Save when you buy tech, apps, music or anything else from Apple
Apple gift cards can be used in the Apple Store (online or on the high street), on Apple Music, the App Store for iCloud or anything else paid for via your Apple account.
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Apple gift card sales and deals
Apple: 10% back on gift cards at Asda (ended)
Until 5 March 2025, Asda Rewards customers (it’s free to sign up) will get 10% back to their Asda Rewards Cashpot on Apple gift cards over £50.
You can buy in store at Asda or online. If it’s the latter, make sure you use the same email address that’s used for your Asda Reward account.
There’s a healthy welcome bonus for the Amex Preferred Rewards Gold credit card, making it one of the most attractive cards at first sight.
Here’s what you need to know about the American Express Gold card, how to hack the point redemption to earn more money and how it compares to other cashback cards.
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.
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How much will you make from the Amex Gold?
Earning Reward points
You earn American Express Membership Reward points rather than cashback. There are different levels when you spend with the Amex Gold Rewards card. You’ll get:
1 point per £1 spent
2 points per £1 spent with airlines or in foreign currencies
3 points per £1 spent at American Express Travel
Personally I’d ignore the double and triple points unless you happen to get the best deal direct with an airline or Amex Travel. It’s better to get a lower price elsewhere even though you’ll earn half the points back. You’ll also be better off using a fee-free card to spend in foreign currencies.
Spending bonuses from 15 October 2025
As well as normal points for spending, you’ll also get additional bonus points triggered by cumulative spending. This is changing from 15 October 2025.
When the new system comes into play, it’ll stagger this bonus so you get 5,000 bonus points for each £10,000 you spend.
The bonus points will be added to your account as soon as you reach the spending threshold. It’s capped at a spend of £20,000 a year meaning the most you could get in a year are 10,500 additional points. Here’s how that works:
Spend
Bonus
CumulativeBonus
£10,000
5,000
5,000
£20,000
5,000
10,000
Of course, the two ways to earn points (point per spend and spending bonus points) stack on top of each other, so the real return has to look at them combined.
If you spend £10,000 (ignoring the welcome bonus which I’ll come back to), you’ll actually get 15,000 points, not 10,000. That’s now an effective cashback rate for the card of 0.75%. You’ll get the same rate if you spend £20,000 in a year.
But if you spend a different amount, the effective cashback rate will be less. Here’s how it’d pan out based on different annual spends with the card.
Annual spend
Points earned
Additional bonus points
Total value as gift card
Equivalent cashback rate
£2,500.00
2,500
0
£12.50
0.5%
£9,999.00
9,999
0
£57.50
0.5%
£10,000.00
10,000
5,000
£75.00
0.75%
£12,500.00
12,500
5,000
£87.50
0.7%
£15,000.00
15,000
5,000
£100.00
0.67%
£19,999
19,999
5,000
£124.50
0.63%
£20,000.00
20,000
10,000
£150.00
0.75%
£25,000.00
25,000
10,000
£175.00
0.7%
So really you’re looking at just 0.5% on this card if you don’t spend more than £10,000., and close to 0.75% if you are on or just over each £5,000 threshold. Only super high spenders above £25,000 will eventually earn less than this.
The new system means you’ll work out the same if you spend annually:
Less than £5,000
£10,000 to £14,999
£20,000 to £24,999
Any other spending level will be worse off, but up to 2,500 points (worth £12.50 as gift cards or Nectar points).
Spending bonuses until 14 October 205
Until mid-October, the system staggers this bonus so you get 2,500 bonus points for each £5,000 you spend. Here’s how that works:
Spend
Bonus
CumulativeBonus
£5,000
2,500
2,500
£10,000
2,500
5,000
£15,000
2,500
7,500
£20,000
2,500
10,000
£25,000
2,500
12,500
Here’s how it pans out based on different annual spends with the card.
Annual spend
Points earned
Additional bonus points
Total value as gift card
Equivalent cashback rate
£2,500.00
2,500
0
£12.50
0.50%
£5,000.00
5,000
2,500
£37.50
0.75%
£7,500.00
7,500
2,500
£50.00
0.67%
£9,999.00
9,999
2,500
£57.50
0.62%
£10,000.00
10,000
5,000
£75.00
0.75%
£12,500.00
12,500
5,000
£87.50
0.70%
£15,000.00
15,000
7,500
£112.50
0.75%
£20,000.00
20,000
10,000
£150.00
0.75%
£25,000.00
25,000
12,500
£187.50
0.75%
Welcome bonus
New American Express customers who haven’t had an Amex in their name in the last 24 months (here’s more on this American Express rule) will get a welcome bonus worth 20,000 Reward Points when they spend £3,000 in the first three months. You have to spend the full £3,000 to get the bonus. Spend even 1p less and you won’t get it.
