it requires some work. For the 20 products I’m planning to sell I could potentially make around £70 and on eBay about £60. But neither of these estimates are reality until the products sell.
Both estimates are a lot higher than the £3 odd offered by the buying apps above. The biggest difference in price I found between the trade-in apps and Amazon, was for a City of Angels music book. This was worth 43p on Ziffit and 12p on both We Buy Books and Music Magpie, yet Amazon predicts it could sell for £24.65.
That said, both Amazon Seller and eBay do require a lot more effort and man-hours than the trade-in sites, but I could make more money from them if my items go on to sell. But for convenience, the question is whether I should just take the £3.92 offered by We Buy Books!
There are an estimated 76 million old £1 coins still in circulation and £7.2bn in old notes
How many old notes and coins are still in circulation?
A BBC Wales investigation found that a staggering £7.2bn of old-style banknotes were still out there.
The breakdown of old notes was:
110 million £5 notes
62 million £10 notes
171 million £20 notes
52 million £50 notes
And there are coins too. The current pound coin, with its many sides, two colours and other anti-counterfeiting measures has been around since May 2017. The old round coin stopped being accepted in shops six months later.
At the time there were thought to be 500 million of the old coins in circulation, so the fact there are still 76 million out there is surprising. There’s a good chance many of them are lost forever, but a huge chunk of that £76 million pounds has to be just sitting in our homes.
If you find an old pound coin, you won’t be able to use it any shops or businesses. And you won’t be able to exchange them for the new pound coins either.
But you will be able to pay them into accounts at banks, building societies. If you don’t have your bank near you, or it’s someone like Monzo or First Direct with no branch, then you can also deposit old round pounds at the Post Office.
So if you track any down, then simply pop into your branch with your bank card and get it added to your balance. There’s a chance your bank could have a minimum number of coins to make a deposit
Before you do that, it’s worth a quick check on somewhere like eBay that you don’t have a rare version which could be worth more.
What to do with old £5, £10, £20 and £50 notes
If you have a UK bank account, the easiest way to exchange your old banknotes is to pay them into your bank account at a local branch or Post Office. There are also 48 Post Offices that will swap old banknotes, even if you do not have a bank account.
You can also take your old notes in person to the Bank Of England in London or send them via the post for a swap.
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Where to look for old coins and notes
If you haven’t checked for the old coins or notes, here are a few of the less obvious places you might have forgotten to check.
Your kid’s room
Soon after the old pound coins stopped being legal tender, my then seven-year old niece shared she had a small pot full of them that she was saving. In the end it turned out my dad (her granddad) had already switched them over to the new version. But it shows that if you’ve got kids with a money box or small purse they could be hoarding some old coins.
Winter clothes and bags
If you change your wardrobe with the seasons, then there will be some clothes – particularly coats – you’ve not used for six or more months. Check the pockets and check the bottom of bags.
Occasional use bags
A bit like the winter clothes, you might have bags you rarely use. It could be a posh handbag or a small one for weddings and nights out. You might have a sports or gym bag that’s not been used all summer. Basically anything you’ve not used for a while but you might put cash in!
Random change jars
We’ve got a couple of these at home and I tend to forget they are even there. Since I hate having loose change I tend to empty my wallet whenever I get some. This is usually onto random surfaces, which my wife then moves into a jar. It’s mainly pennies, but you could have a pound or two buried within.
One of our random coin jars – no £1 coins, new or old, but plenty of coppers!
Your glove compartment
Though most car parks are going cashless, you might have a few quid hidden in the glove compartment.
You can pay between £3.49 and £7.99 a month to get free delivery and other discounts
Takeaways might be tasty but they aren’t a cheap habit. And once you add in the service and delivery charges you get on top from the likes of Deliveroo and Uber Eats, it can quickly add up to much more than you intended.
Deliveroo knows this, so it offers a delivery subscription service, which gives free delivery on orders for a monthly fee. And did you know that Amazon Prime customers also get Deliveroo Plus included in their subscription?
But is paying for a monthly membership going to save you any money? Here’s our take.
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 Deliveroo Plus?
You’re basically signing up for a delivery pass with a monthly charge. Depending on the tier you select, you’ll get free delivery when you spend over a certain amount.
However, you will still pay the service charge on each order. Deliveroo also promises that members will receive extra “Plus” discounts – we’ll take a look at these below.
You are only tied into one month at a time so you can pick and choose when you want to use it. However, it will auto-renew if you don’t cancel.
Deliveroo Plus costs
There are two levels you can choose between:
Deliveroo Plus Silver
Cost: £3.49 a month
Minimum order for free delivery: £15 for close orders, but this may increase for restaurants further away — more on this below
Minimum order for free grocery delivery: £25
Until 31 January 2024, the minimum order for restaurant orders was £25, so the lower £15 level will mean single people can still take advantage of the scheme.
Deliveroo Plus Gold
Cost: £7.99 (was £11.49 a month)
Minimum order for free delivery: £10 for close orders, but this may increase for restaurants further away — more on this below
Minimum order for free grocery delivery: £15
You can order back-to-back free deliveries to different addresses with Gold, so you could potentially share your membership and split the cost.
