The highest paying easy-access and regular children’s savings accounts and Junior ISAs
Here’s our guide to the best children’s savings accounts. Check the date to see when this was last updated.
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.
Easy access accounts
These can be current accounts for kids or specific children’s savings accounts and are open to anyone under the age of 18. Rates are usually variable, which means they can change, and are often only on a limited amount of money.
With these accounts, your children will be able to manage the money themselves once they reach a certain age.
0.25% of the average balance of all Demelza accounts given to Demelza Children’s Hospice each year
Open it in branch or via post
Regular Savers
These children’s savings accounts pay higher rates but you’re limited on how much you can save each month. Usually, it’s a fixed rate for a year. When the time months is up, the account will close and the money will be transferred to a linked savings account.
You or your child can save £9,000 a year in a Junior ISA. These can be cash ones earning interest or stocks and shares ISAs which are invested (meaning the value can go up and down).
Though interest or gains earned in an ISA are tax-free, it’s unlikely it makes much difference as there are other allowances that will be more than enough for most kids.
Money in Junior ISAs is also locked away until the child turns 18. Then it’s their money to use as they want.
Parents or guardians have to open the account but anyone can add money – handy for grandparents and other family members who want to put money aside.
New Trading 212 customers get a bonus of 0.66% AER for 12 months for current year subscriptions
More details ▼
Additional Info
Existing Trading 212 customers get a rate of 3.85%
FSCS Protected?: Yes
Allows transfers in?: Yes
Flexible ISA?: Yes
▲
Tax and children’s savings
Andy’s analysis
When choosing a children’s savings account, you probably won’t need to worry about tax on interest.
Children can earn a total of £18,500 from savings and other income each financial year. That’s the £12,500 personal tax allowance, the £5,000 starting savings allowance and the £1,000 personal savings allowance.
However, if parents (and parents only) are adding money to any of the non-tax free accounts then there’s a £100 interest limit each year per parent.
So say the child has £2,000 saved earning 3.75%, they’d make £75 in interest. That’s fine. If they amassed £3,000 in contributions from the same parent the amount earned would be £112.50.
That’s still ok if the money comes from both parents, as the allowances would be combined and the total interest that can be earned would be £200.
But if it’s from one parent, then the entire £112.50 would need to come out of that parent’s Personal Savings Allowance. That might not be a problem – but if it exceeds this, then the whole amount will be subject to tax at the rate the parent pays, which could be 20% or 40%.
To avoid this you might want to save into a Junior ISA.
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Other ways to save for kids
Premium Bonds
You can also buy Premium Bonds for children. These cost £1 each, but there’s a minimum purchase of £25. Grandparents are able to buy Premium Bonds, as well as parents and guardians.
The current prize fund is 3.6%, which isn’t the same as 3.6% interest. It’s very likely that with small amounts of cash in Premium Bonds you won’t win anything, but there’s the chance of getting up to £1 million every month.
Pensions
Yep, you can start putting money into a person pension for a child at any age. They won’t be able to access the cash until they reach 57 years old (though that will likely increase when they’re older). However, they can manage where the money is invested from the age of 18.
As with adults adding to pensions, they’ll get 20% tax relief from the government, meaning for every £80 that’s added, £100 will be invested.
There is an annual limit though of £2,880 where you’ll get this extra top-up.
Piggy banks
It can be good to get young kids familiar with coins and money by giving them a piggy bank to save with. Obviously they won’t earn any interest (unless you want to work that out yourself).
Once they get a little older to understand branch and online banking it might make sense to replace the piggy bank with the accounts above.
Apps
Starling offers a free app to help kids learn about money and spending while also giving the parents extra control over purchases called Starling Kite. You can also pay a monthly fee for apps like Go Henry and HyperJar. However, you’re unlikely to get any decent rate of interest from any of these.
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.
Shop deals
Hotel Chocolat: free treat on your birthday
If you sign up to Hotel Chocolat’s VIP ME scheme you’ll get a free gift on your birthday (I got a free £5 voucher to spend), as well as other offers through the year such as 15% off your next purchase. You can only sign up in-stores.
Download the Krispy Kreme Rewards app to get a free Original Glazed doughnut when joining and another on your birthday. You’ll also get points every time you spend that can be spent in-store.
You’ll be able to get 25% off your doughnuts Sunday to Thursday if you have Meerkat Meals from Compare the Market. There’s a hack that’ll get you access to this for a year for £1, as well as 2-4-1 movies.
Between 7 and 13 July, you can get a free chocolate baton at any Hotel Chocolat store. You just need to find your closest store and ask to sample one. There’s a limited number of batons available so be quick!
Just check your Krispy Kreme app and add the freebie to your wallet. To redeem show the member of staff the offer in your Rewards wallet as well as your Loyalty ID on the app.
You won’t be able to get the offer from supermarkets, garages or anywhere else, apart from the Krispy Kreme shops.
There are often voucher codes for Gousto, but if you’re new to Gousto and go via a cashback site you can save even more.
The deals seem to change fairly regularly and switch between TopCashback and Quidco, so it’s best to check both to see which is best.
At the time of writing, going via Quidco can get 50% off your first box, and up to £12 cashback on top.
So the most expensive box (four meals per box for four people) would normally cost £47.85, but the discount brings it down to £23.93. Add in the cashback and you’ll get the recipe box for £11.93 instead!
If you go via TopCashback (this one also switches between the two cashback sites, so check Quidco too) for HelloFresh then you can get 50% off your first box and £10.20 cashback on top. When you order the largest box (five recipes a week for four people), it brings the total down to £21.30.
