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August 19, 2019   |   Articles

New 16 -17 Saver Railcard – how it works

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Get 50% off rail travel if you’re under 18.

Railcards are a great way to cut the price of train travel, and following the launch of the 26-30 Railcard last year, young people are getting another rail discount with the launch of a new railcard for 16 and 17-year-olds.

It’s called the 16-17 Saver Card and it’ll let users save 50% on most rail fares. It’s not free, but with train ticket so expensive it won’t take many journeys to recoup the cash paid and then start saving.

What you need to know about the 16-17 Saver card

Here’s the low-down:

Who can get a 16-17 Saver card

As long as you are aged 16 or 17 years old you can buy one of these new railcards. However the card will expire on your 18th birthday. You can order one online up to 14-days before your 16th birthday. You also need to be a UK resident.

How much will the 16-17 Saver railcard cost?

A card costs £30 for 12 months, or until you turn 18.

When can you use a 16-17 railcard?

You can start using the card on 2nd September 2019 and it’s valid all day, every day.  It’s only valid for travel in England, Scotland and Wales.

You can only buy tickets for travel for dates where you’ll have a valid 16-17 Saver card. If it expires before you’re booked to travel you’ll need to renew it.

The card also won’t be valid for single or travelcard fares in London, though if you’re buying a ticket that starts at a National Rail station you can include a travelcard and get the discount. And if you live in a London borough you can get a Zip Oyster photocard which will save you money on London travel.

How much will you save?

You’ll save 50% on anytime, off-peak, advance and even season tickets. The later in particular could be a massive amount of cash if you travel to school or college via train. Plus season tickets bought with a 16-17 railcard are valid for four months after the holder turns 18.

How to get a 16-17 Saver railcard

The new railcards are available to buy from the 20th August. You can apply online which will provide you with a digital railcard that you’ll use on your phone. Or you can apply by phone on 0345 301 1656. You can request a physical card if you prefer. The cards won’t be available at stations.

You’ll need to have ID, such as a passport or driving licence, and a photo when you apply.

How is it different from the 16-25 railcard?

For a start you’ll save more money. with this new railcard. The 16-25 railcard (which used to be called the Young Person’s Railcard) only discounts fares by a third – and has a £12 minimum before 10am on weekdays.

However, since the 16-17 card expires when you turn 18, it might be better to buy a 16-25 railcard if you’re more than a few months beyond your 17th birthday as that card will last the full 12 months.

The best option really depends on how often you’ll travel by train in the run-up to turning 18 as the fare saving is bigger with the 16-17 card.

What about under 16s?

If you (or your kids) are under 16 then you’ll already be able to take advantage of 50% reductions on most fares as they can buy child tickets. Under fives can travel for free as long as they’re accompanied (though when wouldn’t they?).

Other railcards

There are a number of other railcards available for people of all ages. These cards are valid for 12 months and should save you a third on most fares if you fit the criteria. 

Railcards include:

  • Friends & Family Railcard
  • 18-25 Railcard
  • 26-30 Railcard
  • NetworkRailcard (South East trains only)
  • Disabled Persons Railcard
  • Senior Railcard
  • Two Together Railcard

Offers to save more run regularly through the year, and I’ll update my travel deals page if I spot them.

> Buy a railcard

August 19, 2019   |   Articles

How to save money with the world food aisle

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It’s not just the weird and wonderful stocked in the world food aisle at the supermarket, some regular staples can be picked up for a fraction of the price.

It’s easy to forget that when you visit the supermarket some items aren’t always where you’d expect them. Yes, you know where to find the rice say, or the herbs and spices. But the same products, albeit different brands, could also be sitting around the corner in a completely different aisle.

It’s known as the world food aisle and you’ve probably walked passed a number of times, thinking it’s not for you. Random American snacks, strange Caribbean drinks, bizarre Indonesian instant noodles… the list of things you don’t recognise goes on.

But if you take a moment to look properly, you’ll also see everything from gherkins to coconut milk next to a huge choice of spices and sauces. They’ve usually been imported, but sometimes they’re made in the UK but targetted at various ethnic and immigrant groups. And they can be much, much cheaper than their UK counterparts.

What you’ll find in the world food aisle 

On whole, it’s long life products that you’ll find. So we’re talking jars, tins and food that have long expiration dates (handy for any emergency stockpiles!). Common items include:

  • Grains such as rice and couscous
  • Nuts and pulses such as almonds and lentils
  • Tins such as coconut milk and chickpeas
  • Herbs and spices such as cinnamon sticks and ground coriander
  • Sauces such as soy sauce and lemon juice
  • Jars such as tahini and olives
  • Oils such as sunflower and vegetable

And of course, you’ll also be able to pick up things you won’t find elsewhere. This isn’t just Polish jaffa cakes. You can get non-standard items such as tinned mango pulp or pepper paste.

Often the packs are bigger too. So rather than a small 38g jar of chilli powder, you can buy a 400g bag. Or there are massive 10kg bags of rice.

