Money off your coffee until June
Ditch prepay energy, urgent tax credit check, £1 Starbucks, free tennis sessions, and 30% off at The Body Shop plus free gift. 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.
Switch to a standard billed meter for free
Look at the numbers – someone on a standard key or card prepay tariff with typical use pays on average £1,140/yr; switch to the cheapest prepay tariff and it’s £1,025/yr. But the big saving comes from moving to a standard ‘billed’ meter; the cheapest direct debit tariff is £750/yr.
And last week Npower became the last of the big six suppliers to remove a fee for switching from a prepayment meter to a billed meter – they used to charge £60 for both gas and electric. That means if you’re with British Gas, EDF, E.on, Scottish Power or SSE, you can move without being charged. Many smaller providers will charge, so if you’re with one of them, you could switch to a big six prepay tariff, then ask to move. Once you’re on a billed meter, then you’ll be put on a standard tariff, so you still need to find the CHEAPEST ENERGY so either useMartin’s ‘Cheap Energy Club’ or any Ofgem-approved comparison site to find your cheapest.
- If you can’t move, it’s still worth doing a prepayment energy comparison to find your cheapest as there are still savings to be had. - If you rent you may need your landlord’s permission if there are physical changes to the meter, but not just to switch tariff.- Of course prepayment can make budgeting easier but you need to weigh that up against the vastly increased cost. - If you move to a billed meter the cheapest way to pay is monthly direct debit – just ensure you do regular meter readings.
Urgent. Check now if you’re eligible for tax credits
If you’re a parent(s) earning up to £47,000 or as a household earn up to £73,000 and pay for childcare, or if you’re single earning under £13,000 (£18,000 as a couple)and don’t have children, you need to check if you’re eligible to get working or child tax credits before the rules change and you lose out – it could be worth £1,000s. There are thought to be more than a million people in this scenario.
A new universal credit system is being gradually rolled out across Great Britain– it's already in place for all single people – that will replace the six existing social security payments (income support, jobseeker’s allowance, employment and support allowance, housing benefit, child tax credit and working tax credit).
For some the new system wins, for others the current one; but if you’re already claiming tax credits, and the universal credit payment will be lower, you’ll still get the higher amount until your circumstances change. And if you’re claiming tax credits and universal credit turns out to be higher, you’ll be able to move to the new higher payment – so either way you’ll be better off.
The only people who will lose out are those who’d get more on tax credits, but don’t start their claim until universal credit has been introduced, in which case they’ll get the new lower amount. So EVERYONE who thinks they’re eligible should check now – you can use this calculator from Entitledto, a company that provides online benefits calculators, to work out whether or not you would gain under universal credit based on your circumstances.
Martin’s quickies:
£1 Starbucks: To celebrate ‘Earth Day’, tomorrow (Friday 22 April) Starbucks is giving a free drink to anyone who buys one of its coffee tumblers (travel mugs without a handle), in store (excluding franchise stores in airports or hotels), including its £1 reusable cup. You can get any hot or cold drink (normally up to £4) but the size you get will depend on the size of the tumbler you buy. Starbucks says its stores will be well stocked with the £1 cups, but demand’s likely to be high so they could run out early. Then, until Thursday 30 June, if you take the £1 reusable cup (not any other one) to Starbucks you’ll get 50p off any hot or cold drink.
*UPDATE: Starbucks have issued the following statement following several complaints.
We are very sorry to hear some customers are disappointed or confused upon going into store. The Starbucks Earth Day offer applies to all reusable tumblers that we sell in store, including the £1 reusable cup. The £1 cup has been extremely popular since we have been offering an increase of our reusable incentive to 50p until the 30th June. For Earth Day, we made every effort to ensure that stores would have enough supply however due to high demand some stores have sold out. We are expecting further deliveries to all stores soon.
30% off Body Shop & freebie: Go online to The Body Shop and enter the code 14664 to get 30% off most full-priced items (excluding sale items), until 9am next Tuesday (26 April). Plus if your total is over £10 (after the discount) you’ll also get a free 200ml passion fruit body-butter (usually £14). Delivery is £2.49. You can also get the discount in store until Monday, if you show the code on your phone or print it, but you won’t be able to get the free body butter. Some things found in the sale are a shea beauty bag for £8.40, reduced from £12, and coconut body butter for £4.20, reduced from £6.
Free tennis sessions and coaching: Go online to the Great British Tennis Weekend, and you’ll be able to find free tennis sessions and coaching in your area, organised by the Lawn Tennis Association. There are around 1,000 free events across England, Scotland and Wales over two weekends – 14-15 May and 16-17 July. It's open to all ages, and it’s best to book online in advance, though for some smaller venues you can just turn up.
Oh, and if you’re running the London Marathon this Sunday, show your medal in Smollensky’s steakhouse for a free meal (Strand, Sunday only); at Meat Liquor (Marylebone, Sunday only), Meat Market (Covent Garden, Sunday only) and GBK for a free burger (Sunday – Monday); at The Real Greek (Sunday – Wednesday) for a free skewer plate; or at Chipotle for a free burrito (Monday – Tuesday).