In addition, Gold members get 10% credit back on every eligible order over £30. This cashback can then be redeemed on your next order. You can save up your cashback and stack it in one order, too.
Essentially, if you reckon you order more than £80 in takeaways each, you might make back the difference as well as get the other benefits, but this might be a fairly high threshold for a lot of households.
There is also an invite-only membership known as Deliveroo Plus Diamond, which gives you all the benefits of Gold membership plus free priority delivery on eligible orders and your full order value back as credit if your order arrives more than ten minutes late.
Other Deliveroo costs
You’ll still have to pay delivery charges if your order is less than the minimum set by your subscription level, and there could be a small order fee added on top.
Though you’ll get free delivery if you reach the minimum spend, there is still the service charge to pay – although this is reduced with the Deliveroo Plus Gold membership.
What is the extended delivery fee?
In April 2024, Deliveroo announced that it would be introducing a “small extended delivery fee” when drivers need to travel further (we think this is for ones four or more miles away) . We asked Deliveroo for more information on this and were told that the fee “applies to [Deliveroo] customers and primarily depends on how far the rider needs to travel to reach the customer. This fee will be discounted, exclusively for Plus customers, so members will pay less than other Deliveroo customers.”
We’ve taken a look at the app and it appears that the delivery cost for these restaurants is significantly higher — more than twice the cost a lot of the time. However, the minimum amount for delivery is also higher — and in the seven restaurants we checked, if you order above the minimum delivery, the delivery fee is removed.
However, order below the minimum order and you’ll pay a significantly higher delivery fee and a small order fee — these came to more than £10 at all of the restaurants we tried.
Deliveroo Plus discounts
Deliveroo Plus free trial
You can often get one 14-day free trial per account. You can cancel at any time before the trial ends but you’ll sacrifice any remaining days left. But forget to cancel and you will get charged.
If that happens, you’ve still got a 14-day cooling off period to request a full refund – as long as you don’t use the service in that time.
You’ll see the option to sign up in the app or on the site. If it’s not there then go to settings.
Free Deliveroo Plus with Amazon Prime
Amazon Prime members can get a free year of Deliveroo Plus Silver, worth £41.88. This (as you can see above) entitles you to free delivery if you spend £15 or more on an order. Here’s how to claim the offer.
If you end your Prime membership during the year you’ll also end your Deliveroo Plus membership. At the end of the year your membership will end – unless you had a membership running before activating this offer. In that case it’ll revert to whatever plan you were on.
Amazon Prime costs £95 a year and comes with free Amazon delivery and free Amazon Prime Video streaming (among other extras). You can also get a 30-day free trial.
If you already pay for Deliveroo Plus then it’s worth considering whether getting Prime as well for an extra £53.12 could be a decent deal. But following my year without Amazon, I’ve come to the conclusion that paying for Prime really isn’t worth it.
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These extra discounts have the potential to save you cash – but it’s a bit of a postcode lottery.
These are typically ones where you need to order a number of times at participating restaurants in a set time to get money off a fourth order – but the chances of you finding the restaurant you want to order from listed in this promotion are slim. And it could tempt you to order more than you normally would just to get a smallish discount.
If you pay for Gold you’ll also get £5 credit if your order arrives later than initially expected.
So, you probably don’t want to sign up expecting to save extra from the membership, though it’s a handy bonus if you do manage to.
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Is Deliveroo Plus a good idea?
Andy’s Analysis
Taking a look at some of the delivery charges near me, they range from 79p through to £3.49 – with the majority around the £3 mark. Have a look at your most recent orders and see what you’ve been paying each month.
I’d imagine that if you are someone that regularly orders at least two takeaways from Deliveroo over £15, then you will hopefully get your £3.49 subscription fee back after one or two orders, maybe three.
It’s a tougher sell for people who won’t hit the £15 minimum spend for the Silver option. With the cost of the next tier at £7.99, earning 10% cashback would mean you’d need to spend about £80 per month on takeaways to make the month back. In delivery charges, you’d need to order at least three times a month (probably more) to get the month back. This can be harder to justify (unless you split the membership with a friend or family member at a different address).
So do the (quick) maths to work out whether you’ll actually benefit from this scheme or whether you’ll actually be spending more than the actual deliveries cost.
But even if you think that makes sense, there are some wider issues you need to consider.
First, if you sign up for a service like this it will be really tempting to order more takeaways. And that means you will spend more.
Second, it ties you into using just Deliveroo. And if you want to order from a restaurant on another app or direct, then you’ll have to pay a separate delivery charge.
Finally, it’s actually often cheaper to order direct from the takeaway. Since Deliveroo (and the other apps) take a decent cut of the sale, prices can be higher than if you go direct. Plus you need to factor in that service charge on top. Though sadly fewer and fewer restaurants are offering their own delivery service.
So check out the websites for your faves, and see if the prices are lower, and if delivery is free. If so that sounds like a better option – plus the restaurant will get to keep more of the money.
But if you order at least once a month from a Deliveroo only takeaway and spend at least £15 each time, then the family pass at £3.49 will mean you at least break even. That means there’s not much harm giving it a go – as long as you don’t start ordering more frequently than if you didn’t have it!
How to cancel Deliveroo Plus
Simply head to your account and select the option to cancel your membership. If that doesn’t work you can email [email protected].
