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.
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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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Plus, new Quidco customers get a high paying £18 welcome offer
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.
This September Oxfam is urging us to shop second-hand in a bid to reduce the environmental impact of making new clothes.
Thirteen million items of clothing are added to landfill every week in the UK! That’s a huge amount of material that could be recycled or repurposed.
In fact much of it is probably still ok to wear. But with clothing so cheap, and new styles available every week (both the consequences and cause of ‘fast fashion’), items can be worn just a few times before they’re consigned to the scrapheap.
The problem is every time a new garment is manufactured, it takes its toll on the planet. Oxfam say 20,000 litres of water are required to make one pair of jeans and one t-shirt. For a person to drink that much would take 13 years.
And that’s not the only problem. There’s also an issue with pollution (particularly from dyes) and how often do we hear about labour issues, whether child labour or incredibly low wages. We really need to consider more sustainable alternatives.
Listen to Andy chat with fellow money bloggers Hollie and Faith about the Second-hand September campaign in this episode of the Cash Chats podcast.
And if the environmental argument to buy less new clothing is quite enough to get you away from Primark, there’s also a financial one.
If you’re guilty of buying items you hardly wear, so are other people. If they donate it after a couple of wears, then you’ll be able to buy something practically brand new for a fraction of the price. And there are other ways to get second-hand clothes without spending anything at all.
So whether you’re looking to take part in #SecondHandSepember or just want to reduce how much you spend on clothes, I’ve a few tricks to help you get involved.
Where to buy second-hand clothes
Find local charity shops
The obvious places are charity shops. It probably makes sense to hit a few in one shopping session to help uncover that gem that’s just right for you.
Some shops will be a jack-of-all-trades and sell everything from cutlery to board games, but take a look to see if there are specialist fashion stores which will have a wider range. There are also some geared explicitly at younger people.
You can use this Charity Retail Association tool to see which shops are near you and get an idea of what things are sold there.
Remember too that there are lots of charities which need your money, so you might want to choose local or smaller ones in the first instance, or ones which support causes close to your heart.
Hunt for high end and designer second-hand
If you can go to posher areas you might find that the items that have been donated are not just M&S or Top Shop. They could be high-end high street, or even proper designer. Last year a Mind shop in Kent had £50,000 worth of gear dropped off anonymously. Of course, if the staff are on to this, they’ll price the items accordingly.
Big brands sometimes even donate old or second stock to charity shops, though they might be detagged so you need to have a keen eye to spot the Miu Miu from the M&S.
Some of the bigger charity shop networks will get individual stores to send through anything obviously designer. Oxfam, for example, has a designer outlet store, while the Red Cross has specialist shops around the country.
Even so, you could still pick up something that you’d never normally afford for a fraction of the original price. And you might find a better range of donations at smaller, independent charity shops where they sell what they are given.
This article from Stylist magazine has some great tips for how to work out if what your looking at is a retro classic or cheap knock off.
Check out vintage shops
Though run for profit rather than charity, and usually at the pricier end of the second-hand market, vintage shops still fit with the sustainable and ethical approach to buying second hand. This Harpers Bazaar articleshares ten top vintage retailers around the UK.
Search on resale sites
We all know about eBay, but I think you’re better off looking for bargains on Facebook Marketplace (it’s easy to find on the app), or websites llke Debop, Shpock and Preloved.
How to get free second-hand clothes
As much as I like the idea of buying second-hand (the money often goes to good causes), you can also refresh your wardrobe without spending a penny.
Stocktake
I’m confident that if you properly had a look at what’s in your wardrobe you’ll find items you’ve completely forgotten about. And if you start wearing them again (or even for the first time), you’ve updated your wardrobe without any new spending.
Shwop
If, during your Marie Kondo style clearout you find items that are still perfectly good but not right for you, then try shwopping. This weird word is an amalgam of swapping and shopping which should give you an idea of what you’ll do.
