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Martin Lewis - 12 saves of Christmas! By Martin Lewis It’s only October, but the Christmas store displays are already out in force. Yet while it’s ridiculous that shops flog festive gear three months early, now’s the perfect time to prepare your pocket for this Christmas. So let me start with a stark and urgent warning. Christmas is coming. This year it’ll be on the 25 December. This may be stating the bloomin’ obvious but, so many complain in January that they’ve overspent at this retail festival, the only assumption can be it came as a shock. So here are my 12 saves of Christmas: Get up to 5% off everything To encourage you to spend on them, cashback credit cards pay you each time you use them, in the hopes you’ll rack up great swathes of interest. Yet set up a direct debit to repay in full each month, and you’re not charged a penny. Currently the top card’s the American Express Platinum, which gives 5% cashback for the first three months. Apply now, and it’ll be in time for the crucial Christmas and January sales period. You need £30,000 family income to get it though; for alternatives see www.moneysavingexpert.com/cashbackCC Ask the right question Most people wrongly decide what they want for a perfect Christmas then ask “What's the cheapest way?” yet actually you need to be guided by your finances, so instead first ask, "what can I afford to spend?". Then work out what the best possible Christmas is with that amount of cash and stick to it. It’s better to have a financially fit New Year, than a tiny bit better Christmas. There’s a free budget planner at www.moneysavingexpert.com/cashbackCC Don’t use Tesco Vouchers for Christmas food. Lots of people store up Tesco’s Clubcard vouchers for Christmas treats, yet this is a massive waste. You get 4x the value, ie, £5 becomes £20, if you redeem them on things in the Tesco Clubcard Rewards brochure www.moneysavingexpert.com/cashbackCC . Rewards include days out, gifts, jewellery, magazine subscriptions and more, so it’s great for gifts at a quarter of the price. Agree a No Unnecessary Present Pact While it feels generous to give gifts, it creates an obligation on the other person to buy you one back, and they may not be able to afford it. Plus how many times does it mean we waste money on ugly socks that never get worn! In this year of recession, why not agree a pact with friends or colleagues, to just send a card, or give gifts under a certain value? If you’re embarrassed to ask there’s a special tool to do it for you at www.moneysavingexpert.com/cashbackCC Find the cheapest prices in seconds If you do buy gifts, don’t do it on impulse. Create a list then search for the cheapest prices using a shopbot (shopping robot). This is a price comparison website, like www.twenga.co.uk or www.foundem.co.uk, which searches scores of internet retailers to find the cheapest, whether for books, games, CDs, DVDs, electrical goods or more. Or try www.megashopbot.com which combines different shopbot results. Spread the cost without a special credit card One big mistake people make is to try and pay for this massive event out of December’s income. If it’s unaffordable, you end up borrowing cash, leaving them starting off the new year in hock. So if you’ve not started saving, there’s still time now to put away money for October, November and December. And it is also possible to spread the cost into January interest-free, even without a special 0% credit card, by spending on an empty card in December, and ensuring you repay it in full in January. Use discount vouchers rather than pay full price. In the run up to Christmas, shops are desperate to attract new customers, with discounts and deals, but don’t want to give reductions to their walk-in trade who’d be shopping there anyway. To do this they use special click ‘n’ print web vouchers for those prepared to look. As we near Christmas there are loads around; a daily updated list of all the hot legitimate ones is at www.moneysavingexpert.com/discountvouchers and a wider range at www.myvouchercodes.co.uk Grab store card discounts at no cost Pre-Christmas high street retailers try to bribe us with huge introductory shopping discounts if we sign up for their store cards. The problem is the disgusting 25-30% interest rate. Thus never, ever, ever borrow on store cards. Instead, the disciplined can spend on them to bag the discount, and immediately repay in full, so there’s no interest charge. Better still, team up with friends, so one gets a card, you all spend on it for the discount, and they give you the money. Then next time you shop, someone gets the card and you use the same trick to perpetually keep the discount. Get expensive perfume on the cheap! Forget big department stores for perfume. A whole bunch of specialist online sellers flog it for a fraction of the price. Better still, buy the even cheaper unboxed bottles, then get a pretty box and wrapping for a couple of quid. This way, they think you went to extra effort but actually you saved extra cash. For a full breakdown go to www.moneysavingexpert.com/perfume Use a Money Mantra before you spend. Financial discipline’s important with temptations all around, so before you buy anything use the relevant one of my two money mantras … remember these questions: Do I need it? Can I afford it? Have I checked if I can find it cheaper anywhere else? IF YOU'RE NOT SKINT Will I use it? Is it worth it? Have I checked if I can find it cheaper anywhere else? IF THE ANSWER IS NO TO ANY QUESTION. DON’T BUY IT!
Two free audiobooks inc. Dan Brown Audiobook provider Audible.co.uk is offering a 14-day free trial. It's possible to grab any 2 audiobooks completely free (inc. new Dan Brown bestseller The Lost Symbol). Just go to www.audible.co.uk/freetrial and sign up for the £14.99 premium package. Then before the 14 days are up, call 0800 082 5100 to cancel or you will be charged for a month’s membership. £10 Lush goodie bag (with £20 contents) Throughout October, you can get a Lush goodie bag with eight items for just £10. If bought separately, the cosmetics would usually cost £18-£20. The bags are called 'Freshers' bags, aimed at new uni students, but the offer's open to everybody and is available both in-store and at www.lush.co.uk ABOUT MARTIN TV money guru Martin Lewis runs the consumer revenge website MoneySavingExpert.com; ensure you get his weekly e-mail so you’re constantly saving money.
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