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Updated November 5, 2025 | Articles

What can you do if your debts are getting too big?

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.

>> Find out how to check your credit ratings with Experian, Equifax and Call Credit for free

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!

There is a complete list of priority debts here – use that to sort your debts into two groups

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 | Articles

Christmas savings schemes: boost your supermarket spending

Andy Webb

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.

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

Why I’m not a fan of Christmas saving stamps

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

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

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

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

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

Getting the most out of Christmas bonus schemes

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

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

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

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

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

The Christmas saver schemes

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

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

Asda Christmas Savings Card 2025

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

The deadline to add funds onto an Asda Christmas Savings Card is 5pm Sunday, 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

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.

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

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

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

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Saver scheme deadlines

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%

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.

Updated November 4, 2025 | Articles Review

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold credit card review

Andy Webb

Is this the best Amex credit card?

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.

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	Cumulative Bonus
£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	Cumulative Bonus
£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.

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.

We’ve written a longer guide sharing the best ways to use the American Express Membership Rewards scheme.

Cancelling your Gold Amex

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.

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Amex Gold vs other cashback cards

Welcome bonuses

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

You can go directly and check your eligibility with American Express. Once you’ve done this, I’d check the rates at Quidco and TopCashback, or via refer-a-friend links, to see what extra you can get.

Updated November 4, 2025 | Articles

Amazon Prime price increase: Can (or should) you try to beat it?

Andy Webb

Plus how to cancel your Prime membership.

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.

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.

The latest Amazon deals

All my ways to save on this dedicated Amazon deals article

You don’t really need it every month

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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Only watch Prime Video? There’s a better option

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.

I don’t think it’s possible to watch more than one paid for service at any time and get value for money, so I always suggest you mix and match Netflix, Disney, Prime and co month by month.

Do you really need Prime?

Andy’s Top Tip

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

Updated November 4, 2025 | Articles

Is Amazon Prime Day any good?

Zoe Roddy

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.

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.

For that money you don’t just get access to this special sale, you also get extras such as film and TV streaming and free next-day delivery. Here’s our full review with thoughts on whether it’s worth the cash.

When is Amazon Prime Day 2024?

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.

Other items

Here are some of the items we analysed for this, including whisky, an IPL Hair Removal Device and the Shark vacuum.

Item	Prime Day price	Price now	Lowest price since Prime Day	Wait time to lowest price
Hinyx 3 in 1 Foldable Magnetic Wireless Charger Stand	£19.99	£29.99	£29.99	0 months
Anker Power Bank	£19.99	£27.99	£27.99	0 months
Echo Pop	£29.00	£44.99	£17.99	3 months
AMINZER IPL Hair Removal Device	£48.72	£59.99	£46.27	5 months
Garmin Venu 2S	£259.99	N/A	£244.99	5 months
Apple AirPods (3rd generation)	£169.99	£169.99	£149.99	8 months
Sony LinkBuds S	£119.99	£119.99	£99.99	5 months
Philips Series 3000i Connected Air Purifier	£269.99	£270.00	£269.99	9 months
Barbie DreamPlane	£52.99	£65.99	£39.79	1 month
Highland Park Dragon Legend Single Malt Scotch Whisky	£26.99	£42.00	£44.00	0 months
Panasonic CT54 Slimline Combination Microwave Oven & Grill with Turntable	£165.00	£219.00	£189.00	5 months
Bosch Home and Garden Cordless Combi Drill	£59.99	£110.00	£56.99	5 months
Remington PROluxe Midnight Hair Dryer	£29.99	£52.82	£29.99	5 months
Shark Handheld Cordless Vacuum Cleaner	£49.99	£79.00	£49.99	5 months
Ultrasport F-Bike	£79.99	£100.99	£99.99	2 months

Conclusions: is Prime Day any good?

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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Prime Day vs Black Friday

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.

There are more price history sites that you can use, too.

Look for price-matching

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.