It’s also worth checking the refrigerated and frozen sections as you might find a range of products there too – though this is often dependent on the cultural make-up of the local area.

How much money you can save 

Here are just a few examples I spotted online across a range of supermarkets.

Tinned chopped tomatoes (Asda)

  • Napolina – £1 for 400g (£2.50 per kg)
  • Asda own brand – 55p for 400g (£1.38 per kg)
  • KTC – 39p per 400g (97.5p per kg)

Curry powder (Morrisons)

  • Schwartz – £1.65 for 38g (43.4p per 10g)
  • Morrisons own brand – £1.13 for 90g (12.6p per 10g)
  • Rajah – £50p per 100g (5p per 10g)

Coconut milk (Sainsbury’s)

  • Amoy – £1.80 for 400ml (45p per 100ml)
  • Sainsbury’s own brand – £1 for 400ml (36p per 100ml)
  • Dunn’s River – £75p for 400ml (19p per 100ml)

Jalapenos (Tesco)

  • Old El Paso – £1.50 for 215g (70p per 100g)
  • Tesco own brand – £1 for 220g (45 per 100g)
  • Aleyna – £1 for 480g (21p per 100g)

It won’t always be the case that the world food item or the larger item is cheaper. Special offers elsewhere in the supermarket can bring the prices down, and some “basic” own-brand items could be cheaper too, so do check the main shelves.

The other important thing to remember here is only to buy the bigger bags if you’re confident you’ll use them before the expiration date (or soon after).

Where to find the world food products

In supermarkets

The big supermarkets often have a set aisle full of these products from loads of different continents and cultures, whether Kosher biscuits or Mediterranean falafel mix. 

Smaller shops could just have a few products dotted around, and in all likelihood, you’ll have to hunt for them. Look in the most random areas – they could be aisles away from where you’d expect.

In rare circumstances, you *might* even have the world food items close to the corresponding standard versions. This could even mean that the Asian products are right by the usual Indian/Chinese/Thai products – but there’s no guarantee.

Do remember to look at the top and bottom shelves as they could be hidden in plain sight (as shoppers we tend to only look at eye-level). And check behind you too. At our Asda, the Asian spices are opposite the standard herbs and spices.

Online supermarkets

Some supermarkets have a section you can browse which groups all the world food items together. And if you search for something, say rice, you’ll get all the different options – standard and world food – together. This really helps! 

You can browse online offerings at some of the big supermarkets here:

How to check if the world food aisle is cheaper

Though items often are cheaper, don’t assume they always will be. You’re more likely to find special offers on branded, everyday versions of the products than the world food equivalents. Fortunately, there’s a simple trick to help you compare prices.

Compare the price per unit

On every supermarket label, you should spot a price per unit. This could be per 100g, or maybe per litre. This helps you compare different size packs. If the items are in separate parts of the supermarket you could always snap a photo of the products you first see, and then check the price against the selling price you spot elsewhere in the supermarket.

It’s not a perfect system though. Sometimes you might find different weights used (eg KG vs grams), or even the number in a packet vs the weight. As my Tweet below shows, they can sometimes even be wrong!

I’ve written more in detail on these problems and how you can use Price Per Unit to your advantage.

The problem with price per unit food comparisons

 

August 7, 2019   |   Articles

Save money on the motorway

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If you’re likely to be bombing up and down the motorway soon, I’ve got a handful of tricks to help you avoid overpaying on everything from fuel to food.

We all know motorway service stations are expensive. It might seem like we’re being ripped off, and there’s certainly a element of the operators knowing they’ve got a captive market. But in part they need to charge more to  cover the costs that go into building and then running the businesses.

You might think there’s not much you can do about it. But you can. Here are some tricks and tools you can use to either avoid service stations completely, or at least reduce how much money you spend at them.

Plan before you leave

The easiest way to avoid paying more than you need to requires just a tiny bit of forward planning.

Petrol

If you know you don’t have enough in the tank to get you where you need to go, then plan to fill up. If that means you have to go slightly out of your way then do it it can be worth it to avoid the markup on the motorway which is going to be huge. We’re potentially talking around 20 to 30p more per litre on the motorway than at one run by a  supermarket.

I’ve written before about finding the best petrol prices near you, but the main websites to help compare prices are Confused.com and Petrol Prices.com. 

Food & drink

Personally, I hate eating at service stations. It’s either a crap pasty or sarnie, or a McDonalds, which I try to avoid at the best of times. I’d much rather have made my own packed lunch. It’s going to be tastier and cheaper, and it’ll be quicker than queuing up and waiting for your order.

On a long journey, I’ll always bring a couple of reusable water bottles that I’ve filled up. I don’t drink hot drinks, but we’ll often make a cup of tea for Becky in a travel mug.

If you really can’t be bothered with either of those, then at least grab a meal deal from Boots or the supermarket. It’ll be a fraction of the price you’ll pay at a service station.

Go “off-junction” 

If you haven’t got the time or inclination to prepare in advance of your trip, you can still cut what you pay by travelling just a short way off the motorway.