You can go to organised events or just run one with your friends (or just informally do it with one or two mates). The idea is you bring along anything you no longer want, as long as it’s in good nick, and hang it up in a makeshift shop. Then you get the chance to take something new back home, and someone gets to give your old gear a new lease of life.
Becky, my good friend Silke and half a dozen others did this a few years ago and all of them went home with something new, as well as clearing out those items they didn’t want anymore.
Hand-me-downs
Parents do this all the time to their own kids, but there are Facebook groups set up to help parents who don’t have relatives or friends that can pass things on.
Donate
Of course, as well as not buying new clothes, it helps to not add your old ones to landfill. You’ve got a couple of options. One is to give wearable items to charities – whether shops to resell or places like refuges. Or if they’ve had better days look to donate the items for recycling.
Get free M&S and H&M vouchers for donating and recycling
Buying second-hand is a great alternative to brand new, but there will be times where you need to get items that haven’t been worn before (do not buy second-hand pants!). So how do you do this in a way that’s sustainable?
Buy it good, buy it once
Cheap clothing just doesn’t last as long. Buy something that’s better made and it should last longer. This also means you should be looking at classic styles that you know you’ll be happy wearing next year and the year after.
Make do and mend
The wartime necessity of fixing broken clothing was brought about through rationing, but there’s no reason why adopting those principles today can’t give your clothes an extra lease of life, Basic repairs such as sewing buttons back on should be within the grasp of most people (or your mum). If you have better skills then you could even look at turning old clothes into something new.
Rent
You could also consider renting clothing. It’s not just formal wear like tuxedos and prom dresses that you can get. Online stores such as Girl Meets Dress let you hire designer gear for a few days at the fraction of the price of buying it.
Secondhand doesn’t just mean clothes
Think broader than clothes too when considering second-hand. You can buy cheap books, DVDs, CDs and games from the likes of CEX and MusicMagpie, while furniture is a big thing for charity shops. Facebook marketplace is once again a good place to look for things.
Fancy winning prizes and cash? Here’s how to get started.
Once a month I ask one of my money blogging friends from my UK Money Bloggers community to share their savvy experiences on a topic I wouldn’t normally cover.
A few years ago I had a brief spell of entering competitions. I had a few nice wins, but I never got in the habit. So for March, I’m delighted that the queen of competitions Di Coke from Super Lucky Me has written a guide to get you winning.
How to be a winner
Comping is one of the cheapest and most rewarding hobbies there is – since I started entering competitions twenty years ago, I’ve won more than £300,000 of prizes, including a VW Beetle, over £20,000 cash and around 40 holidays abroad!
To a beginner, comping can be overwhelming – it’s easy to get sucked in by survey websites offering big cash prizes, and before you know it your details have been passed on to a hundred other companies! Stay safe by only entering competitions on the websites and social media pages of brands and blogs you know and trust.
Where to find competitions
There’s a huge range of prize promotions in the UK – the easiest way to find them is to check out the competition section of websites like MoneySavingExpert, Loquax or Latest Deals. But of course, thousands of other compers will be using those sites as their main source of comps – so you should also look out for brand new promotions advertised on products, in magazines, on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, in shopping centres and on the radio!
Which competitions offer the best chance of a win?
The harder a competition is to enter, the easier it is to win. If you need to buy a product, download an app, or tweet a funny story – most people just won’t bother. Photo comps are popular on Twitter and Facebook, and the same themes crop up time and time again – smiley selfies, DIY disasters, summer fun…. set up an album on your phone to store ‘competition photos’ so you can find them quickly. And don’t worry if your photo isn’t great – quite often the winner will be chosen at random! An easy photo competition to enter is Ambrosia’s – upload a happy photo featuring an Ambrosia product, and every month until December 2017 a hundred random winners get a prize!