You can now get free delivery on your Hello Fresh deliveries for a year with an Amazon Prime membership. Delivery usually costs £4.99, so this could save you £20 a month if you get a box every week.
You’ve got to go here and sign in to your Amazon account where you can connect it with your Hello Fresh account. This works if you already use Hello Fresh. You get free delivery for a year if you keep your Prime membership.
If you shop at Tesco, you probably already have a Tesco Clubcard. But how do you spend the points to get the best value?
What are Tesco Clubcard points worth?
You’ll get one Clubcard point for every £1 you spend at Tesco.
If you spend them in-store on your groceries, 100 Clubcard points are worth £1, so that means they have a base value of 1p each. And if you’ve got 1,000 points then that’s worth £10. And so on.
1 Clubcard point = 1p
2 Clubcard points = 2p
100 Clubcard points = £1
200 Clubcard points = £2
500 Clubcard points = £5
1,000 Clubcard points = £10
2,500 Clubcard points = £25
5,000 Clubcard points = £50
This means earning Clubcard points is the equivalent of getting 1% back on your shopping at Tesco.
But they can worth more through Reward Partners (previously calledClubcard Boost). Here you swap your Clubcard points for vouchers to spend elsewhere.
There used to be variable boosts. Some doubled your points, some tripled and some even quadrupled. However, this changed in June 2023 so points are now doubled when swapped with reward partners.
How does Clubcard compare to other loyalty schemes?
You can’t spend Clubcard points until they have been converted into Clubcard vouchers. And to do this you need a minimum of 150 Clubcard points (the equivalent of £1.50). Points will only be swapped in multiples of 50.
You used to get sent these in the post with your Clubcard statement, which is sent every three months in February, May, August and November.
However this moved online for most customers in 2022. If you’ve used Tesco online you’ll get your statement and vouchers via email, unless you actively tell Tesco you still want them in the post.
A better way to convert points to vouchers is via the Faster Vouchers process as you don’t have to wait for the statement. You’ll only get a digital voucher via this method. Again you’ll need at least 150 points to convert them.
Whether paper or digital vouchers you can spend them in any Tesco store or on the Tesco online as part or full payment towards your shopping.
If you swap them with a Reward Partner you need to do this via the Clubcard website. These boosts will often have minimum levels (e.g. 50 points), and you can only swap increments of that amount (e.g. if you have 120 points you can only use 100 points)
How long Clubcard vouchers last
When you’re issued a Tesco Clubcard voucher it’s valid for 2 years. Faster vouchers last 21 months from when they are exchanged.
You can check if you’ve any vouchers and their expiration dates in your Clubcard account.
Clubcard deals and promotions
There are a few ways to use your Clubcard to save more money at Tesco.
Tesco Clubcard coupons
Some customers have access to personalised coupons via the Tesco app. These coupons are tailored to your shopping, so hopefully that means you’ll see discounts for products you buy. They won’t all be money off, some could be extra Clubcard points. If you do get the vouchers, you’ll find them via the Clubcard tab, in a section called coupons.
Tesco Clubcard Plus
This premium service costs £7.99 a month, and benefits include 10% off two shops every month. It looks like a good scheme for regular Tesco shoppers. Here’s a full review of Clubcard Plus, including details on how to get it.
Tesco Clubcard Prices
Tesco lets you use your Clubcard to access lower prices for selected groceries in-store and online. You don’t need any points on your Clubcard – you just need to have one.
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The best ways to spend Tesco Clubcard vouchers
There are actually hundreds of options, so we’ve scanned through them to find the best uses of your Clubcard points.
Charities
New to Clubcard is the choice to donate your points to food poverty charities Fareshare and The Trussell Trust. You can also give to the British Heart Foundation, Cancer Research and Diabetes UK.
Sadly Tesco doesn’t boost these donations as they do with other offers, which I think is a shame. Still if you have at least 50p in vouchers you can swap them.
Disney +
You can swap £13.50 worth of points for a three month standard Disney+ subscription or £7.50 worth of points for a three month standard with ads subscription. Both new and existing Disney+ users can take advantage.
Fancy paying less when going to the zoo? A theme park? Museum? All these are available at a discount.
A lot of the “days out” used to be quadruple points and have been reduced to double – but they still represent decent value. It’s worth checking to see there isn’t a better offer out there, though one saving which is hard to beat is using your points for double credit towards an English Heritage or RHS membership.
You can use your points to get cut-price cinema tickets, again at double value. So 50p in vouchers will get you £1 to spend. It’s only for Cineworld or Picturehouse.
You can also use your points towards the Cineworld Unlimited pass.
If you regularly travel by train then a railcard can save you money every time you travel, and one of the cheapest ways to get one is using your Clubcard points.
You can trade £2.50 in vouchers to get £5 credit towards your railcard. It works for most types of railcard.
New Trading 212 customers get a bonus of 0.66% AER for 12 months for current year subscriptions
More details ▼
Additional Info
Existing Trading 212 customers get a rate of 3.85%
FSCS Protected?: Yes
Allows transfers in?: Yes
Flexible ISA?: Yes
▲
Bonus airline points
If you already save airline points, this is a great way to get more. You can convert your Clubcard points (with a minimum value of £1.50) to Virgin points at twice their value, that is 1 Clubcard point is worth 2 Virgin points.