This would be valued at £100 if converted to a gift card. The bonus is earned alongside the points given for each £1 spent, meaning that the initial £3,000 spend is actually worth £115 when converted at 0.5p.
However, there are also regular boosted bonuses, increasing the welcome points available to 25,000, and sometimes as much as 30,000 or 35,000 (depending on the offer). Unless you really need the card, I’d wait for one of these offers to run. Check our Amex Gold booster offer page to see if there’s an offer like this available right now.
Be aware that getting the American Express Gold card (bonus or not) will rule you out of earning the welcome bonus from the American Express Platinum, one of the only cards that allows a second bonus.
Annual fee and charges
The American Express Gold card is free in the first year. However after this it comes with an annual fee of £195.
I can’t see how it’s worth paying this much when you can swap to a free or much lower fee card and earn a similar amount on your spending.
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Other Amex Gold perks
£10 Deliveroo credit a month
There’s potentially £120 back in credit for spending at Deliveroo with the American Express Gold card. It’s actually two lots of £5 per month, each requiring a £5 minimum spend. This offer needs to be activated on your card, and won’t apply to any supplementary cards.
Free airport lounge passes
You also get four airport lounge passes each year. These can be used at Priority Pass locations, which can be hit and miss – it all depends on which airport you are at. I’d treat it as a nice to have rather than a reason to get the card.
Exclusive events
This is something previously limited to Platinum card holders. You’ll be able to book on (and pay for) events and exclusive food and drink deals throughout the year. Personally I’ve never used this on any of my Amex cards.
Other cashback offers
Something I love about Amex are the extra offers you can select via the app and your online account. Though these are retailer specific and won’t always be relevant, they’re well worth a look.
What are Amex Reward points worth?
It’s all very well talking about these points, but how do you use them and what are they worth? The former is easy. You can exchange your points as soon as they are paid via the Membership Rewards website.
But the value of the points depends on how you redeem them. They’re worth 0.45p when swapped for bill credit or used on retailer sites. So 1,000 points will be worth £4.50.
That increases to 0.5p (£5 per 1,000 points) when exchanged for a gift card at retailers such as M&S, Amazon, Selfridges and Waterstones, or converted to Nectar points. This means the cashback equivalent is 0.5%.
You can also swap them to your Avios or other airline schemes at a rate of 1:1. Personally I think most people are better off getting a cash value they can use on everyday spending than be restricted to using them as part of a flight loyalty scheme.
If you won’t want to pay the fee from year two onwards, you can cancel your card. If you miss the anniversary and get charged, you may be able to cancel and get a pro-rata refund of the fee, giving you back the money for unused months. However this loophole is due to end at some point.
However closing the card will mean you lose unused Reward points. Fortunately there’s a free Amex Rewards card you can apply for which will protect your balance. Make sure you do this before ditching the American Express Gold card.
When boosted to 30,000 bonus points, along with 3,000 points for the spending (in total the equivalent to £165) is the highest paying welcome offer without a card fee in year one, as long as you can spend £3,000 in three months.
But, as mentioned, having this card rules you out of later applying for a welcome bonus with the Amex Platinum card, which is often boosted to 80,000 points. This won’t be for everyone, but if you think you might do this, then perhaps you’d be better off going for a different Amex first.
Compared to the other cards, the Nectar will earn you the equivalent of £100 in Nectar points, while the Amex Cashback offers up to £125 (5% on the first £2,500). Get either of these and you can still go for the Platinum at a later date.
Everyday spending
The best you’re going to get with this card is between 0.5% and 0.75%. That’s not bad, but it can be beaten. Right now there are a couple of cards which will pay a better rate.
The Amex Nectar pays two Nectar points per £1, which is effectively also 1%. This has a fee in year two, but only £30, so much cheaper than the Amex Gold!
The American Express Cashback card pays 0.75% on spending up to £10,000, then 1.25% for further spending (it resets each year). It also comes with a £25 annual fee, though this can be wiped out in the first year with occasional special offers or a referral code.
Should you get the Amex Preferred Rewards Gold credit card?
Andy’s Analysis
It’s certainly not a bad option for one year, but if you think you will try the second welcome bonus hack for the Amex Platinum card then I’d go for the Nectar or Cashback first instead.
