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January 16, 2019   |   Articles

Cash hack: Save 2% at Amazon every time

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If you regularly shop at Amazon then this is a handy trick to save money.

Update 26/219 – It’s been dropped down to 2%, but still represents a saving if you’re shopping there

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Fancy getting an extra 4% off every time you shop at Amazon? Well you can – if you sign up to something called Kids Pass.

Kids Pass is a membership scheme that primarily gives discounts on days out and meals for families. It also has some decent cinema savings, which I’ve written about before. But I’ve discovered they’ve also started selling digital gift cards at a reduced rate – including Amazon.

You don’t need to have kids to sign up, though there is an upfront cost of £1. This is for a 30-day trial. Afterwards you will pay if you choose to carry on. You need to factor these costs into your savings.

But it’s possible to bulk buy your Amazon gift cards, which are valid for 10 years, during the trial if you decide the full membership isn’t for you.

How to get your 4% discount at Amazon

The listed discount rate for the Amazon e-gift card is 2%, but the discount you get is 4%. Now this could be a mistake, as when you click through the discount is labelled as 4%. Or it could be the 4% is an error. So there’s a chance the deal will revert at some point to 2% off. That’s still a decent saving, but fingers crossed the 4% is the correct discount.

Here’s a quick step-by-step guide to getting the discount

Step 1: Sign up for a Kids Pass trial

You can currently get a 30-day trial for £1. If you want to keep it after that it’ll cost you £3.99 a month. The membership auto-renews, so if you don’t want to carry on paying, then cancel before the trial ends.

> Try Kids Pass for £1 for 30-days then £3.99 a month

2. Select Member Offers

Once you’ve got your membership sorted, you need to log in. You can access it on yor computer or via the Kids Pass app. Go to your dashboard and click the Member Offers tab. Then choose the box labelled Family Shop. On the app choose Online Shopping.

Kids Pass member offers
This is the page you’ll see once you choose “Member Offers”

 

3. Pick your gift card

You’ll then bring up a list of available offers. Click on Amazon, then click the Buy Now box on the next page that appears.

Kids Pass amazon discount
When I clicked Amazon was the first option, though you might need to scroll through

4. Select the amount and pay

Here you’ll see the 4% discount listed, and when you choose your amount, you’ll also see the price you pay does take off 4%. In this instance, a £100 Amazon e-gift card will cost £96. Click next and you’ll be able to enter your payment details.

Choose the value of your Amazon e-gift code

 

5. Find your e-gift card codes

You’ll be emailed your codes, but you can also find them by going into the ‘My Account” tab, and selecting “My Tickets”.

Choose the “My Tickets” option to find your e-codes
Kids Pass my tickets
You can access and download any codes from here

6. Add your e-codes to Amazon

Your codes are valid at Amazon for 10 years, so there’s no rush to use them. You can even give them to other people to use on their Amazon accounts.

But to be sure you don’t lose them, you can add them to your Amazon account now. Head over to the Gift card section of your account and select “redeem a gift card”. Cut and paste the code from Kids Pass into here and apply it. If you don’t want to use it on future Amazon purchases you’ll have the option to choose to pay by card instead.

How to increase the discount to around 4.5%

When you buy your gift card you can use a cashback credit card. Two options that give 0.5% are Tandem and Amazon. Both are provided by Mastercard.

So say you buy a £100 Amazon card as in the example above for £96, you’ll get 0.5% of that back, which is an extra 48p. Make sure you pay off the full amount every month so you won’t get charged any interest.

There are also lots of other ways to save at Amazon, which I regularly update on my dedicated Amazon Deals page.

Other gift card discounts

Amazon isn’t the only brand available on Kids Pass. Here’s a selection of the current gift card codes on sale and the listed discount:

  • Amazon – 2%
  • Clarks – 5%
  • Costa – 5%
  • Decathlon – 3.5%
  • Evans Cycles – 4%
  • FatFace – 4.5%
  • Footlocker – 5%
  • Gap – 5%
  • Halfords – 5%
  • Intu – 2.5%
  • Lastminute.com – 2.5%
  • Love2Shop – 2.5%
  • National Trust – 4%
  • New Look – 5%
  • Nike – 5%
  • Not on the High Street – 3.5%
  • Primark – 3.5%
  • Starbucks – 6%
  • Tesco – 2.38% (this also comes up as 4% when you click through)
  • Ticketmaster – 3.5%
  • The Entertainer – 5%

Kids & family day out offers

January 16, 2019   |   Articles

Fix your finances in 2019 part 3: Sort out your savings

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How to get in the savings habit, get the best interest rate and make sure you stick to it.