There are a couple of sites to help you identify what facilities are available – and they’re also handy if you’re desperate for the loo but there isn’t a service station for ages. Of course, if you’re driving on your own these aren’t much use! But if you do have someone with you, then just get them to load one up on their phone.

Just off the Junction website

This website aims to list alternative facilities within a five-minute drive of a junction. It’s good for finding petrol stations and supermarkets. With other places to eat they tend to be pubs and restaurants, which might not be the most convenient if you’re in a rush.

You also need to bear in mind a few potential risks. First, check if there’s access both north and southbound. Some exits will only be on one side of a motorway. And second, it’s possible the information could be out of date. You can mitigate the latter by giving them a quick call.

> Visit Just of the Junction

Next Junction app

Again, I’m not sure how often it’s updated (so it’s worth checking), but this free app is very easy to use. You can just look at what’s coming at the next junction, or search by motorway and then junction, to see what alternatives are nearby. You can also favourite certain locations – handy if you’re regularly making the same trip. 

> Download Next Junction

On the motorway

If you really have to use a service station, then these simple tips should help.

Don’t fill up at the pumps

It’s always tempting to fill up at a petrol station – it saves you having to stop again at the very least. But don’t. Just put in enough to get you to your destination, which in all likelihood will have cheaper pumps.

Use your loyalty schemes

If you are going to get petrol at a station on the motorway you may as well get some loyalty points while you’re at it. Apps like Stocard can let you store multiple cards digitally so you don’t need to carry loads around with you.

Shop around

Somewhere like a WH Smiths is expensive at the best of times for snacks and sweets. It’s even pricier on a motorway. So just do a quick look around at all your options as you could be getting a better deal elsewhere at the service station.

Pick the right service station

If you’d rather there was a Waitrose or McDonalds than an M&S or Burger King, then you can use the MotorwayServicesOnline website to see what’s where. There are also lists of other facilities such as cash machines, showers, electric car charging and so on.

Plus not all the places you stop on the motorway are as boring and grey as you’d expect. There are some independently run ones out there, including the pretty fantastic Gloucester Services on the M5, which is hidden under a green hill a bit like the Teletubbies home. It’s got a fab farm shop, a nice mini-lake to eat by and a decent enough cafe – though of course it’s not necessarily going to be any cheaper than the others! 

August 7, 2019   |   Articles

Lessons from getting a new kitchen fitted

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What went well and what didn’t when we got a new kitchen.

When we started looking at getting our kitchen replaced I was amazed at just how much new ones can cost. We’re possibly talking tens of thousands of pounds. Even budget options don’t come cheap. 

We shopped around a few different suppliers, big and small. I did a fair bit of research, including reading the guides on Which? magazine to get an idea of reliability and durability. Finally though, we went with the kitchen we liked the best, which was sold by Magnet.

Well actually, it was the second-best one we liked, essentially the next model down. But the style was very similar and it came in the same colour choices. Most importantly the price was decent compared to other similar options.

Even so, it wasn’t smooth sailing. Here’s what we did that worked out well, and the things we wish we’d done differently.

Choosing your kitchen

Look for inspiration

We looked in loads of brochures and websites to get new ideas and inspiration that was invaluable in shaping what we wanted. This was really important as the most expensive mistake you can make is to have a kitchen fitted that you don’t like or isn’t fit for purpose.

Get some plans drawn up

When we then started looking in ernest, we arranged a visit from Magnet to measure up and draw out some plans. These really helped us work out where we wanted things and visualise how it’d look in our space.

Tell them what you want and where

Though these salesmen should, in theory, know about kitchen design, I was surprised how much more I instinctively knew. For example there’s a well-known rule called the “Kitchen Triangle”, where you want the flow between sink, oven and fridge to be triangle-shaped and generally unobstructed and relatively close to each other. Yes rules can, and often should, be broken, but their initial plans completely ignored those basic principles. So we had to clearly say what we wanted and where. You’re spending a lot of money here so make sure you get what you want!

Don’t order what you don’t want

Of course, the suppliers want you to buy as much as possible from them, which means adding things to sketches you didn’t necessarily want. They hope once you see them in the images you’ll feel you can’t go without. This could be whole extra units, or it could just be smaller extras such as lighting.

Check those plans

Despite going through a few iterations to get the kitchen just right, we still found not everything was updated on the plans, or wrong items had been put on the order (for example, white end panels rather than blue). So just double, actually triple, check everything.

Paying for your kitchen

Buy it yourself

It’s tempting to get a builder to order on your behalf if they’re going to be fitting it for you (more on that in a bit). The main motivation here is they can often get a trade discount. Great. But there’s a big, big risk.

We actually had a builder lined up to start work on our house almost 10 months before it actually happened, and we were going to order the kitchen via him. But, just weeks before we were due to get started he went bankrupt. Fortunately, we hadn’t handed over any cash, but if we had then we’d have likely lost it all.

Plus, if you’re project managing further renovations at your property, there’s no reason you can’t be “trade” too. That’s what our friend did last year.