Enter competitions with lots of smaller prizes, or those with multiple daily or weekly draws. Look out for comps that offer 100+ prizes a day, or try the regular Quidco and Topcashback giveaways when you can win thousands of cashback prizes instantly. The prizes might be small, but a win will be almost guaranteed, and will keep you enthusiastic about the hobby!
I have a lot of success with on-pack promotions, yet most people ignore them. You usually need a receipt or a unique code from the packaging to enter – but only buy if it’s a product you will use. This year’s biggest on-pack promotions so far have been on Walkers Crisps, Plenty kitchen towel and Velvet toilet roll, and the products are usually heavily discounted at the start of a promotion, so it’s worth stocking up! Some instant win promotions give out prizes after a ‘winning moment’ – if you enter very early in the morning, you’ll have a better chance of winning a prize than entering at lunchtime. Watch out for the misleading promotions with huge prize numbers where prizes are ‘available’ to be won though (for example, Walkers Spell & Go) – only a small percentage will ever be given away!
Comping tips and tricks
Read the rules – check the closing date and that you’ve done everything required. If the prize is on a set date, make sure you can go.
Set up a new email account for comping and avoid signing up to mailing lists if you can (NEVER agree for your details to be passed to third parties).
Search your inbox and junk folders every couple of days for ‘congratulations’ or ‘winner’ in case you’ve missed a winning message.
Use Twitter or Google search to find local competitions and specific prizes.
Filling online entry forms can be time-consuming – use autofill in your browser and ‘text replacement’ on a phone to set shortcuts for your email address, postal address and Twitter handle.
Set notifications from your favourite brands and local businesses on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook to make sure you’re the first to know about their latest competition.
Take advantage of any spare time you have by entering a few quick comps on Twitter or Instagram.
Join Facebook groups for advice, to make friends and to share competition details (Lucky Learners is great for beginners).
Don’t give up!
Most people start comping and expect instant prizes – it doesn’t (usually!) work like that. You need patience and persistence to succeed. Put in the effort, and make sure you’re always looking out for the word ‘Win!’ – on your Twitter feed, in magazines, on the supermarket shelves… opportunities to win prizes are everywhere, you just need to be prepared to take them!
For competitions and advice, visit Di’s blog Super Lucky Me, plus her book of comping tips, ’SuperLucky Secrets’ is available on Amazon.
Updated November 5, 2025 | Published March 21, 2015 | Articles
Last Wednesday saw the chancellor reveal his fifth budget, and the last one before May’s General Election. It wasn’t the “giveaway” that many had predicted, and behind the gags aimed at Ed Milliband, most of the changes announced won’t be relevant to us normal folk, at least not on a day-to-day basis.
There were a few changes though that it’s worth knowing about – here are my top six.
1. Less tax for savers
At the moment you pay 20% tax on most of your savings (40% if you are a high earner). It gets automatically deducted by your bank and pretty much the only way to avoid this is with an ISA.
The question is, will anyone need an ISA after this? £1,000 is a LOT of money to make on savings (eg you’d need £50,000 at 2%).
If you do have an ISA, another change this autumn will mean you’ll be able to withdraw money and then pay it back in without it affecting your £15,240 allowance. This is a good thing!
There’s also going to be a new Help-to-Buy ISA for any first-time home buyers. From the autumn, the government will top up savings in these accounts by 25%, up to a maximum of £3,000. You’ll only be able to save a maximum of £200 a month and it would take over four years to save the max possible. Still, it’s free money if you fit the criteria.
We already knew that the amount of money you earn before you pay Income Tax (called the Personal Allowance) will go up from £10,000 to £10,600 this April. In this Budget, the chancellor announced that it’ll go up by another £200 next April, and £200 again the year after. Each £100 it rises is worth £20, so by 2018, that’s an £200 we’ll all take home in our paypack.
The minimum wage will go up by 20p from October, good news for any low earners.