If you’ve been following these fix your finances posts over the last few weeks you’ll have a good sense of where your money is going and hopefully have also started reducing the cost of any debts. The next part is to focus on savings.

Savings might seem out of reach – various reports state most people don’t have much put aside, but there are some simple things you can do to help you get in the savings habit. Even managing to put aside £30 a month thanks to these tricks can make a big difference in 12 months time.

Work your way through each of these steps and you should be able to improve not just how often you save, but also how much money you make as a result.

1. Work out how much you can save and why

This is the first thing you need to do. Check what’s left each month after you’ve paid for the essentials, and work out how much of this amount you want to have for other spending and how much for savings.

It’s worth thinking at the same time why you are saving, perhaps even having a savings goal. This can really help motivate you.

2. Keep your savings separate to other money

If all your money is in one account it can be difficult to keep track of how much you’re saving up, and its easier for that money to be spent on everyday purchases. So set up a completely different account to store your savings.

3. Prioritise your savings

If you only save at the end of the month, you’re more likely to spend the cash elsewhere. Instead move the money immediately after payday into your separate account.

4. Pick the best account for you

This can be a simple savings account – but you won’t get much in interest like this. Likewise ISAs aren’t much use to most of us now because we can all earn a decent amount of tax-free interest in other accounts. Others can pay much more though. Here are a few options:

You want the highest interest

The best rates right now are with current accounts. You can have as many of these as you want with different banks, though individual banks might limit how many you can open with them. Right now the highest paying ones are:

  • Nationwide FlexDirect – 5% on savings up to £2,500 for one year
  • TSB Classic – 5% on savings up to £1,500
  • Tesco Bank – 3% on £3,000 (you can open two accounts)

You don’t have a lump sum but want to save every month

I love a Regular Savings account. You can get as much as 5% interest on monthly deposits for 12 months, with the interest paid and account closed when it reaches the end of the first year. You can then set up a new account and start again.

You are limited as to how much you can save each month, usually around £250 or £300, but that’s great if you are gradually building up savings and you don’t need to access the money for a year. The highest paying Regular Savers at the moment, which also require you to have a current account with the bank are:

  • First Direct – 5%
  • Marks and Spencers Bank – 5%
  • HSBC – 5%

If you’re not with any of the banks listed here or above it’s worth looking to see if there are other incentives, such as a £100 cash bonus, to get you to switch.

If you’re saving for your first home

Open up either a Help to Buy ISA or a Lifetime ISA. You’ll get a 25% bonus on savings, as well as the set interest rate, when you buy your first home – though do read up about the restrictions.

If you’ve got a lot of money

The options above don’t work for anyone with hefty sums put aside. If you don’t need to access the money then you should probably consider investing some of the money. It’s a risk, investments can fall as well as rise, and I’m no expert, so you should do plenty of research to decide if it’s for you.

Alternatively, you could look at an easy access account such as the one from Marcus, currently offering 1.5%. This is below inflation but better than you’ll get elsewhere.

5. Automate your savings

There are ways to make saving a lot easier too.

Set up a standing order to move your wedge of cash and you won’t forget to do it. This is really useful for regular savers.

You can also link your bank account to a smart app such as Chip or a Facebook Messenger bot such as Plum. They use algorithms to analyse your spending habits and decides how much you can afford to save. That amount is automatically moved into a savings account. Chip, in particular, is good as you can start off with 3% interest for the first year and earn as much as 5%.

Or you can see if your bank has a “top-up” feature. Banks including Lloyds and Monzo do this. When you spend money on your debit card, your account will round-up transactions to the nearest pound. So spend £1.30 and 70p will be moved to a separate pot.

Chip app review – Can it help you put money into savings?

