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Updated September 15, 2025   |   Articles

How to save money at Marks and Spencer Food

Nicky Selwood

Can you save money on your groceries at one of Britain’s pricier food shops?

M&S have a reputation for pricey yet high quality produce in their Simply Food and Foodhall stores – but how do their prices compare to other supermarkets and can you get a reasonably priced grocery shop from there? Here are our top tips to bring down the cost of your trolley.

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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M&S signage

Sign up to Sparks

Sparks is the M&S loyalty scheme. Though you won’t earn points or get exclusive prices for scanning your card at the till, it’s still worthwhile joining. 

The Sparks offers are loaded onto your app and you have to activate them first. Most last a few weeks so you have plenty of time to use them.

Here’s what you can expect to get, even if you’re just an occasional M&S shopper:

Free gifts

Although the free gifts are not frequent, I’ve received a few bags of Percy Pigs, a couple of loaves of bread and even a large chocolate bar. Keep an eye out on your birthday too, to see if a treat has been added to help you celebrate.

You can also get a freebie by recycling old clothes in-store as part of their Schwopping scheme. You can learn more about clothes recycling in our article.

Personalised coupons

You’ll also see personalised offers covering both groceries and clothes in the app. The best ones tend to be a set percentage off meat or fish, though sometimes it’s specific products. Again you’ll need to activate them before shopping.

Win your shopping

Another reason to use Sparks is the chance to get your shopping for free. Each store gives away one shop to someone who scans their Sparks card every week. 

I’ve not seen anyone who has bagged this, but the staff see it every week, so it definitely does happen and the amount of shopping given away varies as it’s completely random. I will just keep wishing for it every time I scan my Sparks card and maybe one day it might just happen!

Buy value products

M&S offer many everyday products at ‘remarksable’ prices such as half a dozen free range eggs for £1.45 or four pints of milk for £1.65. That’s comparable to most supermarkets, including the budget ones. 

You also find some really good prices on fruit and vegetables such as 70p for a head of broccoli or 55p for a bag of carrots, prices comparable to the cheaper supermarkets.

Look out for shelf edge barkers to identify price-locked products and if you want to find the fruit and veg on offer, it’s usually right at the entrance.

Shop M&S Meal Deals

Meal for two, pizza night, stir fry, family chicken dinner and fresh pasta dine-in offers are just a few examples of the meal deals available at M&S. 

They offer great value for money and my particular favourite, the chicken feast dine-in deal, could get you all you need for a chicken dinner (one main including a whole chicken and three sides), for £10.

These meal deals offer great value and you can stretch them further by picking the pricier options, such as the whole chickens or steaks. And you don’t have to eat it all at once, so make use of the family meal deals even if you cook for just one. You can use up different components for different meals or even freeze some bits and use them at a later date.

You’ll find these great value meal deals on the end of the aisles and there always seems to be one or two available every time I shop at M&S.

Purchase multi-buy offers such as the ‘3 for £12’ meat and fish

You can buy top quality meat and fish at M&S – but you pay for it. So this is a really good ongoing offer to pay less.

To get the most value out of the multi-buy offers, pick the products which are expensive at full-price such as salmon. The discount then brings the price down, sometimes to less than at other supermarkets. You can get this in-store and at Ocado.

Shop in the evening for yellow stickers

Although M&S reduces groceries in the morning, it is usually only by a nominal amount, but the final reductions from an hour before closing, is when you can pick up amazing bargains. 

Don’t forget you can freeze so much and many of their ready meals can be cooked from frozen. Read our guide to freezing food.

Check cashback apps

Cashback apps like Checkout Smart, Shopmium and Green Jin have cashback offers on products for most supermarkets and although M&S is listed on these apps, at the time of writing, only Green Jin had cashback offers available for M&S.

Pay with discounted gift cards

You can purchase M&S gift cards from sites like JamDoughnut, HyperJar and Cheddar and receive cashback. Here’s how to purchase discounted gift cards . At the time of writing you could get 5% cashback with both JamDoughnut and Cheddar and 4.5% cashback with HyperJar. 

Consider the Marks and Spencer credit card

The M&S credit card gives you one point per £1 spent in M&S but it only offers one point per £5 spent elsewhere. Each point is worth a penny so it pays 1% on purchases at M&S but only 0.2% on purchases elsewhere. So in short, it could be decent if you regularly shop at Marks, but not a great return as a credit card on other spending.

If there is a welcome offer, we’ll share it in the the latest credit card deals.

Alternatively you could use a card that pays 1% at all supermarkets or even all retailers, not just M&S. Find out more about the best reward credit cards.

The M&S Club Rewards scheme is a paid add on to their credit card, but it’s best avoided for all but the most ardent M&S shopper. Here’s our guide to how the M&S Club Rewards work.

The best reward credit cards

Check out my list of the best paying cards that earn points rather than cash

Use Too Good to Go

Many M&S outlets at stations, hospitals and petrol station forecourts are on the food waste app TooGoodToGo. You could grab yourself a bag of surplus goodies worth more than £15 for less than £5. 

Next time you’re rushing to catch a train, take a second to see if M&S is on the app and you could bag yourself a lovely M&S sarnie and more for a bargain price. Though you could also end up with some ready meals which you can’t really eat on a train! 