How to get an American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card
Amazon Prime is getting more expensive. It’ll cost an extra £16 if you pay upfront for an annual membership, or £12 more if you pay monthly. Student memberships are also going up in price.
It’s the first increase since 2014, and will mean you’ll pay close to £100 every year to get access to benefits such as free delivery and movie streaming.
It might be possible to beat these increases, depending on how you currently subscribe. I’ve shared how you can do this – and whether there’s an even better way to spend less.
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How much will Amazon Prime cost?
From 15 September 2022 any signups or renewals will be at the new prices. The biggest change will be for the annual subscription, which will go from £79 a year to £95.
If you pay monthly you’ll pay £1 more each month, moving from £7.99 to £8.99. If you pay this way for a year you’ll spend £107.88.
Student prices will increase by slightly larger percentages.. The annual membership changes from £39 to £47.49. while it’s an extra 50p on monthly payments, moving from £3.99 to £3.49
However, it looks like there are no changes to the Amazon Prime Video subscription. This will stay at £5.99 a month.
Membership
Current Price
New Price
Increase
Prime Monthly
£7.99
£8.99
£1 (12.5%)
Prime Annual
£79
£95
£16 (20.25%)
Prime Student Monthly
£3.99
£4.49
50p (12.5%)
Prime Student Annual
£39
£47.49
£8.49 (21.8%)
Prime Video Monthly
£5.99
£5.99
£0
What you get via Amazon Prime
The main benefit people get Prime for is the next day free delivery, but film and TV streaming is another big draw. On top of this is limited free music streaming, a free Kindle book each month and access to extra offers such as the Prime Day sales. Here’s my full review.
Can you beat the Amazon Prime increase?
Not every Amazon Prime member will be able to avoid the new costs, but there are a few different options to either keep it at the same price, or perhaps even pass less over a year.
You definitely want Prime for a year
You currently pay monthly
There’s one very easy way to avoid the increase if you currently pay monthly. Signing up for an annual membership before 15 September will mean you’re locked in at £79 for the next 12 months.
I’d leave this change until as close to the price hike date as possible to ensure you let the £79 pass for as long as you can. It’s easy to do in your Amazon account.
This will save you £28.88 over 12 months versus paying the new £8.99 monthly price.
You currently pay annually
Anyone whose existing annual membership is up before 15 September will automatically renew at the current price
But if your annual subscription ends after this date, you’ll renew at the new full price. So tough luck? Well there might be a trick that could work – but there’s no guarantee.
You could try to cancel just before that date and then see if you can sign up again at £79. However, it’s possible the subscription won’t end on the day you cancel. Instead it could carry on until the initial end date, which might make it hard to sign up again at the lower price. It’s worth a try though.
Bear in mind that it’s unlikely you’ll get a pro-rata refund on unused months, and since the change in price is £16, you’ll only want to consider this option if your membership is due to finish before mid November – otherwise you’ll have effectively have paid the new price anyway.
Though there’s a discount to be had when you pay upfront for a year, it’s only a saving if you use Prime every month. At the existing prices you needed to use Prime 10 months out of the year for the annual membership to be cheaper.
That’s still the case with the new prices when you compare 10 months at £8.99 (£98.89) versus a year upfront (£95). So if you pay for Prime for just nine months of the year (and remember to cancel the months you don’t need it), you’ll pay £89.90 – saving £5.10.
But really you need to compare this new monthly price with the current annual price. Doing this means you’d need to use Amazon nine months of the year for the £79 annual membership to work out cheaper.
Of course, the fewer months you use, the less you’ll pay over a year. And don’t forget you can get a free trial every 12 months, and that can be taken by each adult in the household.
There are also occasional offers to tempt you to sign up again. I’ve seen deals such as 99p for a week and £3.99 for a month quite a few times in the last year.
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If you only want film and TV streaming, then the £5.99 cost for Prime Video is now even better value. Even if you kept this for a year you’d pay £71.88 -£23 less than an annual full Prime membership.
And since it’s monthly you’ve got the choice to cancel when you’re not watching – or more likely when you’re watching another streaming service.
Finally the best way to beat the price hike, is to ditch it completely. You might think this is impossible, but when I went without Amazon for a whole year, I found everything I wanted to buy available elsewhere for the same price or less – even when delivery was factored in.
And if you do need to shop at Amazon, then there’s free delivery on orders over £20. At worst this means waiting until you have a few things to order and doing it in one go, rather than bit by bit.