The best bank switching, cashback, interest & overdraft offers (May 2021)

January 8, 2019   |   Articles

How to spot a scam email

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The telltale signs to look for that show an email probably isn’t legit.

This week I spotted news of a TV Licence email scam that has been doing the rounds, conning at least £233,455 out of 200 people – and that’s just the ones reported to Action Fraud.

Emails were claiming a direct debit had failed, and asking people to click through and enter in new details. This is known as “Phishing”. Once the crook has your bank, contact and other personal details they could use them to pose as someone from your bank, or maybe the police, saying you’ve been a victim of fraud. And then they try to con you out of some huge amounts of cash. Scary stuff.

The original email was familiar as I’d too received it, and used it on Twitter to show my followers how to spot a scam. So it makes sense to share those same photos and pointers to help you avoid getting caught out by this or similar dodgy emails.

The email

The smarter the hacker, the better the email. In this instance, the email has the look and feel of a real TV Licencing email. Here’s the first tweet I sent.

Tip one: Dodgy grammar

Often the biggest giveaway is that there are spelling or grammatical mistakes.

 

Email scam spelling errors
Highlighting a couple of obvious mistakes in the email

Tip two: Discover who really sent the email

Just because an email says it’s from “TV Licencing” it doesn’t mean it is. Likewise any word in the “from” field could be masking a dodgy address. In fact anyone can change who an email appears from. I could send one that says it was from the Queen if I wanted. But you can’t hide the real email.

Here are those photos in full. First

TV licence email scam
Click on the “From” name to see the sender’s email address

Here’s the real address hidden behind it. It’s closer than most scam emails to the real thing, but it should set alarm bells ringing. This is a major UK institution so you’d expect a “.co.uk” suffix. It’s best to Google the organisation to find the real web domain.

TV licence email scam
This is what’s revealed – and in this case it’s a similar web domain but NOT the real thing

What happens when you click through?

So, first, don’t click through if you have concerns about the legitimacy of the email. I did it here just to show you why you need to be extra careful at the email stage. First the fake TV Licencing site:

And then the real thing. Really similar!

Worried you’ve been scammed?

If you’ve fallen for this particular scam, or you’re worried you might have given your details after receiving similar emails, then you can report it to ActionFraud online or on the phone. They’ll also be able to give you some simple advice on what to do next. But if you’ve shared any passwords change them ASAP, and if you’ve given your bank details out call your bank immediately.

More articles on scams

Listen to the phone scammers trying to take over my computer

January 7, 2019   |   Articles

Fix your finances in 2019 pt 2: Better manage your borrowing

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From credit cards to mortgages, it pays to get on the best deal possible on any debts or money you borrow.

Last week I shared the basics of fixing your finances, from working out what you really have through to identifying the easy places to trim your spending. This week I’m showing you how to better manage and reduce the cost of any money you borrow.

This can make a decent difference every month. Reducing the interest you’re paying will not just mean you’re shelling out less, but it gives you extra cash to clear any debts faster. And once that debt is completely gone, there’s even more money every month to save or spend as you want.

So here are a few steps to take:

1. Identify the state of your debts

In last week’s article I suggested you analyse all your statements and bills, and look for things like interest charges or fees on debts, from credit cards to overdrafts. It’s also worth totalling up all the different debts. How do they look?

It’s all a bit scary

If you are worried about the size and monthly cost of all your borrowing and think they are out of control, then the tips below might not be enough. It’s worth reading this guest post from the top debt blogger Debt Camel explaining a few methods to try and where to get help. Don’t, whatever you do, ignore the situation.

You can afford the repayments

Hopefully you think what you owe is manageable and not pushing you further into debt. Great. There’s no need to panic, though you should take it seriously.

Work out which debts are the most expensive. That’s generally the ones with the highest interest rate. These should be your focus, though don’t ignore any which could mean you end up in the courts or without power.

There are no debts… at the moment

Or you might not have any debts at all. Even better! But there’s a chance you might need to borrow money in the near future. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

Borrowing can be good too. It can be used to spread out the cost of expensive items we don’t have the cash for now. That’s not just things like student loans or mortgages, but even buying a car so you can get to work can be a “good debt”. The key is to make sure it’s as cheap as possible, more on this in a bit.