Buy from Ocado

You can get lots of your M&S favourites delivered to your door from Ocado and if you combine your M&S groceries with other cheaper brands available on Ocado, such as their own-label, you could get a full grocery shop for a more reasonable price.

Most of the M&S offers are available on Ocado too like the meal deals and the multi-buys so you don’t have to go in-store to take advantage of these promotions. Find out how to save money at Ocado here.

Shop via a cashback site

You may not be able to shop with M&S directly for groceries using cashback apps, but Ocado shoppers can. Currently on Quidco, you can get 25% off your first shop with Ocado, free delivery and 7.5% cashback, and up to 7% cashback at TopCashback. 

The cashback on both these sites is limited to a number of transactions, but it’s a great way to get M&S groceries and earn yourself some much appreciated cashback in the process. Here’s how to get up to £20 when you sign up to a cashback site.

So is M&S competitively priced compared to the UK’s other supermarkets?

Marks and Spencer made a bold statement back in 2020, that they were reducing many of their prices in their M&S Foodhalls to attract more family shoppers, as well as joining with Ocado to offer online shopping. The idea was to attract mainstream shoppers, rather than just being known for luxury products.

They still sell those higher end food and drink items, and of course you can expect to pay more for them – though for many that quality is worth the extra cost. 

They are also competitively priced with lots of everyday products such as milk which is priced the same as all the other supermarkets and bread which is 75p and comes with the added benefit of being a source of vitamin D, as well as being the same price as Tesco standard sliced bread.  

Other products like biscuits, crackers, eggs and breakfast cereals are all competitively priced and many identically priced to other UK supermarkets and it goes without saying, that the quality of M&S products is top notch.

But not everything is on par pricewise with other UK supermarkets and don’t forget M&S doesn’t have a big value range, so you won’t find staple products like rice and pasta as cheap. 

So when it comes to shopping at M&S, you will have to check the prices before putting things in your basket, as although some prices are competitively matched, there are some areas where prices are still a lot higher than other supermarkets.

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Updated September 1, 2025   |   Articles

16 tricks for cheaper train tickets

Andy Webb

Our top ways to save on rail tickets.

As much as I’d like to use trains over cars and planes (and I do when I can), tickets aren’t cheap. Regulated rail fares increases were capped at a 4.6% in March last year in England and Wales, while Scotland capped price rises at 3.8% in April.

However, official figures from the Office of Rail and Road show train tickets in Great Britain have risen by 5.1% during the financial year to March 2025, with cheaper advance fares for south-east England trains going up by almost 10%.

And come March next year, we could expect further hikes! The size of any annual rise is limited to the Retail Prices Index (RPI) inflation figure – but only on regulated fares. Non-regulated ones, such as advance singles and day off-peak are set by the rail companies so could go up by more.

You’ll pay these highest prices if you buy your ticket at the station moments before your train is due to leave, but it is possible to significantly lower the cost. Here are my top tricks to bring down the price.

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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flexible train travel

Book in advance

An old tip, but still the best. Train companies generally release tickets 12 weeks in advance, and this is when they’ll be cheapest.

Even if you don’t get the advanced fares as soon as they go on sale, it’s still worth booking as soon as you know when you are going to travel. However, these tickets won’t be changeable or refundable.

Though the best fares often go quick, you can still get reduced fares the day before on many routes, and some even offer an advanced discount up until 15 minutes before departure.

It’s worth noting that some rail companies do sell tickets more than 12 weeks ahead of a journey, but watch out as journeys could be changed once engineering works have been confirmed, and they might also be more expensive.

Useful alerts for finding when tickets go on sale

As much as I hate Trainline (you’ll pay a fee for all tickets other on the day of travel), it does have a useful alert system where you can get email notifications for when advanced tickets are on sale. Simply enter the dates you’ll travel and your route.

Trainline also has a feature where it predicts when prices will change.

Travel off-peak

You’ll want to avoid peak travel. Hours vary by train company but think of peak as the the rush hour in the morning, usually until 9am for local journeys or 9.30am in bigger towns and cities. It’s also sometimes in the early evening too, around 4pm to 7pm, though that might just be leaving those big cities rather other trips.

But departures outside of these hours and at weekends, known as off-peak, and you’ll pay less. So if you can move your departure a little later to fit these times you’ll save money.

You may even be able to hack this on long journeys which start in peak hours but splitting your ticket to cover the peak period, and then another to cover the off peak part of the journey. Check too if Friday evening has been deemed off-peak.

Split your ticket

In the wisdom of the train companies, they’ve decided that it’s sometimes cheaper to get two or more separate tickets and split your journey along the way.

You might even be able to stay on the same train! We’ve written more here about how split tickets work.

There are a few different companies offering this now and I find they often come up with different routes. A few websites to look at:

Check if two singles are cheaper than a return

Defying logic, it can sometimes cost less to NOT buy a return ticket. Hopefully the website will show you those options when booking.

Get a season ticket

Travelling a lot? A season ticket might be cheaper. Most train companies will sell weekly, monthly and annual ones.

It’s worth seeing if your employer will provide an interest-free loan to buy the season ticket. You’ll pay it back over the year straight from your salary, so it’s a bit like getting the discount each month. If not, look at 0% purchase credit cards.

There are also now flexible season tickets for those commuting part of the week. When I analysed these they were a mixed bag with some cheaper and some more expensive than buying daily tickets.