New Trading 212 customers get an increase of 0.82% AER to 4.92% for 12 months
More details ▼
Additional Info
Existing Trading 212 customers get a rate of 4.1%
FSCS Protected?: Yes
Allows transfers in?: Yes
Flexible ISA?: Yes
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Avoid supermarket orders on takeaway apps
Finally, a reminder that ordering from supermarkets on Deliveroo and Uber Eats is generally going to be more expensive than doing it yourself or ordering from their own delivery services.
Deliveroo promo codes
New users can also save money on their first order by using a promo code. I’ll list the best ones of these on my takeaway deals page.
Having one bank account isn’t just risky, it could be costing you cash.
Lots of people only have one current account. And if they’ve not yet switched it for some free cash, they’ve probably had it for a long time.
But limiting yourself to a single account – whether through loyalty, indifference or simply not knowing you can have more – is a bad idea.
And opening up new accounts can bring benefits when managing and accessing your money – and even making some extra cash.
Keep reading or watch this video to see why I think you should have more than one account.
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Can you have more than one current account?
Let’s get this cleared up first. Even though many think they can only have one, there’s actually no limit to how many you can open from different banks. You might even be able to have more than one from the same institution.
Due to my job, I’ve got a number of current accounts (it’s actually up to 23 now), but most of you won’t need anything near that many. In fact even just having two can be enough.
And there’s very little risk in opening and running multiple accounts. I’ve shared a few things to consider further down the article.
10 reasons to have more than one current account
Here are the main reasons I think you should open up extra accounts.
If your bank has technical issues
We rely so much on online and app banking nowadays that not having access for even a few hours can be much more than an inconvenience.
The TSB debacle a few years ago saw people unable to access their wages or pay their rent. Though the length of time the TSB systems were down has been an isolated incident, occurrences of website crashes and app downtime for hours are increasingly frequent at a number of banks.
And the risk of this happening to your bank is the number one reason why I think you should have at least two current accounts. In this second account put enough money in there that you can cover essentials for a few days. If you can put more, then even better.
Make sure that this second account isn’t part of the same group as these tend to share technical systems. So If you’ve got a Halifax account, make sure the second isn’t Lloyds, and visa versa. And the same for Natwest/RBS. I think First Direct and HSBC have different systems but it’s can’t hurt to do the same.
To separate your savings
When I was younger I was guilty of just having all my money in one account – savings and spending. Which meant that I didn’t ever really know how much I had in savings, and it was possible to “accidentally” dip into those funds with everyday spending.
The answer to avoid this is to open up a separate account and move all your savings over. Then set up a standing order to regularly move more money each month.
You could of course put this cash in a normal savings account, but the top rates right now are in a handful of current accounts.
You can get 6% on up to £4,000 with Santander, while there’s 5% for one year on up to £1,500 with Nationwide’s FlexDirect. You can also get even better rates, between 6.17% and 7% in linked regular saver accounts with First Direct, Co-op Bank, Lloyds, Nationwide and NatWest that require a current account with that bank.
These are far higher than you’ll get anywhere else for cash savings right now. I’ve written more about the best place for savings here.
This trick also works if you have a huge overdraft. If you’re regularly in the red, it can be hard to track how much if you’re also spending out of the same account.
But if you open a separate account for your everyday spending, you can begin to treat and manage the overdraft debt as you would any other owed money, such as a loan or credit card. That’ll help you focus on clearing it (especially since you’re likely paying a huge 40% interest on that cash).
To protect your cash from scammers
Sadly there are more and more scams aimed at your bank accounts. From fake phone calls through to phone thefts, you’re at risk if you have all your cash sitting on one place.
Of course, if a crook does get access to one account, they might also be able to access others at the same time, so make sure your accounts are protected in advance.
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To manage your money with someone else
Every couple manages their money differently. Some only have their own accounts and that can work fine. But joint accounts are particularly good for join expenses.
You need to have a chat with your partner about what works best for you, and it could be a joint account is a bad idea – especially since it will link you on things like your credit report.
For help with budgeting
I think it’s worth having a separate account too for your everyday spending. You only move over the cash you want to part with, whether on a weekly or monthly basis. Ultimately this will stop you overspending and also help you keep track of where your cash is going.
There are certain accounts that make this a lot easier. Monzo, Chase, HyperJar and Starling are all really good banks for this as they also have additional pots or spaces to further break down your spending.
New Trading 212 customers get an increase of 0.82% AER to 4.92% for 12 months
More details ▼
Additional Info
Existing Trading 212 customers get a rate of 4.1%
FSCS Protected?: Yes
Allows transfers in?: Yes
Flexible ISA?: Yes
▲
To make some money
If you only want a maximum of two bank accounts a really good option is to make sure one of them is going to be making you money.
There are plenty of accounts offering freebies such as Disney+ and cinema tickets or even money each month. The more of these you have the more you’ll get.
I’ve made a lot of cash by switching from bank to bank and nabbing incentive bonuses each time. Now some people struggle with the idea of switching once, let alone repeatedly, and in part that’s because they like the bank they are with.
Well you can get around this by having a separate account that you just use for switching. The offers come and go (there have been none during lockdown), but there’s no harm having an account ready for if/when offers appear.
