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March 24, 2025   |   Articles

Cancel Sky and Virgin TV subscriptions and save hundreds

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If you’re still paying for premium pay-TV via satellite or cable you’re paying too much.

Switching away from Sky TV, Virgin Media or EE TV to streaming alternatives can save you £100s of pounds – and you can still keep the exact same channels.

You’ll also get the added flexibility of choosing what you want to pay for and when. And you can even keep recording most channels if you want.

In this article I’ve shared why you shouldn’t be worried about ditching Sky, and how to watch the alternatives (such as NOW TV) on your TV.

Some articles on the site contain affiliate links, which provide a small commission to help fund our work. However, they won’t affect the price you pay or our editorial independence. Read more here.

How much Sky TV costs

Sky TV isn’t cheap. The Sky Ultimate package costs £22 a month for new customers and could go up to a massive £52 a month if you add in Sports and Cinema, coming in at £624 a year. This is on a 24-month contract, where prices will likely go up each April.

You might even be paying another £35 a month if you add on things like Kids channels, UHD viewing and multiroom. That’s potentially £87 a month and £1,044 a year.

But that’s for newbies… existing customers paying full price will see a huge increase. Ultimate, Cinema and Sports will add up to £89 a month (£1,068 a year), and with the extras it’s £124 a month (£1,488 a year).

The new Sky Essentials plan would save some money each month, though you’d only get Sky Atlantic, Netflix and Discovery+, losing all the other Sky-only channels.

It’s also important to note that Sky is pushing new customers and many older ones over to Sky Stream, which does not include a box for recordings.

I’ve also not included broadband costs here as you can easily shop around for deals elsewhere – there’s no need to get it direct from Sky or Virgin.

Initial price per monthFull price per month
Basic package
Sky Essential (inc Netflix w/ Ads)£15*£21
Sky Ultimate (inc Netflix w/ Ads)£22*£35
Add-ons
Sky Sports£20*£33
Sky Cinema (incl Paramount+ w/ Ads)£10*£16
Sky Kids£8£8
Sky UD Ultra£6£6
Sky Whole Home (1 device)£15£15
Skip ads£6£6
*initial 24 month contract price, otherwise 31 day rolling contract

Of course, being a savvy bunch you probably don’t pay full price. These companies are notoriously easy to haggle with and freebies are often thrown in – especially if you bundle your TV packages with your broadband and even your mobile phone.

So I think we can assume you’re paying something similar to what new customers get – though to do so would tie you in to more long contracts.

But even then that’s too much. It’s possible to get all the channels you want to watch, alongside other services, for far less by ditching the long pay TV contracts. I think you could be saving between at least £200 and £430 a year, ore if you’re paying Sky’s full price.

Cancelling Sky TV

Make sure you are out of contract. It could be that you have different dates for TV and other bundled packages such as broadband or phones. If so, make sure you know what the effect of cancelling your TV could have on the price of those services.

If you have any time left to run you’ll be charged an early exit fee, which will pretty much be all the money you owe until that contract is due to end. 

If you’re not out of contract for a while, make a note in your diary a month before it’s due to end to start the cancellation process in motion.

When you’re ready to cancel, you can phone Sky or use a live chat function. To leave Sky TV you need to give 31 days notice, so you’ll still pay for a month (and receive the channels) in that time.

When the service ends you’ll need to return your Sky Q or Sky Stream equipment – so you won’t be able to keep using them for other services.

How to watch free channels (including BBC, C4 & more)

The most watched TV channels are BBC, ITV and Channel 4. These are all available via Freeview. For free. And there are plenty more, including U&Dave, Dmax, Really, Food Network, HGTV, Quest and Yesterday.

Importantly you don’t need Sky to watch these. Most can get these by connecting their TV to an external aerial. If you don’t have one you can try indoor aerials which might work. Or, something called Freesat will connect to your satellite dish. You may need a separate box to connect.

And you can of course catch them live or on catch up via streaming apps on your TV such as BBC iPlayer, Channel4+, ITVx, Freeview Play and so on.

For a more traditional programme guide (EPG) experience when live viewing these channels, check out the live tab on devices like Amazon’s Fire TV (you’ll still actually watch in each broadcasters’ own app).

If you’re happy to focus mainly on these channels then you’re saving a grand a year, if not more.

How to record without Sky or Virgin

The downside with moving away from traditional Sky or Virgin (though not Sky Glass or Sky Stream) is you lose your recording box.

If that’s essential to your viewing, you can buy a Freeview or Freesat box to record Freeview channels. This can cost between £165 (like the Manhattan T4-R) and £250. Sounds like a lot, but if that was to last you for four years (which it really should, if not longer), that £165 costs you £41 a year. Even when you factor that in, you’re still saving money versus Sky or Virgin.

Though I’d challenge you whether you actually need this feature. If you already watch most things on catch-up you can probably do without a box.

Even if you really hate adverts on the likes of Channel 4 or ITV, you can pay £3.99 and £5.99 a month respectively for their ad-free streaming services. Do this as and when there’s something you want to watch (rather than every month), it’ll be cheaper than buying a new box.

How to watch major Sky channels elsewhere

There are actually only a handful of channels not available to watch via Freeview. These are mainly the Sky channels (eg Max, Atlantic, Comedy, Witness etc) and a few others such as U&Gold, Discovery and Nat Geo. But even these can be watched without Sky or Virgin and at a far lower price.

NOW (formally NOW TV) is the main player here. It’s actually owned by Sky and allows you to watch most of the above channels and more via your broadband connection. There are also options for Sky Cinema, Sports and Hayu (reality). I’ve written in more detail about NOW TV in my review here.

The main differences to Sky’s packages are Entertainment includes Kids, while Cinema does not have Paramount+. You also have one add-on bundle with NOW to cover advert skipping, better quality picture and sound and multi-room.

The great thing is you’ll be paying on a monthly basis rather than on a long contract so you can ditch it at anytime, though some offers do require a minimum term. You can also bring the prices down even more if you cancel each month. Doing this usually results in a lower price offered.

Full price per monthTypical new customer offerTypical cancellation offer
Entertainment£9.99£6.99*£2.99-£4.99
Sports£34.99£26**£20-£25
Cinema£9.99£2.99-£4.99
Hayu£4.99
Add on
Boost (HD, no ads and 2 x streams)£6
Boost Ultra (4k, no ads and 4 x streams)£9£6
*six months contract, ** 12 months contract

Sky vs NOW: price difference

If you’re looking at Sky Stream vs NOW, price wise, it’s most fair to compare exact like for like.

If you got Entertainment, Sports, Cinema and Boost a full price from NOW it’d add up to £59.97. Along with Netflix with Adverts, Paramount+ with Adverts and Discovery+, you’d pay another £14.96. That’s a total of £74.94 a month, or £899.28.

Full price for these via Sky – so Ultimate (with Netflix and Discovery+), Sports, Cinema (with Paramount+), Kids, Multi-room, Ad skipping and Ultra HD – would total £1,488 a year. So that’s £489 more expensive.

A reduced Sky price, based on new customers, for the same package, adds up to £1,044 a year, a still significant £145 extra.

However, remember you don’t need and probably don’t want all the extras all the time.

Cut down to just NOW Entertainment and Boost (so you can skip ads and stream on more than one device) and Netflix with Ads you’re paying £21.97 a month versus £34 as a new Sky customer or £47 as an existing one. And that doesn’t include being able to watch it it more than one room or Kids channels.

How to watch other channels from Sky

The other major mainstream channels you might want to keep that aren’t on Freeview or NOW TV are probably Discovery and TLC. Both are available from Discovery+ (£3.99 a month) or as an Amazon channel (you’ll also need Prime).

TNT Sport is also available as a monthly pass at £30.99 a month. That might be more than what you pay for the channels elsewhere, but combining it with the other savings should bring the overall cost down.

Indian channels such as are also available to stream, with Zee TV costing £4.99 a month and Hotstar (including UtSav) at £5.99.

How to watch other streaming services

Lots of Sky customers think they’re getting free Netflix with Sky. You aren’t. Though the recent Netflix price increase will mean you’re getting a slight discount right now, it’s not much. And since you’re on an 18-month contract you don’t have the choice whether you keep it or not. It’s far better to pay separately.

You can add other streaming services to your Sky or Virgin accounts, but these can all be paid for externally. THis is often better as you aren’t tied into the contracts and are often for less money.

The key exception is Sky Cinema customers via Sky get Paramount+ with Adverts for free. Since there’s not a huge amount on there I’d say you’d be better off paying for it every now and again direct with Paramount when there’s something you really want to watch, rather than sticking with Sky Cinema.

When Sky or Virgin might be better value

There are a few exceptions though when paying for TV via Sky or Virgin could work out either better value or just a better user experience.

If you watch a lot of sport

Though occasional viewers can get a day pass for Sky Sports on NOW TV, the month pass comes in at £34.99. There are often deals that bring the price down to around £25 for a month, sometimes £20.

But if you know you are going to want and watch the main sports channels every week AND you want to just Sky Atlantic and Netflix with Adverts via the Sky Essentials package, you might be better off with Sky or Virgin.

The cost for Sky Essentials (£15 a month as a new customer) and Sports (£20 as a new customer) would add up to £35 a month.

However, don’t forget you are tied into an 18-month contract.

If you don’t have great broadband

On-demand streaming does require decent broadband, so you will probably want to look at upgrading to fibre if you don’t already have it. If that’s not possible – especially in rural areas – then you might need to stick with Sky (not Sky Stream) or Virgin Media for your TV.

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March 24, 2025   |   ArticlesReview

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold credit card review

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Is this the best Amex credit card?

There’s a healthy welcome bonus for the Amex Preferred Rewards Gold credit card, making it one of the most attractive cards at first sight.

Here’s what you need to know about the American Express Gold card, how to hack the point redemption to earn more money and how it compares to other cashback cards.

Some articles on the site contain affiliate links, which provide a small commission to help fund our work. However, they won’t affect the price you pay or our editorial independence. Read more here.