There are often bonus offers when you sign up to auto-exchange your Clubcard points to Virgin points for the first time, so it’s a good idea to wait for one of those before setting up the auto-exchange.
Magazine subscriptions
You can convert a minimum of 50p in Clubcard vouchers to get a £1 voucher to go towards a subscription.
So if you wanted to sign up to a year of Empire completely (at a cost of £69.99) via Clubcard points you would need £34 in points, and top it up by another £1.99 from your bank account.
Of course you can get other subscriber deals elsewhere which give good discounts. A quick search for Empire shows you can pay £55, so the Clubcard deal really saves you just £21.
It’s a similar story for other magazines available via Clubcard, including Good Housekeeping, Elle, Garden Answers, Golf and Esquire.
This isn’t the best way to save on magazines though – you can get them for free! Read about our hack to get free digital magazines
Tesco Mobile bills
You can use your points to reduce the cost of your mobile bill. It’s only 1:1 rather than double, so you may as well use your points in-store.
At Tesco
There was a time, not too long ago, that you’d be a fool not to swap Clubcard points with a reward partner. But in the last few years the best offers have disappeared.
There are still lots of options, but whether they’re worth it comes down to two factors. One: Do you want or need what you’re swapping for? Two: Can you get that partner offer discounted elsewhere?
If it’s no for the first, or yes for the second, then you’re most probably better off using the points at Tesco – at least you’ll actually need food and drink!
Clubcard deals to avoid
Though you can save money by boosting your points in these areas, I think you can get similar savings elsewhere – meaning you should boost your points on the more valuable discounts listed above.
Restaurants
Even when these were 4x value, we advised that you could spend your points better elsewhere than at the chain restaurants included in Clubcard Boost. And now they are double instead, the deal is worse.
That’s because you can get decent discounts for the likes of Pizza Express and Bella Italia elsewhere. A simple google often brings up voucher codes for 40% off or two for one. Plus you can save at more places more often with a Tastecard trial.
So let’s say you’ve gone to Pizza Express and the final bill came to £30, it would have cost you £15 via Clubcard vouchers, or £15 via Tastecard or another voucher.
You may be able to double up these discounts though there’s no guarantee.
List of Tesco Clubcard restaurants:
Ask Italian
Bella Italia
Brew Dog Bars
Cafe Rouge
Chef & Brewer
Hungry Horse pubs
Pizza Express
Prezzo
Zizzi
Hotels
It’s similar with converting your Clubcard vouchers to spend on hotels. Though you can get double value on points to spend at Hotels.com and one or two other brands, you’re locked into booking direct with those websites, which might not offer the best rates available. We think you’re better off searching for the lowest prices elsewhere, and then using your points at one of the options above.
If you have a Nectar card, are you making the most of your points?
If you shop at Sainsbury’s, you’ve probably got a Nectar card, and may even collect the points every time you visit without thinking much about it. And if you’ve been collecting points, you’ll need to spend them to get the most out of your rewards. But do you know how to use your Nectar points?
Unlike Clubcard and other loyalty schemes, you can rack up points at other retailers, including Argos. When it comes to redeeming points, you can spend them when shopping, exchange them at face value, or even swap them for Avios points. In this article, we’ve explained how Nectar works and how you can sign up. Plus, we share tips for both collecting and spending Nectar.
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.
More ways to make the most out of the Nectar loyalty scheme
Nectar is the loyalty scheme for Sainsbury’s and Argos, where you can earn points on your purchases. It’s actually owned by Sainsbury’s, though points can be collected and redeemed with other brands. As a member of Nectar, you can also access discounts on specific items when shopping, a bit like Tesco Clubcard Prices.
How Nectar points work
One Nectar point is worth 0.5p, meaning if you earn 1 point from a purchase it’s the equivalent of 0.5% cashback. 100 points are therefore 50p, 200 points equal £1 and so on.
The value of different loyalty card points varies quite a bit, with Nectar points equating to half the value of Tesco Clubcard points. However, when redeeming Nectar points at other participating retailers, you could get more value out of them – so it’s worth keeping an eye out for the latest deals.
Nectar points value conversion
1 Nectar point = 0.5p (or half a penny)
2 Nectar points = 1p
100 Nectar points = 50p
200 Nectar points = £1
500 Nectar points = £2.50
1,000 Nectar points = £5
2,500 Nectar points = £12.50
5,000 Nectar points = £25
How to collect Nectar points
You earn points when you shop at participating retailers and scan your Nectar card. Bonus points can be earned at specific retailers or through special deals and promotions.
To collect Nectar points when shopping in stores, you’ll need a Nectar card. Your card can be either a physical plastic one or a digital one stored on the Nectar app. When shopping online, you’ll need to either connect your Nectar card to the relevant account or shop via the Nectar website.
Your options for using Nectar points are more limited than other reward schemes. You can use them in-store and online, such as at Sainsbury’s, to donate to charity, or spend them with a handful of partners.
To redeem your points, you’ll need to swipe your card or scan the app in-store, while you can select to use them online. With some partners, you’ll need to convert your points into vouchers first. You can also swap them for Avios points.
How to sign up to the Nectar scheme
The Nectar loyalty scheme is free to join. You can get a Nectar card online, via the app, or by picking up a form in a Sainsbury’s store.
Once you’ve got set up, a physical card will be posted out, though you’ll have a digital card to use via the app straight away.
8 places to collect Nectar points
1. Sainsbury’s
Earn points as you spend
You’ll get one point for every £1 spent at Sainsbury’s. 500 points are worth £2.50, so this works out at 0.5% cashback.