I’d also try to ensure one of your accounts – and again this can work if you only have two accounts – has a branch that you can physically walk into if you need to.
Though I rarely need to go into a branch these days, there are times I do. In the last year I’ve had to take out a large amount of cash, sign forms and pay in cheques (though as I wrote some banks allow you scan cheques via the app). And only a few years ago I popped into a Halifax after there were some fraudulent transactions on my card.
Yes you can cover a lot of this online or over the phone, but I like the option to go into a branch if I feel the need. And if you’ve multiple accounts it’s easy enough to make sure one of those is local.
For fee-free overseas spending
A final one to add to your wallet is an account with Chase, Starling, HyperJar, First Direct, Monzo and others all offering fee-free spending abroad. Here’s more in guide to specialist travel cards.
Multiple current accounts and your credit score
Before applying for a new account, make sure your credit report is up to date and there aren’t any obvious warning signs. This is because you will be credit checked each time you open an account (except with Monzo, Chase or Starling).
It’s worth spacing the applications out rather than doing them all at once. And if you’re thinking of applying for a mortgage in the next six months it’s wise to just hold off until that has gone through. But the risk is minimal.
Halifax Rewards for free cash every month (review)
Opening up additional current accounts
It’s very easy. You simply pick which account you want to open and go through the application process. You’ll enter details about your address history and income, and share ID such as your passport or driving licence.
Some accounts will let you do this completely online, and will absolutely be the case for digital only banks such as Monzo, Starling and Virgin Money. You’ll probably need to upload photos of ID.
Others might require you to visit a branch with ID to complete the process. I can’t say which ones will and won’t ask for this, but this happened for my Natwest and Barclays applications.
How to manage multiple current accounts
Some benefits that come with additional accounts require things like additional direct debits or minimum payments in every month. But there are tricks to manage this.
You might also struggle to keep tabs of your many accounts, but some banks let you add on accounts from other banks, while there are apps like Snoop and MoneyHub which aggregate all your balances onto one screen. Password managers such as Bitwarden also allow you to safely store all those different passwords and usernames.
And those only really become issues if you are having lots of accounts. If we’re talking about opening just two, three or maybe four accounts you shouldn’t have any problems.
You can claim the difference back if it’s cheaper at Amazon and 24 other shops
In 2022, the ‘Never Knowingly Undersold’ price match promise disappeared. Though they did replace it with the ‘Price Drop Refund’, it wasn’t the same.
Well the good news is the John Lewis Price Match is back. Here’s everything you need to know about the new scheme.
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 the John Lewis price match?
At its most simple, if you buy something from John Lewis and find the price is lower at any of the following retailers before you buy or within seven days after purchase, John Lewis will refund you the difference.
The department store uses AI technology to price match 25 high street and online retailers, including:
AO .com
Amazon
Electricals only: tech, TV & audio, computing and gaming, small and large home appliances, mobile and smart tech, and beauty/dental electricals
Apple
Argos
Asos
Boots
Currys
Dunelm
Dreams
The Entertainer
Fenwick
Flannels
Furniture Village
Harrods
Harvey Nichols
Heal’s
House of Fraser
Lakeland
M&S
Mama’s and Papa’s
Next
Richer Sounds
Selfridges
Smyths Toys
Space NK
You can also price match John Lewis itself if the price drops after you’ve bought something from them.
It’s great to see Amazon added to the list, as before only retailers with physical premises were included. However, restricting the scheme to just 25 stores does mean you won’t be able to match prices at other chains and independent stores, in particular decent white goods retailers such as Marks Electricals or beauty brands like Benefit.
Sadly this time around the time to make a claim is much shorter. Just one week, compared to 35 days before.
New Trading 212 customers get an increase of 0.82% AER to 4.92% for 12 months
More details ▼
Additional Info
Existing Trading 212 customers get a rate of 4.1%
FSCS Protected?: Yes
Allows transfers in?: Yes
Flexible ISA?: Yes
▲
How to claim a ‘price match’ refund
You can price match in-store or via the John Lewis website. You’re no longer able to make a claim via the phone. Annoyingly it’s a new form for every item you want to price match.
Here’s how it works depending on whether you find the lower price elsewhere before or after you buy.
Before you buy
If you’re buying in a John Lewis shop and have found the item for less at one of the listed competitors above, you just need to show evidence such as a link to a website or a screenshot, and they will match that price subject to the terms and conditions.
If you are making a purchase online and spot a lower price at one of the listed competitors, then the easiest way to claim is by completing the purchase first and then filling out the online claim form with evidence of the competitor price. You’ll hear back within 48 hours.
After you buy
If you buy an item at a John Lewis shop and you notice that the price has dropped at one of the major competitors listed above within seven days, you can submit a claim for the difference.
You’ll need to fill in the online claim form, providing evidence as well as your original receipt as proof of purchase.
If your claim is accepted, you will be refunded the difference using the original payment method, and if you used cash or a gift card for the original purchase, you’ll unfortunately need to visit a John Lewis store in order to receive your refund.
If you made your purchase online, then it’s the same process as above using the online claim form and if approved you’ll get your refund within five days.