If you are a “Higher-earner” – basically anyone who currently earns more than £41,866 – you have to pay 40% tax on earnings over that amount. From April this won’t kick in until you earn above £42,385, which means you’ll pay £104 less in tax. It’ll go up again to £43,300 in April 2017.
3. Less tax for drivers & drinks, more for smokers.
A planned petrol tax increase due in September has been cancelled. That’s meant to be worth around £10 a tank.
Beer will be 1p cheaper a pint, while the tax on cider and spirit will go down by 2%.
Just because both will be cheaper doesn’t mean you should be doing it at the same time!
Smokers though will still have to pay more as the already planned rise will go ahead.
4. There’s a new £1 coin
From 2017 we’ll all be using a 16 sided coin rather than the normal rounds ones. It’s to tackle forgeries. Though I’m pretty sure vending machine and supermarket trolley companies won’t be too happy!
5. More freedoms for people with a pension
From next year, anyone who has already cashing in their pension pot and bought an annuity will be able to sell it for a cash lump sum. Whether that’s a good idea or not is another matter!
6. Less hassle for anyone who fills in a Self-Assessment tax return
They’re going to gradually replace these with digital accounts, hopefully making it a lot easier for people to work out how much they owe. It’ll start in the new year but take five years to finish.
Updated November 5, 2025 | Published July 15, 2014 | Articles
A year ago I received a great deal on my TV, broadband and phone through Sky. It worked out at £10 a month! Well that’s over now so I’ve been researching my different options.
I’ve gone for TalkTalk’s Plus TV deal. After cashback, bonus high street voucher, a 6 month discount and line rental discount, I’ll be paying an average of £22 a month, which is over £200 less than their full price. Plus I’ll have a YouView box to keep after 18 months if I decide to switch again.
If your contract is up soon, here are my tips to make sure you get the best deal.
1. Haggle
The first thing to do is call up your current provider and see what they can offer you. Don’t let them pressure you. Say you need to think about it and get them to call you back. Often there are deals to keep your business, though these are rarely as good as the ones to get new customers.
Sky offered me free internet and half price TV, saving £20 a month, but I decided I could do better elsewhere.
2. Research
Go to a comparison site such as Broadbandchoices.co.uk and enter your postcode. You’ll be able to chose whether you want to compare just phone lines, phone and broadband or both of them and TV. Remember to compare the total price for the year, not the price per month as deals can make that misleading.
3. Cheapest isn’t always best
There are so many cheap broadband and phone line deals out there that it’s worth checking customer service reviews. A few quid extra is probably worth it if you know you’ll get good service.
Watch out for any broadband that has ‘traffic shaping’. This means they’ll cut your speed at busy times of the day.
Likewise, if you don’t stream a lot of TV or download much, you probably don’t need unlimited data. Of course the opposite is true.
4. Do you need TV?
If you’re mainly watching box sets on Netflix or keeping to the standard channels, think about if you really need a TV package.
A year of Sky’s Now TV entertainment service costs £60, and it includes Sky Atlantic. The same basic channels with Sky itself costs over £250. So that’s a pretty good saving. Adding sports and movies will cost even more!
You can see my pick of what’s currently available on Netflix, Amazon Prime and Now TV in our guide to the Best TV you can watch online.
5. Look for cashback and deals
Once you’ve got an idea of the front runners, check out TopCashback and Quidco to see what cashback deals they have. It’s not rare to see over £150 in money back for triple packages.
Many broadband and TV companies also offer high street or supermarket vouchers when you sign up. If you can combine cashback and vouchers, that’s even better!
Then try and time it with a deal that will give you a further discount. Normally these are for the first 6 months or so – don’t get caught about by adverts that make it look like that’s the normal price!
Check terms and conditions to make sure any of these deals are eligible for the package you want.
5. See if you can pay for the line upfront
A final great saving is to pay your line rental upfront for a year. Doing this could save you up to £50. BT and TalkTalk offer this but Sky and Virgin don’t.