2. Are any of the costs avoidable?

Next up, a very simple exercise.

Have you got savings as well as debts? In most cases, it makes little sense to have lots of savings if you also have lots of debts. The interest you’re paying on your credit card bill or loan is likely to be a lot higher. So if you’ve got savings, use them to clear your debts. In the event of an emergency then you can still use your credit cards.

Have a think about why the debts are being built up. Some might just be down to bad management. You might only be going overdrawn because you’re not checking your bank balance regularly enough. Or your bills might be going out the day before payday rather than a few days after. These are easy to fix.

And, unless something is urgent, it’s better to save up and buy something later with no interest charges than to whack it on a credit card now. Basically don’t spend money you don’t have or can’t afford!

3. Find more money to pay the debts off faster

You’ll hopefully already be finding ways you can cut back on spending from last week’s article, and I’ll be sharing more ways to spend less on bills and shopping over the next few weeks. It really is worth using any extra cash you find or make to pay off debts.

4. Cut the cost of borrowing

If you can’t clear existing debts immediately or are likely to borrow money in the future the trick is to make it as cheap as possible.

Here are a few basic things you can do to reduce how much you pay on credit cards, overdrafts and mortgages, but similar principles apply for other money you owe.

Credit cards

I’ve already written about clearing credit card debts fast, so do read that article for more details. But basically, it’s best to clear the cards as fast as possible, potentially with any savings. If not you can look to transfer your balance to a 0% card or a lower rate, long-term card. This will reduce the interest you are charged.

With new or existing credit card debt it’s good to pay off as much as you can each month, ideally the full balance. Avoid just making the minimum. it’s also worth, automating your repayments. The easy way to do this is via a direct debit. Just make sure you’ve enough in your account to you don’t hit your overdraft.

Zero per cent credit cards can also be useful to spread out the cost of big purchases – and can even save you money in some instances. The key here is only to use them for things you know you can afford but don’t have enough cash for now. For example, buying a new iPhone outright is usually cheaper than getting one via a contract. However, at a cost of around £1,000 it’d be tough for many to afford it in one go. So say it’s spread out over 20 months at 0%, then it’s a more manageable £50 a month. Just don’t overextend yourself.

With any type of 0% card make sure you have a plan to clear the full balance before the initial interest-free period ends. You’ll also need to make at least the minimum repayments every month.

Overdrafts

If when you went through your accounts you found you’ve gone into your overdraft, even once, then you’ll also probably have been charged. Yep, overdrafts are a debt. You’re borrowing from the bank, and charges can be very expensive. As with credit cards, it’s worth clearing this as soon as you can, and savings held elsewhere can do the job.

Another option is to switch banks to one which offers a 0% buffer. First Direct will give customers a £250 interest-free overdraft which is good if you occasionally dip into the red. If the amount is more substantial, and happening regularly, then look at Nationwide’s Flex Direct account. A larger fee-free overdraft (subject to approval) is available to new customers for the first year, which should hopefully be enough time to clear it without getting pesky additional charges.

If neither of these work for you, it’s worth comparing the fees at other banks for going overdrawn. Some charge a monthly fee, others charge each time you go overdrawn so the best option depends on the amount and how often you use the overdraft. You can also talk to your current bank to see if they’ll help with your existing overdraft.

Mortgages

Your mortgage is probably your biggest debt, meaning even at a low rate it’ll likely be your most expensive. And this means finding a cheaper deal can make a big difference to your monthly costs.

The lowest rates could well be with a different lender, though when I reduced mine a few years ago the cheapest was with my existing provider. Make sure you’re not just comparing the interest rate. Look for additional charges and restrictions on things such as the ability to overpay.

You also need to watch out for early repayment charges, which could make it more expensive to move your mortgage.

5. Build up your credit score

Credit scores are really important for borrowing money as they’re a key indicator of what rate you’ll get. So start doing what you can to improve it and in time you’ll be able to get even cheaper borrowing.

Next week, the third part in this series will help you get the best return from your savings.

Credit scores explained

How to quickly clear your credit card debt

January 2, 2019   |   Articles

Fix your finances in 2019 pt1: Know your money

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If you’re looking to finally get on top of your finances this year, this series of blog posts will help you kick things off.