Updated November 4, 2025 | Deals

Times Plus trial offers – get 2-4-1 Everyman cinema tickets & free e-books

BCWYC Team

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.

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).

Times+: three months for £3

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.

Times Plus offers

Two for one Everyman tickets each week

It’s rare to see discounts for Everyman cinemas, so this offer is a winner. You’ll be able to claim a code each week that’s valid for Wednesday only.

> More cinema deals

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Free ebook every month

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.

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 | Deals

Cheap festival and gig tickets

BCWYC Team

Here’s how to spend less on live concerts

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!

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.

Get concert tickets

Barclaycard: 5% off tickets / 10% off some events

If you have a Barclaycard credit card you can save 5% if you book via Barclaycard Entertainment and pay using your card.

You’ll also be able to get 10% off and early access to the following:

Download
Camp Bestival (Dorset)
cinch presents Creamfields (North)
cinch presents Latitude
Wireless (Crystal Palace and Finsbury Park)
Reading and Leeds
cinch presents the Isle of Wight Festival
Capital’s Summertime Ball with Barclaycard
Capital’s Jingle Bell Ball with Barclaycard
Radio X Presents events (where applicable)
and many more through their partnership with The Ticket Factory

Buy tickets via Barclaycard Entertainment

Presale hacks

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!

How to get O2 Priority

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Free tickets

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.

Volunteer at festivals

Each year it’s possible to volunteer at all the big festivals in return for a free ticket. This includes Glastonbury, though there’s obviously huge demand for this. Read our full guide for details on how to apply and what it entails.

How to get free tickets via volunteering

Updated November 4, 2025 | Deals

Takeaway deals and money saving tips

BCWYC Team

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.

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:

JUSTEAT8 (18-21 September)
SAVEME8 (25-28 September)

Get Just Eat

JustEat+: 3 months free delivery for £5.99

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.

See the T&Cs

Just Eat: 20% off on Tuesdays

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.

Just Eat: £8 off (ended)

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.

It can only be used once per person.

See the full T&Cs

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.

Deliveroo Plus review

Deliveroo: free delivery with Amazon Prime

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.

Deliveroo: £10 cashback from Amex each month

Anyone with an American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card can now add an offer to their card to get money back at Deliveroo every month.

You’ll get £5 back on the first two transactions each month. There’s a £5 minimum spend.

Here’s more on the Amex Preferred Rewards Gold card.

eToro Free £50 in fractional shares

Customer rating 3.8/5

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Interest on uninvested cash 3% on balances up to $50,000, 3.8% on balances over this
Fractional shares Yes
Foreign exchange fee 0.7%
Fund fees If you invest in funds, you'll have to pay fund fees, which cost on average ~0.16% per year, with additional market-spread effects up to 0.05%
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Accounts available General investment account, stocks and shares ISA (additional fees apply)

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Uber Eats promo codes

Check the app and your email for user specific codes that happen fairly regularly.

Uber One: free delivery via subscription

Uber also has it’s own scheme – Uber One – which offers discounts on takeaways, as well as rides.

Our Uber One review

Uber Eats: £3 off first order

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.

Link Uber Eats account

Pizza Hut offers

Pizza Hut: 50% off via Tastecard

There’s a trick with Tastecard to get half-price pizza every day of the week at Pizza Hut. You simply need to get a Tastecard and there’s usually a three-month free trial.

Dominos offers

Dominos: 50% off via Tastecard

Tastecard will also give you 50% off pizza every day of the week at most Dominos. Get a three-month free Tastecard here.

Updated November 3, 2025 | Articles

Black Friday Bootcamp – get yourself fighting fit

Andy Webb

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.

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

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.