And just like their price drop refund, they also price match against any price drops of their own within seven days. So if you notice they’ve lowered the price of something you’ve bought from them within the time frame, be sure to submit a claim for the difference.
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What products are price matched at John Lewis?
John Lewis price matches identical items, which means it must be the same make, model, size, colour, version and specification.
The product in question must also be in stock online and ready for delivery from the competitor as well as from John Lewis.
It’s important to know that where there is an additional charge such as a competitor’s delivery fee, that this is also taken into account in the price match.
With Amazon, John Lewis will only price match electrical items sold directly by Amazon (not marketplace sellers) and they don’t price match lighting, electrical toys, baby monitors or any non-electrical items.
What’s not price matched at John Lewis?
Sadly you won’t be able to price match against:
clearance offers
multi-buy offers
special member prices including loyalty discounts
flash sales such as lightning deals
prices with a voucher code
exclusive prices
trade prices
against any obvious pricing errors
competitors that are closing down
concession brands like Nespresso, Jo Malone and Longchamp
Some of these are more important to note than others. Previously you could match voucher codes, so it’s a shame that’s been excluded.
Watch out too for against additional services such as extended warranties, fitting or disposal, as these won’t be included in the price John Lewis match.
They also don’t price match any financial services like foreign currency purchases, though that’s not something you’re likely to see with any of the 25 listed retailers apart perhaps M&S.
How you get the refund
Unless you buy in-store and the match is agreed upfront, you won’t get the money knocked off the initial price you pay. Instead you’ll pay the full whack, and the difference will be paid back to your original payment card within five days.
Why it’s worth doing a price match at John Lewis?
Obviously if you can get something for less elsewhere, you’ll save money. But that’s not the only reason.
John Lewis gives a minimum 2 year guarantee on all electricals and 5 years on TVs at no extra cost, which is something you often pay extra for at competitors.
They also have good customer service so if anything was to go wrong with your purchase, you’ll find the whole warranty process easy to navigate with them.
So in essence, you’ll be getting the best price as well as the best service. But they’re not the only retailer to price match. Check out our list of other retailers that offer a price match.
Our podcast
Listen to Cash Chats, our award-winning podcast, presented by Editor-in-chief Andy Webb and Deputy Editor Amelia Murray.
Top tips to make sure the John Lewis price match works for you
We’re sharing some points we learned during the last version of the scheme. It might be they aren’t as much of an issue this time, but they’re things to be aware of.
Avoid using cash or gift cards
A new one for this version of the scheme is that if you paid in-store via a gift card, gift voucher or cash and then want to later claim for a price match, then the refund can only be paid out in a John Lewis shop . That could be a pain if you don’t have one near you.
We’re checking with John Lewis whether this also applies to gift card purchases online. The claims form would suggest you’ll be ok, but the terms state otherwise.
To get around this you could obviously stick to using a debit or credit card. Or if that’s not possible try to only part pay with gift vouchers or cash and then put the rest on your debit or credit card.
This will hopefully allow the refund to go on the card and save you a trip to the shop itself. Though of course you won’t know in advance if you’re going to be able to match, and if so by how much, so you could still come unstuck.
You can still put the claim in online though, which is a big improvement on the last version where all in-store claims had to be made in-store.
Check it’s the exact same item
You won’t be able to get the money back if there’s any variation – that could be colour, size or even just the model number. So if you’re only buying from John Lewis because of the price matching, make sure it is the same before you buy.
Don’t assume something has already been price matched
When John Lewis says it’s “Never Knowingly Undersold”, that’s not true. If that was the case it would reduce items as soon as they honour a price match.
In the past I’ve had a price match approved but the price on the website has stayed the same.
This means that even when something is labelled as reduced as part of a price match, make sure you can’t get a better deal still elsewhere. And if so, then put in a price match request.
Be persistent
It used to be if you phoned up to match prices the answer could be dependent on the customer service agent you spoke to. And the same could also happen online.
This time around it’s unclear if there’ll be any human moderation of claims or if it’ll all be done using AI. Even so, if you get rejected, it could be worth completing the form again to see if you get a different answer.
That doesn’t mean “don’t take no for an answer”. You won’t be able to match everything, but if you think it’s a legitimate claim based on their criteria then it’s worth trying a second time if you are rejected.
Tesco promises savings of over £400 a year but you’ll have to pay a monthly subscription
Tesco launched Clubcard Plus– a premium version of the popular Clubcard loyalty scheme – back in 2019. As a member you’ll potentially save up to £384 a year on your groceries – as well as take advantage of other features.
The idea, much like Amazon’s Prime, is to bundle in lots of services together and build brand loyalty. I’ve taken a look at what it offers, to help you decide whether it’s worth paying for.
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.
How much does Tesco Clubcard Plus cost?
You can upgrade to Tesco Clubcard Plus for £7.99 a month. You’ll be able to cancel it for months you don’t use it as there’s no long-term commitment when you sign up.
There’s also a free trial for your first month (more on this in a bit), which means if you do keep it you’re looking at £87.89 in year one, then £95.88 in subsequent full years.
What do you get with Clubcard Plus?