Get a railcard

These have just increased in price from £30 to £35, but they’re well worth exploring – especially on an expensive ticket where the discount could cover the railcard’s cost immediately.

The terms & conditions for who and when you can travel vary for each type of card, but you can broadly save a third on travel, sometimes also the for people travelling with you.

For the 16-25 and 26-30 railcards, you can buy this up until the day before your birthday. So buy one the day before you turn 31, and it’ll last until you are almost 32.

If you live in London or the South East and already have an annual season ticket (including TFL) then you also have a Gold Card, which is pretty much the same as the Network Card.

From time to time there are discounts on railcards which we feature on our train deals page.

Look for sales and offers

Also on our train deals page you’ll find details of flash sales that happen throughout the year from providers such as Northern and Transpennine, or the network wide Great British Rail sale which usually occurs in January.

Travel as a group

Different providers might also offer special fares, for example three or more travelling at the same time could benefit from a GroupSave ticket. For groups larger than 10 people, it’s best checking with the rail company to see if there are other discounts.

Find a Weekender ticket

Some providers might also have special weekend return offers for departures Friday or Saturday and returning by Monday.

Earn cashback or points

Use the right booking app or payment card and you could be looking at 5% to 10% back on your ticket price, perhaps even more at times. And you can stack this with other offers or railcards.

We’ve covered this in detail in our guide to earning cashback on train bookings.

Don’t pay a booking fee

Use popular companies such as the Trainline and you’ll be hit with booking fees and delivery charges. It’s better to direct with the train operator and you’ll likely save yourself cash – even if they don’t operate the route. I tend to use the LNER site, though there are other decent train booking apps and sites.

You’ll need to pick up at the station or have digital tickets to avoid delivery charges with many booking websites.

Go First Class for less

It can sometimes cost less to travel in First Class if you leave it late and the advance fares are all gone, so don’t discount them completely.

Or on the day of travel the app Seat Frog will let you bid for a reduced upgrade to First. If you factor in the free food and drink on longer journeys this can be a bargain.

Claim a refund for any train delays

Each company has slightly different rules, but essentially if you are delayed more than 30 minutes once the journey has started there is a good chance you’ll be able to claim something, possibly 50%. If it’s over an hour you might get the whole lot back. A handful have cut the time to a 15-minute delay.

Ask at the ticket office or look on the train operator’s website for more information. If your journey is split between two different companies and a delay on the first one makes you miss the connection, it’s less likely you’ll get something. Here’s how to get a train refund.

Book a surprise fare

If you’re travelling via Avanti, then their Superfare gets you a discounted ticket, you just won’t know what time you’re travelling straight away. You’ll pick morning, afternoon or evening for your trip, and 24 hours before you leave you’ll be told which train you’re on. You can book between seven and 56 days in advance.

Buy a travelcard with your ticket

If you pick a train ticket to London and plan to use the tube or buses during the day, then adding in a railcard at purchase might work out cheaper -e specially if you’re using the overground or other trains within zones one to six. Plus you’ll be able to benefit from the cashback savings detailed above.

Combine with a day out

Technically this final tip won’t reduce the cost of a train ticket, but you can use that ticket to get you reduced entry to attractions like London Bridge and Legoland. Check out the National Rail Days Out guide to see who’s taking part in the promotion.

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Updated August 18, 2025   |   Articles

The Marriage Allowance tax break explained

Andy Webb
You could pay £252 less tax this year – and possibly backdate it for another four years.

The Marriage Allowance is a way to shift some of your tax-free allowance to your husband or wife if they are a low earner.

If you’ve been eligible for the current and past four years, you could claim back tax worth £1,260.

There are various conditions so it won’t be for everyone (including me), but it’s certainly worth taking a look at the criteria to see if you can claim.

Here’s how it works and what you need to know.

Who is eligible for the Marriage Allowance?

You need to be either married or in a civil partnership. 

The higher earner in the couple must earn less than £50,270 but more than £12,570 in the tax year you’re applying for. So right now, that’s 6 April 2025 to 5 April 2026.

In Scotland it’s a little different and income below £43,662 for the higher earner.

The lower earner in the couple must earn less than £12,570 in the same year. This is the basic rate threshold where you start paying income tax, though if you have a lower limit (for example because you underpaid tax a previous year) then that amount will apply.

You’re able to make a claim if you get a pension, as my parents did. But, if you or your partner were born before 6th April 1935 (anyone currently 90 years old and above), then you can choose instead to get the Married Couples Allowance.

How much money can you get?

The scheme allows the lower earner to transfer 10% of their tax-free allowance to the higher earner. So for this tax year, with the threshold at £12,570, you can move £1,257 of the allowance over. 

So let’s say the lower earner’s total income for the year is £10,000. By transferring 10% of their personal allowance to their spouse, their personal allowance drops to £11,313. But since they earn less than this, it doesn’t change the fact that they don’t pay any tax that year,

However, the higher earner now has an increased personal allowance of £13,827 before any tax is due. Since the basic rate of tax is 20% this will work out as paying £251.40 less tax in the year (20% of £1,257).

Of course, if one of you earns between £11,313 and £12,570, you won’t get the full benefit. That’s because the lower earner will now have to pay 20% on anything above £11,313.