Updated November 5, 2025 | Published September 6, 2016 | Articles
The rise of internet touts has made getting a ticket for a gig frustrating AND expensive.
Tickets, even for massive venues, sell out in minutes, and magically appear with hugely inflated prices on secondary sites moments later. Even if the concert doesn’t sell out, tickets aren’t cheap, with the hefty face-value boosted by questionable booking and postage fees. However, you can beat the touts most of time.
Here are my top tips for not just getting a ticket, but getting it as cheap as possible too.
1. Get your ticket before they go on general sale
To cheapest way to get a ticket is to get it before the touts and avoid massive resale fees. Use E-Festivals, Songkick and GetToTheFront, and follow the twitter and email lists of your top acts to know what’s happening and when they go on sale.
You then might be able to grab the tickets before anyone else. Look for presale through fan sites and forums, O2 Priority Tickets or Amex and Mastercard member schemes. If a tour in announced sign up straight away to their mailing list – you might be in time to get a special code.
2. Be ready for when they go on sale
If there’s no presale, you need to be one of the first to try for tickets. These tricks will help.
If the sites require accounts, register and log-in ahead of the ticket release time.
Have more than one browser open at the same time (so Chrome, Safari and Firefox for example) and have different ticket sites open on different tabs in each browser. Use your smart phone, tablet and computer at the same time to give you a better chance of getting through.
And finally, have the pages loaded up well before the published time. Start hitting refresh and keep your fingers crossed.
3. Shop around for the lowest booking fees
Fees are a pain, so if it’s not a hot ticket and not likely to sell out in 2 minutes, shop around.
Booking and delivery fees vary from gig to gig and site to site, so it’s impossible to say which is the best. In the past, I’ve found WeGotTickets and Skiddle have really low fees but few of the big acts.
4. Pay face value when you get them in person
Even better than low fees are no fees, and you can often avoid them if you try the box office in person.
Venues such as the Brixton Academy and the Phones4U Manchester Arena don’t charge any fees if you do this, though you’ll need to pay cash. Stargreen has a free collection service in London, while Tickets-Scotland only charges £1 to collect from their Edinburgh or Glasgow offices (booking fees still apply to both).
5. Be careful of re-selling sites
You can pay through the nose on sites such as Viagogo, StubHub and Get Me In through hidden fees, and I don’t recommend it unless you really want a ticket. If you can leave it to the last minute you can sometimes get a real bargain with people desperate to sell. BE CAREFUL OF ANY SITE YOU’VE NOT HEARD OF – they could well be dodgy.
Fan selling sites such as Scarlet Mist and Twickets keep money away from touts so are worth a punt.
6. Go for free
London’s Rough Trade shops often have free in-store gigs when you buy the band’s new album. Every autumn the iTunes Festival in London gives competition winners entry to 15 gigs by big acts. Pubs around the country have local bands gigging for nothing – they could be the next big thing.
If you’ve the time and don’t mind missing some of the bands, you can register to volunteer as stewards and bar staff at most of the big festivals. You get a ticket in exchange for a couple of shifts. Oxfam handles big ones such as Glastonbury.
Updated November 5, 2025 | Published January 19, 2020 | Articles
Do you find that you’re constantly avoiding sorting out your energy bills? Think it’ll be too much hassle?
Well, it’s actually pretty easy, and could save you hundreds of pounds on your gas and electricity bill for minimal effort.
If you’ve never switched supplier, or had a fix that’s ended, you’re most likely on what’s called a “Standard Variable” – AKA the most expensive – tariff with your utility company. If you think you don’t have the time to look into your bills, or that it’s too complicated to work out, you’re mistaken.
It’ll take you no time at all to find a cheaper deal. Seriously. It’s quick. I’ve literally just done it using the tips below and it took me five minutes. Just five minutes. Ok, I’m a pro at this, but even if you take your time you should be able to sort it in no more than 20 minutes.