10% off two big shops in-store each month. Max £200 per shop. Exclusions include:
petrol
lottery
gift vouchers
tobacco
baby formula
prescriptions
magazines
stamps
wine that is in the 25% off when you buy six bottles promotion
10% off Tesco brands on every shop including
F&F clothing
Tesco Pet
Fred & Flo
Go Cook
Go Play
Go Create
Fox and Ivy
Paperchase
Double data from Tesco Mobile for one mobile registered at your address
Fee-free overseas spending with Tesco Bank credit card
To cover the £7.99 a month you’ll need to spend £79.90 on groceries in Tesco across two transactions. That could be across one £80 shop, or two lots of £40 (or any other combinations). If that’s your regular supermarket spend that’s going to be easy to reach, possibly with just one visit.
Ideally though you’ll want to spend more to take full advantage of the 10% discount. There’s a £20 cap per shop, or £40 per month. This means if you spend £200 on two occasions in a month, it’s possible to knock £40 off at the till every month.
Once you factor in the fee you’ll really be saving at most £32.01 each month, potentially adding up to around £380 a year.
More realistically you’ll likely spend – and save – smaller amounts, though saving some regular big purchases for when you use your discount will help.
Fortunately you do get to choose which shops you use the discount for. You’ll need to go into the Clubcard app and download a code to scan at the till. However, it is in-store only and not online.
So if you do your main shop at Tesco then this is a must, as long as you are going to spend at least £80 a month across two transactions.
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Should you swap to Tesco for the discount?
If you have a Tesco near you, then I think Clubcard Plus could be a good reason to swap over – at least for a couple of trips each month.
Though it’s not usually the cheapest supermarket out there, it’s often not much more than others, and the 10% back could make enough of a difference to be worthwhile.
Double your discounts hack
You should also be able to sign up more than once per household. Yes, you’ll have to pay two lots of £7.99 every month, but if you are spending enough at Tesco it could be worth it as you’d get the discount on four shops rather than two.
Remember, as long as there is at least £79.90 spent each month on each card you are covering the fees. But only do this is you are likely to max out the two lots of £200 on the main Clubcard Plus account in your family.
Are the other features worth paying for?
If you don’t shop at Tesco then I don’t think the other features warrant the £7.99 fee on their own. But if you are already getting the fee back (and more) from Tesco groceries then it’s worth checking out what you could get.
The 10% off Tesco brands such as Tesco pets could save you a decent amount, but work out whether you can get these items for less elsewhere first.
The fee-free spending abroad credit card is a bit pointless when better bank cards exist, such as Chase Bank and Starling’s debit cards.
The double data offer on Tesco Mobile sounds good, but since it only offers 2GB or 12GB as entry-level SIM-only deals, you’re either getting too little or too much data, even with the extra thrown in. It’s better to shop around and find a SIM elsewhere.
New Trading 212 customers get an increase of 0.82% AER to 4.92% for 12 months
More details ▼
Additional Info
Existing Trading 212 customers get a rate of 4.1%
FSCS Protected?: Yes
Allows transfers in?: Yes
Flexible ISA?: Yes
▲
How to sign up for Tesco Clubcard Plus
You can apply online or via the Clubcard app. You won’t get a new Clubcard – instead you’ll operate the extra savings from the Tesco app on your phone.
Tesco Clubcard Plus free trial
If you’ve not used Clubcard Plus before or haven’t had it in the last six months and not had membership for six continuous months, then there’s currently a month free trial for Clubcard Plus.
You get all the same discounts, so it could be worth up to £40 off in the first month.
You can cancel at any time during the first month and you’ll continue to get all the discounts until the next month.
Yep, it’s easy to cancel, and there’s no commitment past each 30 days. So remember to stop it when you’re not using it (such as when you go on holiday). You can reactivate your membership when you want to get the benefits again.
The real value of your Tesco Clubcard, Nectar, Morrisons More, Boots Advantage and Superdrug Beautycard points
If you’re like me, you’ll have a few loyalty cards on your phone and swipe away when you get to the till. But do you have any idea what the points you earn are worth?
I’m a big fan of Clubcard points as you can boost their value. I know what my Tesco points are worth as I use them frequently, but what are 2,000 Nectar points worth? Or 800 Boots? Plus there are schemes at Morrisons and Superdrug too – and they’re all different.
To help me – and you – I’ve taken a look at the biggest schemes to see what you get for your points, and how much you need to spend in order to actually use them.
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.
How much are Tesco Clubcard points worth?
Value of Tesco Clubcard points
1,000 Clubcard points = £10
500 Clubcard points = £5
100 Clubcard points = £1
1 Clubcard point = 1p
Real value of Clubcard points
Usually 1 point earned per £1
So 1 point = 1% of your shop
Minimum payout is 150 points = £1.50 in vouchers
So you need to spend £150 before you can start using points
You can earn these at Tesco shops, petrol stations, website and also via Tesco Mobile and Tesco Bank.
Points are earned on specific products rather than your whole shop
The amount you earn will vary, so you can’t assign a percentage value for 1 point
Minimum payout = 5,000 points will give you a £5 voucher
Morrisons brought back points in the summer of 2023 (having axed them two years earlier). It’s different from the likes of Clubcard and Nectar but you can find out how Morrisons More works here.