How much will you make from the Amex Gold?

Earning Reward points

You earn American Express Membership Reward points rather than cashback. There are different levels when you spend with the Amex Gold Rewards card. You’ll get:

  • 1 point per £1 spent
  • 2 points per £1 spent with airlines or in foreign currencies
  • 3 points per £1 spent at American Express Travel

Personally I’d ignore the double and triple points unless you happen to get the best deal direct with an airline or Amex Travel. It’s better to get a lower price elsewhere even though you’ll earn half the points back. You’ll also be better off using a fee-free card to spend in foreign currencies.

Spending bonuses

As well as normal points for spending, you’ll also get additional bonus points triggered by cumulative spending. The system staggers this bonus so you get 2,500 bonus points for each £5,000 you spend.

The bonus points will be added to your account as soon as you reach the spending threshold. It’s capped at a spend of £25,000 a year meaning the most you could get in a year are 12,500 additional points. Here’s how that works:

SpendBonusCumulative Bonus
£5,0002,5002,500
£10,0002,5005,000
£15,0002,5007,500
£20,0002,50010,000
£25,0002,50012,500

Combined points and bonus returns

Of course, these two ways to earn points stack on top of each other, so the real return has to look at them combined.

If you spend £5,000 (ignoring the welcome bonus which I’ll come back to), you’ll actually get 7,500 points, not 5,000. That’s now an effective cashback rate for the card of 0.75%.

But only if you spend in multiple of £5,000 up to £25,000. Here’s how it’d pan out based on different annual spends with the card.

Annual spendPoints earnedAdditional bonus pointsTotal value as gift cardEquivalent cashback rate
£2,500.002,5000£12.500.50%
£5,000.005,0002,500£37.500.75%
£7,500.007,5002,500£50.000.67%
£9,999.009,9992,500£57.500.62%
£10,000.0010,0005,000£75.000.75%
£12,500.0012,5005,000£87.500.70%
£15,000.0015,0007,500£112.500.75%
£20,000.0020,00010,000£150.000.75%
£25,000.0025,00012,500£187.500.75%

So really you’re looking at at least 62% on this card for spending over £5,000 if swapping to Nectar, and close to 0.75% if you are on or just over each £5,000 threshold. Only super high spenders above £25,000 will eventually earn less than this.

Welcome bonus

New American Express customers who haven’t had an Amex in their name in the last 24 months (here’s more on this American Express rule) will get a welcome bonus worth 20,000 Reward Points when they spend £3,000 in the first three months. You have to spend the full £3,000 to get the bonus. Spend even 1p less and you won’t get it.

This would be valued at £100 if converted to a gift card. The bonus is earned alongside the points given for each £1 spent, meaning that the initial £3,000 spend is actually worth £115 when converted at 0.5p.

However, there are also regular boosted bonuses, increasing the welcome points available to 25,000, and sometimes as much as 30,000 or 35,000 (depending on the offer). Unless you really need the card, I’d wait for one of these offers to run. Check our Amex Gold booster offer page to see if there’s an offer like this available right now.

Be aware that getting the American Express Gold card (bonus or not) will rule you out of earning the welcome bonus from the American Express Platinum, one of the only cards that allows a second bonus.

Annual fee and charges

The American Express Gold card is free in the first year. However after this it comes with an annual fee of £195.

I can’t see how it’s worth paying this much when you can swap to a free or much lower fee card and earn a similar amount on your spending.

Other Amex Gold perks

£10 Deliveroo credit a month

There’s potentially £120 back in credit for spending at Deliveroo with the American Express Gold card. It’s actually two lots of £5 per month, each requiring a £5 minimum spend. This offer needs to be activated on your card, and won’t apply to any supplementary cards.

Free airport lounge passes

You also get four airport lounge passes each year. These can be used at Priority Pass locations, which can be hit and miss – it all depends on which airport you are at. I’d treat it as a nice to have rather than a reason to get the card.

Exclusive events

This is something previously limited to Platinum card holders. You’ll be able to book on (and pay for) events and exclusive food and drink deals throughout the year. Personally I’ve never used this on any of my Amex cards.

Other cashback offers

Something I love about Amex are the extra offers you can select via the app and your online account. Though these are retailer specific and won’t always be relevant, they’re well worth a look.

What are Amex Reward points worth?

It’s all very well talking about these points, but how do you use them and what are they worth? The former is easy. You can exchange your points as soon as they are paid via the Membership Rewards website.

But the value of the points depends on how you redeem them. They’re worth 0.45p when swapped for bill credit or used on retailer sites. So 1,000 points will be worth £4.50.

That increases to 0.5p (£5 per 1,000 points) when exchanged for a gift card at retailers such as M&S, Amazon, Selfridges and Waterstones, or converted to Nectar points. This means the cashback equivalent is 0.5%.

You can also swap them to your Avios or other airline schemes at a rate of 1:1. Personally I think most people are better off getting a cash value they can use on everyday spending than be restricted to using them as part of a flight loyalty scheme.

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

Cancelling your Gold Amex

If you won’t want to pay the fee from year two onwards, you can cancel your card. If you miss the anniversary and get charged, you may be able to cancel and get a pro-rata refund of the fee, giving you back the money for unused months. However this loophole is due to end at some point.

However closing the card will mean you lose unused Reward points. Fortunately there’s a free Amex Rewards card you can apply for which will protect your balance. Make sure you do this before ditching the American Express Gold card.

Amex Gold vs other cashback cards

Welcome bonuses

When boosted to 30,000 points, the equivalent £165 welcome offer is the highest paying without a card fee in year one, as long as you can spend £3,000 in three months.

But, as mentioned, having this card rules you out of later applying for a welcome bonus with the Amex Platinum card, which is often boosted to 80,000 points. This won’t be for everyone, but if you think you might do this, then perhaps you’d be better off going for a different Amex first.

Compared to the other cards, the Nectar will earn you the equivalent of £100 in Nectar points, while the Amex Cashback offers up to £125 (5% on the first £2,500). Get either of these and you can still go for the Platinum at a later date.

Everyday spending

The best you’re going to get with this card is 0.75%. That’s not bad, but it can be beaten.

Right now there are three cards which will pay a better rate. The Chase Bank debit card pays 1% on groceries and community costs, and it’s free – though you obviously won’t earn cashback on other spending.

The Amex Nectar pays two Nectar points per £1, which is effectively also 1%. This has a fee in year two, but only £30, so much cheaper than the Amex Gold!

The American Express Cashback card pays 0.75% on spending up to £10,000, then 1.25% for further spending (it resets each year). It also comes with a £25 annual fee, though this can be wiped out in the first year with a referral code or if you open the card via a cashback site.

Should you get the Amex Preferred Rewards Gold credit card?

Andy’s Analysis

It’s certainly not a bad option for one year, but if you think you will try the second welcome bonus hack for the Amex Platinum card then I’d go for the Nectar or Cashback first instead.

How to get an American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card

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

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March 19, 2025   |   Deals

Investing offers and cashback deals

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Investment firms often give incentives like free cash to get you to give them your money.

These offers are extra cash payments and freebies you can get via starting an investment. We’re only sharing these promotions as a way to get some free cash rather than a recommendation of individual investment platforms or funds.

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.

Here at Be Clever With Your Cash, we’re not regulated to give you financial advice. We aim to give you the facts about a provider or investment but it’s up to you to decide if it’s suitable for you. If you’re looking for more personalised guidance, find a financial adviser who can give you specific advice. Remember that your capital is at risk when investing — don’t invest more than you are prepared to lose. 

Welcome offers

These are offers to tempt you to sign up for an account. There may be a minimum amount you need to add in order to get the bonus. Remember, we’re just sharing offers here and not recommending any individual ISA investment platforms, so do your research before applying. Our S&S ISA best buy tables are a good place to start.

Trading 212: free fractional share

Free fractional share
More Details
Trading 212
Platform fees
£0
Type of investing
DIY investing
Minimum deposit
£1
New customers get a free fractional share worth up to £100 when you sign up via our link or use the code BCWYC
More details ▼
Additional Info

FSCS Protected: Yes

Transfer in existing ISA?: Yes

Fractional shares: Yes

Interest on uninvested cash: 4.90%

Trading fee: £0

Flexible ISA: Yes

Foreign exchange fee: 0.15%

Fund fees: If you invest in funds, you'll have to pay fund fees between 0.03% and 0.78% depending on the funds you choose

Offer details: Once the account is open, you then need to add at least £1 to your account within 10 calendar days. It will take about three days for the share to be added. This offer is only for Trading 212 Invest or the Trading 212 Stocks & Shares ISA.

Further details: Remember, the value of any money invested, which includes your free share, could go up or down.

▲

InvestEngine: up to £100 welcome bonus

Up to £100 welcome bonus
More Details
InvestEngine
Platform fees
£0
Type of investing
DIY investing and managed portfolios
Minimum deposit
£100
Get up to £100 welcome bonus when you invest £100 or more. Sign up via the button or use promo code BCWYC (T&Cs apply). We may receive commission from those who sign up through our link. You need to stay invested for at least 12 months to qualify for the bonus. ETF costs apply.
More details ▼
Additional Info

You can't invest in individual shares with InvestEngine, just exchange-traded funds (ETFs)

FSCS Protected: Yes

Transfer in existing ISA?: Yes

Interest on uninvested cash: No

Trading fee: £0

Flexible ISA: Yes

Foreign exchange fee: N/A

Fund fees: When you invest in funds you'll also have to pay fund fees between 0.03% and 0.89%, depending on which ones you choose

Offer details: £100 welcome offer ends 31 August 2025. You need to stay invested for at least 12 months to qualify for the bonus. We may receive commission from those who sign up through our link. You can use this offer alongside the Tax Year End bonus above.

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ISA vs GIA

When you open these accounts you can usually choose between an ISA and a general investing account. If you haven’t used your full £20,000 ISA allowance this financial year, and you don’t plan to do so before 5 April, then that’s the best account for you as any gains you make will be tax free.