And the money you’ll save for this minimal effort? It could easily be hundreds of pounds. I’m paying almost third less than if I’d let my last fix lapse and move onto the variable tariff. That should work out over a year at more than £400 less!
Ok, so I’ve got a large house with high ceilings, and since I’ve gone freelance I’m at home more (and using more energy), so you might not save as much, but it will be close. If you aren’t fixed or you have a fixed tariff that ends soon, I’m confident you’ll be able to save money.
To help you switch with the least pain, I’ve come up with this step-by-step guide. So, stop what you’re doing and make the easiest money of your life!
Find your bills
This is probably the hardest bit! Once you’ve found the unopened post or recovered your long-forgotten log-in details, you’ll be able to see what tariff you’re on and what you’ve been paying.
Go to a comparison site
I like Cheap Energy Club, part of the Martin Lewis empire, as it gives the best results. Some of the others can be a little misleading if you’re half-way through a fix (read my Cheap energy comparison con blogpost for more on this).
All the info you’ll need will be on your bills. To get the most accurate comparison, enter the number of units you’ve used in the last year, rather than the amount you spent.
If this feels like too much hassle (it really shouldn’t) then you could consider an automated switching service at this stage. You put in the details from your bill and you’ll be automatically switched when you can make a saving – though you won’t necessarily be moved to the cheapest option across the whole market. More on these services here.
Take a look at all the options
After the comparison site has finished chugging away, you’ll be presented with quite a few different choices which at first can appear a little confusing.
Check the site is showing you all the deals and in price order (some are paid to put certain companies at the top of the list), then take a look at what’s on offer. Again, I’d really recommend Martin Lewis’s Cheap Energy Club as you don’t have to worry about missing the best deals.
Here’s what you need to consider:
Should you stay or should you go?
Unlike other bills such as broadband and mobile, you won’t be able to haggle yourself a discount, and loyalty doesn’t make the slightest bit of difference.
However, it might not be best to switch. Your current provider might be offering a good price, and you can get yourself moved onto that tariff by giving them a call.
Strangely you might even be able to get paid to fix again with the same company. I’ve done this twice with EDF over the last four years, and once with British Gas, whilst I was under contract, to move to a cheaper deal – and earn cashback on top.
To fix or not to fix
A fix is when you agree a set price per unit for your energy for a fixed period of time. This will normally be cheaper than a variable rate, but not always.
Take a look to see if the fixes have any exit penalties, which are charges if you leave the contract early. If prices do drop significantly (I wish…), you might not be able to move to a cheaper deal. However some suppliers will take on your switching costs, and you can move penalty free 50 days before your fix ends.
And then there’s the question of how long to fix for… I tend to go for 12 months, though if a company offers a longer fix you will likely pay more per unit.
Who supplies your energy doesn’t affect the quality of your gas and electricity, it’s all the same stuff running through your pipes/wires. Even so, apart from what they charge, there are a few other differences.
Decent customer service can sometimes be worth paying a little extra for. I had a nightmare with NPower and I’d never use them again, even if they were the cheapest available.
And if you want to be ethical, green energy will usually cost a little more.
Check for extra savings
You’ll normally get the cheapest price with “dual fuel”, where you get both gas and electricity from the same supplier.
Paying by Direct Debit will normally give a discount, and there could be more savings if you go paperless or opt for a smart meter.
Some comparison sites offer cashback to switch, giving you another £30 or so.
If you have the 123 or 123 Lite account with Santander, you can get cashback on your bill payments too, though there are fees with both accounts. See myarticle on the best current account for cashback on billsfor more information.
Make your decision and wait
Once you’ve decided which one to go for, enter your bank details – you’ll be credit checked – then just wait for it to go through. It will take up to 17 days for the connection to be moved and the savings to start.
You don’t need to let your old company know as the new supplier will do it all for you, though you will need to give a new meter reading.