Scan your Nectar card at the till to get your points, and keep an eye on the app or digital account for special offers which boost the number of points you’ll get.
You might also get vouchers for extra points at the till, sometimes doubling or tripling points on your next transaction, it’s just a matter of remembering to bring them to your next shop. If you wanted to, you could even buy a single, cheap item at the start of your shop to use any vouchers printed out on the rest of your shopping.
Get bonus points via weekly offers
As well as generic offers, you’ll also get ones tailored to your shopping habits. These change every Friday.
You have to save the offers to your account, though there’s a handy “save all offers” button. And of course you still have to scan your card at the till.
Nectar Prices
Nectar Prices are discounts for Nectar holders, similar to Tesco Clubcard prices. To get these, you just shop as normal, looking out for the Nectar price on the shelves. At checkout, you need to make sure you remember to scan your Nectar card, and the discount will be applied.
Your Nectar Prices
This sounds like it could be the same as Nectar Prices above, but Your Nectar Prices are specific to you. These come through weekly and will be based on your shopping history, potentially saving you money on things you’ll actually buy. There are only a few offers each week, but it’s worth having a peek when you get the notification.
2. Argos
You can also earn points at Argos. It’s one point per £1 spent, though it’s occasionally doubled. You’ll need to link your Nectar and Argos accounts before you can earn points.
3. ESSO
Esso replaced BP on Nectar back in 2019. You can earn 1 point per litre of fuel, or swipe in-store to get two points per £1 spent on other things, so roughly 1% back in points. When you get to 300 points it gets you 5p off every litre of fuel.
4. Avios
You can convert 400 Avios points to 400 Nectar points, which is handy if you’ve got a surplus of Avios points that you won’t use. You can also swap them back the other way (you’ll only get 250 points though). This is also a way to boost the value of Amex Reward points. Find out everything you need to know in our step-by-step guide to convert Avios to Nectar points and vice versa.
5. Via Nectar credit cards
If you shop at stores that are part of the Nectar scheme often, it might be worth getting a Nectar credit card.
The American Express Nectar credit card is your best bet and will earn you up to two points for every £1 spent, worth 1%. There’s also a bonus worth £100 when you first sign up and spend £2,000. If you’re thinking of getting a Nectar credit card, check out our best cashback and reward credit card promotions to see if there are better options for you.
6. Via Amex membership rewards
You can convert American Express Rewards points to Nectar points at a value of one to one, meaning one Amex point would be worth 0.5p. This could be a good use for large Amex welcome bonuses, which can be worth between £100 and £500, depending on the card.
7. Via utilities & insurance
You can earn bonus points for signing up for other Sainsbury’s Bank products such as home insurance, as well as Sainsbury’s Energy. Though they could be worth it, these offers shouldn’t be a reason to choose Sainsbury’s over other providers as they could work out more expensive than options you find via a full comparison.
8. At other retailers
You’ll see many other brands listed on the Nectar website, such as Expedia and Very. To earn points via these retailers you have to click through via the Nectar portal. Most of the time you’ll get two points per £1 spend, so the equivalent of 1% cashback, but they can be more or less. There are often points boosting offers to look out for.
Participating Nectar retailers include:
ASOS
Just Eat
Expedia
Groupon
Europcar
Very
Dominos
Wayfair
These extra places to earn points might sound appealing, but I would avoid using them since you can usually beat these rates by clicking through a cashback site instead for a better bonus.
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Where to spend Nectar points
Sainsbury’s shops
To use your points in Sainsbury’s stores you must have used your Nectar card in that specific store in the last year. You can also use them online on the Sainsbury’s website.
They can also be used on petrol but you have to pay in the kiosk, not at the pump.
Argos
You can use multiples of 500 points at Argos, each worth £2.50. To spend them in an Argos store, simply scan your card. To spend online, you must have connected your card to your Argos account.
Converting to Avios points
We think that most people are better off using cashback credit cards and air mile reward credit cards. You’ve got the flexibility to use your earnings how you want, and not be restricted to certain flights.
However, if you are an Avios fan, then you can boost your points by converting 400 Nectar points to 250 Avios.
Donate to charity
Nectar Donate allows you to give your points to charities using Crowdfunder. The points are worth the same as usual, so 1,000 points will be a £5 donation. There’s a minimum of 200 points, and it must be in multiples of 200.
Other ways to redeem Nectar points
Nectar offers just a fraction of the partners you get with Tesco Clubcard, and fewer opportunities to boost the value. Some retailers let you swipe your card or link your card to use points. Others require you to exchange the points for a voucher or code via the Nectar website.
Spending your points isn’t particularly flexible or as straightforward as you might think. To recap, 500 points are usually worth £2.50. You also have to spend Nectar points in chunks (usually 500 points or 1,000 points) rather than choose how many you’d like to use.
For example, you can exchange 2,000 points for £10 off purchases at Eurostar. Other poor options include swapping for movie rentals at Sky Store since you can get far cheaper rentals elsewhere. There are much cheaper ways to rent movies out there, so don’t rely on Nectar to save you lots of cash.
New Trading 212 customers get a bonus of 0.66% AER for 12 months for current year subscriptions
More details ▼
Additional Info
Existing Trading 212 customers get a rate of 3.85%
FSCS Protected?: Yes
Allows transfers in?: Yes
Flexible ISA?: Yes
▲
Nectar points special offers
Occasionally, there are offers that increase your points at Sainsbury’s and other Nectar partners, both to earn extra points and sometimes (though more rarely) to use them.