If you can’t or don’t want to add any more to an ISA, you can opt instead for the general investing account, although some of these offers may not be available for this account. In this account, you’ll only pay tax on profits after selling your share if it brings you over the Capital Gains Allowance – which is £3,000 in 2024/25.

Bonus offers

These platforms offer a bonus for opening an account or transferring existing accounts. Sometimes the amount you get will depend on how much you deposit or transfer, while other times, it might be a percentage of what’s in the account.

Wealthify: £50-£500 cashback

£50-£500 cashback, T&Cs apply
More Details
Wealthify, an Aviva company
Platform fees
0.60%
Type of investing
Managed portfolios
Minimum deposit
£1
You could earn £50-500 cashback. Register by 30.06.25 and you'll then have 6 months to deposit or start your transfer of £5,000 or more. Capital at risk. Tax treatments depend on your individual circumstances and may change in the future.
More details ▼
Additional Info

FSCS Protected: Yes

Transfer in existing ISA?: Yes

Interest on uninvested cash: No

Flexible ISA: Yes

Further details: Wealthify Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (No. 662530). Over 18s, UK residents and UK taxpayers only. Up to £85,000 of eligible deposits is protected by the UK Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS).

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Nutmeg: 1% cashback on transfers

1% cashback on transfers
More Details
Nutmeg
Platform fees
0.75%
Type of investing
Managed portfolios
Minimum deposit
£500
1% cashback on ISA transfers of up to £500,000.
More details ▼
Additional Info

FSCS Protected: Yes

Transfer in existing ISA?: Yes

Interest on uninvested cash: No

Flexible ISA: No

Offer details: You need to transfer £10,000 or more of existing investments to get 1% cashback on the first £500,000 in your account.

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InvestEngine: up to £4,000 Tax Year End bonus

Up to £4,000 Tax Year End bonus
More Details
InvestEngine
Platform fees
£0
Type of investing
DIY investing and managed portfolios
Minimum deposit
£100
Get a Tax Year End bonus of up to £4,000 when you open a new ISA or transfer your ISA by 31 May 2025 (T&Cs apply). You need to stay invested for at least 12 months to qualify for the bonus. We may receive commission from those who sign up through our link. ETF costs apply.
More details ▼
Additional Info

You can't invest in individual shares with InvestEngine, just exchange-traded funds (ETFs)

FSCS Protected: Yes

Transfer in existing ISA?: Yes

Interest on uninvested cash: No

Trading fee: £0

Flexible ISA: Yes

Foreign exchange fee: N/A

Fund fees: When you invest in funds you'll also have to pay fund fees between 0.03% and 0.89%, depending on which ones you choose

Offer details: The amount you'll get for the bonus depends on how much you deposit or transfer, ranging from £12,000 for a £50 bonus to £3m for a £4,000 bonus. You need to stay invested for at least 12 months to qualify for the bonus. We may receive commission from those who sign up through our link. You can use this offer alongside the welcome bonus below.

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March 19, 2025   |   Articles

95 Santander branches to close in 2025 and 2026

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Find out which Santander branches are set to close and what you can do if yours is closing

santander branch

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.

Starting in June this year, a massive 95 Santander branches will be closing their doors for good. The bank didn’t close any branches in 2024. Santander is also reducing the hours or removing counter services from another 36 branches, which we’ve listed below.

The move is down to more and more customers using online banking and apps rather than visiting their branches — a trend we’ve seen over the last few years from many other banks. We reported on the closure of 260 branches from other banks in 2024 alone.

It’s understandable in many ways. Santander says that it’s seen a 63% increase in digital transactions since 2019, with a 61% reduction in transactions made in branches over this time.

This can be incredibly frustrating for customers, especially those who don’t want to go digital.

What you can do if your bank closes

If your Santander branch is set to be axed, you’ve got a couple of options.

Stick with Santander

If you want to stay with Santander then you can use your local post office. You can pay in money and cheques into your account, and withdraw cash too – though that has the same limit as if you used a cash machine. It’s not perfect but at least it gives people in remote areas somewhere to go.

Change your bank

A better option might be to switch bank to one which has a branch near you. Of course, there’s no guarantee your new bank won’t close in the future. But you’re at least protected for a while – and you might be able to take advantage of a switching bonus.

And of course, you can take your banking fully digital. There are newer banks that have been designed from the beginning to work better for you on your phone, such as Monzo or Starling.

Which Santander branches are closing down and when?

Here’s the full list of Santander branches announced to close.

19 March 2025 announcement

LocationStreet AddressTownPostcodeClosure Date
Aberdare17 Victoria Square, AberdareAberdareCF44 7LH24/6/2025
Arbroath167 High Street, ArbroathArbroathDD11 1DY17/6/2025
Armagh19 Upper English StreetArmaghBT61 7HG1/7/2025
Bexhill-on-Sea45 Devonshire Road, Bexhill-on-SeaBexhill-on-SeaTN40 1BDTBC
Billericay97 High Street, BillericayBillericayCM12 9BDTBC
Blackwood148 High Street, BlackwoodBlackwoodNP12 1YZ23/6/2025
Blyth22 Regent Street, BlythBlythNE24 1LB5/8/2025
Bognor Regis42 High Street, Bognor RegisBognor RegisPO21 1SP14/7/2025
Borehamwood105-109 Shenley Road, BorehamwoodBorehamwoodWD6 1AX1/7/2025
Brecon18 High Street, BreconBreconLD3 7AL25/6/2025
Brixton498 Brixton Road. LondonLondon – BrixtonSW9 8EX11/8/2025
Caernarfon1 Bridge Street, CaernarfonCaernarfonLL55 1AB7/7/2025
Camborne6 Trelowarren Street, CamborneCamborneTR14 8AA7/7/2025
Canvey Island28 Furtherwick Road, Canvey IslandCanvey IslandSS8 7AF5/8/2025
Clacton9 Station RoadClacton-on-SeaCO15 1TD16/6/2025
Cleveleys98 Victoria Road West, Thornton, CleveleysCleveleysFY5 1AG23/6/2025
Colne3 Church Street, ColneColneBB8 0EB14/7/2025
Colwyn Bay16 Penrhyn Road, Colwyn BayColwyn BayLL29 8PR14/7/2025
Crowborough4 High Street, CrowboroughCrowboroughTN6 2PY23/7/2025
Croydon128 North End, CroydonCroydonCR0 1UE16/6/2025
Cumbernauld40-42 Teviot Walk, CumbernauldCumbernauldG67 1NG7/7/2025
Didsbury712-714 Wilmslow Road, ManchesterManchester – DidsburyM20 6DQ8/7/2025
Dover24 Cannon Street, DoverDoverCT16 1STTBC
Downpatrick49-51 Market Street, DownpatrickDownpatrickBT30 6LP6/8/2025
Droitwich15 Victoria Square, DroitwichDroitwichWR9 8DETBC
Dungannon1 Market Sqare, DungannonDungannonBT70 1AL23/6/2025
Dunstable11 High Street NorthDunstableLU6 1HYTBC
East Grinstead56-58 London Road, East GrinsteadEast GrinsteadRH19 1BJTBC
Edgware Road388-390 Edgware Road, LondonLondon – Maida Vale – Edgware RoadW2 1DR12/8/2025
Eltham73 Eltham High Street, LondonElthamSE9 1UW23/6/2025
Exmouth19 Rolle Street, ExmouthExmouthEX8 1EZ15/7/2025
Falmouth13 Market Street, FalmouthFalmouthTR11 3AE21/7/2025
Farnham17 The Borough, FarnhamFarnhamGU9 7NG29/7/2025
Felixstowe61 Hamilton Road, FelixstoweFelixstoweIP11 7BS16/7/2025
Finchley50 Ballards Avenue, FinchleyFinchleyN3 2DPTBC
Fleet152 Fleet Road, FleetFleetGU51 4BJ30/6/2025
Formby12 Chapel Lane, FormbyFormbyL37 4HU11/8/2025
Gateshead Metro63 Intu Metrocentre, GatesheadGateshead – Intu MetrocentreNE11 9YP16/6/2025
Glasgow301 St Vincents, St Vincents Street, GlasgowGlasgow – Sauchiehall StreetG2 5HN24/6/2025
Greenford26-28 The Broadway, GreenfordGreenfordUB6 9PT24/6/2025
Hackney392 Mare Street, LondonLondon – HackneyE8 1HP15/7/2025
Hawick56 High Street, HawickHawickTD9 9HE24/7/2025
Herne Bay135 Mortimer Street, Herne BayHerne BayCT6 5EZ8/7/2025
Hertford20 Maidenhead Street, HertfordHertfordSG14 1EA29/7/2025
Holloway408 Holloway Road, LondonLondon – HollowayN7 6QF14/7/2025
Holyhead40 Market Street. HolyheadHolyheadLL65 1UNTBC
Holywell69 High Street, HolywellHolywellCH8 7TF13/8/2025
Honiton108 High Street, HonitonHonitonEX14 1JW14/7/2025
Ilkley7 The Grove, IlkleyIlkleyLS29 9LLTBC
Kidderminster2 Rowland Hill Centre, KidderminsterKidderminsterDY10 1EJ18/6/2025
Kilburn131-135 Kilburn High Road, LondonLondon – Kilburn – High RoadNW6 7HS17/6/2025
Kirkby4 St.Chads Parade, KirkbyKirkbyL32 8QZ22/7/2025
Larne54 Main Street, LarneLarneBT40 1SPTBC
Launceston19-21 Broad Street, LauncestonLauncestonPL15 8AB16/6/2025
Louth21 Market Place, LouthLouthLN11 9PD17/6/2025
Lytham St Annes54 St.Annes Road West, Lytham St.AnnesSt Annes On SeaFY8 1RFTBC
Magherafelt9 Rainey Street, MagherafeltMagherafeltBT45 5DA24/6/2025
Maldon53 High Street, MaldonMaldonCM9 5PTTBC
Malvern22 Worcester Road, MalvernGreat MalvernWR14 4QW2/7/2025
Market Harborough4 High Street, Market HarboroughMarket HarboroughLE16 7NJ1/7/2025
Morley91 Queen Street, MorleyMorleyLS27 8EFTBC
Musselburgh123 High Street, MusselburghMusselburghEH21 7EQ30/7/2025
New Milton120 Station Road, New MiltonNew MiltonBH25 6LLTBC
Newton Mearns7 The Avenue at Mearns, Newton MearnsNewton MearnsG77 6EY23/6/2025
North Walsham6 Market Place, North WalshamNorth WalshamNR28 9BPTBC
Peterhead6 Marischal Street, PeterheadPeterheadAB42 1HU16/6/2025
Plympton2 St Stephens Place, PlymptonPlymouth – PlymptonPL7 2ZN14/8/2025
Portadown24 Market Street, PortadownPortadownBT62 3LD30/6/2025
Pudsey5 Lidget Hill, PudseyPudseyLS28 7LG28/7/2025
Rawtenstall15 Bank Street, RawtenstallRawtenstallBB4 6QS15/7/2025
Redcar60 High Street, RedcarRedcarTS10 3DR18/6/2025
Ross-On-Wye32 High Street, Ross-on-WyeRoss-On-WyeHR9 5HD30/7/2025
Ruislip73 High Street, RuislipRuislipHA4 8JB7/7/2025
Rustington6 Ash Lane, RustingtonRustingtonBN16 3BP5/8/2025
Saffron Walden35 King Street, Saffron WaldonSaffron WaldenCB10 1EUTBC
Saltcoats19 Chapelwell Street, SaltcoatsSaltcoatsKA21 5EB21/7/2025
Seaford28 Broad Street, SeafordSeafordBN25 1NH15/7/2025
Shaftesbury53 High Street, ShaftesburyShaftesburySP7 8JE23/7/2025
Sidcup39 Sidcup High Street, SidcupSidcupDA14 6ED11/8/2025
St Austell36-38 Fore Street, St.AustellSt AustellPL25 5PA8/7/2025
St Neots56 Market Square, St NeotsSt NeotsPE19 2HL30/7/2025
Stokesley48 High Street, StokesleyStokesleyTS9 5AX31/7/2025
Strabane64 Main Street, StrabaneStrabaneBT82 8AX23/7/2025
Surrey Quays53-55 Redriff Road, LondonLondon – Rotherithe RoadSE16 7NB10/11/2025
Swadlincote52 High Street, SwadlincoteSwadlincoteDE11 8HS30/6/2025
Tenterden32 High Street, TenterdenTenterdenTN30 6AW7/7/2025
Torquay41 Fleet Street, TorquayTorquayTQ2 5DN17/6/2025
Tottenham472 High Road, LondonLondon – TottenhamN17 9JX8/7/2025
Turriff17 High Street, TurriffTurriffAB53 4EDTBC
Uckfield15 High Street, UckfieldUckfieldTN22 1AGTBC
Urmston6-8 Flixton Road, UrmstonUrmstonM41 5ASTBC
Whitley Bay269 Whitley Road, Whitley BayWhitley BayNE26 2SS6/8/2025
WillerbyUnit 4, Willerby Shopping Park, WillerbyWillerby – Willerby Shopping ParkHU10 6EB13/8/2025
Wimborne8 High Street, WimborneWimborne MinsterBH21 1HYTBC
Wishaw2 Main Street, WishawWishawML2 7AF22/7/2025