Plus you can always sign up for the odd month when you know there’s going to be lots to order – perhaps Prime Day and Black Friday sales, or ahead of Christmas and birthdays.
How to cancel or change your Amazon Prime membership
If you decide you don’t want to carry on paying the full price then it’s actually very easy to cancel your membership. It’s the same process if you want to change your type of membership.
On the top right of the screen (desktop), selected the “Account & Lists” dropdown menu.
Go to “Your account”
Then select “Your Prime Membership”
Change your subscription under “Manage Membership”
Choose either to cancel your membership or select “See more plans” to see other options
Amazon’s member’s only sale is back this month, but can you actually save any money?
As with Black Friday, there’s quite a frenzy when it comes to Amazon’s Prime Day sale. There are often an awful lot of offers in just about every category, with a lot of them seeming to have huge discounts so it’s easy to buy things that you don’t really need.
This isn’t necessarily a bad thing if you can afford it and will use the things you buy. But, despite the discount advertised, you may actually be getting a bargain? We’ve taken a look at some of the offers from last year to find out if Prime Day is just a deception.
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What is Prime Day?
Amazon Prime Day is an annual sale to celebrate Amazon’s birthday, although they’ve started to sneak another into October. It’s only for customers signed up to Amazon Prime. This comes at a cost: £95 for a year, £8.99 a month or newbies can take out a 30-day free trial.
This year, Prime Day is on 16 and 17 July. Offers will go live from midnight and run for 48 hours.
There will be some deals across both days as well as “Lightening” offers that will come and go. There will also be a few early offers in the days leading up to the sale.
How good are Prime Day deals?
There are two parts to Prime Day offers. The first are extra savings and offers, such as an extra £5 off here, or £10 credit there. These can really help bring down prices, but over the last few years there haven’t been too many of these. That could well change in 2024, and we’ll let you know on our Amazon Deals page if they do.
The other part, and the bulk of the offers you’ll see are discounted items. And there are thousands of these. I’ve taken a look at some of last year’s best offers and reached out to both the Be Clever With Your Cash and our sister site Smart Money People‘s teams to find out some of the (so-called) bargains they’ve blagged. I’ve used the price comparison site CamelCamelCamel to work out which of them got a great deal, which ones went down to the same prices eventually and who got fobbed off.
A quick caveat: CamelCamelCamel’s price history doesn’t include Prime Day or Lightning Deal prices. This means that there’s a chance that lower prices have occurred. Even so, the site gives us a good indication of the usual selling prices. More on CamelCamelCamel further down.
Prime Day 2023 offers analysed
When we asked colleagues for some items they’d bought on Amazon last year for Prime Day, it turned out none of us at Be Clever With Your Cash had bought a single item during Prime Day last year. Seeing as we’re all dedicated bargain hunters, that says a lot. But some of our colleagues at Smart Money People did shop in the sale, so here’s how their purchases rate.
Echo Pop
Prime Day Price: £29.00
Lowest price since: £17.99
Price now: £44.99
The consensus: she missed out on a great deal
Sara at Smart Money People bought herself an Echo Pop on Prime Day last year. The smart speaker costs £44.99 at the time of writing. Sara nabbed it for £29.99 in the sale, reckoning that she saved about £20 on the purchase. Since this was a new product it was a hefty discount.
But just three months later, the Echo Pop was selling for just £17.99 — she could have saved herself £11 more if she’d waited.
Anker Powerbank
Prime Day Price: £19.99
Lowest price since: £27.99 (11 months later)
Price now: £27.99
The consensus: lowest price all year
Another item Sara picked up on Prime Day was an Anker Powerbank for £19.99, reckoning she’d saved herself about £10 on it. The power bank is being sold for £27.99 right now and that’s also the lowest price it’s been since. So she managed to grab herself the lowest price on that item all year.
Garmin Venu watch
Prime Day Price: £259.99
Lowest price since: £244.99 (5 months later)
Price now: No longer available. It was £369.99 before removal but is now available at many retailers for £249
The consensus: a fair price
Sophie, Senior Insight Analyst at Smart Money People bought herself a Garmin 2S last year on Prime Day at £53.44 less than the advertised price, spending £259.99.
The CamelCamelCamel graph below suggests that she picked up a huge saving with the same watch costing far more for most of the last 12 months.
However, that dotted line shows Amazon didn’t actually sell it that often after Prime Day, which suggests it was a stock clearance price rather than a special deal. In fact the S3 was released soon after.
