Martin's guide to beating April price changes
Steal a march on the April changes, Sky TV price hike, 40% off La Redoute, Nectar points boost, and free pack of wild flower seeds. These are our Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis’ Deals of the Week.
Remember, deals can change quickly, even while I’m on the programme. So always double-check the terms and conditions before spending. Plus, while I hope these deals will save you cash, don’t spend if you can’t afford it, don’t need it, or won’t use it.
Beat the April changes Next week, April’s not only bringing in the new tax year and the new personal savings allowance (which I’ll talk about in more detail nearer the time), it’s also bringing in a raft of other price changes, especially to public services. Here’s a run-down of key changes and what you can do now to beat them…
- Check your tax code: Letters have been sent out with the new 2016/2017 tax codes on them. But it’s your legal responsibility to check your code is correct – not your employer’s or the taxman’s. Many tend to be wrong and you could be owed £1,000s back. You can use Martin’s ‘Free tax code calculator’ to see if yours is right.
- Stamp price rise: On Tuesday 29 March the price of 1st and 2nd class stamps will be rising by 1p, to 64p and 55p respectively. But you can buy them now and stock up, to save. As long as the stamps say “1st” and “2nd” rather than a price you can still use them after Tuesday’s hike.
- Water bills rising: On Friday 1 April water bills in England and Wales will be rising by up to 5%. Though there’s nothing you can do to stop it, you can check if you can save by switching to a free water-meter instead. My general rule of thumb is if your home has more bedrooms than people, or the same number, then it’s likely you’ll save by switching. Use the Consumer Council for Water calculator to check, like Carol did: “Never thought I’d benefit, but my rate dropped from £65 to £18/mth. Ta Martin.”
Also, check if you can get water-saving freebies from your water company; there’s a full list at Save Water Save Money. Freebies include a £21 shower head, £10 bath toys and £7 tap aerators. Plus, as this week is ‘Water Saving Week’, there are far more freebies available than normal.
- Prescriptions rising by 20p: From 1 April each prescription will cost you £8.40 if you need to pay (in England only, they’re free in the rest of the UK) – costly if you need them regularly. But you could get a prepay certificate (kind of like a prescription season ticket) which gives you unlimited prescriptions for that time – a three-month one costs £29.10 and a year’s costs £104. Generally these win for those who use more than one prescription a month. You can get one at NHS prescriptions.
- Dental checks rising by 90p: On 1 April a dental check-up in England will rise to £19.70 and other costs will rise too, including those for fillings, root canals and veneers (there’s no change in Wales or Northern Ireland, and Scotland hasn’t announced anything yet). So if possible you could book now with the dentist to avoid the charge.
Beat Sky price hike:
From 1 June 2016 Sky is hiking the price of its TV packages, though by how much will depend on your package – for some with multiple bundles it’ll rise by up to £72/year.
But there are ways to beat this. If you’re outside your contract you’re free to leave penalty-free if you give 31 days’ notice. If you’re still within your contract you’ll need to pay a fee to leave (how much depends on your package, typically from around £3 for each month you have left with the Family bundle, to £25.99/month left for those with the Sky Q bundle).
Yet both of these open the door to haggling; and that can lead to powerful discounts. Call Sky up and ask it to give you a better deal. If it says no, then tell it you’re going to leave and ask to be put through to disconnections, known internally as ‘customer retentions’. As their job is to keep you, they have much greater discretion to give you better deals. In fact, in my poll in December, 88% of Sky customers who tried to haggle said they’d succeeded. So it’s worth a try.
Martin’s quickies:
40% off La Redoute: Go online to big French online department store La Redoute and enter the code BIG40 and you’ll be able to get 40% off everything, including clothes, shoes, furniture and more until 11.59pm on Monday (28 March). The code works on everything, including sale items, which are already reduced by up to 50%. A couple of things I spotted were a pair of Levi’s jeans for £29, which was £80 before the sale and the code, and Nike Air Max trainers for £45, down from £75 after the sale and code. Though of course it’s stock dependent. Delivery is £3.99 or you can pick up from a collection point for free.
Don’t spend Nectar points yet: From next Wednesday (30 March) until Tuesday 5 April Sainsbury’s is doubling the value of its Nectar points. So, you’ll be able to swap 1,000 points for a £10 voucher instead of the usual £5 – though the most you can exchange is up to 4,000 points per department, so max £40. Exchanged vouchers can only be used on Tu clothing, toys, electricals, entertainment, houseware, and Taste the Difference wine, by Tuesday 5 April.
Free pack of wild flower seeds: Go online and register at Grow Wild and you’ll be able to get a free pack of wild flower seeds. The seeds you get will be native to the part of the country you live in, and they include oxeye daisy, corn marigold, red campion, cornflower and meadow buttercup, which you’ll get by the end of April. There are around 100,000 packs available as of this Tuesday (22 March), and once they’re gone, they’re gone, so if you want them you’ll need to be quick, as last year they were very popular.