The best cashback debit and credit cards

Check out my list of the best cashback cards

Find extra cash

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

Do your prep

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

Work out what you need

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

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

Think about why you are shopping

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

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

Research what a good price actually is

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

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

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

Stop spending money now

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

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

Check returns policies

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

Make your savings even bigger

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

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

Use cashback sites

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

Don’t forget your cashback card

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

Use a discounted gift card

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

Featured investing offer

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Customer rating 3.8/5

Offer
free £50 in fractional shares*
Annual fee
£0
Investment styles
Shares, funds or ready-made portfolios
Minimum deposit
$50

Invest in a general investment account or stocks and shares ISA (additional fees apply)

FSCS Protected? Yes
Interest on uninvested cash 3% on balances up to $50,000, 3.8% on balances over this
Fractional shares Yes
Foreign exchange fee 0.7%
Fund fees If you invest in funds, you'll have to pay fund fees, which cost on average ~0.16% per year, with additional market-spread effects up to 0.05%
Offer You need to sign up, verify your account and deposit at least £200 to get the free assets. ISA deposits aren't included in the £200 requirement to get the offer.
Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority Yes, FRN 583263
Risk warning The value of your investments may go up or down. Your capital is at risk. ISA powered by Moneyfarm. ISA rules apply. UK residents only.
Accounts available General investment account, stocks and shares ISA (additional fees apply)

View Deal

Don’t get carried away

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

Shop with intent

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

Try to price match

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

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

Our podcast

Listen to Cash Chats, our award-winning podcast, presented by Steve Alderton and Editor James Andrews.

Episodes every Monday.

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Avoid Buy Now Pay Later services

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

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

Sign up to our newsletter

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

Check out our ultimate list of Black Friday shops and deals

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

Find out the steps to take to get on top of your debts.

You and your debt

Look at the debt numbers, even if they are scary

>> Find out how to check your credit ratings with Experian, Equifax and Call Credit for free

Get a first draft of a budget

How bad does it look?

“Caught the problem in time”

“Not quite enough”

“Not close at all” – get some debt advice!

Why I’m not a fan of Christmas saving stamps

Getting the most out of Christmas bonus schemes

The Christmas saver schemes

Asda Christmas Savings Card 2025

Asda Rewards Cashpot 2025

Co-op Saving Stamps 2025

Iceland Bonus Card Christmas boost 2025

Morrisons Christmas Savers 2025

Sainsbury’s Christmas Club 2025 (including Argos)

Tesco Christmas Saver 2025

Saver scheme deadlines

Are Christmas Saver Schemes worth it?

How much will you make from the Amex Gold?

Earning Reward points

Spending bonuses from 15 October 2025

Spending bonuses until 14 October 205

Welcome bonus

Annual fee and charges

Other Amex Gold perks

£10 Deliveroo credit a month

Free airport lounge passes

Exclusive events

Other cashback offers

What are Amex Reward points worth?

Cancelling your Gold Amex

Amex Gold vs other cashback cards

Welcome bonuses

Everyday spending

Should you get the Amex Preferred Rewards Gold credit card?

How to get an American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card

Plus how to cancel your Prime membership.

How much will Amazon Prime cost?

What you get via Amazon Prime

Can you beat the Amazon Prime increase?

You definitely want Prime for a year

You currently pay monthly

You currently pay annually

You don’t really need it every month

Only watch Prime Video? There’s a better option

Do you really need Prime?

Andy’s Top Tip

How to cancel or change your Amazon Prime membership

Read more

Amazon’s member’s only sale is back this month, but can you actually save any money?

What is Prime Day?

When is Amazon Prime Day 2024?

How good are Prime Day deals?

Prime Day 2023 offers analysed

Echo Pop

Anker Powerbank

Garmin Venu watch

Ultrasport F-Bike

Apple Airpods

Barbie DreamPlane

Other items

Conclusions: is Prime Day any good?

Prime Day vs Black Friday

How to find the best prices

Check price history

Look for price-matching

Beat others to Lightning Deals

2024 Prime Day deals

Read next

Times subscription deals and trials

Times+: one month free trial

Times+: three months for £3

Times Plus offers

Two for one Everyman tickets each week

Free ebook every month

Fee audio book every month

Cancelling Times Plus