An alternative colour did keep selling though, often between £260 and £300, so while her watch wasn’t really available from Amazon at the listed £310 price, it looks like it was a decent price at the time.
Ultrasport F-Bike
Prime Day Price: £79.99
Lowest price since: £99.99 (2 months later)
Price now: Unavailable – was £100.99 before it was pulled
The consensus: a decent deal
A friend of mine, Jen bought herself an UltraSport F-Bike on Prime Day last year. The Bike was £133.99 at the time and was reduced to £79.99 on Prime Day. This was the lowest price on this item since 2016. It was never reduced as far as this before it was removed from Amazon, so Jen got herself a pretty good price.
Apple Airpods
Prime Day Price: £169.99
Lowest price since: £149.99 (8 months later)
Price now: £169.99
The consensus: the price went down anyway
One of the top advertised deals for Prime Day last year were these Apple Airpods. They were £189.99 before Prime Day and you could get them for £169.99 on Prime Day — not a bad deal, but if you tried to buy them today, they’re selling at Apple’s new retail price of £169.99, so the price was going to go down eventually anyway.
There was a brief time when they were £149.99, which could have saved you an extra £20 on them, but this was eight months after the Prime Day price.
But remember that technology has new upgrades all the time – the 3rd Generation pair are still the latest ones, but there’s likely to be a 4th Generation set out soon.
Barbie DreamPlane
Prime Day Price: £52.99
Lowest price since: £39.79 (1 month later)
Price now: £65.99
The consensus: you could’ve saved more by waiting
Another deal heavily advertised by Amazon last year was this Barbie DreamPlane, a toy that would’ve been on the top of my Birthday wishlist as a kid! This was sold on Prime Day last year for £52.99, down from £74.39 — a £21.40 saving on the original price — surely Amazon didn’t go lower than that.
Just a month later, the Barbie DreamPlane was up for £39.79, so waiting just a little longer would’ve saved you an extra £13.20.
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Other items
Here are some of the items we analysed for this, including whisky, an IPL Hair Removal Device and the Shark vacuum.
While it’s easy to get sucked in by some great-looking prices, last year’s big deals weren’t always the best prices offered, with a lot of items getting reduced further just a few months later for Black Friday.
It’s always frustrating when something is cheaper in a subsequent sale, and Amazon doesn’t appear to be offering partial refunds if something you bought goes down just days later (as it does over Black Friday).
Saying that, most of these prices were pretty strong at the time, so if you need an item now it could be a good time to buy. So on this basis, I’d say Prime Day deals can be fairly decent.
Of course, that’s only if you’re not buying items on a whim. This whole sale is designed to get you to part with your cash so be wary of any impluse spending.
And you should still do some quick research into whether you have a good price. Importantly, don’t trust the RRP — these are rarely the real selling prices. Instead, use price history to see what your real discount is — more on this below. Essentially, you’re looking for:
a discount bigger than the usual selling price
items that are rarely discounted
something which isn’t about to be replaced by a newer version – bigger discounts could be on the way
a price you’re happy to pay
something you actually want and need
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In a lot of cases with the above items, the prices dropped again on Black Friday, sometimes further. Amazon has recently started to throw an extra Prime Day into October, with Black Friday deals too. Prices will likely be pretty similar on core Amazon devices.
Ultimately, if you see something on Prime Day at a price you are happy to pay, it probably makes sense to pick it up rather than wait. While there’s a chance you’ll miss out on a few quid, there’s also the risk that the item won’t be reduced in November!
How to find the best prices
As you’ll see from the graphs above, there are tools to help you work out whether a deal really is a deal. Here are our best picks of what you can use.
Check price history
The strangely named CamelCamelCamel is what we’ve used for the price history charts. It’s essential for helping to work out whether you’re likely to see a further drop.
You can also use it to set price alerts for when items hit a level you want to pay, though as mentioned, it doesn’t include Lightning Deals or Prime Day prices, which is a shame.
Though the Prime Day prices will only be available to Prime members (remember you can get a free trial if you aren’t already, or sign up for one month at £8.99), other retailers might match prices or even offer their own deals to try to get some money spent with them rather than with the US giant.
It’s worth using Idealo, Price Spy or even just Google Shopping to see how much the item is selling for elsewhere. And don’t forget to see if you can stack other codes and savings on top!
Beat others to Lightning Deals
A lot of the offers you’ll see will be Lightning Deals with a limited quantity and limited time to grab them. Amazon obviously want to rush you into buying these offers, but there are ways to get the product in your basket before everyone else and still have time to check price history.