You won’t be paid back any saved cash. Instead, the tax code of the higher earner will change, and they’ll just pay less tax throughout the year or on their own tax return if they’re self-employed.

Claiming Marriage Allowance for previous years

You can backdate your claim by four years alongside the current year. Usually the amount per year changes, though, since the tax thresholds have been frozen since 2021/22, the amount hasn’t actually changed since then. That means your claim is potentially worth up to £1,260 over the five years.

Any money from previous years will be sent to you via cheque so you’ll see the savings (almost) straight away.

You can also claim for a deceased partner if they’ve they were alive and you were both eligible during one or more of those tax years.

Here’s how to see if you were eligible and how much you could potentially claim for these previous years.

2024/25 Marriage Tax Allowance totals

The basic rate upper threshold was £50,270 in 2024/25 (£43,663 in Scotland), while the personal allowance was £12,570.

So the amount you could claim in England, Wales and Northern Ireland would be £252.

2023/24 Marriage Tax Allowance totals

The basic rate upper threshold was £50,270 in 2023/24 (£43,663 in Scotland), while the personal allowance was £12,570.

So the amount you could claim in England, Wales and Northern Ireland would be £252.

2022/23 Marriage Tax Allowance totals

The basic rate upper threshold was £50,270 in 2022/23 (£43,662 in Scotland), while the personal allowance was £12,570.

So the amount you could claim in England, Wales and Northern Ireland would be £252.

2021/22 Marriage Tax Allowance totals

The basic rate upper threshold was £50,270 in 2021/22 (£43,662 in Scotland), while the personal allowance was £12,570.

So the amount you could claim in England, Wales and Northern Ireland would be £252.

How to claim the Marriage Tax Allowance

It’s really simple. You head to the HMRC website or phone them on 0300 200 3300.

The lowest earner needs to be the one who applies, as it’s their allowance which will transfer over.

You’ll need both your National Insurance numbers, as well as one of the following ways to prove your identity:

  • the last 4 digits of the account that your child benefit, tax credits or pension is paid into
  • the last 4 digits of an account that pays you interest
  • details from your P60
  • details from any of your 3 most recent payslips
  • your passport number and expiry date

Once you’d made the initial claim, it’ll keep going each new financial year.

What if your situation changes?

If you or your partner’s income changes during the current year you are claiming for and you’re no longer eligible then you need to let HMRC know. You’ll still get the tax break for the rest of the year.

You also need to do this if your relationship ends through a divorce, dissolution or if you become legally separated. The claim could be backdated in this scenario which means you could owe tax.

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Updated July 29, 2025   |   Articles

Free and cheap magazines: tricks to save money

Andy Webb

Don’t pay full price when you can get free or discounted magazine copies and subscriptions.

For about 20 years I subscribed to the film magazine Empire, but I’ve not paid at all in the last decade – thanks to different deals and hacks to get it, and other titles, for free. And if they don’t work, there are ways to pay less too.

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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Free magazines tricks

Free digital magazines and newspapers from your library

Libraries don’t just lend books and DVDs – you can also borrow digitally. As well as (non-Kindle) e-books, magazines and newspapers are available. The service will vary depending on your library, but for me I’ve got access to the Press Reader app.

You just need to join your local library, and many will let you do this from their website – even if you don’t have proof of residency. Others will require you to visit the library itself.

Once signed up you can access different magazines that can be downloaded to your tablet, phone or viewed on a computer. It doesn’t take much getting used to reading them on a tablet; an extra bonus is you can zoom in on any bits that are a little too small to read.

I’n the past I’ve regularly download Empire, Radio Times and Wallpaper for free, and my wife has chosen Vogue, Good Housekeeping and Newsweek – and there are dozens and dozens of other options.

Free magazine subscription via a Club Lloyds bank account

Every year with this bank account you have the choice of a free annual magazine subscription, six free cinema tickets or a year of Disney+ with Ads.

Though you’re limited to just one personal account, you can get another as a joint account. That means a couple could have three Club Lloyds accounts, and three freebies. So even if you prefer Disney+ as your first choice, you could easily add a magazine via one of your other accounts.

You do need to pay in £2,000 a month into the current account to avoid a £5 monthly fee, but you don’t have to keep the money in the account, nor does it need to be in one go. We’ve more details in our Club Lloyds review.

There’s also sometimes a switching bonus for Lloyds if you close an account at another bank and move everything over so it’s worth keeping an eye out for that.

Free magazines with the Club Lloyds bank account

The magazines available include (updated 29/7/25):

  • Best
  • Bike
  • Bird Watching
  • Car
  • Classic Cars
  • Cosmopolitan
  • Country Living
  • Country Walking
  • ELLE Decoration
  • ELLE
  • Empire
  • Esquire
  • Garden Answers
  • Good Housekeeping
  • Harper’s Bazaar
  • House Beautiful
  • Improve Your Coarse Fishing
  • Inside Soap
  • Landscape
  • Men’s Health
  • Modern Games
  • Mojo
  • Practical Classics
  • Prima
  • Red
  • Runner’s World
  • Spirit & Destiny
  • Steam Railway
  • Today’s Golfer
  • Trail
  • Women’s Health

Free online magazines with Amazon Prime

A less well-known feature that Amazon introduced for Prime members called Prime Reading. Here you get free access to a number of books and magazines.

