Martin's 90-Second Savers
Don’t pay to renew a EHIC, Nectar double up and £50 of points trick, Kurt Geiger shoes £39 or less and 2for1 Alton Towers, Sea Life and more. These are our Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis’ 90 Second Savers.
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.
Beware Google, don’t pay to renew EHIC
Is yours one of 5.2 million EHICs (European Health Insurance Card) expiring this year? If so, renew it for free. I got this tweet recently: “Just paid £49 to fake EHIC website – looked legit. Says it won’t return it, please warn others.” The free EHIC gives you access to EU (plus a few other) state-run hospitals or GPs like a local. If there’s no cost for them, there’s no cost for you. Even if you’ve travel insurance, if you’re going to Europe, get one and stick to these key points:
- Check the expiry date: 5.2 million expire this year, renew or it’s invalid.
- Keep it on you: Everyone, including kids needs one. It helps if you can show it.
- Don’t pay – Beware Google. EHICs are always free, there’s no fast track.
Nectar double up and £50 of points trick
There’s good news and bad news for Nectar card holders. The good news is that Sainsbury’s regular double-up event means your points are worth more. The bad news is that from 11 April, you’ll only earn one point per pound spent at Sainsbury’s, not the current two, so you will need to work harder to build a points stash. However, I’ve ways to boost it – here are the key pointers…
- Sainsbury’s double up: Until 31 March, you can exchange and spend up to 4,000 points (in multiples of 1,000) for double their usual value in each of seven departments: electricals, toys, eBooks, TU Clothing, entertainment, homeware and baby. So 2,000 points will get you a £20 voucher instead of the usual £10. See theSainsbury’s websitefor full details.
- “I got an extra £50-worth of Nectar points in four months”: One of my team nabbed 9,967 points (worth £49.83 to spend in Sainsbury’s without double-up) in four months via cleverly using Sainsbury’s new trial My Couponswebsite, which gives extra points ‘coupons’ for products you usually buy. The points are added to your account when you buy the product either in-store or online. Remember this is a way to get extra points on items that you’re going to buy anyway, never buy an item just for the extra boost.
Kurt Geiger shoes £39 or less
Go online toShoeaholics (Kurt Geiger’s web outlet to shift out-of-season and ex-display stock) by Sunday 22 March and you’ll find men’s and women’s styles for £39 or less, some of them are down from £99. Delivery’s £5. Although stock is decent in terms of the number of styles available (there are currently more than 3,800), as this is an outlet, individual sizes for those styles are likely to be limited, so go quick. There may be some minor wear and tear on shoes but nothing is in poor condition or damaged. If you’ve not ordered from it before, sign up to the Shoeaholics newsletter to get an extra 10% off.
2for1 Alton Towers, Sea Life and more
Look for promotional packs of Kellogg's cereal and snacks, including Rice Krispies, Frosties, Crunchy Nut and Squares (£2ish-£3ish at most supermarkets until 30 Jun 2015), to get a Grown-Ups go free voucher for 28 Merlin theme parks and attractions in the UK (25 in England, 2 in Scotland and one in NI, plus 23 other attractions in Republic of Ireland). Effectively this is a 2for1, as you must buy a full-price child or adult ticket to get the free adult entry, anytime until 30 June 2016. This could actually work out better than a 2for1 ticket if you’re an adult going with a child as generally, children’s tickets tend to be cheaper than adult tickets – it can cost up to £50 on the gate price.
As this 2for1 is for on-the-gate tickets (usually up to £50 a ticket), it's always worth checking online before you use the voucher as these can be much cheaper than the gate and there are sometimes online offers.