You can usually find any points offers in the Nectar app and website, so it pays to check every now and again, before your weekly shop, or when you’re looking to save a little extra.
When we spot any really good Nectar points deals, we’ll share them on our loyalty scheme offers page.
How to check your Nectar points balance
Not sure how many Nectar points you have? The Nectar app and website both contain your current points total, as well as a record of where and when you earned your points.
How to lock your Nectar points
One downside of Nectar in the past was that anyone who found or stole your card could use your points. This was particularly bad news for those who had earned tens of thousands of points using credit card welcome offers. Earlier this year, Nectar introduced a feature that lets you lock your points to ensure they can’t be used without your authorisation.
To lock your Nectar points, you’ll need the latest version of the app.
Log in and you’ll see your points total near the top of the app screen, and below that a line telling you whether the points are locked or unlocked
Tap this to bring up a locked/unlocked switch
Toggle between these for when you want to use your points
It should unlock immediately, but it’s worth doing it a little before you want to spend the points to be safe, rather than wait until you’re at the checkout
This feature will only work for the main account holder, not additional cardholders.
Don’t pay full price when you can get free or discounted magazine copies and subscriptions.
For about 20 years I subscribed to the film magazine Empire, but I’ve not paid at all in the last decade – thanks to different deals and hacks to get it, and other titles, for free. And if they don’t work, there are ways to pay less too.
Some articles on the site contain affiliate links, which provide a small commission to help fund our work. However, they won’t affect the price you pay or our editorial independence. Read more here.
Free magazines tricks
Free digital magazines and newspapers from your library
Libraries don’t just lend books and DVDs – you can also borrow digitally. As well as (non-Kindle) e-books, magazines and newspapers are available. The service will vary depending on your library, but for me I’ve got access to the Press Reader app.
You just need to join your local library, and many will let you do this from their website – even if you don’t have proof of residency. Others will require you to visit the library itself.
Once signed up you can access different magazines that can be downloaded to your tablet, phone or viewed on a computer. It doesn’t take much getting used to reading them on a tablet; an extra bonus is you can zoom in on any bits that are a little too small to read.
I’n the past I’ve regularly download Empire, Radio Times and Wallpaper for free, and my wife has chosen Vogue, Good Housekeeping and Newsweek – and there are dozens and dozens of other options.
Free magazine subscription via a Club Lloyds bank account
Every year with this bank account you have the choice of a free annual magazine subscription, six free cinema tickets or a year of Disney+ with Ads.
Though you’re limited to just one personal account, you can get another as a joint account. That means a couple could have three Club Lloyds accounts, and three freebies. So even if you prefer Disney+ as your first choice, you could easily add a magazine via one of your other accounts.
You do need to pay in £2,000 a month into the current account to avoid a £5 monthly fee, but you don’t have to keep the money in the account, nor does it need to be in one go. We’ve more details in our Club Lloyds review.
There’s also sometimes a switching bonus for Lloyds if you close an account at another bank and move everything over so it’s worth keeping an eye out for that.
Free magazines with the Club Lloyds bank account
The magazines available include (updated 29/7/25):
Best
Bike
Bird Watching
Car
Classic Cars
Cosmopolitan
Country Living
Country Walking
ELLE Decoration
ELLE
Empire
Esquire
Garden Answers
Good Housekeeping
Harper’s Bazaar
House Beautiful
Improve Your Coarse Fishing
Inside Soap
Landscape
Men’s Health
Modern Games
Mojo
Practical Classics
Prima
Red
Runner’s World
Spirit & Destiny
Steam Railway
Today’s Golfer
Trail
Women’s Health
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Free online magazines with Amazon Prime
A less well-known feature that Amazon introduced for Prime members called Prime Reading. Here you get free access to a number of books and magazines.
The selection rotates each month so you won’t see the same titles featured every month, but there’s a decent mix to choose from. At the time of writing you can pick up 59 different magazines including Top Gear, Elle and Today’s Golfer.
You don’t need a Kindle to read them, in fact they work better if you use the Kindle app on your tablet.
If you don’t have the RGB service at your library, you can try a couple of different Netlflix style services where you pay a monthly fee for unlimited access.
The two main ones are Readly and Magzter, and both have free or cheap trials to give them a go. Right now, Readly offers a two-month free trial, while it’s 7-days free at Magzter. Both have thousands of titles, many of them designed specifically for tablets making them a far more interactive read.
Once the trials end it’s a bit pricey at £12.99 and £14.99 a month respectively. However, it’s not bad value if you’d normally buy two or three magazines a month – and even better if you can split the subscription with friends or family. There are often more ways to save, so hunt for deals.
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Buy a cut-price subscription online
If print is more your thing, please don’t pay full price for a subscription. You’ll almost always be able to find a cheaper deal online.
If you have Tesco Clubcard vouchers, you can exchange 50p in points for £1 to spend on a variety of titles.
Sites such as Great Magazines and iSubscribe offer money off full price, though you’re unlikely to get more than 40% off. Occasionally you can also get a free voucher (eg Amazon or Ticketmaster) with a reduced subscription.
Check cashback sites too, as they may have bonuses for orders. And if you’re not already a TopCashback or Quidco member, make sure you sign up via our links for up to £20 extra back on top.
Check for deals
From time to time there are other special offers to help you save, and we’ll share significant ones in our magazines and newspaper deals page. Recent examples have included a huge stack of deals on Which? and £1 a month deals for The Athletic.