Which Santander branches are removing counter services?

These are the branches that are removing counter services. These will have staff in them to help you with queries but won’t have a counter as you’d usually find in a branch.

BranchAddressEffective date
Abingdon23 Bury Street, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, OX14 3QT16 June 2025
Accrington29-31 Union Street, Accrington, Lancashire, BB5 1PL16 June 2025
Bracknell42-44 High Street, Bracknell, Berkshire, RG12 1LL07 July 2025
Bromsgrove93 High Street, Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, B61 8AS30 June 2025
Camberley72-78 High Street, Camberley, Surrey, GU15 3RS11 August 2025
Eastleigh58 Market Street, Eastleigh, Hampshire, SO50 5RU23 June 2025
Edgware115 Station Road, Edgware, Middlesex, HA8 7JG23 June 2025
Gravesend4 King Street, Gravesend, Kent, DA12 2HH04 August 2025
Hartlepool110 York Road, Hartlepool, Cleveland, TS26 9DE14 July 2025
Liverpool17 Allerton Road, Liverpool, Merseyside, L18 1LG04 August 2025
Neath20 Green Street, Neath, West Glamorgan, SA11 1EA23 June 2025
Northwich40 Witton Street, Northwich, Cheshire, CW9 5AG30 June 2025
Nuneaton35 Newdegate Street, Nuneaton, Warwickshire, CV11 4HX14 July 2025
Orpington225 High Street, Orpington, Kent, BR6 0NP11 August 2025
Rotherham20-22 Effingham Street, Rotherham, South Yorkshire, S65 1AJ11 August 2025
Sittingbourne106-108 High Street, Sittingbourne, Kent, ME10 4PP30 June 2025
Stirling49-51 Port Street, Stirling, Stirlingshire, FK8 2EW16 June 2025
Streatham57 Streatham High Rd, Streatham, London, SW16 1PJ30 June 2025

Which Santander branches are reducing hours?

These are the branches where the opening hours will be reduced on 30 June 2025.

Branch NameBranch AddressNew Opening Hours
Alton46A High Street, Alton, Hampshire, GU34 1BJTuesday & Thursday 9.30am to 3pm, Saturday 9.30am to 12.30pm
Banbury7 High Street, Banbury, Oxfordshire, OX16 5DZMonday, Wednesday & Friday 9:30am to 3pm
Barry140 Holton Road, Barry, South Glamorgan, CF63 4HHMonday, Wednesday & Friday 9:30am to 3pm
Beeston81 High Road, Beeston, Nottinghamshire, NG9 2LETuesday & Thursday 9.30am to 3pm, Saturday 9.30am to 12.30pm
Bicester15 Sheep Street, Bicester, Oxfordshire, OX26 6JLTuesday & Thursday 9.30am to 3pm, Saturday 9.30am to 12.30pm
Braintree19-21 Bank Street, Braintree, Essex, CM7 1UGTuesday & Thursday 9.30am to 3pm, Saturday 9.30am to 12.30pm
Bury St Edmunds57 Abbeygate Street, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, IP33 1LQMonday, Wednesday & Friday 9:30am to 3pm
Caerphilly28 Cardiff Road, Caerphilly, Mid Glamorgan, CF83 1UBTuesday & Thursday 9.30am to 3pm
Chippenham15-16 High Street, Chippenham, Wiltshire, SN15 3ERTuesday & Thursday 9.30am to 3pm, Saturday 9.30am to 12.30pm
Cirencester8 Market Place, Cirencester, Gloucestershire, GL7 2PNTuesday & Thursday 9.30am to 3pm, Saturday 9.30am to 12.30pm
Cricklewood161 Cricklewood Broadway, Cricklewood, London, NW2 3HFMonday, Wednesday & Friday 9:30am to 3pm
Durham86-87 North Road, Durham, County Durham, DH1 4SRTuesday & Thursday 9.30am to 3pm, Saturday 9.30am to 12.30pm
Ely37-39 High Street, Ely, Cambridgeshire, CB7 4LTTuesday & Thursday 9.30am to 3pm, Saturday 9.30am to 12.30pm
Grantham1 St Peters Hill, Grantham, Lincolnshire, NG31 6QBTuesday & Thursday 9.30am to 3pm, Saturday 9.30am to 12.30pm
Great Yarmouth29-30 Market Place, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, NR30 1LYMonday, Wednesday & Friday 9:30am to 3pm
Harlesden93 High Street, Harlesden, London, NW10 4NXTuesday & Thursday 9.30am to 3pm, Saturday 9.30am to 12.30pm
Hitchin23 Brand Street, Hitchin, Hertfordshire, SG5 1HSMonday, Wednesday & Friday 9:30am to 3pm
IrvineUnit 2/4 Rivergate Centre, Irvine, Ayrshire, KA12 8EHTuesday & Thursday 9.30am to 3pm, Saturday 9.30am to 12.30pm
Kendal35 Stricklandgate, Kendal, Cumbria, LA9 4LUMonday, Wednesday & Friday 9:30am to 3pm
Kettering60-64 High St, Kettering, Northamptonshire, NN16 8SATuesday & Thursday 9.30am to 3pm, Saturday 9.30am to 12.30pm
Kilmarnock97 King Street, Kilmarnock, Ayrshire, KA1 1QDMonday, Wednesday & Friday 9:30am to 3pm
Lowestoft81 London Road North, Lowestoft, Suffolk, NR32 1LUTuesday & Thursday 9.30am to 3pm, Saturday 9.30am to 12.30pm
Newark44 Market Place, Newark, Nottinghamshire, NG24 1EGMonday, Wednesday & Friday 9:30am to 3pm
Penrith10 Market Square, Penrith, Cumbria, CA11 7BYTuesday & Thursday 9.30am to 3pm, Saturday 9.30am to 12.30pm
Petersfield13 Rams Walk, Petersfield, Hampshire, GU32 3JAMonday, Wednesday & Friday 9:30am to 3pm
Retford11 Market Square, Retford, Nottinghamshire, DN22 6UXTuesday & Thursday 9.30am to 3pm, Saturday 9.30am to 12.30pm
Spalding13-14 Bridge St, Spalding, Lincolnshire, PE11 1XATuesday & Thursday 9.30am to 3pm, Saturday 9.30am to 12.30pm
Stamford4 High Street, Stamford, Lincolnshire, PE9 2ALMonday, Wednesday & Friday 9:30am to 3pm
Stevenage96-98 Queensway, Stevenage, Hertfordshire, SG1 1EGTuesday & Thursday 9.30am to 3pm, Saturday 9.30am to 12.30pm
Stroud19 Merrywalks Shopping Centre, Stroud, Gloucestershire, GL5 1RYMonday, Wednesday & Friday 9:30am to 3pm
Sudbury7 Old Market Place, Sudbury, Suffolk, CO10 1TLMonday, Wednesday & Friday 9:30am to 3pm
Trowbridge35 Fore Street, Trowbridge, Wiltshire, BA14 8HFMonday, Wednesday & Friday 9:30am to 3pm
WashingtonUnit C1 The Galleries, Washington, Tyne & Wear, NE38 7SAMonday, Wednesday & Friday 9:30am to 3pm
Wellingborough38 Market Street, Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, NN8 1SAMonday, Wednesday & Friday 9:30am to 3pm
West Bridgford13 Central Avenue, West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, NG2 5GQMonday, Wednesday & Friday 9:30am to 3pm
Worksop33 Bridge Place, Worksop, Nottinghamshire, S80 1DTMonday, Wednesday & Friday 9:30am to 3pm

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March 18, 2025   |   Articles

Can you pay less on your Council Tax?