Haggle on the final price

These big stores always seem to have a sale on, and in my experience they’ve got room to move on those too. So get them to quote and ask what they can do to help bring the price down.

Pay some of the deposit on a credit card

It doesn’t have to be the full amount, but if you put down some of the money via a credit card, then you will get Section 75 protection. This is an extra layer of consumer rights which would make the credit card company equally liable if something was to go wrong. However, the kitchen does have to cost less than £30,000.

Consider 0% finance

I’m not someone who likes to borrow money, but we did take the kitchen out on a 12-month finance deal. Now, we actually have the cash, and could have paid for it. But by putting it on finance it just gave us some wiggle room in case of unexpected costs (which did come up in our building work), and we could leave it earning some interest. Of course, I’m going to pay it all off before the 12-month period ends to ensure I don’t get charged any interest at all.

Buying your appliances

I avoided buying any appliances direct from Magnet. Apart from the fact the range is often limited, you’re also likely to pay more than if you source them yourself. I was able to shop around and get better appliances for less money. And that’s not just big things like the oven and fridge. I also shopped around for the tap and sink.

Look for price-matching deals

Once we identified the oven we wanted, I looked around for the best price. Once I found it at a decent price, I then got John Lewis to price-match, which meant we also got a two-year guarantee.

Haggle on large orders

If you’re buying lots of new appliances then it’s worth seeing if suppliers will give you a deal. I found our fridge and freezer at the lowest prices from Mark’s Electrical and got them to give me a further discount on a dishwasher if I bought them all at the same time. 

Get graded appliances

Graded appliances are usually ex-display items which might have the odd scratch or knock, and they can be heavily discounted. You can usually look at photos to see the extent of any damage, if any.

I picked up a Smeg extractor fan from The Appliance Depot for £170 rather than the full price of £330 from AO. When it arrived the only thing wrong with it was the box had been damaged!

Fitting your kitchen

Get the measurements double-checked

The Magnet salesman came over early on and measured our kitchen to help draw up the plans. But it turned out they’d measure wrong – by around 30 centimetres! This obviously meant that not everything we ordered fitted in the space! We got it sorted, but if we did it again I’d demand they come around and measure the kitchen again before the final order went in. 

Get your kitchen supplier to fit your kitchen

As we had a fair amount of other work going on in the house, including some structural changes to the kitchen itself, it made sense to get our builder to also fit the kitchen. This was a mistake. 

First, the builders refused to fit the acrylic worktop we ordered saying it wasn’t worth the risk if something went wrong. It then transpired that there were only a couple of kitchen fitters in our town who were willing to work with that material. So we had to pay more for a “specialist” to come around to fit the worktops.

Then, even though the fitters were really nice and worked hard, they weren’t familiar with Magnet’s kitchens (which you’d think they would). And they struggled. It took a lot longer than planned, and though we had a fixed quote the knock-on was they rushed bits of it.

At first glance it all looked great, but then we spotted things which were wrong. Though we got a lot of those things adjusted, we had to be on it and badger the fitters to fix them.

And even then there were things which the builders blame on Magnet and Magnet blame on the builders. They could both be right, and the things that are left aren’t the end of the world. For an easy life we’ve decided we can live with these imperfections and annoyances – mainly so we don’t have to face any further disruption and stress by trying to get them fixed.

But in hindsight, we could have avoided all of this by getting Magnet to fit the kitchen. Anything that wasn’t right would lay purely with Magnet, and make any fight to get things fixed much easier.

August 6, 2019   |   Articles

Cash hack: Cheap cinema tickets with £1 Tastecard Plus trial

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Get access to cheap movie tickets for three months, and 2-4-1 meals, for just £1 with a Tastecard Plus trial.

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Some articles on the blog 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.

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Going to the cinema can be expensive. I rarely pay more than £6, often less, thanks to a series of special offers, memberships and deals. 

The problem is, these deals come and go, meaning you might not have one available when you plan to see a film. But there is one deal which you can use day-in, day-out at most major cinemas, saving up to 40% on the ticket price.

What is Tastecard Plus?

I’m sure you’re familiar with Tastecard. It’s a membership scheme offering a year of 2-4-1 restaurants. It’s not bad value if you get a card for around £35 and often eat at places like Pizza Express and Strada.  Plus there are always trials where you can get anywhere between 60 and 120 days for just £1, with 90 days the most common.

You might not realise though that there’s also an extra option called Tastecard Plus. Sometimes it’s included in the deal, other times you have to pay extra for it. This offers money off at cinemas, theatres and hotels. I’ve written before about how the theatre and hotel offers aren’t anything special and are available elsewhere, so I wouldn’t get excited about those.

But the cinema ticket offer on Tastecard Plus is a different story. Yes there are potentially bigger ways to save (see my bumper cinema savings page), but it’s possible to get reduced tickets all year round at Odeon, Vue, Cineworld, Picturehouse, Empire, Showcase and The Light with the Tastecard plus deals.