You might actually pay more or less than the comparison site says as it all depends on how much you use. A cold year will be more expensive, a warm one cheaper. But you’ll still be paying far less than you do right now.
Don’t make one of the common energy switching mistakes
Last year I wrote about some common mistakes people make when they switch energy. It’s all stuff that’s very easy to avoid. Some of it’s been mentioned above, but do take a read of that article too to make sure you’re getting the best possible deal.
Find out the steps to take to get on top of your debts.
Are you worried by your debts? In the latest of my monthly guest posts from subject specialists in my UK Money Bloggers community, I’ve asked Sara from Debt Camel to hopefully make things a little clearer.
Thanks to her 15+ years of volunteering for Citizens Advice, Sara set up her blog and has become a champion for those in debt. In this article she shares the basics you need to cover if your debts are becoming more than you can manage.
You and your debt
Sometimes a debt problem happens if you lose your job or have a business failure, but for many people it’s not so dramatic, things just get a bit worse every month.
Costs go up, your income doesn’t, so the electricity bill gets paid with your credit card. Next month making the minimum payment to your card takes you over your overdraft limit, but payday brings you back down… for a bit…
If this is happening to you, your debts are getting out of control. You may be able to muddle through for a few more months, but each month you are borrowing a bit more. Pretty soon the only new credit you can get will be very expensive – and you don’t want to go near payday loans, logbook loans or guarantor loans.
The sooner you can halt this drift downwards into more debt the better. So here are the practical steps to take:
Look at the debt numbers, even if they are scary
On my website I call this “taking a financial selfie”. You don’t want a beautiful, posed and photo- portrait, you want a record of how things actually are.
Start with those debts – make a list of them all! Not just the credit cards and loans, but also catalogues, car finance, overdrafts, even your mortgage.
Top tip: If you aren’t sure you have a complete list, look at your credit records.
Priority debts are things like mortgage, rent arrears, council tax, utility bills… They are a priority because bad things can happen if you don’t pay them, from losing your home to being sent to prison. The interest rate on that catalogue may be horrible but you won’t get sent to prison if you don’t pay it!
For the non-priority debts, you want to know how much you owe and what the normal monthly repayment is. Add these up – you will need the numbers later.
For the priority debts, you want to note down how much you owe, what the normal monthly repayment is, whether you are behind with any payments (“in arrears”) and if you have already sorted out a repayment plan (£x per month) for these arrears. If you have any priority debt arrears where you don’t have an arrangement in place, you need debt advice on how to deal with them, see below.
Get a first draft of a budget
I suggest you use this budget calculator – it lists things you may have forgotten and converts everything into “months” which is useful if you get some benefits fortnightly or for the once a year bills.
This calculator is mainly aimed at people who need a debt management plan, but don’t worry about that for the moment. Make sure you save them so you can come back to them later.
Top Tip: If you have a partner, get them involved.
There is a bit of knack to putting the numbers in. It’s OK if the figures are rough but not if they are hopelessly optimistic – putting zero in for everything you don’t often spend money on isn’t going to help. Having a look at your bank and credit card statements for the last few months is useful.
At this point you are trying to record what you actually spend, not what you think you ought to. But if you spot you have a standing order that isn’t needed anymore then stopping that is a quick win!
How bad does it look?
So now you have some data, not perfect but good enough to give you an overview. Ignore the details and write down the following five numbers:
income from the calculator
expenses from the calculator – this includes normal monthly payments to priority debts such as rent and council tax. But it excludes any payments to your non-priority debts.
money available for debts – this is income minus expenses.
priority debt repayments – these are any extra payments you have arranged if you are in arrears.
non priority debt payments – the total amount you should be paying each month.
Top tip: if the numbers don’t feel right, you may have missed something out in the budget calculator, or perhaps you put what you spend on food in a week in as the monthly amount?
Now is the money available for debts enough to pay your priority and non-priority debts?