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Most of us have no choice when paying Council Tax – but there are ways to make sure you aren’t paying too much.

Along with everything else, my Council Tax bill has gone up. For my council, it’s up by 6.4%, which works out as an extra £15 a month. This is the biggest annual hike I’ve experienced, and it adds up to £175 extra over the year.

Though I’ll be able to afford it, I know not everyone will – and some might have seen larger increases. Many councils have voted to increase by the maximum 4.99% that’s allowed, and few others have been forced by financial issues to trigger referendums for even larger hikes.

So I thought it was a good opportunity to share with you ways you might be able to pay less, or at least make how you pay work better for you.

Save money on Council Tax

What is Council Tax?

Your Council Tax largely pays for local services, so the amount you pay is set each year by your local council. It varies all over the country. 

Some of the money will also go towards funding social care as well as police and fire services in your area.

There are eight ‘bands’ of council tax, all based upon the approximate value of the property in 1991. A is the lowest, H the highest.

You can get cashback from Santander 

There are two current accounts you can open which help you save on your Council Tax bill. Though these current accounts have fees, you generally make the money back on cashback from bills, including Council Tax as long as it’s paid by Direct Debit.

The Santander Edge and Edge Up current account will give you 1% cashback on your Council Tax. The money is returned to your account along with cashback on other bills, such as energy, broadband and water. However you will pay a monthly fee.

If you already have the Santander 123 or 123 Lite accounts (now closed to new customers), then that has a lower monthly fee. You can read my comparison of the four accounts to see which I think is best.

Santander Edge vs Edge Up vs 123

Find which out which account is better to earn cashback on your bills.

There are discounts… if you’re eligible

To be fair,  most of you won’t be able to cut the monthly rate unless you fit one of these exceptions:

  • Living alone? In which case you’re able to get a 25% discount on the rate. If you’re the only adult but have children under 18 or not in education, then you qualify for the discount too as a sole adult
  • Students pay nothing if they’re in full-time education
  • If you are unemployed or meet other conditions, it’s possible to claim Council Tax Reduction payments, which could be as much as 100%
  • Got a second home? You might be able to get a discount too. It’s up to the local council, but if it’s furnished it’s possible to get up to 50%. If it’s empty for two years or more, they can charge more
  • If someone has passed away, there is no charge for six months
  • Disabled people who need a bigger house to accommodate space for wheelchairs or extra bathrooms can get their band reduced down a level for example they’d pay C rates on a D property
  • Adults who are medically classed as having a severe mental impairment will get 100% discounted if they live alone or with others who don’t pay, 50% if you live with a carer only, and 25% if you live with just another adult
  • Live in carers can get a 25% to 50% discount if they meet the conditions

You can read the full criteria for all of these on the government’s Council Tax website.

You can check to see if you’re paying too much

Use this government site (or this one in Scotland) to see what band houses around you are in. If it looks like houses around you are less, it might be worth appealing. The StreetCheck website is good to find out neighbouring postcodes.

You can also see what neighbouring houses are valued at, to help get a sense of whether yours is worth more or less. Zoopla is good for this. You’ll ideally want to see valuations from 1991 as changes could have taken place since then.

If both look good, you can try to appeal. If successful you’ll not only get a discount going forward, but also backdated payments.

Be aware though that the council could also choose to raise your band – and how much you pay (and for any neighbours who are also then found to be underpaying).

I’ve taken a look and most of the nearby houses are all on the same band, so it’s unlikely I’d be able to get it changed to a lower band.

You can pay Council Tax over 12 months if you’d prefer

Most Council Tax bills are set to be repaid over 10 months, meaning you don’t pay anything in February and March. For some this break gives a little breather after Christmas to pay off extra expenses.

I choose to spread the cost over 12 months instead of 10, so I know exactly what I’m paying each month. You need to ask your council to change this if you want to do the same.

More of our articles to help you cut your bills

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March 17, 2025   |   Articles

The best auto savings apps and hacks

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Automating savings with AI and more is an easy way to see your savings grow

Often one of the biggest barriers to putting money into savings is simply remembering to do it. So your salary comes into your current account and stays there. Some of it goes to bills, some of it to shopping and going out. And before you know it, there’s not much (or any) left to put into savings. So nothing gets saved. And this repeats month after month.

But it is possible to break that chain so some of your money goes into savings before you can spend it – and you don’t even need to do anything each month. After the initial set up, these three methods will automatically move money out of your main account into a separate account.

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.

Set up standing orders 

This is the simplest way to ensure you save every single month. Doing this means the money is automatically saved month after month.

You need to do three things. First, set up a separate account which is just for your savings (try for one with some kind of interest, though that’s hard right now). This doesn’t have to be a standard savings account with your current bank. It can even be a separate savings account at a different bank where it’s possible to get 7% with regular savers from First Direct and Co-op Bank.

Then work out how much you can afford to save each month. This isn’t difficult. Just add up all your regular bills and essential outgoings such as food and petrol for a month and deduct this from how much you earn in a month. What you’ve got left is what you have to spend for the rest of the month until your next payday.

Finally, set up a standing order for that amount to come out of your current account and into your separate account on the same date every month. This is often referred to the “pay yourself first” savings method.

Personally I’d set this to be as close to payday as possible so you can’t spend the cash before you save it. If your payday tends to move when it happens on a weekend, then allow a couple of days before the standing order takes the cash. You can always change the size of the direct debit if you feel it’s too much or too little.

The best savings accounts

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

Use an AI app

If you’re not confident you have enough money spare each month to save at payday then there are some apps that will help save smaller amounts as the month goes on.

Once you’ve downloaded the app you need to connect it to your bank account. Doing this gives each app access to see your bank balance and monitor regular payments in and out. The apps then use smart algorithms to analyse your spending.

Now it’s the clever bit. The apps can work out how much they think you can afford to save, and transfer that money automatically to a separate account. Slowly but surely the total saved adds up. You can, of course, use one of these as well as set up standing orders in order to save that little bit more each month.

With each of these apps you have the ability to increase or decrease how much and how often you save, and well as reject a saving if you think you need to keep hold of the money. And if you change your mind it’s easy to withdraw the money back to your current account, though it might not be until the next working day, depending on the app.

I know some people worry about the safety of this but your banking data is all encrypted to keep it safe. Your money is also protected if the companies running the apps were to go bust, though not necessarily if the bank holding the cash goes under. I’m happy with the ones listed below but if you’re not comfortable with doing this then do a bit more reading to put your mind at ease.

Here are the main artificial intelligence savings apps that will automatically move money for you:

Plum

The free version is all you need for the automatic savings, though if you choose to pay more you’ll also have access to Plum Plus which comes with more investment options. The interest rate paid on its easy-access pockets is 3.52% for the free version.

If you put your money into these pockets, it’s held with Investec and protected up to £85,000 by FSCS.

Sprive

Sprive is an app doing the same thing, though it has one major difference – the money saved goes towards overpaying your mortgage rather than a savings account. If your mortgage rate is higher than what you can get in savings, and if you already have a substantial emergency savings fund, this could be a better option for you.

Just bear in mind once it’s in the mortgage it’s much harder to access that cash if you need it later (you’d need to remortgage and release capital). It’s also early days so not all mortgage providers can be connected.

When you first sign up you can get £5 by using the code 5NN3KXFL, or it’s worth checking the rate offered by TopCashback.

Chip

The AI feature on Chip stopped being free to all users in mid-2022. It now charges 45p per save so I wouldn’t use this app for auto-savings.

Trigger auto-savings & savings challenges

The final form of automated savings is something I’m calling ‘triggered’ savings. Effectively, when a certain event happens your bank will move money from your main account into a separate savings pot.

Monzo and IFTT

The main bank for this is Monzo, which has a 1p savings challenge available. Sadly this year’s challenge ended on 31 January for free customers, though if you pay for a packaged Monzo account it’s available all year.

You can also connect to an app called IFTT (If This Then That). You can set up other simple savings challenges very easily, either choose from a catalogue of pre-made options or create your own.

For instance, you could use your maps app as a trigger when you visit a certain shop, or your weather app to trigger a save every time it rains. You’re limited to two free ‘applets’ with the IFTT basic plan.

Plum

The paid version of Plum also offers some of the standard ones, eg the 1p savings challenge, but I don’t think it’s worth paying extra for this.

Round up your spending automatically

The most common way to get money in your savings account without any effort is to use a “rounding up” system. When you spend money on your debit card, the bank will round up the transaction to the nearest pound, moving this spare change across to a savings account. For example, spend £3.75 and 25p will be moved over.

I rarely use this option myself as I tend to spend with my cashback cards instead, but I like the idea of small amounts adding up each time you shop. If you use your debit card a lot it could quickly build up a few quid every day or two.