The selection rotates each month so you won’t see the same titles featured every month, but there’s a decent mix to choose from. At the time of writing you can pick up 59 different magazines including Top Gear, Elle and Today’s Golfer.

You don’t need a Kindle to read them, in fact they work better if you use the Kindle app on your tablet.

Prime costs £8.99 a month or £95 a year, though you can get a free 30-day trial each year.

Cheap magazine subscription tricks

Try a multi-magazine digital subscription 

If you don’t have the RGB service at your library, you can try a couple of different Netlflix style services where you pay a monthly fee for unlimited access.

The two main ones are Readly and Magzter, and both have free or cheap trials to give them a go. Right now, Readly offers a two-month free trial, while it’s 7-days free at Magzter. Both have thousands of titles, many of them designed specifically for tablets making them a far more interactive read.

Once the trials end it’s a bit pricey at £12.99 and £14.99 a month respectively. However, it’s not bad value if you’d normally buy two or three magazines a month – and even better if you can split the subscription with friends or family. There are often more ways to save, so hunt for deals.

Featured deal

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Customer rating 3.9/5
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  • FSCS Protected? Yes
  • Bonus requirements To get the £240 switch offer, you need to complete a full switch with the Current Account Switching Service. Then, within 60 days of your initial switch request, you need to set up two active direct debits, deposit £1,500 into the current account, set up a Santander Regular Saver, and deposit £200 into it.
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Buy a cut-price subscription online

If print is more your thing, please don’t pay full price for a subscription. You’ll almost always be able to find a cheaper deal online.

If you have Tesco Clubcard vouchers, you can exchange 50p in points for £1 to spend on a variety of titles.

Sites such as Great Magazines and iSubscribe offer money off full price, though you’re unlikely to get more than 40% off. Occasionally you can also get a free voucher (eg Amazon or Ticketmaster) with a reduced subscription.

Check cashback sites too, as they may have bonuses for orders. And if you’re not already a TopCashback or Quidco member, make sure you sign up via our links for up to £20 extra back on top.

Check for deals

From time to time there are other special offers to help you save, and we’ll share significant ones in our magazines and newspaper deals page. Recent examples have included a huge stack of deals on Which? and £1 a month deals for The Athletic.

Haggle for trials and discounts

Finally, if you’re already paying for a magazine, don’t just auto-renew. As with many other bills, call up to cancel to see what they’ll offer. Turn down their initial deal, and see if they can get prices down even more.

And if you don’t have a current subscription, you can still haggle. In the past I was constantly called by the Empire sales team as a former subscriber. At one point I got 12 issues for less than £10!

Or you can contact the magazine publisher direct. Go to their website to find the number and see what you can get.

Just make sure you cancel before the full Direct Debit starts.

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Updated July 16, 2025   |   Articles

Can you beat the bill price hikes?

Andy Webb
Which of your bills are going up and how to avoid paying more.

It’s the time of the year when a whole host of price increases are announced for a number of big services we all pay. Broadband, mobile, energy, council tax, water, TV… you name it.

And since many price hikes are linked to inflation rates from December last year or January this year, it means many bills are going up by up to 17%!

If you’re out of contract it can be the nudge you need to look for a better deal. Or even cut back on the services you pay for.

Of course, sometimes you can’t do much or anything about it. You can’t switch your water or Council Tax to a cheaper provider. Some contracts have annual increases written in when you sign up or exit fees.

But even in these situations, you might be able to find some savings. So in this article I’ve shared the top ways to pay less on your bills.

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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Broadband and phone bills

Virgin Media, BT, Sky and other many broadband bills are going up at the end of March and start of April by around 14%. Which is huge!

The bad news is most customers can’t do anything about it until they are next out of contract. But the good news for Sky and Virgin Media broadband customers is you can use this as a chance to break your contract penalty free – handy if you’ve not been happy with service. Sadly this could be the last increase where this rule works for Virgin Media.

If you can break your contract, or if you’re already out of the initial one, then use a comparison site to see what you can get from a different provider. Here’s more on getting the best deal for your broadband.

New customer extras (such as bonus gift cards or extra credit on your account) aren’t as good as they used to be, but it’s still well worth seeing what’s out there. Don’t forget to go via cashback sites Quidco or TopCashback as you might be able to get £100 back, perhaps more.

Or you can use your price research to haggle. Along with mobile networks, I’ve found you can often get money knocked off your bill if you tell your provider you are going to leave. Then see what they offer you to get you to stay.

TV and streaming bills

You could be hit by Sky, Virgin and BT increases even if you don’t get broadband with them as TV customers will see hikes too – and these won’t allow you to ditch mid-contract.

If you’re out of contract you could shop around or haggle here too – but personally I’d see it as a chance to ditch something you are probably overpaying for!

Instead you can get all the Sky channels via NOW TV or Sky Stream, though I’d go with the former as you’ve more flexibility.

This will work out a lot less each month for most customers, though the sports channels can make it less cost-effective, especially since the Sky Sports and Boost packages on NOW and the BT Sport month passes have all increased in the last month. Here’s more on ditching Sky and Virgin TV.

Elsewhere, we’ve not had any other major streaming price hikes this year (so far at least). But prepare for changes in the near future as Netflix is set to bring in sharing restrictions and Disney+ might start charging more to avoid adverts. Even if there aren’t hikes, I think it’s a good opportunity to streamline your streaming and pay for fewer services each month.