Over the next few weeks I’ll be giving you tips on managing your debts, your savings and your spending – all essential to being in control of your finances.

But first, and most importantly, you need to do a little bit of prep. Think of it a bit like a warm-up before doing exercise.

At its most basic that means following a few simple steps to work the real state of your money, and then setting up some low hassle way to keep track.

You need to do this before anything else as it’ll make sure you focus in the right place. Say your goal for the year is to save more. That’s great, and I’ll show you ways to help in a few weeks. But it might be your energy would be better spent elsewhere.

Here’s what you need to do:

1. Make some time

If you’re serious about sorting things out, then set aside a couple of hours this week. It’s never going to be as enticing as other options, but it will be worth it.

Grab a beer or glass of wine, out some music on, gather your bills and statements and get your head down.

2. Work out your bottom line

In an ideal world you’ll set up a budget. For me that means using a spreadsheet to put all my income and spending together in one place. It’s actually really simple and it’ll give you the most accurate indicator of where any problems might be.

Just list out what you’re spending every month in one column and everything coming into your account in another column. Everything. Then subtract the spending from your income to see whether you’re spending within or outside your means. It’s well worth doing it.

There are also online tools like the Money Advice Service budget planner that can help, or even workbooks and diaries you can buy for this. Go for whatever works best for you.

3. Audit your paperwork

Simply going through all your bills and bank statements will be a big help. First look for the following:

  • Anything you pay for that you don’t really use or need
  • Old subscriptions or bills you thought you’d cancelled but are still paying for
  • Expenses that are higher than you expect

Anything you spot in one of these categories is where you can quickly cut back through cancelling or spending less.

While you’re at it, make a note of all of these figures and dates. I’ll come back to what to do with them over the next few weeks.

  • Bills where you’re out of contract, and the end dates for those where you are still in contract
  • How much you’re paying on loans, overdrafts, credit cards or other debts
  • Fees or charges from your bank
  • How much interest you’re getting for your savings
  • Which retailers you use more than others

4. Track your spending

You can drill even deeper into where your money goes if you start a spending diary. I did this a few years ago, going into a very forensic amount of detail, but you don’t need to go that far. All you need to do is write down everything you spend money on for a few weeks, perhaps a month.

The idea is you’ll be able to see how even the small things quickly add up. It’s a real eye-opener, and it’s another way to identify the areas where you probably are overspending.

5. Make it easier to manage your money

Now you’ve got a sense of where your money is going, don’t lose track. I update the basics on my spreadsheet every month, and there are some smart apps such as Yolt which allow you to see all your bank and credit card balances, even from different banks, on the same screen.

It’s also worth automating as much of your regular spending as you can. This means direct debits for bills and credit cards, and standing orders for savings. If you can set the dates for these so they are just after payday it means the money goes when you have it, and reduces how much you’ve got left to spend on the non-essentials.

Next week I’ll be writing about clearing or better managing your debts.

December 28, 2018   |   Articles

Got an HMV gift card? Spend it NOW

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Music and movie retailer HMV is on the brink of collapse once more.

HMV is now in administration, meaning if it doesn’t find a buyer the retailer could disappear from the high street and online.

This isn’t the first tome either. The chain went under in 2013 and saw half of its stores close down before a takeover package eventually saw the shop survive. And with more and more of us streaming rather than buying CDs or DVDs HMV has once more found sales dive. Apparently, DVD purchases were down by 30% in December.

So apart from another potential empty store on your high street, what does it mean for you? Well, there are a couple of actions you need to take fast if you’ve received an HMV gift card for Christmas, or recently purchased something from the shop.

If you have an HMV gift card

Spend it today. DO NOT WAIT. Last time HMV went into administration gift cards were not accepted at first and there’s every chance the same will happen again. Of course, the shop might continue to take them as payment, or a new owner might come along, but it’s not worth the risk.

If you’ve bought anything at HMV

Anything you have purchased from the retailer recently that you don’t want then return it straight away to get your money back or exchange it for something you do want. The same goes for any gift you’ve been given for Christmas but don’t want or already have that has come with a gift receipt. I’m not sure exactly what the returns period is for HMV, so do check your receipt, but it could be as far back as mid-November if there was an extended returns period for Christmas.