2024 Prime Day deals
We regularly update our Amazon Deals page with all the top offers we spot, both ahead of the day and once the sale kicks off.
There are already some early bird offers that are worth checking out.
Get 2-4-1 cinema tickets, free e-books and more from The Times’s digital membership, Times+.
When you subscribe to The Times you not only get to read the digital version of the newspaper (which is usually behind a paywall), but also access to its reward programme Times+.
At full price I think it’s too much, but if you can take advantage of the special trial offers that run throughout the year you’ll be able to get access to some great savings.
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.
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Times subscription deals and trials
The standard trial is one month free, but throughout the year there’s often a three months for £3 deal which is far better waiting for. Occasionally you can also get a month free trial. I’ll share the best deal below.
Times+: one month free trial
The usual offer is a one month free trial. Start the offer in the middle of a month and you’ll be able to claim the monthly freebies twice! Just remember to cancel (more on this below).
This deal appeared via a pop up, so I’m not sure how long it’ll last! You’ll pay just £1 a month for the first thee months. Make sure you check the offer is showing when you click the link, in case it has changed.
Every month a select title is available to download, sometimes two. This used to be Kindle books via Amazon but has now moved to a different service called Glose. You can read the titles via apps for iOS and Android.
Fee audio book every month
You also get a selected audio book for free from Glose.
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Cancelling Times Plus
This can be a bit of a pain as you have to phone up to cancel your trial and they will try very hard to persuade you to stay. The last time I did this it took 15 minutes! But if you have your phone on speakerphone you can do this while you’re doing something else!
Also, it’s important to do this early. I call up at least two weeks before the trial ends to make sure no early charges are made.
Updated November 4, 2025 | Published May 7, 2025 | Deals
Festivals and gigs are a great night out, but the tickets aren’t cheap. Fortunately, there are often late deals to save money on tickets.
Here are the best deals we’ve found to save you cash. We can’t do anything about the rain, though!
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.
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Ticket discounts
Concert Week: flash ticket sale
At midday on 8 May 2025, you can get concert tickets for various artists at reduced prices. Last year they started at £25. The sale is on for just 24 hours, so you’ll have to be quick if you want to get tickets.
There are tickets available for Busted, Smashing Pumpkins, Supergrass, Sugababes, Iggy Pop and Dizzee Rascal, to name a few.
A good way to save cash is to get a ticket when it goes on sale – so you can avoid resale sites charging a premium on top.
O2/Virgin: Priority tickets
O2 and Virgin Media customers get access to the O2 Priority app, and this has a huge number of shows on sale before the general public can get them. And it’s possible to get access to this even if you’re not on O2!
Why pay when you don’t need to? There are offers where tickets are given away for free, or in return for an admin fee.
Seat filling
Sites like Show Film First and Central Tickets often have tickets for live concerts and festivals at short notice where you only need to pay a booking fee (usually between £3 and £8). I’ve written a full guide to how these work and which sites are best.
If we spot any standout John Lewis offers or discount codes we’ll share them on this page.
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Apps like Cheddar and Jam Doughnut allow you to buy gift cards to spend at John Lewis and earn cashback on that initial purchase. You can also buy Waitrose gift cards this way to spend at John Lewis. It can be worth as much as 6%.
Pay less for your takeaways when you order in, including special codes for Deliveroo, Just Eat and Uber Eats
Getting a takeaway isn’t money-saving by any means, but if you are going to order one then it pays to find ways to bring down the total cost.
Below we’ve got a few tips to help you cut the price and some top deals.
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.
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Ways to save money on takeaways
Go direct to the takeaway
You can often avoid the fees that come with Deliveroo and Uber Eats by ordering direct from the restaurant. You might even find items are cheaper too!
Collect your order
If that fails and you are happy to pop out you can often save on delivery charges by picking up your order yourself.
Obviously you can do this when you order direct, but you might also be able to combine it with discount codes via the main takeaway apps.
Look for discount codes
It’s often possible to get codes to bring down the cost of your order – especially if you’re a new customer.
Keep an eye on your emails and app notifications as you often get send special offers by the big takeaway brands.
I’ll list the best special offers I spot below.
Use cashback sites
A few of the big takeaway brands are on Quidco and TopCashback. You can earn money back on purchases from Deliveroo, Uber Eats, Just Eat, Dominos and Pizza Hut.