More and more banks (listed below) offer this and you’ll need to opt-in for the rounding-up to happen. All work a little differently so make sure you understand how what you’re signing up to. And if your bank doesn’t offer this there are third-party apps you can try.

The pick of the bunch is probably Chase as you’ll also earn 5% interest on the top ups for a year on top of the 1% cashback for spending. However, earlier this month Chase announced big changes to its cashback which could limit how much you can earn from April.

What banks offer round ups?

  • Bank of Scotland
  • Chase
  • Halifax
  • Lloyds
  • Monzo
  • Nationwide
  • Natwest
  • Revolut
  • RBS
  • Starling
  • Trading 212
  • TSB

The following also allow you to round up from spending at other banks

  • MoneyBox
  • Plum

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The best auto saving apps

Andy’s Analysis

So there are a lot of options for auto saving, here are the ones I’d recommend:

PLUM

Focus on Plum in the first instance. It’ll be the most impactful. But move your money across to a better paying account at least every month, if not weekly.

CHASE

I’d also suggest you try Chase. Mainly because of the 1% cashback, but the 5% on round ups doesn’t hurt either!

MONZO

Finally, if you already use Monzo, then the IFTT feature has huge potential to add more to your savings. And it could be fun!

Read next

March 17, 2025   |   Deals

Film & TV streaming service deals and trials

Written by

Here are the best TV, movie and comedy streaming deals to help you enjoy a cheap night in!

We’ve hunted out ongoing offers, trials and any short-lived film and streaming service deals.

Some articles on the site contain affiliate links, which provide a small commission to help fund our work. However, they won’t affect the price you pay or our editorial independence. Read more here.

Wording saying 'film and TV streaming deals' and the Be clever with your cash logo on a blue background

Core streaming service deals

Disney + deals

The streaming service has all the old Disney movies as well as new series in the worlds of Star Wars and Marvel. It costs between £4.99 and £12.99 a month or you can pay less for annual passes. Find deals here.

How to pay less for Disney+

All my ways to save on this dedicated Disney+ article

disney Plus deals

NOW TV deals

We love NOW TV, particularly if you want Sky Atlantic but don’t want Sky. There are often some great deals on its streaming packages which we update on this dedicated page.

How to pay less for NOW

All my ways to save on this dedicated NOW TV article

Now TV deals

Netflix deals

There are three pricing options for Netflix: £4.99, £10.99 and £17.99. You can no longer get a full free trial. It’s harder to save with Netflix, but there are a few deals, which we’ve listed on this page.

How to pay less for Netflix

All my ways to save on this dedicated Netflix article

Netflix deals

Amazon Prime Video

Prime Video comes with a standard Amazon Prime membership (£8.99 a month or £95 a year), but it can also be signed up to without all those extras for £5.99 a month. However it’ll cost you £2.99 extra each month to avoid adverts.

Save money on Prime Video

All my ways to save on this dedicated Amazon Prime video article

Prime video deals

TNT Sports deals

You can get TNT via a monthly rolling contract with Discovery+. There are also some good deals to add TNT to your existing broadband or TV package, as well as deals for EE mobile customers. Again, we’ve got a dedicated page for all TNT Sports offers.

Save money on TNT Sports passes

All the latest BT Sports deals

TNT Sports deals

Apple TV+ deals

There are frequent free trials for newbies and existing customers, meaning Apple TV+ can be one of the cheapest options out there.

Save money on Apple TV+

All my ways to save in this Apple TV + article

Apple TV Plus offers

Paramount+ deals

You’ll sometimes be able to get a free Paramount+ trial when you first sign up, but it might be best waiting until there’s a 30 day offer.

Save money on Paramount+

All my ways to save in this Paramount+ deals article

paramount plus deals

Discovery+ deals

You can get a Basic only pass for £3.99 a month, or one with Eurosport on top for £6.99 a month, though there are ways to get it for free via BT and Sky. More on this dedicated Discovery+ page.

Save money on Discovery+

All my ways to save in this Discovery+ deals article

Discovery plus deals

Free streaming services

Fed up with all those subscriptions? You don’t have to pay for these – but you will have to watch adverts in most cases.

Tubi

This service from Fox was new to the UK in July 2024. You can watch a handful of films you’ll have heard of, and 20,000 you haven’t! Hopefully the quality of content will increase in coming months, though it’s not all bad – we spotted Billy Elliot, Child’s Play 2 and Kill Bill in a quick look. Check out Barb and Star Go To Vista Del Mar – it’s hilarious.

Watch Tubi

Film rental deals

Rakuten: free rental via Octoplus

Every month until the end of Jun 2025 you’ll be able to claim a free rental via Rakuten if you have energy via Octopus. You’ll need to go via the Octoplus Rewards tab in your account to claim the voucher.

New codes are released each Friday, but you can only use one each month.

More on Octoplus

Amazon: £1.99 new releases for Prime members

Amazon often has selected new rentals for £1.99 if you’re with Prime. If you’re not already a Prime member you can get a 30-day free trial once a year.

Rent movies from Amazon

Chili: 20% off your first rental

The first time you sign up you should be able to get money off your first rental. The discount code is usually automatically applied at checkout, but check first. It used to be 50% but has now dropped to 20% off.

Also you might find a limited choice – many of the big titles aren’t available there.

Sign up to Chili

YouTube Premium deals

YouTube Premium: family and student plans

If you pay for more than one account in your household a Family plan works out cheaper at £19.99 a month. Or if you can validate your student ID you can pay just £7.99.

YouTube Premium: one month free

The standard free trial for YouTube Premium is one month (it’s occasionally increased). You’ll get ad-free viewing, the ability to download and access to YouTube Music Premium (a bit like Spotify). You can only get this if you are a new user of YouTube Premium, YouTube Music or Google Play Music. At the end of the trial it’s £11.99 a month, so cancel if you don’t want to keep paying.

ITVX deals

ITV Hub is now ITVX. It’s free to watch most of the content, but if you pay £5.99 a month you’ll get Premium which has even more shows, access to Britbox and no adverts.

ITVX: 7 day free trial

You can try ITVX for a week for free, though you’ll be charged after this if you don’t cancel.

ITVX: One year for £59.99

You’ll get 12 months for the price of 10 if you pay upfront for the whole year.

Mubi deals

Mubi shows a selection of cult, indie and world cinema. It’s £11.99 a month but sometimes there are decent deals.

Mubi: 30-day free trial

The standard Mubi free trial is just a week, but this offer gets you a month for free.

Get a month trial of Mubi

Other subscription deals

BFI: 50% off one year

If you’re aged 16 to 25 you can use the code 25UNDER to save 50% on a 12 month BFI Player subscription.

BFI: 14-day free trial

You can get a 14-day free trial of the BFI Player streaming service. It’s then £6.99 a month.

Arrow: 30% off your first month

You can sign up direct with Arrow and save on the first month. There used to be a free trial.

Shudder: 7-day free trial

You can sign up direct with Shudder and get your first 7 days for free.

Next Up: 7-day free trial

New users can try the stand-up comedy streaming service for free for a week.

Next Up: 7-day free trial for Prime members

You can also watch NextUp on Amazon Video and Prime members get 7-days for free right now. After the trial it’s £9.99 a month (unless you cancel). Sign up here.

Read next

March 16, 2025   |   Articles

Should you ditch the TV Licence?

Written by

With so much quality TV now online from the likes of Netflix and Disney, I’ve taken a look into whether paying for the BBC represents good value for money.

It’s been announced that in April 2025, the TV Licence is increasing by £5 a year, with the annual cost set to be £174.50.

This is the first inflation linked increase in three years, and that’ll continue until 2027. However, it won’t reverse years of underfunding thanks to zero or below inflation hikes, which led to budget cuts – and many would argue a lowering of quality in BBC output.

For some, this latest increase means they’ll advocate for people to cancel their TV Licence now rather than pay more. I’ve shared in this article who needs to have one and who doesn’t.

However for me, the big question isn’t how to ditch the licence fee, but should you?

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.

Who needs a TV Licence

Here’s when you need a TV Licence:

  • If you watch any live TV
  • If you record any TV
  • If you watch BBC TV on iPlayer, no matter the device (eg on your phone, games console, TV etc)

Despite more and more of us using streaming services, this is still pretty much most TV viewing.

So realistically the only way you’re eligible to avoid the licence fee is if you only watch online streaming or catch up services (not including iPlayer), and if you never watch or record broadcast TV.

Now if that’s the case, then you don’t have to pay, and I’ve shared further down how you can cancel your TV Licence.

Over 75s

A rule change a few years ago meant not all over 75s get a free TV Licence. However, many will still be able to claim one as long as they already receive pension credit. Here’s more information on the TV Licensing website.

Before we start

Everyone has an opinion about the BBC, especially the news output which those on the right say is too left wing and those on the left say is too right wing. We’re going to put that aside for this analysis and focus just on what you get for the money you pay.

I also want to put my cards on the table here at the start. When I was five or six, I declared that I wanted to work for the BBC when I was older. And I did. From 22 to 33 years old I worked all over the Beeb, before leaving to start up Be Clever With Your Cash. So it’s important to me.

Though it’s certainly not perfect (what large organisation is?). I do believe we’re better off as a country with the BBC than without. And that will obviously inform on my analysis below.

But it’s more than a decade since I left the broadcaster, and so much has changed in that time – not just at the BBC, but also how we consume our media – which goes for me too.

And the cost of living crisis has made every penny we spend so much more important, making value for money as a licence fee payer something that really does need interrogating.

What I watch

So do I get value from BBC TV? Over the last few years my TV viewing has changed drastically. Many of my favourite dramas and comedies can be found on Netflix, Sky Atlantic and Disney+.

Yet I do still watch plenty of excellent normal TV, mainly BBC and Channel 4 (you need a TV Licence to watch or record any live TV). In fact some of the best shows I’ve watched over the last year have been on these channels.