If you buy anything new from HMV

Of course, the shop is still open, and any money spent there could help keep it going. At the time of writing, the HMV website doesn’t even mention the potential problems.

So if there anything you like the look of over the next few days, possibly in the sales, then make sure it’s the right one. If HMV does goes into administration and potentially then close for good, you won’t be able to return your purchases.

If it’s something expense, a games console or tech perhaps, then pay with a credit card as then the credit card provider is equally liable if there’s something wrong with your purchase. This only works for individual items costing more than £100, not the total spend.

Got another gift card this Christmas?

The same advice follows for any gift card you’ve got, especially if you’ve heard any news about the retailer struggling recently. That could be a series of store closures or big profit warnings. Even though these don’t mean a shop will go under, it’s a sign you should spend your gift card as soon as possible.

You can read more about how to ensure your gift cards aren’t wasted in my rules if you’ve got a gift card article.

My rules if you’ve been given a gift card

December 19, 2018   |   Articles

Are you really going to get a bargain in the sales?

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The January and Boxing Day sales are dead. Long live the never-ending sales. But can you really make a saving? I’ve three tips to help you nab a bargain.

As a kid I remember how we’d get on the train to Bromley in South London (this was pre-Westfield, Bluewater and Lakeside) when the January sales started. It really was the main time of the year when you could get a bargain, or afford something that would normally be out of reach. But that’s all changed.

Every year the sales start earlier. What would have traditionally kicked off on 1st January, gradually moved to 26th December, More recently they’ve started online on Christmas Day, and some retailers will be starting them this week.

And that’s if they’ve even stopped. With Black Friday, flash sales and other promotions, it often feels like a sale is always on. And, if this is happening, is anything ever really at full price?

And the problem is if you’re tempted to buy simply because you think you’re saving money, there’s a good chance you’re just paying the going rate.

Here are my main frustrations:

The sales that never stop

On my deals and vouchers pages I often write about popular sales, and it’s surprising how many repeat themselves. Even John Lewis suffered this summer thanks to it’s “Never Knowingly Undersold” price matching policy under constant bombardment from sale after sale.

Constantly fluctuating prices

It’s difficult to judge the authenticity of sales as prices frequently fluctuate throughout the year. It’s rare for shops like Amazon to have a regular price, it’s always up and down. John Lewis is also particularly frustrating as its price matching policy can mean daily changes in the amount you pay.

You also need to watch out for prices going up just before the sale, “discounted” for a few days, then lowered again once the promotion is over. I’ve even seen examples where the item has been available at a far lower price for months before and after the “sale”.

Artificially inflated original prices

Worse is when the original price is inflated so you think you’re getting a bigger discount that you really are. This is the “Was” and “Now” bit of the label. TK Maxx is particularly bad at this.

Legally the product has to be sold at the higher price for a reasonable amount of time, but this only has to be in one shop somewhere. So it’s very likely it was never sold at the “was” price in that shop.

How to make sure you really are making a saving in the sales

Despite these frustrations, there are still savings to be made in the sales. It’s just rare you are getting a discount as high as the sticker promises.

So how do you tell the real deal from the dodgy marketing?  I’ve three top tips to help.

1. Look at price history

My favourite site for this is Camel Camel Camel which shows you how prices have changed on Amazon. Seeing as Amazon sells everything and often price matches other retailers, you get a really good picture of prices since the product was first listed. You can see also find out an average price.

2. Compare current prices

There are some great websites which help you compare prices against other shops. I like Idealo for white goods and electronics. Watch out for extra charges like shipping, but you’ll be able to get a sense of whether you can get it cheaper elsewhere.

3. Keep an eye on prices after you’ve bought it

If you buy something in the sales, particularly anything expensive, it’s worth seeing if prices drop in the days or weeks after. Some shops such as John Lewis have been known to match the lower price and refund the difference. Or if you haven’t used your purchase and it’s still in it’s packaging, you can always return it for a full refund and buy it elsewhere at the lower price.

