Thanks to contactless we’re using cash a lot less as a country – but that doesn’t mean we should forget about coins and notes. As I explain in the video, there are a couple of reasons you might be better off spending with cash instead of cards.
The O2 Priority Moments app will give you access to all sorts of deals – from £1 meal deals every Monday to free chocolate and Christmas cards. And this trick means anyone can get it, even if you’re not on O2.
As the video explains all you need to do is order a free O2 SIM – which you can do via the link below. Though the form asks you to choose a bundle you don’t actually need to pay anything now. Submitting the form should get the SIM sent out to you which you can activate as below without ever topping up. Let me know if it’s any different.
Once you’ve got your SIM, put it in your phone (it needs to be unlocked), and use wifi to download the O2 Priority app. You’ll need to activate the app using your new O2 phone number. You shouldn’t need to top up the SIM itself. Then switch your old SIM back in and the app should keep working.
If you don’t know how to unlock your phone then this “unlockapedia” from Giffgaff is handy.
I’ve had the app for years, ever since it was launched in 2011, and I’ve lost count of the freebies and deals I’ve picked up.
An ongoing deal is the £1 meal deal every Monday at Domino’s, WH Smiths, Upper Crust, Pumpkin and Cafe Ritazza. You can also get a free coffee at Cafe Nero most weeks. Every year for the last four years I’ve also picked up a free box of Christmas cards from WH Smiths.
Other deals come and go but frequent offers include discounts at Pizza Express, free snacks from Boots, free chocolate from Thorntons or Hotel Chocolat, free trials for Tastecard or Gourmet Society and a discount at Body Shop.
Last week I decided to take a train up north last week. If you read the blog you’ll know the best fares are available 12 weeks advance, but even though my trip was last minute I was still able to save more than 60%.
Here’s how I managed to spend £44 rather than £107, and a few other sneaky charges to watch out for.
You can read more about these and other tricks I use to make train travel vaguely affordable in my 10 tricks for cheap trains guide.
It’s been so hot recently so I’ve made sure I’ve got a bottle of water on hand to help cool down – but what happens when it runs out? Well you could spend £1 plus from places like Pret, or you could follow one of these tricks to cut your spend. Plus, the laws on free tap water in pubs and restaurants.
Plus here’s my write up from 2015 of Tapwater.org. They no longer run their app or Twitter feed, so I don’t know how accurate the map is – but it’s worth having a look.
Spotted these pink Oyster card readers around the London Underground and Overground? There’s a reason they’re pink, and it could save you cash on your journey – if you’re not going through zone 1. Watch the video to find out more.
You’ll find them at the following stations:
London Overground platforms –
Tube platforms –
There are 2.4 million children in families struggling with debt. With children in these situations are five times more likely to be unhappy, the Children’s Society has been campaigning for so-called “breathing spaces” to be introduced.
The idea is that anyone who is seeking help with their debts and has a plan in place to start clearing them would have a year where no additional interest or charges are added to their debt. It makes a lot of sense. If people are unable to clear debts, adding more and more to the debt isn’t going to help.
This Friday there’s a second reading in Parliament of a bill to introduce these breathing spaces, and you can help by signing an online petition.
You can also email your MP to see if they will support it. The Children’s Society has a handy form you fill in which tells you who your MP is and sends a prewritten message. You can also check if your MP is already publically supporting the bill.
** Head to my best buy tables for the latest updates on the accounts offering you the best saving rates **
When I started Be Clever With Your Cash I wrote a series of blog posts under the title Save-ometer. Every day for a year – every single day – I kept track of what I spent and how much money being clever with your cash could save. The figure at the end of 12 months surprised me. It was a whopping £13,917.
I tried to repeat this in 2016, but it wasn’t to be. Painstakingly detailing all the possible savings takes a long time, and to be brutally honest I had better things to do!
So rather than a year, I’ve kept track for just for one week. Everything I’ve spent has been totalled up, and I’ve calculated what it could have cost if I’d just spent without thinking.
Here’s a video diary of the savings as I made them:
So, the total was a saving of £237! Just from one week.
That’s around £1,000 a month, and over a year adds up to £12,325!
I wouldn’t be surprised if I hit this total, or even exceed it.
Yes, not everything I did this week will happen every week. But there are plenty of potential savings (and big ones too) that didn’t happen this week. And this doesn’t even take into account things like switching energy, getting the best interest rates or cashback.
Your week won’t be the same as mine, but the principle remains the same. Of course, it doesn’t mean I’ll have an extra £12k in my bank. But it does mean I can do more with what I earn.
Think about how you spend – be clever with your cash – and you’ll have more money to spend as you need too – whether that’s on essentials, luxuries or even just building up savings.
If you want a breakdown of all the ways I spent and saved, keep on reading.
Here’s my diary of what I spent and how I saved.
Today I was at work in central London, and out with friends in the evening.
Now I don’t travel into town every day I don’t buy an annual season ticket (normally the biggest way to save). Instead, I pay with a contactless card. I took four trips today and the daily cap was £9.50. Individually the journeys would have cost £12.60, while a day travel card would have been £12.50.
I also used my American Express card, which earns 1% for every full pound I spend, so that’s 9p made (I promise these small savings do make a difference over the year!).
It took me five minutes this morning to make a sandwich for lunch. I’ve not weighed out exactly how much cheese I used or calculated the price of each tomato I used, but for two cheese and salad sarnies it comes in at around a quid. If I’d popped down to the Chilango burrito joint below my work it would have cost £7.95!