Happy Valley, Ghosts, Traitors, Race Across the World, Match of the Day, Wimbledon, Ludwig and Outlaws (all BBC), through to It’s a Sin, The Great British Bake Off and The Handmaid’s Tale (all C4). And there are plenty of great older shows available on-demand too, such as classic Attenborough, Motherland, His Dark Materials, Peaky Blinders, The IT Crowd and The Bridge.

And I’m not alone. Most TV viewing is of a free to watch channel, whether that’s via Freeview or Sky. And the most-watched shows every year are on the BBC, ITV and Channel 4. Even big import TV shows like Game of Thrones or Stranger Things haven’t come close.

Still, £175 every year is a lot of money. And there are some cheaper alternatives with very good programmes.

How the TV Licence cost compares to other media services

If you pay for the TV Licence monthly at the new price it’ll work out as £14.54 a month.

It’s far cheaper than paying for TV via Sky or Virgin, where you’re looking at at least double that amount every month, and potentially as much as £100.

Elsewhere we’ve seen a number of streaming services hike prices, closing the gap to the licence fee.

Sky’s “on-demand” service NOW is £9.99 a month for the Entertainment channels (not movies or sport), or £119.88 a year – though there are deals to get this even cheaper, often half the price. But if you want HD and to ditch adverts you’ll pay another £6 to £9 each month.

Amazon Prime now comes in at £95 for the year, which is £7.92 a month (and streaming only is available at £5.99 a month) – though you’ll need to pay extra if you don’t want adverts.

After clamping down on sharing, Netflix starts at £5.99 a month (with adverts), but the most popular package is £12.99 a month, working out at £15588 a year. You can pay more, at £18.99 a month for the top tier

Disney revamped prices in October 2024, so you’ll pay either £4.99, £8.99 or £12.99 a month, while Apple TV+ also increased monthly costs (again) to £8.99 a month.

And there are others like Paramount+ (£4.99 with ads, £7.99 or £10.99 a month without adverts), while you can pay for extra content and no adverts via ITVx (£5.99 a month).

So on the whole, though there are more and more of these streaming services, and they all keep getting more expensive, they can be cheaper alternatives (if you get them on their own, or cut the price you pay via offers or go for the basic versions with adverts).

That’s a persuasive argument for ditching the Licence Fee as far as cost goes. However, I believe that as long as you can afford it, you get more for your money from the BBC than the premium services.

More on other streaming services

What the Licence Fee pays for

The thing people ranting against the TV Licence tend to forget is the money doesn’t just pay for BBC TV drama, documentaries and comedy. It also funds BBC news, sport, CBBC, radio and online.

And it’s these areas which I think make that £14.54 suddenly feel like really good value. So I’ve broken down this price between all the things it pays for and calculated below what I think is a fair representative value for each BBC service.

These figures are just for me – you will have your own views on what you use and don’t use.

BBC TV & iPlayer

My price: £7 a month / £84 a year

So imagine the drama, comedy, entertainment and factual part of the fee was the same price as the other streaming services at £10. Oh and iPlayer.

No matter what you might instinctively think if you just turn the TV on and watch something live, I think if you really looked at what’s on, you’d find plenty of quality new and old content to keep you going throughout the year. We’ve actually got a long list of shows we want to watch and not got around to, and add at least a couple every month.

But let’s say it’s £7, representing half of the money you pay. That’s even cheaper than most of the other options (and no adverts). I think many people would think that’s pretty fair for what you get.

And don’t forget this includes funding the production of BBC programmes you might actually end up watching on a service like Netflix! Without the licence fee they wouldn’t be made in the first place.

BBC Radio & BBC Sounds

My price: £3.50 a month / £42 a year

I’ve got a cool digital radio for the shower. There are four presets, and we’ve got BBC 5Live, BBC 6 Music, Heart 80s and Absolute 90s saved. My god, I hate the adverts on the latter two, making BBC radio essential.

And during the first lockdown in particular I was mainlining 5Live – a fantastic example of national broadcasting when we needed it most.

BBC podcasts are no longer just radio shows put online. Many are commissioned just for BBC Sounds, including the excellent documentary Vishal (produced by my friend Satiyesh) and music shows. Plus it’s a great way to catch up on radio you might have missed.

I do listen to a lot of Spotify, and there are some great podcasts out there (have you listened to our Cash Chats show yet?). So it is possible to get good quality music and speech content (though you need to pay to avoid constant adverts).

However, given the choice between paying for Spotify (at £11.99 a month) and paying for BBC Radio, I’d pick BBC Radio. And at an equivalent price of £3.50 a month I think that’s a bargain.

BBC Sport

My price: £2 a month / £24 a year

If you had to pay £2 a month, that’s just £24 a year, to get Wimbledon, Match of the Day, 6 Nations and smaller sports like snooker, athletics and so on, plus every few years the World Cup, the Olympics and Commonwealth games, I think most people would think it’s fantastic value – especially when compared to the £14.99 cost to watch Sky Sports for one day on NOW TV.

BBC News

My price £1 a month / £12 a year

This is certainly an area where my view on value for money has changed (though a lot of that is down to budget cuts enforced by the government through frozen or below inflation increases to the licence fee).

I’ll now go to the Guardian first for my news updates, rather than the BBC News website, and even listen to podcasts like the News Agents over Newscast.

However, BBC News is the first place I’ll go for breaking news. And if you’ve ever watched news in the USA, you’ll appreciate not only just how good BBC News is, but how it makes sure the other news networks raise their standards.

I’d say it’s well worth paying £1 a month for this – that’s just 3.3p a day.

CBeebies and CBBC

My price: 75p a month / £9 a year

Let’s say it costs 75p a month (£9 a year) to have these channels – and I don’t even have kids! If you do you probably would say it’s worth paying more to get this essential content.

I grew up watching shows like Going Live, Blue Peter and so on. And more recently my niece and nephew loved programmes like Justin’s House and Operation Ouch.

And during the pandemic the BBC really raised the bar in shows to help with homeschooling.

Yes, you can get other kids shows via Sky but these are largely cheap overseas imports and I don’t think they have the same education and quality you get from the BBC.

BBC Online

My price: 0p a month

In previous years, I’d allocate 50p a month for this, as it was the place I’d go to check the weather, the news, the football scores and more? Now I hardly visit it other than to play Sounds or iPlayer, which I’ve covered in other sections. So lets treat it as something you get as part of your ‘contribution’ to news, sports etc.

Other stuff

My price: 29p a month / £3.50 a year

Then there’s plenty of stuff we don’t see, but do benefit from.

There are technology developments which make a big difference to how we watch TV (such as iPlayer) and how other programmes are made by other people (like the cameras built for Blue Planet).

We might not listen to the World Service, but it does a fab job of promoting the UK around the world and supporting nations that really need it – while also building ‘soft power’ across the globe.

Oh, and the licence fee is also used to make sure everyone in the UK gets broadband, especially rural areas. It did the same for digital TV.

Right, I’ll shut up now. But let’s say we pay 29p a month towards all this (a total of £3.50 a year).

Money well spent or a waste of cash?

So just to quickly summarise, for me the £14.54 monthly TV licence cost could be broken down like this.

  • £7 a month for all the drama, comedy and documentaries (£84 a year)
  • £3.50 a month for all the radio (£42 a year)
  • £2 a month for sport (£24 a year)
  • £1 a month for news coverage (£12 a year)
  • 75p a month for children’s TV (£9 a year)
  • 29p a month for the innovations (£3.50 a year)
  • plus all the BBC websites

I still think the licence fee is a really good investment. In fact I think these values I’ve assigned are too probably too low for what you get, especially in the cases of sport and radio. 

Yes I have made up the values above (in reality the split is different), and there will certainly be parts you don’t use at all. But it’d be easy to justify assigning higher values to the ones you use and less to those you don’t – for example if you’ve got kids you’d probably think £2 a month for CBBC is great value.

And if you consider what you might pay for all the separate parts at commercial rates, even if you only chose one or two, you’d likely pay just as much. 

Should the Licence Fee be scrapped?

Andy’s analysis

I do recognise there’s growing resentment in some parts of the public, particularly by people who simply don’t watch any BBC (or live) TV at all. I’ll often see posts in money saving Facebook groups about scrapping it, with the majority of the hundreds of comments in favour of ditching it.

However, much of what I see in these conversations is misinformed, and fuelled by media like the Mail and Murdoch’s News UK (The Times and The Sun), and the previous Conservative government, who all have vested interest in getting rid of the BBC.

So I hope this article can help balance some of the arguments (I find it frustrating that the BBC’s own impartiality policies prevent it from delivering any decent defence).

Like the NHS, we’d really miss the BBC if it was gone. No matter how many amazing US imports are available to watch, there’s still fantastic TV made in the UK, and a big part of it is down to the BBC. Even if you still think it’s too much money, I do think that it’s important we fight to keep the BBC independent and strong.

Alternatives

If people genuinely don’t use any BBC service then I do think it’s unfair that they should be forced to pay for it. It seems something really does need to change. But what?

It’s really tough to find a solution that could protect what the BBC stands for and enable it to produce the services it does to the standard it does without the full fee.

Lots of people talk about a subscription method, as you have with Netflix. It’s certainly an option, but people don’t realise that Netflix makes very little profit, and hardly pays any tax in the UK.

I also think there is a chance that for lots of people the cost will go up in order to get all the services. A report from the BBC said it’d likely cost £37 a month to get all the services.

That doesn’t sound too far off. The pick and mix approach to Sky via NOW TV can save you cash versus a normal Sky subscription, but if you want Entertainment, Cinema, Kids and Sport you’re still looking at paying £60 a month. 

An advert funded model is another option, but ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 aren’t swimming in cash, and adding the BBC into the market will mean there’s less money to go around. So we’ll see all the free-to-air channels suffer.

And we could see the BBC outbid for some of the important big events and programmes by the likes of Amazon – forcing people to shell out more.

I imagine it’d have to be some kind of blended model. Perhaps some services funded by a reduced licence fee with others subscription only.