December 14, 2018   |   Articles

Five alternative gifts where the thought really does count

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Still to buy some Christmas presents? Don’t waste your money on duds. These gifts won’t end up in the bin or regifted.

I’m no Scrooge. I love Christmas; from the turkey dinner to festive jumpers it all makes for a fantastic month.

But I do hate the amount of money that is wasted on presents. Now, a good present is a brilliant thing; a spot-on surprise even better.

However, as I wrote a few weeks ago, every year I’ll get something I don’t really need or want. Or even worse I’ll be given something I don’t like. I really can’t stand pointless spending, especially when so many people stretch their budgets to afford the gifts.

And the closer we get to Christmas, the more likely people are going to buy any gift just so there’s something to give. Often these are the ones that aren’t great, and tend to be subconsciously labelled under “it’s the thought that counts”.

I’m not ungrateful, and I appreciate the sentiment – but I’m not a believer that it’s the act of giving which is important if it’s money down the drain.

So if you’re struggling to think what to buy, here are five alternatives where you can show you’ve genuinely thought about why you’re giving it.

1. Donate to charity instead

If you’re going to spend money because you feel you have to, then I think this is the way to do it.

You can simply donate money, but many charities have donation gift packs so you have something to hand over, which makes it feel more like a gift.

So you can buy water for a family of four at Oxfam, or adopt an animal at a local sanctuary.

I think this is particularly good for Secret Santa, which in my experience is one of the worst for bad gifts (though there are good ones too). If I’m ever involved I ask people to donate to charity or a food bank if they pick my name out of the hat.

2. Pay for or contribute to a special experience

If you don’t know what to buy it’s best to ask what someone wants. But if that still doesn’t help there’s a very simple solution – cash.

Now, I know lots of you won’t want to do this. It can feel impersonal. Yet, surely that’s better than guessing and getting something that is completely wrong.

And it is possible to show you have put thought into cash as a gift. There’s no reason why you can’t give a nudge as to how the money could be spent.

That can be anything, but if you’re struggling, saying it’s towards a special night out could be the answer. We did this for our honeymoon, and it meant we could stay at places normally outside our budget, and eat at a couple of fancy restaurants.

If you’ve been given money it’s nice to let the gift giver know how you’ve spent the cash.

3. Put money into savings (especially great for kids)

Money again, but more strategic. This is a great one for your kids, grandkids, nieces, nephews and other little ‘uns you know.

They’ll get so many toys that one less probably won’t be noticed. You could instead start helping them think about the value of money – an essential building block for their future financial capability.

If you want to teach them about money, then a normal bank account is best as they can access it and use it as they save up. These often have the best interest rates.

But if you’re thinking longer term, you could open a Junior ISA which is locked until the child is 18. Only a parent can open a Junior ISA, but other relatives and friends can contribute via the parent.

4. Give your time

If you’ve a skill you think would be appreciated, you could offer that as your gift.

So if you’re a top baker, promise to make their kid’s birthday cake; if you enjoy gardening and they don’t, offer to spend a few Sundays tackling overgrown bushes.

5. Buy a multi-shop gift card

For years gift cards have been the fall back present when nothing else can be found, but you’ve got to be careful.

If you choose a card specific to a retailer, restaurant or venue, you’re limiting what can be bought. Often the cards end up being spent on something just to use it up, or left in a drawer forgotten until it expires.

But if you really must buy one, then I think you should go for a multi-shop gift card. These give whoever receives it a few more choices of where to spend.

Your other main options are:

Each of these latter cards have restrictions, including how you have to know the exact balance on the card when you spend it. So check the conditions before you buy.

And of course, the same problems with normal gift cards count here. If the card provider goes bust then shops don’t have to accept the card.

December 12, 2018   |   Articles

My rules if you’ve been given a gift card

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Ignore these simple rules and you could end up with a worthless voucher or gift card.

I don’t know about you, but most years I’ll be given a voucher to spend instead of a present. If there’s something I want I usually use it within a few weeks. But if there’s nothing that catches my eye, well the gift card can sit around for months – and doing that makes it more likely the voucher can become worthless.

Find out how to avoid this and other risks in this video. If you’d rather read it, there’s a full transcript further down the page.