You’ll need 5,000 points to cash them out as a £5 voucher and there aren’t any ways to boost the value of the voucher.
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New Trading 212 customers get an increase of 0.82% AER to 4.92% for 12 months
More details ▼
Additional Info
Existing Trading 212 customers get a rate of 4.1%
FSCS Protected?: Yes
Allows transfers in?: Yes
Flexible ISA?: Yes
▲
How much are Boots Advantage points worth?
Value of Boots Advantage points
1,000 Advantage points = £10
500 Advantage points = £5
100 Advantage points = £1
1 Advantage point = 1p
Real value of Boots Advantage points
Usually 3 points earned per £1
So 1 point works out as 3% of your original shop
Minimum payout = 1 point / £0.01
But you can’t part pay with points (you need enough points to cover the total of the transaction for which you are using them)
You can only spend them in Boots shops or online at Boots.com. Of course, if you can get your shampoo cheaper elsewhere, the points probably won’t make any difference.
Keep an eye out for frequent bonus deals and vouchers where you can earn double value or even more for your shop. There are often extra codes in your online account.
Tips on managing your Christmas budget and getting the best value
Christmas is usually one of the most expensive times of the year. And it tends to creep up on you faster than you think – meaning it’s a good time to start thinking about how much you’ll spend.
In fact, it’s never too late (or early) to get started on your Christmas prep.
Here, we share a Christmas money checklist of the main expenses to help you manage your finances this Christmas season.
We’ve also thrown in some tricks to help you cut costs and make sure you have enough money to cover everything.
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.
How to pay for Christmas
This first point on the checklist is possibly one of the most important. Actually it IS the most important. If you don’t know how you’ll pay for Christmas it could cause a world of pain next year.
Decide what you can afford
It’s so easy to overspend, so now is the time to work out not just how much you can afford to spend overall, but also how you want to split that between each individual person and part of Christmas.
To do this, you need to get two figures. First check your bank and savings balances to work out how much money you have now – though don’t assume you can put that all to Christmas. There will no doubt be other expenses that need to be covered in the coming months, such as holidays you want to save for. It’s also a really good idea to have an emergency stash for the unexpected costs that always crop up.
Then take a look at how much more you’re going to have in the run-up. That’s essentially your income each month after taxes, minus your expenses. Again, you might not want to allocate all this extra cash towards Christmas.
Add the existing funds you’ve set aside for Christmas to the money you expect to come in, and the figure left is the budget you have available to spend.
Work out what you want to spend
Next you need to think about what you want to spend. Think about all the aspects that usually come along each year. Obviously there are presents and food to buy, but what about travel, work parties, decorations? We’ve detailed a few of these further down this article.
Then allocate a spending amount to each one. Try to get these as accurate as possible. Once you’ve done that, get a total expected spend.
See where you can spend less
In all likelihood you’ll find this figure is larger than what you’ve budgeted for. In a minute I’ll talk about ways to perhaps find extra cash to help fill the gap. But if that doesn’t work the best option is to find where you can spend less.
That could be mean some hard decisions, but people will not want you getting into debt just to buy more presents or more food.
Talk now to friends and family about the situation (they’ll likely be feeling the pinch too). It could be you agree on price caps for presents, or even decide you’re only going to do a Secret Santa with friend groups rather than everyone buying everyone a separate present.
Look at cheaper ways to borrow
Sadly cutting back is easier said than done for many at Christmas. If you feel it’s not an option for you, and you know you will absolutely spend more than your budget, then at least find cheaper ways to borrow.
With each of these, you should still know how and when you’ll clear the debt next year before you spend. The alternative is the interest and charges will keep adding to the money you borrow, and potentially causing bigger money issues.
So where do you go? Be particularly careful with Buy Now, Pay Later. Though it seems convenient, it’s easy to lose track of how much you owe, and they could tempt you to spend even more than you can afford.
You could instead look at a 0% interest purchase credit card. Watch out for interest charges if you don’t clear the balance by the time the promotional zero per cent period ends. You need to know how you’ll repay your spending before that happens.
Or, see if there’s a credit union near you. Though there will be interest charged on your loan it should be one of the most affordable – unlike payday and other high-cost loans!
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Can you find a bit of extra cash?
Giving your budget a cash boost is a surefire way to help you cover costs.
Check for forgotten cash
Now is the time to check that you don’t have any money left in your account. It could be Clubcard or Nectar points you’ve accumulated, credit owed from your old energy supplier, or a refund to your John Lewis account. Check out this round-up of places to look for forgotten cash for more.
Get some banking bonuses
One of the best ways to make some easy cash is to switch to a new bank account. Currently, you can get £175 from First Direct and Nationwide, and £200 from Lloyds. You should be able to get the free money before Christmas, but if not it’ll certainly help when you’re low on funds in the New Year. Here’s my guide to all the different banking offers.
Get a cashback payment card
The quickest and easiest cashback card is a debit card from Chase Bank. You’ll earn 1% back on most spending.
But there’s the potential for a boosted welcome bonus if you’re confident you can manage a credit card. The likes of American Express in particular could net you a few hundred more on your initial spending. You must pay off the balance in full every month to avoid interest charges. If you don’t do this it’s a waste of money. Here’s my guide to the best cashback and reward credit card offers.