The cinema offers with Tastecard Plus

There are seven cinema chains listed on Tastecard +. types of discounted ticket you can buy. All the tickets you buy are e-codes and you can buy any number of tickets. Each ticket will have its own unique code so you can use them over time or even all at once. 

Some of the chains have one set price per ticket, others have different prices depending on which location you pick, whether it’s 2D or 3D and if it’s an adult or child ticket. Below I’ve broken down the key options. I’ve not gone into every single option (there are hundreds of variables) but they should generally be accurate (at the time of writing). 

Cineworld on Tastecard Plus

  • Adult  – £6.60
  • Child  – £4.90
  • Premium – £13.20

The main Cineworld options on Tastecard are adult or child in 2D, or a separate “premium” option for things lilke 3D or IMAX. There’s also a deal to buy a drink and popcorn combo. If you buy a 2D ticket you can pay extra at the cinema to upgrade. Code are valid for three months. You can book online (with an extra booking fee) or in person, though not via the phone.

Prices could vary on location but I could only find the same price. Only Leicester Square is excluded. This means there could be huge savings on prices you pay. But, something to be careful of is when the cinema has cheap tickets all the time. For example Bradford charges £5.50 for ALL tickets. Via Tastecard + it’d be £1.10 more! So do check the cinema website first.

Odeon on Tastecard Plus

  • Adult (inside London) – £9.02
  • Adult (outside London) – £7.67
  • Child (Inside London) – £7.14
  • Child (Outside London) – £6.59

There are essentially four options. Adult and child, and inside or outside London. You can only buy 2D tickets, and the tickets are just for standard seats, not premium ones. Every Odeon is included except Leicester Square, Whiteleys and BFI Imax. You can redeem them at the box office, or online.

Vue on Tastecard Plus

  • Adult (Picadilly London) – £8.50 / £9.13 (3D)
  • Adult (inside London) – £8.05 / £8.58 (3D)
  • Adult (outside London) – £7 / £8.58 (3D)
  • Cheap cinemas – £4.50 / £8.58 (3D)

There are four cinema categories with Vue. The Picadilly cinema in London, the rest of London, non-London and the locations where seats are always cheap (and these can be all over the country, including Islington and Fulham). This means you should always pay less than the price listed at the box office. With Vue you can also choose to buy 3D tickets at a small premium. Prices are the same whether tickets are for a child or adult. Once more, Leicester Square is excluded.

Picturehouse on Tastecard Plus

  • Adult (Picturehouse Central London) – £13.70
  • Adult (inside London) – £9.50
  • Adult (outside London) – £8.65
  • Child (all locations) – £5.40

Much simpler here. It’s either adult or child 2D, and outside London, inside London or the Picturehouse Central. You can pay more when you book to upgrade your ticket.

Showcase on Tastecard Plus

  • Adult (De Lux cinemas) – £9.05
  • Adult (standard cinemas) – £7.70
  • Child (De Lux cinemas) – £6.62
  • Child (standard cinemas) – £6.25

The price here depends on whether your Showcase is a De Lux or standard location – you’ll pay more for the latter. You get the option to choose between adult and child tickets, but they are all 2D tickets. You can top up when you book if you want to upgrade. Booking can be done online or in person.

Empire on Tastecard Plus

  • Adult – £6.90
  • Child – £5.90

Very simple here, whatever the location you’ll pay the same price for a 2D ticket, with adult tickets a quid more than one for kids. As with most of the others you can pay to upgrade to a 3D or VIP seat.

The Light on Tastecard Plus

  • Adult – £7.25
  • Child – £5.80

This one stands out as it’s the same price for 2D and 3D, so it’s very cheap if you do want the premium experience.  You can only redeem the codes at the box office.

How to get access to this offer for just £1

The best way to get these discounts is to take out a trial – and you can get a 90-day trial for just £1. 

I don’t think it’s worth paying the full price just for these cinema discounts, though if you also use the dining discounts it can be decent value. Just don’t pay more than £35/£40 a year as there are regular offers at this price.

In the past, one of the problems with Tastecard is it can be tricky to cancel if you don’t want to continue with it after the trial. My advice is to schedule in the diary two weeks before the card is due to expire just in case you have problems. If you don’t do it four days before the trial ends you will be charged £39.99 for a full 12 months. I’ve a guide to cancelling here.

Can you beat these prices?

It is often possible to pay even less thanks to special offers and other deals. For example, the Meerkat Movies app can get you two for one tickets every Tuesday and Wednesday, and you can get a year of that for around £1.

But sometimes this and similar offers (Kids Pass has similar deals, as do some work perk schemes) do represent fantastic value.

> Check out all the latest cinema deals in my cheap cinema tickets page

Cheap cinema tickets offers and deals inc Odeon, Vue, Cineworld and more

July 31, 2019   |   Articles

How to go to live football matches for less

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Even though there are loads of footy matches shown on TV, it’s never quite the same as watching it live at a stadium. But it can be pricey to support your team in person.