My six rules for gift cards

  • Check where you can spend it. It might only be valid online or in shops, not both
  • Check if there’s a limit for how many gift cards can be used in one transaction
  • Check the expiration date
  • Think about where you’ll keep it so you don’t forget it
  • Treat it as if it was cash. If you lose it you won’t get a refund
  • Make sure the retailer isn’t at risk of going bust. If it is, spend it quick!

 

Full video transcript

Hi I’m Andy Webb from Be Clever With Your Cash.com, and in this video I’m talking through the things you need to think about if you’ve been given a gift card. Christmas, birthdays, weddings – whatever the occasion there’s a good chance that rather than get a gift, someone has given you a voucher or a gift card for you to pick up the thing that you want.

In lots of ways that’s a great thing, because you’re spending it on something you’re actually going to use rather than maybe getting something that’s going to get left in the back of the cupboard, maybe sold or even regifted. So I think they can be a good thing. But you need to consider a few different things if you’ve been given one.

First of all – where can you use it? Now you expect any gift voucher now with the way that we shop online so much that you can use them anywhere. But actually some retailers will only let you use the cards in the shops – you can’t use them online. Tesco is a really good example of that. Only in the stores will that gift card be valid. Or conversely you might have been given an e-code. Lots and lots of retailers, that’s how they’re doing it. Well you can’t then use that in the shop. So find that information out.

Particularly with online retailers it’s worth finding out if there’s a limit to how many gift cards you can use. This is useful to think about if you’ve asked a few people for a different gift cards because you want to buy something big. Sometimes, this is quite surprising, the retailers have limits. Space NK – they only let you use one gift card per transaction. Ticketmaster it’s five and all the different retailers they have different limits. Some of them have none but it’s worth checking this out.

Probably the most important thing to check out once you’ve done that is what’s the expiration date. When do you have to use it by. When we had paper vouchers – they’re much much less common now – that date was printed on there and there’s a nice visual reminder I’ve got to use it by this time. But when you’ve got a card there’s nothing on there. The only way to find out is go online, phone up the retailer or go into the shop and ask. But it’s really important you do that.

Because if you let it expire it becomes worthless. There’s no way of getting it back once it’s expired. It’s very very very rare that a retailer is going to go “yeah all right I’ll put the money back on”. No that money’s gone. There’s a huge amount of money across the country that is wasted this way, where people have just left their cards at the back of a drawer or hidden in their wallet, forget it’s there and don’t use it.

I guess on the same basis you need to kind of have think about where you are going to keep it, one, so you don’t forget it – it might be worth having like a little reminder pop up in your calendar on your phone that you’ve got this to spend with the expiration date next to it.

But you also need to think about storing it safely. If you were to get it damaged, the paper ones particularly, or if you were to lose it and not be able to find it again, that money is gone. So I would encourage you to treat any gift card or voucher you’ve got as if it’s cash. As if it’s a £20 note. You’re going to look after that you’re not going to just throw it around the house, leave it on the side are you? No, you know where it’s going to be because you wouldn’t throw 20 quid away. So treat your gift cards and gift vouchers in the same way.

Another little thing to think about is the retailer. Are they at risk? Now we’ve seen this in a past when big shops such as BHS have gone into administration. When that happened the gift vouchers became invalid. It didn’t always happen straight away but pretty much if you hadn’t spent it before that happened – again the money was gone. So if you’ve got one now, keep an eye on the news, just to check that stores aren’t being shut down. Check that there isn’t news about this retailer struggling, which might mean it’s at risk of going under. If that’s likely to happen, spend it before it does. Again otherwise that money is wasted.

Now the last thing I guess to think about if you’ve been given a gift card is if you’re pretty sure you’re not going to use it – if you’re pretty sure you don’t want it – well you do have an option. You can sell gift cards now. There’s an app called Zeek which is pretty good for buying reduced gift cards that people have sold. If you’re selling it however you do have to take a chunk off. You’re not going to have to sell it – if it’s 20 quid you’re not going to get
20 quid for it – you will lose a bit of money on it. But if there’s no way you’re going to spend it or if you can’t think of anyone else you know who might buy it off you, then that’s a really good option to at least get some of that cash back.