Oh, and the TV Licence is frozen this year, so there’s no increase. Though I think it’s a vital service, those who don’t want to watch live TV or use iPlayer can stop paying.

Mobile bills

EE, BT, Three, O2, Sky and Vodafone are among the networks that have already announced price increases or have it written into existing contracts. And if you’re with Virgin Mobile or O2 it could be going up by more than 17% more!

If you’re not already SIM-only, then as soon as you are out of contract you need to seriously consider this. With 12GB deals available for £7 a month (or less with offers) there’s no reason people should be paying more than this.

If you’re out of contract it’s worth calling up your network to see if they can offer you a discount to stay. Don’t let them fob you off with free extra data. If you don’t need it you won’t use it, so you’re really gaining anything. Here’s more on how to pay less for your mobile phone bill.

Energy bills

Right now we’re set to see a £500 increase to average annual energy bills from 1 April 2023, along with the end of the £67 a month energy grant that’s been around since October. This is despite the energy price cap falling.

However, it’s looking increasingly likely that in the Budget on 15 March (perhaps before), the Chancellor will reverse part of this by extending the existing Energy Price Guarantee free. So we’ll still pay more each month, but not quite as much.

The best savings accounts

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

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Water bills

Right, so can’t change your supplier if bills are going up. But you can potentially move to a water meter. The rough rule of thumb is you’ll save with one if there are more bedrooms in the home than people. But it’s best to use a calculator to get a better estimate of whether you will save.

And if you’re already on a water meter you can add water saving features to your home and ultimately just try to use less of it. Here’s more about reducing your water bill with a meter.

Council Tax

Most councils will be putting up prices from the start of April by up to 5%.

It’s also another bill you can’t switch. But you might be eligible for a discount. For example you’re the only adult in the property, are a student or are a carer.

It’s also possible to check whether you are in the wrong band. If you are, then payments could be backdated. Here’s more on cutting your council tax bill.

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Updated July 15, 2025   |   Articles

Is your holiday protected?

Andy Webb

You need to make sure you’re covered in case something goes wrong before or when you go away.

Whether you book your holiday through a travel agent or do it yourself, things can always wrong. Hopefully they won’t but if they do, there’s every chance you’ll lose your money.

That is unless you do the following. Though there are always complications, it’s better to have as many protections in place to help you get any lost money back or reschedule your trip with limited, if any, extra costs.

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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Book your insurance

It’s so important you book travel insurance, and you should do it as soon as you book your holiday, too. That’s because it’s not just about cover while you are away, you’re also partly paying for cover in case you can’t go on your trip.

You could break your leg, have a close relative pass away or see your airline collapse – all of which could prevent you from travelling. But with insurance in place you should be covered to get your money back.

Having the insurance when you’ve booked will also help if the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) later declares a destination as unsafe to visit. And this isn’t just about obvious danger zones like war zones. During the height of the pandemic many countries were off limits. You can see the latest list of places with warnings here.

A few more quick things on travel insurance.

Do read the policy documents to check exactly what you’re covered for. A few years ago I wasn’t covered for coming back early from the USA when I hurt my back as this was categorised as curtailment – and only unused costs were covered, not new costs. So though my original flight home was refunded, the more expensive earlier flight I did take, wasn’t.

Check for cover for things like natural disasters (remember the ash from the Icelandic volcano) and pandemics too – these could be excluded. It’s worth paying a little more for this cover.

In fact, lots of people might think they are covered by a policy that comes with their bank account. You might be, but check those extra terms and conditions to be sure.

In addition, you must declare any pre-existing medical conditions. If you get ill and the insurance company discovers you didn’t declare you’ve had treatment – even if it’s not for the thing you’re ill with on holiday – they will likely reject your claim. It can be more expensive to find a policy if you have been ill before, but it really is worth getting the right one.

And if you’re going to take two or more trips in a year, annual insurance could work out more cost-effective. The problem you get here is do you need to get just European cover, or are you likely to go worldwide. If there’s a strong chance of the latter then make sure you get cover for this. And don’t forget things like winter sports too if you’re going to be getting involved in those kinds of activities.

Look for extra legal protections such as ATOL and ABTA

Though I tend to book everything myself, if you’re looking at a simple holiday, packages can be the easiest way to book – and they can come with added protection.

The biggest of these is ATOL. If you’ve bought your hotel and your flight – whether as a package from a travel agent or since the 1st of July 2018 from the same website at the same time (e.g. Expedia) – then you will have ATOL protection.

With ATOL, the big benefit is if something goes bust – whether with the hotel, flight or tour operator – then you will either get your money back before you go, or you will be flown home if already abroad (though as we saw with the Thomas Cook collapse in 2019, that’s not always straightforward).

So it’s important to look for ATOL certification when booking, and you can check it’s the real thing via the Civil Aviation Authority website.

Package holidays also give you consumer rights if the holiday isn’t what you expected – say there was constant building work you weren’t told about. You can claim compensation.

Now if your holiday doesn’t involve a flight, say it’s a cruise or a coach tour, look for ABTA membership as you’ll get support if something goes wrong. Again you can check the ABTA membership is the real thing, this time on the ABTA website.