If you’ve not used those sites before you can also nab up to £17 back as a welcome bonus, on top of the cashback you’ll earn for your takeaway purchase. Here’s more on getting those bonuses.
Delete the apps
If you tend to regret ordering a takeaway, adding a bit of friction can help you buy them less often. The easiest way is to delete the apps. Doing this doesn’t stop you from ordering but it can take away temptation.
Just Eat discounts
Just Eat: £5 off
Get £5 off a minimum order of £25 with Just Eat this month giving you a 20% saving.
Depending on when you order, you’ll need a specific code. These are:
Just Eat has launched a brand new service to rival Uber One and Deliveroo Plus. The service, called JustEat+, gets you 90 days of free delivery for £5.99 for orders over £15, as well as additional freebies and extra deals, some of which are listed below.
You can use it as much as you want during that period. It’s not a subscription, so it won’t auto-renew when it ends – brilliant if you have a takeaway hiatus, as you won’t then be endlessly paying for a service you’re not using.
If you want to continue it once it’s finished, you can just add it to your next order.
That’s not all you get, though. There are also some restaurant-specific extra deals you can get, including:
A free sausage roll from Greggs on orders for £15
Free everyday essentials from the Co-op on orders over £20
Free snacks on orders over £15 at One Stop
Freebies on orders over £25 at Asda Express
Buy one, get one free starters at Pizza Express on orders over £15
Up to 30% off with minimum spends between £20-£25 at Leon, Island Poke, The Breakfast Club, and Busaba
15% off German Doner Kebab orders when spending £15+
Free footlong cookie on orders over £15 at Subway
Buy one, get one free on selected items from Patty & Bun when spending over £20
40% off total orders from Butchies when spending over £20
Free chicken dippers from Hop on orders over £15
Free chicken bites from Shake Shack on orders over £20
Is it worth it?
When ordering from Just Eat, it usually costs at least £2 for delivery, sometimes as much as £4.50. So you could easily start to save money on your second or third order, and the extra freebies might be nice if you tend to order from any of the places above.
If you have three takeaways a month, paying £3.50 for delivery each time, you’d spend about £31.50 on delivery alone. With JustEat+, you’d only spend £5.99 (assuming your chosen restaurant isn’t excluded).
However, be careful not to spend more money on takeaways because you’ve got this membership. And it’s still worth seeing if it’s cheaper to go directly to the restaurant or via another delivery company.
To get it, you just add it to your order when you check out. It expires after 90 days and won’t auto-renew.
Every Tuesday selected restaurants are part of a 20% off deal with Just Eat. There’s a minimum spend of £15 and the discount will be automatically applied.
Your choices can be limited, but it all depends on where you live. It’s well worth checking.
Until 30 June 2025, Just Eat is offering £8 off orders with the code JUNE8.
You need to spend £25 or more to use the code. There are thousands of participating restaurants, from locals to national chains like Five Guys and Pizza Express.
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Plus, new Quidco customers get a high paying £18 welcome offer
Deliveroo promo codes
Deliveroo: Delivery pass
You can pay either £3.49 or £7.99 a month to get free delivery, depending on the size of your order. If you’re tempted by this Deliveroo Plus subscription, make sure you check out this review to see if it’s worth it for you.
Amazon Prime members can add on a free year of Deliveroo Plus – but only the tier that gives free delivery on orders over £15. We’d definitely get this if you have Prime, but don’t be tempted to order more often, or spend more on orders, just to get free delivery.
Not got Amazon Prime? You can sign up here for a 30-day free trial, then £95 a year. If you cancel Prime you’ll lose your Deliveroo Plus membership.
Use the code eats-5ngkw and you’ll save £3 when you spend at least £20.
Uber Eats: 20% off with Three
Three customers can download the Three+ app to save 20% every week. Minimum order of £15 excluding delivery. More on the Three+ app here.
Free Uber Eats credit for NHS workers (ended)
Link your NHS/HSC email address to your Uber Eats account by 11.59pm on 20 December and get sent promo codes for free food and Uber rides on 23 December to be used over Christmas.
You’ll be able to claim £10 to spend on a meal or groceries via Uber Eats on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
And if you link your Uber account to your NHS/HSC email you can also claim two £10 Uber rides to or from work on the same days.
The things you should do BEFORE the Black Friday sales begin.
Black Friday is nearly here. Almost. Even though it won’t take place this year until Friday 28 November, the emails are already beginning to filter through and some early sales have begun. This will really ramp up later in the month.
That’s going to bring in a huge temptation to spend money, but also the potential to save money on things you actually need.