I’m a Crystal Palace fan, and heading to Selhurst Park is one of my ‘luxuries’, especially now that I’ve got to factor in a train from Yorkshire down to London.

Fortunately, ticket prices aren’t too bad, especially when compared to other London Premier League teams, as the BBC Cost of Football report from a few years ago showed. Things are likely to have changed a little since then, but the research showed we had the cheapest cup of tea (just £1!) but sold the priciest pies (at £4).

But the expenses don’t stop there. You can add on top buying things like programmes and maybe a shirt too. And lets not forget actually getting to the match.

If these spiralling costs put you off going to matches, here’s my starting 11 of ways to save money at football games.

Getting your ticket

Buy online or in person rather than on the phone

Something I don’t like about Palace is that the box office is 10p a minute and normal ways around it (such as SayNoTo0800 don’t work). However, going through their online service is quick, easy – and cheaper.

Share and spread the cost of a season ticket

Season tickets will always work out cheaper per ticket. But if it’s too much money, or you don’t have the time, consider getting a couple between a group of you. You won’t go to every game but you will pay less per ticket.

Alternatively (or as well) 0% credit cards let you make a big purchase and not get charged interest on the full amount – as long as you make the minimum repayments each month. So you could get a season ticket like this to take advantage of the lower matchday price. Only do this if you can be sure you’ll have enough to pay it off in full at the end of the 0% period.

If you can’t make a game see if the club lets you sell back seats. It varies from club to club, but if they do it you’ll only get the money if they manage to sell it. Sold out matches are your best bet.

Get a membership

A club membership should give you advance booking, essential for popular games so you can avoid touts. Check too for a discount in the club shop, free online match programmes or even a match day discount.

Go to away games

The Premier League has a cap of £30 on away games, making it a much cheaper option than most home games. Sadly there isn’t a cap in other leagues.

In the past I’ve even picked up tickets for the odd game from sites like Groupon, so it’s worth checking them out and signing up for email updates, though this is more likely for matches lower down the leagues.

Check for concession prices

My student card (from the now closed NUS card loophole) is still valid, and my dad is retired, so we save £10 to £15 a ticket with a student and senior discount respectively. It’s always worth checking just what is available.

Go on family days

Palace used to do a ‘Kids for a quid’ day, and many clubs around the country do something similar. If you’ve got a family this cuts the cost dramatically.

Getting there

Book your transport well in advance

If you’re going by train, book your ticket as soon as you know a match isn’t going to be moved for TV. The broadcasters normally announce the fixture changes a couple of months in advance so you should be able to pick up advance fairs.

Look for coach travel deals with the club

It can sometimes be tough to get fans to travel, particularly if it involves going long distances or are mid-week late-kickoffs. So clubs might put on cheap, or even free coach travel. If you’re a member you should find out about this stuff, but definitely sign up to any mailing lists.

When you’re at the game

Buy a fanzine rather than a programme

According to the BBC report, Premier League programmes are usually £3.50, while Championship, League One and League two clubs tend to charge £3. With so much information online you rarely get anything new in a programme. But you do in a fanzine. Palace has a great fan-produced magazine called Five Year Plan. It’s only £2 and often more entertaining than the same old content from official programmes. There are hundreds out there, whatever your team. Just keep a lookout at the turnstiles before going in.

If you want team sheets and season stats, use the Sky Sports Score Centre app and Soccerbase.com.

Don’t buy food and drink at the game

Ok, it might be part of the ritual, but seeing as you can’t take your pint (or more likely plastic bottle) of beer onto the stands you’re going to spend 10 minutes queuing at halftime and five minutes necking it. It’s a waste of time, and you’ll avoid overpaying for a pretty rancid pint.

You can save on soft drinks as most clubs will let you bring in a sealed 500ml bottle of water.

And unless it’s an early or late kick-off, match time is hardly lunchtime. So eat before or after. You’ll get better food for better value. And you can avoid paying £4 for a crap pie.

Shop around for your shirt

Unless you’ve got a decent discount at the Club shop with a season ticket or membership, you’ll probably save money on your kit if you shop around. As I wrote ahead of last year’s World Cup, there are ways to save on personalising your shirt and some decent deals on retro kits.

Cheapest ways to watch it on TV

The atmosphere and experience are nowhere near the same, but you can get cheap day passes to watch Sky Sports at home for £8.99 (if not lower via special offers – see the latest Now TV deals here).

Or why not see if a friend or family member has Sky Sports or BT Internet and will lend you their log-in details? Bung them a fiver and everyone’s happy. Here’s my full Cheapest way to watch Premier League and other football on TV article.

June 19, 2019   |   Articles

Why I didn’t tell you I went on holiday

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I’ve just got back from a week away. But I didn’t post any pics on Facebook or Twitter while I was away. I didn’t mention it anywhere on my blog.

Of course I wanted to. Surely the whole point of holiday snaps on social media is to say “look at me having a lovely time while you’re still at work!”, all posted while cackling a Bond villain laugh. 