“Caught the problem in time”
If there is enough money to make the debt repayments, you have caught your debt problem in time. Your debts may be uncomfortably large and they may be restricting your lifestyle or stopping you from saving a house deposit, but you don’t yet have a debt crisis.
From here a combination of good budgeting, a few cutbacks and seeing if you can refinance any expensive debts will get your finances back on the road to recovery. Read up about Snowballing – it’s the way to clear your debts as fast as possible and get a great credit record.
“Not quite enough”
If there isn’t enough but it doesn’t seem that far away, then look for improvements to your budget. Fewer takeaways, switch your utilities, cancel the gym membership, change to SIM only when your mobile contract ends … find some ways to save that extra £70 a month. They may be uncomfortable, but the longer you leave it, the worse your position gets.
“Not close at all” – get some debt advice!
If the numbers suggest you are several hundred pounds short, then making a few lifestyle changes probably isn’t going to be enough. Getting some debt advice could really help you here – although there are some “DIY” debt management options, it’s always good to have discussed your situation with an expert first.
Getting debt advice is especially important if any of the following apply:
you have priority debts;
you think your situation may be changing, so you may need a temporary option for a while;
you owe so much you can’t see how you can ever repay it all.
Where to go depends on whether you would prefer face-to-face advice, telephone advice, where you live, whether you are self-employed etc. Check out Debt Help Contacts to see my suggestions – they are all reputable organisations who don’t aim to make money from recommending some debt solutions.
Updated November 5, 2025 | Published October 28, 2025 | Articles
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.
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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.
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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.
The deadline to add funds onto an Asda Christmas Savings Card is 5pm Sunday, 9 November 2025. 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 9 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
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Asda Rewards Cashpot 2025
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.
There are sometimes ways to get additional bonuses into your cashpot, you’ll find these on the homepage when they come along.
You can transfer money into your Christmas Saver Cashpot until 20 November 2025, and you can convert your Christmas Saver Cashpot into vouchers to spend at Asda, in-store or online, from 27 November until 31 December 2025, after which they will expire.
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Plus, new Quidco customers get a high paying £18 welcome offer
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Co-op Saving Stamps 2025
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 2025
This scheme from Iceland runs all year so it isn’t technically a Christmas scheme. You get £1 for every £20 you add to your account, worth 5%. The bonus should be added within 48 hours.
However, once again this year, a Christmas bonus is available. If you hit the savings target of £100 by 11 November, you’ll get a £15 Christmas bonus on top of the standard bonus. You should receive your bonus by 22 November.
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 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
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Morrisons Christmas Savers 2025
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 2025. 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 how you’d like to get the voucher.
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 2025 (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 2025. 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 balance
Bonus 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
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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 2025
The Tesco Christmas Saver 2025 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 16 October 2025.
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
£3 bonus when you save between £50 and £99
£6 bonus when you save between £100 and £199
£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
To make sure you don’t miss out, here are the last dates to add money to the schemes for 2025:
Supermarket
Last date to add money
Maximum bonus
Tesco
16 October 2025
6%
Morrisons
31 October 2025
3%
Sainsbury’s
1 November 2025
5%
Asda
9 November 2025
5.3%
Iceland
11 November 2025
15%
Co-op
31 December 2025
4%
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Are Christmas Saver Schemes worth it?
Christmas savings schemes can be a pretty good way of earning an extra boost on your money, as well as spreading the cost of Christmas a little. However, with the best earning 6%, except Iceland’s 20% for select people, are there better ways to save for Christmas?
One way could be by getting discounted gift cards using an app like JamDoughnut, HyperJar or Airtime or a cashback site like TopCashback. Right now, some of the above supermarkets let you earn up to 5% with JamDoughnut. Of course, some schemes can get you pretty good returns, but only if you save above a certain amount. You could have additional flexibility using discounted gift cards. Plus, if you haven’t used these before, there are additional welcome bonuses available, including £20 from TopCashback or £4 from JamDoughnut.
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