If you follow my three steps below, you’ll not only be fighting fit to get the best deals, you’ll also be able to avoid spending money you really shouldn’t.
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.
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Get your money in shape
This first part is ensuring you are properly prepared financially for the sales.
Check what you’ve got
Obviously you don’t want to spend more than you’ve got. If you have savings you don’t need elsewhere then that’s your fund. But make sure you keep enough back to cater for emergencies.
Consider a cashback payment card
If you are confident you’ll only spend what you can afford, then it’s worth considering a cashback card. You’ll earn a little bit back each time you spend, including some new member bonuses on some cards.
If you don’t have one you still have time to get one. The Trading 212 debit card gives you an instant digital debit card. This offers 1.5% cashback until the end of November (capped at £15 a month) if you opt to auto-invest your cashback
The new Lloyds Ultra credit card offers 1% back for a year, with no cap and the addition of section 75 consumer protection.
A bigger rate could come from American Express welcome bonuses, and you should have time to apply and get your card in time. But to make these worthwhile you have to be able to repay the full amount of spending every month.
If you think you’ll be short of the funds you need then you’ve still got time to cut back on spending elsewhere or even look to earn a little more. There might also be some cash sitting in forgotten online accounts you can use.
Do your prep
Once you know what you can afford, it’ll help you work out what you are going to buy. This second step is making sure you don’t overpay in the Black Friday sales. Plus how to avoid getting carried away and buying things you don’t need.
Work out what you need
Avoid getting dazzled by a discount – it might not be something you are going to use. That’s a waste of money, no matter how much you use it.
Write a list of what you need and what you’re looking for. This’ll help you avoid endless scrolling through pages and pages of offers.
Think about why you are shopping
A study by the Money & Mental Health Policy Institute found that 54% of those with a recent mental health problem had shopped online to make themselves feel better.
If you find yourself putting something in the basket you hadn’t planned on buying then pause. If you can leave it a few hours, perhaps even a day, you’ve time to think about whether you really want to buy it.
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Research what a good price actually is
Often the advertised discounts aren’t the real saving. Just because it says it “was £390, now £199”, it doesn’t mean it really is. This isn’t a random example.
A few years ago Argos had a Dyson vacuum cleaner as one of its headline offers with these exact prices advertised. £190 off sounds great, doesn’t it? In reality, you could have picked it up for £250 just before the sales. So yes, it’s still a good £50 off, but it’s not £190 off. So you need to be wary.
It’s easy to research the items on your list. A simple Google search will give you an idea, or if you want to take it a bit further you can look at the price history. This way you’ll know the real selling price in recent months.
Stop spending money now
If there are things you want to buy, then try to hold off until Black Friday itself. That’s when most retailers save their best discounts. Amazon is a great example, and its Echo, Fire TV and Kindle devices are likely to be heavily discounted – that’s how they get you on the site.
If you really need something now, or there’s a good deal, then, of course, go ahead and buy it. You might be able to claim a refund if the price drops later (more on this later).
Check returns policies
Make sure anything you get early can be returned. If you spot any bigger discounts during the Black Friday weekend you can always get it again at the lower price, and take back your original purchases for a refund.
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Make your savings even bigger
Fast forward a few weeks and the sales are finally here. You’ve got your list of what you need to buy and know your budget so you can be more focused on your shopping.
This last part is full of the tricks to make sure you’re getting even more savings when you shop in the sales.
And if it’s a credit card make sure you pay it off in full when the bill comes.
Use a discounted gift card
A hack that’s been around for years but has recently got easier, is to buy a gift card at a discount and then use that gift card to pay. Here’s more about the pros and cons of paying this way.
These sales might often have low prices but if you can’t afford it now, wait. You can still get a decent price at other times of the year, possibly even better if you time it right.
Shop with intent
That list you made of things to buy? Stick to that by only searching for those items. Be wary of just browsing.
I’m really not a fan of services like Klarna. They encourage people to buy more than they can afford, which can cause financial problems down the line.
The only reason they might be handy is if you are getting more than one size of an item and know you absolutely will return the ones that don’t fit. In that case you might be able to avoid paying for those extra sizes at all – though some refunds are taking a while to come through from shops, so don’t bank on this.
Check out our ultimate list of Black Friday shops and deals
Our Black Friday deals page doesn’t have anything yet, but it will be updated with early deals when they start to appear. And then as more information is released, a huge list of who is doing what, and some of the top deals. So book mark it now and come back later in the month.
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