And professionally, I wanted to let you lot know why I might not respond as quickly as I could to comments or emails. I scheduled all my new articles in advance and even had the newsletter and social media posts prepared in advance so it would seem like (relatively) normal service.

So why did I go incognito? Why all the effort to make things seem normal?

Well it’s really simple. I didn’t want you to know my house was empty.

I don’t know about you, but any time I get back from a trip away I always approach my house with a little trepidation. Could we have been burgled? Fortunately we never have, but I’ll do what I can to avoid it.

Obviously doors and windows are locked. A neighbour picks up the post and brings the bins back up. We’ve got timers on lights too. Standard stuff.

But not revealing that I’ll be away is equally important.

Advertising your absence

When you check in on Facebook that you’re at Heathrow Terminal 4 ready to jet off somewhere, you’re telling anyone who can see your page that you’re off on hols.

When you tweet a snap of some badly translated t-shirt in Asia, you’re clearly saying you’re not at home.

When you Instagram a photo of your Spanish tapas, again you’re telling people you’re away.

And, sadly, this could mean there’s a higher chance you will be burgled. You’ve been publicly saying you’re home is empty – a fantastic opportunity for any thieves.

“But it’s just my mates on Facebook”, you might be thinking. Yeah maybe. But is your security as tight as you think? All it takes is for a friend to like your post and it could then appear on another wall. And for most people, Twitter and Instagram are open to everyone. Everyone.

It’s a weird test, but next time you see a friend share their holiday online, head over to their house and take a look. I’d imagine you could find a lapse or two in security. And you’re not even a professional burglar (at least I hope not).

If the movie Home Alone was to be remade now, all The Wet Bandits would have to do is quickly check the McCallister’s Insta feed to see the family was away (except for Kevin of course).

> Are you following me on Twitter? Click to see my updates (except for holidays..)

Social media could even stop an insurance claim

Still, there’s always the hope it won’t happen, and hopefully if your home is broken to while you’re away, you’ve got insurance to cover any loses.

But it’s not that easy. You’re insurer might check back on your social media posts to see if you’ve advertised your absence to thieves. In the same way your claim would be rejected if you left a window open, social media posts about an empty property could be seen as neglectful on your part. That would mean no compensation for everything stolen. No repairs to broken doors or windows. You’d have to find the cash yourself.

So when you head off on your hols, maybe you should do as I do and take a break from social media. It might just stop your home being burgled.

> I hate buying insurance, but it’s a necessary evil – here’s how to save

 

 

May 22, 2019   |   Articles

How to save money on car parking

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My tips to help you pay less for parking your car.

As someone who generally gets around on foot or public transport, I rarely have to deal with car parks, but when I do, it’s usually more hassle than they need to be.

For instance, last year on a weekend trip to central London we had a nightmare where the car park’s automatic number plate recognition thought I was still on one pre-booked visit rather than another. So it forced me to pay again in order to exit. Of course, me being me I complained and got my £25 back.

I’ve been to car parks that refuse coins, and others than only accept coins. And increasingly I’ve had to phone up, download apps and browse webpages – which usually come with confusing options or even complete lack of instructions!

So getting parking isn’t as simple as it used to be – and it’s also not as cheap. So here are a few ways to bring down the cost.
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Some articles on the blog 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.

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Use free parking

Obvious I know, but side roads are often free, even if there are yellow lines – though watch out for restrictions. I’ve got the app AppyParking, also a website, which shows where you can park for free and how long. 

Find the cheapest car parks

Similar to AppyParking is Parktopia. Simply type in the area or postcode you want to park and it’ll display all the local car parks, prices and other conditions. I tend to use both of these.

Rent someone’s drive

You can use Just Park to hire someone’s drive (or even rent out your own). Again, enter a postcode and it’ll throw up options.

Book in advance

There’s often a discount for booking in advance, especially with airport parking. HolidayExtras has a good comparison site for airports.

Look for cashback

Cashback is a must for airport parking, but you can also get around 4% or so back on advance NCP bookings.

> Not already signed up? See the latest new member offers at Quidco and TopCashback

Have the exact change

Though more and more won’t take coins, the small print for those that do often say you won’t get any change. So if you can keep a few 50p and 20ps in your glove compartment (never on show), then it’ll help if you are paying cash.

Buy a season ticket

If you’re commuting to work by car most days then hunt around for a car park which offers a season ticket reduction.

Park further away from your destination

If you have the time and are able to walk, then you should be able to get cheaper parking a little further away from prime locations such as train stations or shopping centers. This is especially true if you’re in a big city centre – and if you’re on a trip down to somewhere like London there’s no reason why you can’t park out in Zone 4 or 5, and get the tube into the centre.

Use Park & Ride

Taking the last point to an extreme, many towns will offer Park & Ride where you get a bus the last part of your journey. Again, parking here will be a lot cheaper than heading into town, where space might be limited.

Watch more of my tips on cheap Airport parking from Shop Smart Save Money (May 2019)

May 21, 2019   |   Articles

Travel money: my top ways to spend on holiday

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With peak holiday season almost here, it’s a good time to talk about travel money – and the cheapest ways to spend abroad.