I bought a round for my colleagues after work. It was only a quick drink so normally I’d avoid rounds as I either end up paying for more than I drink or feeling bad I didn’t buy a drink in return. But this was a little different as we were celebrating my friend’s new baby.
However, I then went on to dinner with old school mates. We went to Wahaca, a good value Mexican chain, and found it was Taco Tuesday! This knocked £4 each off the bill, plus staying there for an extra drink and playing free table football worked out £10 cheaper than the original table tennis plan.
One of my days working at home on the blog, but again, meeting up with a friend in the evening.
Today I was working at home so food is obviously going to be cheaper. But I took advantage of our freezer contents to use up leftover bolognese. The average family wastes £600 a year, working out at £200 per person, on food that goes off or leftovers that are thrown away. So the £3.85 figure I’ve used is the average weekly amount people save.
Tonight I headed to ITV Studios to see a free recording of Harry Hill’s new panel show. You can get tickets to all sorts of TV and radio programmes, and though they can be frustrating when you watch the same joke again and again in retakes, it’s still a very cheap way to see some entertainment.
It’s a Wednesday night so there’s no need for a double! However, that’s the standard serving at the bar we visited. So I asked for singles, saving close to £8.
Another day at the office in town, then a trip to the movies after.
After work, I head to the Odeon in Panton Street, near Leicester Square. Tickets here are already cheap, but I’ve got an NUS card (here’s how you can too), and not only does that give you student price, you get an extra 25% off at Odeons from Monday to Thursday. I also saved an extra 10% through buying an Odeon gift card from Zeek.
An early start today as I headed into London for the newspaper review on Share Radio.
I had a few hours to kill between the radio slot and meeting up with other money bloggers for lunch. I needed to work, but rather than heading to any old cafe where I’d have to buy food and drink, or pay for wi-fi elsewhere, I went to a place I know I can work in peace and not have to spend any cash.
Frustratingly the free wi-fi didn’t work, but I was able to “tether” the data from my phone and use my contract.
We headed to Dishoom in Covent Garden for lunch. Though not the cheapest place, it’s exceptional value for the quality you get.
A few weeks back I bought a membership for the Picturehouse Central in London. It’s an amazing cinema. Membership gets you four free tickets, £3 off other tickets and access to a great members bar (where I often use as an office when in town).
I managed to get the membership half-price at £37.50, meaning the “free” ticket worked out as £9.38 rather than £13 – but with all the future savings I’ll make with the card it could potentially be less.
Yes, that’s right we saved around 25% on an online Waitrose order. There are a few ways we did this. First, we used special offers on things we needed. Second, we used own brand or cheaper options for some things. Third, we signed up for Waitrose Pick Your Own Offers (giving 20% off selected items). Fourth, we returned substitutions we didn’t want (it’s a waste of money keeping the replacements if they’re not want you want). And finally, we used a discounted gift card from Zeek.
Catching up with friends in South London, a (horrendous) Crystal Palace football match and then dinner with friends.
Petrol isn’t cheap, but we knew we’d need to fill up so did it locally rather than on the M25.
The last match I’ll be able to use my NUS card to get a discount at as they’ve now changed the definition of concession from “student” to 18-21 years old. On current form that might be no bad thing.
I used contactless for this short train trip after the match. Since this route isn’t run by Transport for London, you’re encouraged to buy a paper ticket, which actually would have cost more than tapping in and out!
Another NUS discount, this time at Co-op, where tasty craft beers were three for £5, then even less with a 10% student discount.
Some shopping, then forward planning for a train trip next month.
I needed some storage for my office and it worked out close to half-price cheaper in Ikea than WH Smiths for the equivalent.
I’m going to Sheffield next month. Buying an off-peak return on the day could cost £115, but I made a huge saving getting a ticket in advance, even just four weeks ahead.
Back in the office for the last day of my challenge.
On Monday’s I don’t bring a packed lunch. Instead, I take advantage of the O2 Priority Moments offer to get a £1 Boots meal deal. And since I use a discounted gift card, I save another 8%!
I’m not even on O2 anymore – there’s a trick where anyone can get the offers!
My last purchase for the week was to nip into the little Sainsbury’s below work to nab some reduced items. I’m a little obsessed with grabbing these bargains and putting into the freezer for a later date meat and fish far cheaper than full price.
If this was a typical week, that would work out as saving £1,027 a month, and a huge £12,324.52 a year!
The cashback from the credit card would add up to £126.36 a year, and I’ve not even factored in cashback from bills and interest on savings.
REAL DEAL
For anyone who saw the cult TV show Veronica Mars on E4 years ago, they’re bound to be excited about the new movie, released in cinemas and online yesterday. It’s got a pretty limited release so the easiest way to see it is to rent it. We’ve had a look to find the cheapest way to stream it, and thanks to a special discounts, Blinkbox is the winner.
If you are a new user, you can get £5 free credit when you sign up and pay in £1. The film is normally £5.99, but with a special discount code it’ll cost you just £4.50 – meaning you’ll have 50p free credit still in the account.
You have 30 days to start watching your rental once you purchase it. You can watch them on your computer, tablet or through some smart TV’s and games consoles. Personally I connect my laptop to my TV. The code is also valid on all rentals until April 1st.
Click here to go through to the site. Sign up to get your £5 credit, then enter the code MOVIETIME at checkout.