How to stop paying the Licence Fee

If you genuinely don’t watch any BBC TV, reckon you could do without, or don’t feel you should pay for the other BBC services then you can cancel your licence.

You can tell TV Licensing that you don’t require a licence here. Just make sure you don’t watch any live TV or use iPlayer.

How to pay less for Netflix

All my ways to save on this dedicated Netflix article

March 11, 2025   |   Deals

The best birthday freebies and how to get them

Written by

Get more than £60 of birthday freebies from shops and restaurants

Birthday freebies

Everyone likes to feel extra special on their birthday. Which is why some companies offer birthday freebies, with everything from free cake to a bottle of Prosecco. The best thing about some of these is that you often get a few weeks to claim your freebie, letting you take advantage of more, and spread your birthday out even further. 

One birthday, Editor-in-chief Andy managed to bag himself a free meal at his favourite burger joint Meat Liquor, some posh Hotel Chocolat treats, a Body Shop shower gel and he saved money on some flatpack furniture at Ikea, totalling £28 worth of freebies.

And here’s how you can get up to £60 worth of freebies for your birthday. 

Some articles on the site contain affiliate links, which provide a small commission to help fund our work. However, they won’t affect the price you pay or our editorial independence. Read more here.

How to get birthday freebies

While most retailers’ emails end up unread and clogging up your inbox, when it comes to a few weeks before your birthday, it’s time to pay a little extra attention to them, just in case you’re getting a little gift. 

Of course, these brands aren’t giving you something for nothing. In all cases, you need to be signed up for their newsletters, loyalty schemes or apps, which means handing over your data and dealing with constant emails.

If you’re selective, and only pick the brands you regularly shop at and want to hear about, then it’s well worth doing. And often the birthday freebies aren’t the only offers and deals you’ll get sent during the year.

Don’t forget that you can always unsubscribe from emails once you’ve had your birthday, and possibly even sign up again – though it’s worth doing this at least a month before your birthday to allow time for your details to be processed.

One of our writers Nicky Selwood, says that she always gives a different birthday, so she’s got birthdays all year round to make the most out of. The odd one might want ID, so use your real birthday for these ones.

Free food and drink

From smoothies to doughnuts, here’s all the free food and drink you can get on your birthday. We’ve ignored a lot of the offers where you get a free main or bubbly when you buy a main, though there are a couple listed at the bottom of this page. They’re still decent offers, but we’re more excited about the freebies. 

If you manage to get a bill for £0, it’s still pretty good form to leave a tip.

Barburrito – free burrito

Barburrito is offering a free burrito on your birthday, as long as you’re signed up to the loyalty app. A few days before your birthday you’ll be emailed a voucher for a free burrito, which should also show in the app. Show this at the till, and you can eat for free. 

You only get four days to claim it, so you have to be quick. 

Benugo – free drink

Coffee shop chain Benugo is giving away a free coffee on your birthday. You just need to sign up to the mailing list and you’ll get a free coffee and another on your birthday.

Boost – free drink

If you sign up for the Boost Vibe Club (you can do this online), you can get a free drink on your birthday. 

This can be claimed up to 3 days before and 3 days after your birthday.

You need to have earned at least one point and you’ll need to show ID proving that it’s your birthday. 

Burger King – free whopper

Add your date of birth to the BK Rewards app and you’ll get a free burger!

Caffé Nero – free cake

If you’re signed up for the free Caffé Nero app and ensure you have your birthday in your settings, you’ll get a voucher for a free slice of cake on your birthday. Plus you can get a free drink for signing up here.

Costa – free cake

If you’re signed up for the free Costa Club you’ll notice a reward for a free slice of cake appear in your app. Costa lets you know it’s there with an email too. 

Make sure you’ve told Costa when your birthday is, you can do this in the app.

Greggs – free cake or doughnut

Sign up to the Greggs Rewards scheme via the Greggs app and you’ll be able to claim a free doughnut, cupcake or cream cake. The voucher is valid for a month.

Krispy Kreme – free doughnut

You get a free doughnut via the Friends of Krispy Kreme scheme each year, though it’s only in full shops, not the ones you find in Supermarkets. 

With this offer, you can choose any doughnut during your birthday month. When it comes to claiming it, you will need to add the birthday reward to your wallet in the Krispy Kreme app. 

Lidl – free doughnut

If you haven’t quite had enough free doughnuts on your birthday, donut worry — you can claim another one from Lidl. 

This one is found in the Lidl Plus app and is valid for 7 days from the birthday listed in your Lidl Plus Account. 

Lola’s Cupcakes – free 5-inch cake

If you join the Lola’s Cupcakes Love Club more than 30 days before your birthday, then you can get a free small cake on your birthday for free.

You have to show ID that confirms your birth date and you have to prove you’ve been a member of the Love Club for at least 30 days. This excludes Lola’s Bakery in West Hampstead.

Muffin Break – free Muffin

There’s nothin’ like a free muffin on your birthday. By signing up for the Muffin Break loyalty scheme, you can get a free muffin in the month of your birthday.

There’s also a free doughnut for joining, too.

Starbucks – free drink

One for regular Starbucks users. If you join the free Starbucks Rewards scheme and reach Gold level (you need to earn 450 Stars, roughly a spend of £150) you’ll get a free drink on your birthday. You’ll also get other freebies throughout the year at this level. You get a free drink for every 150 stars you collect, so you’ll get 3 free drinks on your attempt to reach Gold. 

Subway – free cookie

Join Subway Rewards, add your date of birth and you’ll receive a treat on your birthday, usually a free cookie.

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Episodes every Tuesday.

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Free birthday vouchers

With these retailers, it could be worth signing up in order to get a free voucher on your birthday. These are often only £5, but you could get yourself a few freebies or take a discount off something you’ve been eyeing up. There’s often no minimum spend, so you can get something for absolutely nothing. 

I’ve ignored those that give the likes of 10% off as those kinds of codes are regularly available.

Hobbycraft – £5 voucher

Register for Hobbycraft Club and you’ll be sent a voucher to spend in-store or online on the month of your birthday. You’ll also get a 15% off voucher when you sign up.

Marks & Spencer

M&S didn’t used to guarantee a freebie or voucher on your birthday, but it recently changed the Sparks scheme to get one for everyone signed up to the M&S Sparks card who has signed up for marketing and enters their birthday more than 35 days before via the app.

Freebies could include:

  • Chocolate Marks bar
  • All Butter Cookies 8-pack
  • Outrageously Chocolatey Rounds
  • All Butter Scottish Shortbread Assortment
  • Percy Pig sweets
  • Colin the Caterpillar sweets
  • Grapes
  • Blueberries

Hotel Chocolat – £5 voucher

For a free fiver with a £5.50 minimum spend, you just need to be signed up for Hotel Chocolat’s VIP.ME scheme.  

The voucher can also be combined with other offers. 

Andy actually forgot to do this and registered a few days after his birthday and I still got sent the £5 voucher a few weeks later, so it’s worth giving a go!

Extra points on your birthday

Boots – double points for the whole month

Boots Advantage cardholders get double points for their whole birthday month. This will pop up in your Boots app on the first of the month, and you need to load the deal to your card before you scan it in-store. Check your details in the app to make sure Boots knows its your birthday.

Superdrug – triple points on your birthday

If you have the Superdrug Beautycard, you get triple points on your birthday. The offer is valid for 2 weeks after your birthday. You don’t have to opt in or add it to your card, just make sure Superdrug knows when your birthday is.

Birthday gifts

Shopmium – free gift

Cashback app Shopmium often provides a special extra offer on your birthday. Andy’s managed to snag a free box of Celebrations. 

You’ll need to buy the item and scan the receipt to get the cashback. Here’s more on how the app works and a sign up offer.

Hobbs – free gift

Sign up for the Hobbs newsletter to get a free birthday gift. We’re not sure what you get, but in 2021 it was a candle. You also get 10% off your first purchase when you sign up.

Space NK – free gift

Again, it’s often a £5 off code but it could be a free miniature. And again you’ll get it by signing up to a membership scheme – for Space NK it’s called N.dulge. 

This is a loyalty scheme, so you’ll earn points each time you spend money, which can be converted into money off future purchases.

Free alcoholic drinks on your birthday

Slug & Lettuce – free bottle of Prosecco

If you’re signed up for the Slug & Lettuce newsletter, you’ll be emailed a code to claim a free bottle of Prosecco on your birthday. 

The email says that you have to book a table but we tried it twice (for two birthdays in July) and didn’t book a table either time. 

We simply popped the Prosecco into our basket in the app, entered the code and checked out. Within minutes, we had a bottle of Prosecco at the table, and we didn’t even have to order food.

You get lots of time to take advantage of this offer, with the voucher valid for 6 weeks.

Since being signed up for Slug & Lettuce emails, we’ve also nabbed a free Pina Colada on National Pina Colada Day – not to mention that two arrived at the table because it was Happy Hour!

Good birthday offers that aren’t freebies

Sometimes you’ll be sent a discount voucher or a free meal/ bottle of bubbly as long as you get another meal. These can be good and might be worthwhile if you’d like to eat there anyway, but they’re not strictly birthday freebies. 

Here are some of the things you can be offered:

Meat Liquor – 20% off the bill

Meat Liquor is one of Andy’s favourite burger places. A few years back you could get a free main meal and a side on your birthday, which he took advantage of. 

Sadly it’s now 20% off the entire bill – but that’s still decent if you like the food there. Sign up to the mailing list and you’ll get sent a unique code to use, valid for a week before and after your birthday.

Bills – “free” bottle of Prosecco

Again, not strictly a freebie, as each diner has to order a main meal. 

Make sure you’re signed up for the Bill’s Newsletter 4 weeks before your birthday and you’ll get an email with the gift. 

You’ll also need to pre-book a table. It’s valid for 5 weeks from the date that you get the email. 

Do you know of any other birthday freebies or discounts worth signing up for? Let me know in the comments below.

Our top deals

Here are a few ongoing and recent offers you might have missed:

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