Probably the biggest expense each Christmas. But if you’re clever with your cash you can get more for your money.
Shop in the sales
Sales will help you get better value. You all know about Black Friday, which seemed to stretch for the whole of November and into December last year. It’s often a very good opportunity to buy presents.
I also love the American Express Shop Small offer that should return in December. Here you need an Amex card, but if you then spend £15 at a participating small shop you get £5 credit back to your card. Again, if you’ve not got one then now’s a good time to apply as you can take advantage of the a welcome offer for new customers.
But don’t get caught up in the hype for any sale or promotion – deals aren’t always as they seem. Always shop around and compare prices.
Plan for deliveries
Yes, we’re used to online orders reaching us pretty fast, but after Black Friday some warehouses and courier companies struggle to meet the demand. That could mean you have to pay more for guaranteed delivery or need to spend again to replace things that don’t arrive. So the lesson here is simple – don’t leave your Christmas shopping to the last minute!
There are occasions where you’re better off delaying your purchase – even after Christmas day itself! If you’re like me you won’t be able to see everyone before 25 December and end up still visiting people and giving presents right up to New Year’s Eve.
That means you can pick up some gifts – specifically anything Christmassy – for much less if you leave it late. I’ve picked up wrapping paper, chocolates, decorations, novelty jumpers and more at a fraction of the price.
Though the lowest prices will be from Boxing Day onwards, some shops will start discounting this stuff earlier in December.
New Trading 212 customers get an increase of 0.82% AER to 4.92% for 12 months
More details ▼
Additional Info
Existing Trading 212 customers get a rate of 4.1%
FSCS Protected?: Yes
Allows transfers in?: Yes
Flexible ISA?: Yes
▲
Buying cards, wrapping and decorations
These are the things that could well get forgotten, so make sure you’ve got them covered to avoid overpaying.
Cards
Ideally you’ll have picked these up in the sales last year. If not, then shop around. Personally, I’d look to get cards directly from charities themselves rather than the big shops as then more of the money goes to the causes.
Or if you really want to save money (and paper), you can create free online cards which can be emailed.
If you still send Christmas cards, make sure you buy your stamps from authorised retailers. They can’t increase the piece. Also, send them second-class to avoid the October price hike on first-class stamps.
Wrapping paper
My trick here is to buy plain paper. Whether that’s a blinging gold, bright red, shiny silver or basic brown. The reason? I can use these for other presents throughout the year. They work fine for birthdays, weddings, and pretty much everything.
Decorations
If you still need to buy things for the tree then try to wait as close to Christmas as you can. Everything from baubles to artificial trees is heavily discounted from mid-December. The Christmas before last we picked up a great tree at 50% off on 22 December.
Stock up on next year
Ok, so this is no good for this year, but it’s worth remembering come late December and early January that the biggest savings come not for this Christmas but for the next one. Come the sales you can pick up cards and wrapping paper for next to nothing. Stock up for a fraction of the price.
Buying food & drink
We spend a lot on food and drink over the festive period, but it’s possible to pick up some decent deals.
Boost your budget with Xmas Saver trick
Morrisons, Tesco, Asda and Co-op all run a special boost at Christmas for people who save with them. You can get up to 6%, and you reduce the risks that come with these schemes if you time it right. Here’s what each supermarket is doing.
Plan what you need
If you tend to waste food at Christmas, then the simple answer is to buy less – and this will save you money. Consider who you need to cater for, and work out what you’ll actually need. If you want to make sure you don’t run out then once more get supplies that either have a decent shelf life or can be frozen.
Reduced bargains
Longtime readers and listeners will know I love a good supermarket reduction. And there are very few times for these that are better than Christmas.
That’s because shops will close on Christmas Eve, and might not open again until 27 December. So that’s at least one day, possibly two days, of food that needs to be cleared out.
Of course, supermarkets are on to this and I’m sure there’s definitely less food produced with use by or best before dates of 25 and 26 December.
Even so there are enough bargains to be had as the shops try to clear the shelves. And some of the best bargains are on festive foods. So get some space in your freezer!
Alcohol deals
The supermarkets tend to have a price war on wine, beer and spirits, meaning you can get some low price booze for your celebrations. But these tend to end a few weeks before Christmas. So stock up early. You can keep an eye on the latest deals in our supermarket wine offers round-up.
Booking travel
Planning and booking your travel as early as possible can help you save money on your journeys around Christmas time.
Trains
If you know you’re heading to visit family by rail then the earlier you book your tickets the better. Well, actually, with most trains you can only book 12 weeks in advance. But that’s when the cheapest fares will be available – so snap them up! Here’s how to make sure you don’t miss out on the cheapest advance tickets.
After this date you can still save money until the day before travel. A handful even sell advance fares on the day, as long as you book them before you get to the station.
Flights
Flights are a different matter – and already the cheapest tickets are probably gone. But if you’re still to book, you’ll save money by leaving earlier in December or coming back later in January. Mainly you need to avoid the peak days, though it’s often a bit cheaper to travel on Christmas Day or New Year’s Day.
Cars
Again, book any hire car early. Look on comparison sites for the cheapest prices, and search for any cashback sites, voucher codes and other discounts.