Haggle for trials and discounts
Finally, if you’re already paying for a magazine, don’t just auto-renew. As with many other bills, call up to cancel to see what they’ll offer. Turn down their initial deal, and see if they can get prices down even more.
And if you don’t have a current subscription, you can still haggle. In the past I was constantly called by the Empire sales team as a former subscriber. At one point I got 12 issues for less than £10!
Or you can contact the magazine publisher direct. Go to their website to find the number and see what you can get.
Just make sure you cancel before the full Direct Debit starts.
If we spot any standout John Lewis offers or discount codes we’ll share them on this page.
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Apps like Cheddar and Jam Doughnut allow you to buy gift cards to spend at John Lewis and earn cashback on that initial purchase. You can also buy Waitrose gift cards this way to spend at John Lewis. It can be worth as much as 6%.
Here’s how to get the most Euros, Dollars and more for your Pounds when you’re getting travel cash for your holiday
Looking for the best ways to get your currency? Well, coins and notes aren’t going to be the best way to pay, and I rarely use them. In fact, when I go overseas the bulk of my spending is with a debit or credit card (a fee-free one naturally).
But from giving a tip through to buying from street vendors, not everywhere takes cards – and ATMS can charge per withdrawal. So having some cash with you makes sense, and here’s how you can get the best exchange rates.
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.
Ignore “0% commission” signs
One of the most misleading signs on the high street is the one that says “0% commission”. It makes you think that you’re not getting charged anything to change your cash – but you will be.
Rather than add a commission on top of your swap, the bureau de change will simply set their own exchange rate! You can read more about this in my “Why 0% currency commission is a lie” article.
Don’t get travel money at the airport
Since bureaus and banks are allowed to set their own exchange rates, it makes sense that the worst rates around will be at the airport. Once you’re there, and particularly once you’re through security, there is nowhere else you could go to get travel money than the bureaus in the departure lounge.
The only workaround if you really have left it too late to go elsewhere is you can order in advance online to collect at the airport, and you’ll get a better rate than just walking up to the booth. You will often need three or four hours notice though.
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Compare for the best exchange rates
Instead of just popping to your bank or the Post Office as many do, it’s better to compare all the different rates available in your area. The tool I use for this is Money Saving Expert’s Travel Money Max. You can choose between collection, delivery and even airport collection, and you’ll be shown the best rates.
Your choice will increase massively if you live in London, but you’ll still get a decent range of options elsewhere. Do check whether you need to order in advance to get the rate you see – some will charge you a worse rate if you don’t.
Don’t use a credit card to swap your cash
Once you know where you’ll get your cash, you want to avoid any extra charges on your swap. This means paying with cash or a debit card. That’s because using a credit card is what’s known as a “cash advance“.
With this you’re effectively taking money off your card as cash and then using the cash to make the transaction – even if you don’t actually get your hands on any physical notes and coins to hand over.
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Get a specialist card for extra cash machine withdrawals overseas
Don’t take too much cash with you. Apart from the risks of losing it, if you don’t spend all of it you’ll get a poor rate when you try to swap it back to sterling. So instead I’d recommend you only take out enough to cover essentials for the first few days – depending on the infrastructure at your destination of course.
Then, if you need more cash, you can use an ATM. Though some of these will have local fees set by the bank you use, you won’t have any charges on the exchange rate at all if you use a specialist card such as Chase or Starling.
How to get two-for-one, Kids go free and other deals to save money and get you cheap theme park tickets.
I love a good theme park – but ticket prices for UK theme parks such as Alton Towers and Thorpe Park can be more terrifying than the fastest ride, especially for a family. But it’s actually really easy to pay less.
Here are some of the best deals right now to get cheap theme park tickets.
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Cheap theme park ticket rules
These are the basics that should help you avoid paying full price.
Use a promo code
Every single year there are discount codes, usually offering 50% off or two for the price of one tickets, to all the major theme parks. Smaller parks might have smaller discounts, but there are still savings to be found. We’ve listed below some of the best ones available right now from products you’re likely to buy.
Book in advance
Whether you’re using one of the codes below, or just paying full whack (why?), it makes sense to book in advance as prices are much cheaper. Often, the earlier you book, the better, with online prices on the day often more expensive (though still cheaper than buying on the door). You can sometimes stack a 2-4-1 code with these cheaper prices, meaning you’ll pay even less.
The annual pass trick
You can often pick up a season pass, giving unlimited access to one or multiple Merlin theme parks for the cost of a single ticket. Of course, if you’ve used the other promotions listed on this page you should only have paid 50% of the entry price. But if you are going to go at least twice in a year, then you may as well buy the season pass – even if you don’t go again.
Do check again for any restrictions, for example August weekends and special events are often excluded unless you buy a premium pass.
You can get season passes at locations including:
Alton Towers
Legoland
Thorpe Park
Chessington World of Adventures
Try for cashback
While you likely can’t get cashback with some of the offers below, as they’re often booked via promotional websites, if you’re going directly to get tickets, it could be worth trying Quidco or TopCashback for a little something extra — this is only 1.5%-2% at the time of writing, but that could stack up when you’re booking a whole family. Plus, if you don’t have either of these sites already, you can get a £20 welcome bonus when you sign up.
Latest theme park special offers
You can regularly get deals on promotional packs of anything from cereal to soaps. Many do have exclusions, including weekends in August and sometimes October half term. So do check. We’ve put in links with the exclusions and also the lists of participating theme parks, where possible.