Of course you don’t get ATOL if you book the flights and hotels separately from different companies, so it’s worth making sure your travel insurance covers things like airline failure and consequential losses.

However, although it’s not defined as a package, if you bought your flights and hotel from the same website or travel agent within 24 hours but in separate transactions you can also claim money back if one of the providers goes under.

Pay with a credit card

Whether it’s a package or a DIY holiday, if any part of it costs more than £100, pay for it with a credit card. Do this and if there’s a problem, such as the hotel going bust, then the credit card company is equally liable for any losses you make. This is thanks to something called Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act.

But there are two things to keep in mind. First, the £100 minimum relates to each individual item purchased. So let’s say you are buying two single flights. If one is £120 and one is £70, it could be that only the first flight gets this cover – even if you brought them from the same operator at the same time. However, if it’s a return flight at £190 then both are covered.

Secondly, this is only if you have a direct relationship with the provider. So buy EasyJet flights from EasyJet then yes, you get this protection. But buy them from a third party such as Lastminute.com then you won’t.

And of course, with credit cards, make sure you can clear that debt each month before interest charges are added.

Get a GHIC

The Global Health Insurance Card is essential if you are going to Europe this summer, and replaces the previous EHIC that ended under the Brexit aggreement.

With a GHIC you can access the same health care as locals at the same price they pay, which isn’t necessarily free. But without one it could cost you a fortune – and most travel insurance policies require you to have one too or they could reject any claim you make.

These are free – so don’t fall for dodgy websites charging you to get one. Instead go via the NHS website.

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Updated July 15, 2025   |   Articles

How to refill your water bottle for free

Andy Webb
Reuse and refill to save money with a handy app.

There’s no need to keep buying water when you’re thirsty thanks to a scheme that will let you top up at local shops and businesses.

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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Though the summer is taking a while to get going yet this year (and rain is always around the corner) there have been some been fantastically sunny and hot days in the last month. And that means it’s more important than normal to keep hydrated when out and about.

Yes, a chilled coke can be good, and apparently, a hot drink will help lower your body temperature. But personally I’ll always prefer to have a nice cold water.

But buying bottled water isn’t always cheap. Yes, you can pick up a chilled own-brand 500ml bottle from supermarkets for around 70p, but that’s way more than it would have cost a few years ago. And you’ll be paying way over £1 at coffee shops and corner shops.

For those still commuting to the office, buying just two bottles a day during a working week could easily cost £10, if not more.

And it’s not good for the environment either. The organisation City to Sea estimates that UK households buy 480 plastic bottles a year, and only half get recycled. So it’s better for both your wallet and your conscious is to reuse either a “single-use” bottle, or buy a tougher one designed to be used again and again.

But if you’re not at home or work with access to a tap, where do you top up your bottle? Well, I’ve got some info to help you find out where you can hand over your bottle and get it refilled up for nothing.

Look for the Refill symbol

In recent years I’ve spotted more and more of the Refill logo in the windows and doors of cafes, pubs and even places like gyms. 

This logo means you’ll be able to get a refill of your water bottle for absolutely nothing. You can also plan in advance by downloading the Refill app which has a searchable map.

There are apparently over 330,000 businesses operating as “Refill Stations” in the UK, including brands such as Costa, McDonalds, Starbucks and Greggs.

Look for this Refill logo to get free water

Restaurants and bars – your rights

Of course, not everywhere will have the logo – but that doesn’t mean you can’t get free water. It’s always worth asking places if they’ll top up your bottle, though it’s always better to do this if you’ve been a customer. 

Though spending money doesn’t mean you are entitled to free water. Restaurants and cafes don’t even have to give you free water with your meal unless they are licensed premises.

If they do serve booze then they must have it available, but they can charge for service if they wish. And it doesn’t mean it’ll be very good tap water. I’ve eaten in places where the water is not great at all, and not even that cold. Still, it can help keep costs down.

Find public fountains

The Refill app also has an option to help you locate public fountains.

Filling up at airports

Though you can’t take liquids over 100ml with you then you go airside (though that might be changing), you can bring empty bottles. You should then be able to fill up your water bottles once you’re through security.

Not all airports have fountains, and they’re not always easy to find, but I’ve usually managed to bring a bottle or two through to ensure I can stay hydrated on long-haul flights, and avoid the sky-high charges you get on budget airlines.

Money Saving Expert has a useful list of airports which have fountains and where to find them.

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Updated July 15, 2025   |   Deals

National Art Pass deals and offers

BCWYC Team

This card gives you free or reduced entry to galleries and museums.

If you’re an art or museum lover, you’ll know it can be expensive to see all the major exhibitions, especially in London. The National Art Pass is a pretty good way to indulge your hobby for less.

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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Wording that says 'National Art Pass' with the Be clever with your cash logo on a blue background.

How much is a National Art Pass?

It’ll cost you £83 for the year, reduced to £62.25 if you pay by Direct Debit. Buy a Double membership and it’s £124 a year or £93 via Direct Debit.

Is it any good?

The bigger galleries and museums will probably offer you 50% off with the pass, while smaller ones might give you free entry.

Andy had one before and didn’t quite use it enough. But if you frequently visit galleries and museums, it’s well worth considering.

Where can you use it?