It’s possible to save hundreds of pounds just by choosing the best way to pay when abroad. Of course, this all depends on where you go, the type of holiday you have and how many of you are going. But these are the principles I follow, and you should be able to pick and mix to fit your holiday.

I’ve first taken a look at using credit and debit cards abroad, the further down I’ve shared my tips on travel cash.
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Some articles on the blog 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.

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Travel credit and debit cards

I use specialist cards for overseas spending

Normal bank cards are usually really expensive to use outside the UK. Most credit and debit cards companies add a 3%-or-so markup to the exchange rate. This is often called a “load fee”. There’s also often a charge per transaction, usually another quid or so, and another charge for using a cash machine.

The cards I use don’t charge these extras. In fact they give an almost perfect exchange rate, so they’re better than using a bureau de change. Savings are potentially worth around £30 to 40 per £1,000 when compared to changing your money at the airport.

The Halifax Clarity card has been the main card I’ve used for the last five or six years. It’s saved me a fortune, with the only charges coming in interest on cash machine withdrawals – though these can be avoided by paying off the balance straight away. 

However my top card to use is now the Tandem credit card, which gives 0.5% cashback as well as fee-free spending. As with the Clarity, I obviously clear the balance in full each month to make sure there’s no interest charged.

I always pay in the local currency

This is an easy trick to get caught out by. You’re often asked if you want to pay in pounds or whatever the local currency is. If you chose pounds, the exchange rate will be far worse. So always choose euros, dollars or whatever it is. Just not pounds.

I take a backup card

You never know what could happen. A few years ago we traveled around South and Central America for six months. Not long into the trip I was pickpocketed, losing some cash and my essential Halifax Clarity card.

Luckily I had another card – and some cash – locked in the hostel safe, so we weren’t completely screwed. And when our friend joined us a month later, she bought over our replacement cards.

Right now, as a back up I use either my Starling or my Monzo current account. Starling has the edge over Monzo as it doesn’t have any limit on cash machine withdrawals abroad.

Also not everywhere takes Mastercard, so if it’s a long trip I’ll always have a Visa at hand just in case. This is my Nationwide Select credit card which is available to people with a Nationwide bank account. It doesn’t charge fees on purchases abroad either – though it does add on a fair whack for cash machine use. 

Travel cash

Though I use cards most of the time, it’s always handy to have cash – and there are plenty of places I’ve been where cards aren’t accepted.

I don’t take too much cash with me

It’s always difficult to know how much cash to take. I don’t want too much that I’m worried about having it on me, and I don’t want any left over at the end that’d I’d need to change back. But at the same time I don’t want to get stuck in a place where my cards aren’t accepted.

It depends too where you go. When I went to Cuba (this was in 2010 so things are likely to have changed) I took a lot more cash with me than I would if I went to France.

As a general rule I’ll always make sure I’ve enough to cover the essentials when I arrive such as transport from the airport, and then perhaps just £100 extra.

I order travel money in advance

One of the biggest mistakes people make is to leave exchanging cash until the airport. Do this and you’ll get the worst exchange rates.

Instead, order your money in advance. I use Money Saving Expert’s brilliant Travel Money Max comparison tool to find the cheapest option near me.

When I lived in London, this was often at one of three or four different bureaux de changes. I would generally pre-order and then collect it the next working day. It’s cheaper to exchange cash rather than pay with a credit or debit card.

Other options on Travel Money Max are to have the cash delivered by post, or to collect from an airport – still cheaper than walking up on the day you travel.

If you won’t want to shop around then John Lewis Finance price matches the other high street prices, and it’s possible to order to click and collect from Waitrose if you change more than £500.

I’ll rarely use cash machines overseas

Most debit and credit cards are an absolute nightmare for added fees. Most UK banks will not only charge a fee between 2% and 3% for each transaction, there’s often an extra fee for using a cash machine. This can easily be a couple of quid. Some charge a percentage which can work out as high as £4 per withdrawal.

These are on top of any charges you get from the local bank. We’re very lucky in the UK that we can take money out of most ATMs for free. In most countries I’ve been to that isn’t the case.

If I do need to withdraw any extra cash when abroad, I generally use one of the specialist cards mentioned above.

It’s worth noting with most specialist credit cards you do get charged interest on cash withdrawals, though this isn’t much if you pay the balance off quickly. There’s also a slight risk to your credit rating by using a credit card for cash withdrawals, though I’ve never had a problem myself.

Plus even though all these cards are “fee-free”, you might still get charged a cash machine fee by the local bank.

I pay upfront if I can

Whenever possible, I’ll pay in advance. And if I can, I choose the local currency and use my Halifax Clarity card.

This not only helps me budget as I’ll know what I’ve already spent, but it reduces the risks of cards or cash machines not working – a nightmare we faced in Uruguay and Bolivia a few years ago.

Watch more tips from me on getting the best rate when spending abroad on Shop Smart Save Money (May 2019)