National Rail Days Out: 2 for 1 or 1/3 off tickets
If you catch the train to a theme park, then you can get 2 for 1 or 1/3 off tickets on the National Rail website. You have to pre-book with a lot of the attractions, and it’s worth checking what else you’ll need. It’ll often specify that you’ll need a ticket to a nearby station on the day you’re booking. For example, to book Cadbury World, you’ll need a valid train ticket to Bournville station for each visitor and for the same day as your visit.
This is valid until 31 May 2026, although this is renewed every year.
Attractions include zoos, museums, theme parks, boat trips, galleries and activities.
Merlin is currently offering a slightly different kind of two-for-one ticket. Instead of getting two people in for the price of one, it’s offering tickets to two theme parks for the price of one. So you can get two days out for the family for the price of one.
Tickets cost from £34 if your first trip is to Alton Towers or Legoland, £33 if your first attraction is Thorpe Park or just £32 per person if your first visit is to Chessington. They can be bought on the website of your chosen attraction to go to first – look at the “offers” tab and select “twice the fun” to find them.
Then, once you’ve booked your first visit, you’ll have a barcode on your ticket which you can use to pre-book your second visit at Chessington World of Adventures, Legoland Windsor, Alton Towers or Thorpe Park. The first and second attractions don’t need to be the same.
If you pay for Sky TV, then take a look at the Sky VIP section in your account to get a unique code for £17.50 tickets to Legoland this summer.
Tickets are available throughout the remainder of the season, including Legoland at Christmas, but tickets are expected to sell out fairly quickly. You need to buy them before 31 August 2025. You can book up to six tickets each time.
Buy a promotional box of Kellogg’s cereal or a Snack Pack and get 25% off up to two online advance-priced tickets at 25 participating Merlin attractions, including Thorpe Park, Alton Towers and Chessington World of Adventures.
To get it, scan the QR code from a promotional Kellogg’s pack or go to their website. You’ll need to register or login with a Kellogg’s account and enter the 10 digit KPIN code from the promotional pack. You’ll then get a discount code emailed to you with a link to book.
With Snack Packs, you must bring the promotional pack with you, along with your pre-booked e-ticket and show it at the ticket desk.
Tickets are valid until 30 June 2026. Exclusion dates apply and do check the terms and conditions.
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Tesco Clubcard points
If you’re earning points, you can get double value at theme parks, including Alton Towers. Personally, I’d say you’re better off using your points elsewhere, particularly for the Merlin-owned attractions.
That’s because although this promo is in theory the same as the 2-4-1 style offers, the prevalence of the latter means you’re effectively only getting 25% off that lower price. More on Clubcard deals here.
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Expired deals
Adults go free with Kellogs (expired)
Though the wording is different, it’s essentially the same thing, it’s just the adult ticket is free when you buy another full price adult or kids ticket.
Once again it’s for Merlin attractions, so the main theme parks are Thorpe Park, Chessington and Alton Towers.
Any vouchers you collect will be valid until 30 June 2024. Details here. You’ll need to keep the promotional packaging to share at the venue entrance.
Merlin has launched another sale on its annual passes. These run for a full year from when you buy them, so you’ll be able to get until April 2025 if you get one while the deal is on. The sale is on until 7 April 2024.
This gets you into any Merlin attraction – this includes Thorpe Park, Alton Towers, LEGOLAND, Sealife Centre and the London Eye. The different stages of pass have different perks – for example, the Gold one includes parking (usually £5-£10 each time), and there are restricted days on the Silver and Discovery passes. Some of them also have a sign-up fee if you go for a monthly option.
Remember, you’re unlikely to need to pay full price for entrance thanks to other deals, so you’ll need to weigh up whether the pass will represent good value depending on how often you’ll visit the attractions.
Don’t blow your holiday budget on your mobile bill
Since Brexit, most major mobile networks have reintroduced roaming charges. And with the constant desire to stay connected, and use your phone to get around, you can end up with a huge bill.
Here’s what you need to know about roaming charges for the major networks, and a few tricks to help you keep costs down.
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Can you get free roaming?
Until the end of 2020, you were able to use your inclusive data, calls and texts when travelling in Europe. And some mobile companies, such as Three, offered the same deal in countries further afield, including the USA and Australia. O2 is the only major network to carry on offering this — here are the rules for each of the networks.
O2 & Virgin Mobile – free roaming continues
The only major network to retain free roaming is O2, with extra benefits if you also get Virgin Broadband. You can call and text UK numbers from abroad and use your data up to the limits in your monthly allowance or 25GB, whichever is lower.
This only applies in European countries, and you’ll be capped at 25GB of data a month if your normal allowance is above this.
For travel outside of Europe, you can buy an O2 Travel Bolt On for £7 a day which covers 27 worldwide destinations (full list here). You’ll get unlimited data each day, plus 120 minutes of talk time and texts to UK numbers. Some more expensive packages include this, usually those with 30GB of data or more.
If you’re on Pay As You Go, you can get the O2 Travel Bolt On for £1.99 a day in selected destinations.
Or, if you’re with Virgin Media for your broadband then you can link your accounts to get this Bolt On added to your phone tariff for free.
Vodafone – ended January 2022
General roaming charges now apply to anyone who took out a Vodafone contract after 11 August 2021. There’s no change for contracts taken out before this.
However, pay monthly plans and Pay As You Go include roaming in the Republic of Ireland, Isle of Man, Iceland and Norway.