There are hundred of places – from the National Gallery to Tate Liverpool to HMS Belfast. You can search for your favourites or places near you on the National Art Pass website.

National Art Pass deals

3 months for £15

It’s unusual to get a pass for less than a year, so if you want to try it out, then you can currently get a discount for three months. It costs £15 for three months and add a plus one for £5.

This runs until 30 June 2025.

Get a 3 month Art Pass trial

Under 30s discount

If you’re aged under 30 years old you can get an annual pass for £50. (Or £37.50 if you pay by Direct Debit).

You can buy this at any time before you hit 30. So if you’re 29 and your birthday is tomorrow you’ll still get the full discounted membership for a year.

Get an under 30 Art Pass

Student Art Pass for £10

You can buy a Student Art Pass for £10. You need to be over 18 and studying full-time at a UK university or college. You’ll need to prove your eligibility with a uni email address.

It’s worth trying the code TAKE20 for an extra 20% off.

Get a Student Art Pass

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Updated July 15, 2025   |   Articles

Will a water meter save you money?

Andy Webb

How to find out if you’re better off with a meter or set rates.

With some huge price increases on water bills in 2025, any way to save some money is going to be a good thing. SO is a water meter the answer?

Well, the answer depends mainly on how much water you actually use. Sometimes they can save you a decent chunk of cash every year, but others will see their bills rocket when one is installed.

I’d always been unsure about them, but now after a good few years of being charged for the water I use, I can share with you whether it was worth it for me, and how to estimate what one could mean for you.

Plus I’ve some tips to help you reduce your usage and bring bills down further.

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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Who can get a water meter?

For most homes in England and Wales you can ask your water company to fit a water meter. It’s normally completely up to you. However, some water companies, including Thames Water, have made it compulsory.

It’s free to get a water meter installed in England and Wales. You’ve usually got one to two years after installation to compare costs. If you find it’s costing you more, you can switch back to your standard rates. That is of course unless you’re in an area with compulsory metering.

Some water meters are smart meters that let you monitor use. Others need to be read by the water company and you have to wait for your bill to find out charges.

In Northern Ireland your water rates are already included and in Scotland a water meter installation isn’t free. 

Should you get a water meter?

So how do you know if one is good for you? Well, non-metered water is charged based on the size of your house – a bit like council tax. Water meters on the other hand measure exactly how much you are using.

A simple rule of thumb to decide which is for you is if there are more bedrooms than there are people living in a house. If so then you’re likely to be paying more than you need to for your water.

If you want to get a more accurate picture, then there’s also an online calculator. That’s what I looked at before deciding whether to give the meter a go.

The calculator will give you a rough total which is estimated on exactly how many showers you have a week, how many times you use the dishwasher, washing machine, baths, how many times you flush the toilet and so on.

The problem is if you have more people in a house than there are bedrooms or people use water a lot – maybe you’re a keen gardener regularly using the hose – then it’s very likely to cost you more money.

Did it save us cash?

Andy’s analysis

Because only two of us are living in a four-bedroom house there was always a good chance we’d be paying less with a water meter.

Back in the summer of 2018, before we switched, our annual bill was £590. The calculator estimated a new cost of £376 a year via a meter, a huge saving of £214. So it was a no-brainer for us to give this a try. 

Frustratingly, we couldn’t read the meter ourselves, and there was no bill at all for the first 13 months!! When it arrived the total for that first year was pretty close to the estimate at £390. A little more than the estimate, but we were still saving a fair wedge of cash each year.

However, since then, our water usage – and our bills – have varied. Water usage in 2019 was 102m3, but a massive 123m3 in 2020 (probably due to lockdowns). This meant our bill jumped up to £480. Still a decent saving, but not as large.

In 2022, usage was down to 78m3, costing £324. Then it went up again in 2023 to 91m3 and a total of £425. The figure for 2024, the last statement I received, was 92m3 at a cost of £481.

That’s still a big annual difference of more than £100 compared to our non-metered charge from back in 2018! And since prices for unmetered rates have increased every year, the actual saving will be far higher.

When I think back to my previous house, where I lived for close to eight years, if we’d switched then and got similar savings we could have been close to a grand better off.

But – bear in mind my savings are based on the water usage of two people. I’ve played around with the calculator to estimate the cost if more people lived here. It’s still cheaper with three adults, but it could easily be £70 or £80 extra each year with four people than the fixed rates. So it’s important you check for your own circumstances.

How to reduce costs when you have a water meter

If you’ve already got a meter because you’ve moved into a house with a meter, had one for more than two years or compulsory installations are happening, well there are still ways you can cut your bills and it’s very very simple. You use less water.

There are obvious things you can do. For example, turning off the tap when you clean your teeth, or it’s making sure that you don’t necessarily flush the loo every single time. There’s that phrase “if it’s yellow let it mellow, if it’s brown flush it down”. It might sound a bit rough… but it’s true that you don’t necessarily need to flush it every time – and that will save some water.

Free water saving devices

In fact there are all sorts of things you can get which can help you use less water. From special bags that go in the water cistern to reduce the flush through to shower timers. There are even slow release crystals you can put in plant pots which mean you don’t need to water them as often. And they are free from most water companies.

For most providers you can go via Save Water Save Money and enter your postcode. You’ll see what’s available and what you can order for free. Alternatively, just google your water company and see if they offer anything for customers.

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