Some more expensive contracts will include roaming in the EU and beyond, but if you’re on a basic plan you’ll pay £2.57 a day if you’re travelling in Europe. You can reduce this with an eight-day pass for £15 or a 15-day pass for £20.
EE – ended March 2022
Your roaming charges will depend on your plan and where you’re travelling.
For example, if you pay monthly for your EE phone contract, you’ll be charged £2.59 a day or £15 for seven days if you’re travelling in Europe. If you’re visiting the USA, it’ll cost £5 a day or £25 for seven days. The most you’ll pay is £15 a day if you’re going to Zone 4 countries including Nepal and the Maldives.
If you have a 30-Day plan/Saver plan you’ll need to pay £2.50 a day or £10 for seven days to use your allowances in Europe if you signed up for a new or renewed contract after 7 July 2021. Existing customers before this date won’t see a change.
If you’re on EE’s Full Works plan, you’ll get its EU and Roam Further Pass included, although this is one of the more expensive contacts.
Three – ended May 2022
This used to be huge money saver when travelling outside Europe. But on 23 May 2022, this Go Roam benefit ended for anyone who took out a new contract or renewed a contract after 1 October 2021.
Now Three offers roaming for £2 a day in Europe, or £5 a day for the rest of the world to use your existing allowances. There’s also a £5 a day Data Passport which offers unlimited data abroad.
Alternatively, Three’s Pay-as-you-go Three SIMs can still get Go Roam. So, you could pick up one of these when you go abroad and switch it over for most usage. You’ll temporarily have a different number, so you won’t get your usual calls and texts.
Other networks
Here’s what some of the other networks are doing:
BT Mobile – free European roaming remains
Giffgaff – free European roaming remains
ID Mobile – free European roaming remains
Lebara – free European roaming remains
Plusnet – free European roaming remains
Sky Mobile – free roaming ended in May 2022
Smarty – free European roaming remains
Tesco Mobile – free European roaming ended for new customers from 16 June 2022
Voxi – free roaming ended in May 2022
New rules to cut roaming fees
Mobile network providers must tell you if you’re going to be charged for roaming when you’re abroad under new proposals from Ofcom (the UK’s communications regulator). The provider has to tell you the costs, fair use limits and any relevant time limits. They should also inform you of how to set a limit on your spending.
These rules were introduced on 1 October 2024.
How to reduce your phone charges abroad
Check your destination
Even if you have roaming included or there’s the option to set a daily price cap – check that the country you’re going to is part of that deal. If it’s excluded then you’ll need to look at some of these other tips.
Switch to a different mobile network
As well as O2 and Virgin Media, many smaller networks are keeping EU roaming – for now at least. These could well be cheaper than the major networks back home, too.
If you don’t fancy doing this permanently, you could look at Three’s PAYG SIM or sign up for just one month of one of the smaller networks.
Get an eSIM
An eSIM is a handy way to get service while you’re abroad. It’s essentially a digital SIM card that you can load onto your phone to use local network providers. You can get ones that are just data, or you can get one with a local phone number to also make calls and send texts.
We have a full guide on eSIMs here where we explain how they work, the benefits and the savings you can make.
Cap your charges
If you don’t want to switch, you should find out what your network will charge where you are going.
It’s worth seeing if your network has a cap on overseas charges, particularly for data. This will stop your bill getting out of control – but don’t assume you’ll get this. You often have to ask for this to be implemented.
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Get a bolt-on
Another option is to buy add-on packages that give you a pre-agreed amount of minutes, texts or data to use when abroad.
Turn off your data and use Wi-Fi instead
Another option is to simply not use data at all. You need to do this before you get on the plane, train or boat. Go to your settings and turn off data roaming or mobile data – and keep it off until you’re back in the UK.
This also means the apps on your phone won’t automatically access data behind the scenes. It also protects against accidentally opening your email — yep, you’d get charged, even if it’s just a few seconds.
If you’re in a destination where roaming is included, check your limits. There may be a reduction in how much of your regular allowance you can use.
With data turned off, the only way to connect to the web will be using Wi-Fi. You might get lucky and get it for free at your hotel. If not, look for coffee shops and public spaces that don’t charge. You can research in advance too, using the Wi-Fi Finder app.
However, be careful using unsecured Wi-Fi with banking apps or online shopping. Don’t enter login or password details.
Write shorter texts
If your text is longer than 160 characters, it’ll count as two texts (or more), so try to watch your words. It’s also worth not sending picture messages via text (at home and abroad) as they’ll be charged extra. Use messaging apps instead (when you’re on Wi-Fi).
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Unless you’ve got a specific add-on which allows it, any calls you make to numbers at your destination or texts messages to local mobiles aren’t included in roaming. You might be better off getting a local SIM or calling card if you’re going to make a lot of these calls.
Don’t answer calls and turn off voicemail
Outside inclusive roaming counties you’ll often be charged to answer a call, so don’t answer unless you need to. You won’t be charged to get a text message though, so tell mates back home that’s the best way to communicate with you while you’re away.
Some networks – with EE the worst – will also charge you for receiving a voicemail when abroad, even if you don’t access it. I always used to call my provider and turn voicemail off before I left to avoid any unnecessary charges.
Use apps to make calls and send messages
When you’re connected to Wi-Fi, you’ll also be able to use apps like WhatsApp to make free calls and send messages, including photos.
This cuts out the costs of making and receiving calls overseas. However, if the Wi-Fi signal is weak, it can be a very frustrating phone call!
