Martin's Quick Deals
Get paid to shift credit card debt to 0%, half-term holidays for 16-17 year-olds, and £10 off Amazon and £15 off Molton Brown. These are our Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis’ Quick Deals.
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.
New Halifax credit card pays you to shift your debt to it
If you need a long debt shift, the new Halifax credit card is the joint-longest 0% balance transfer card on the market and gives those accepted up to a massive 37 months 0% for a 2.75% fee. Though it’s not the longest 0% card with the lowest fee – Barclaycard just beats it with a lower 2.69% fee – the real boon with this card is that if you apply by 30 October and transfer over £1,500, Halifax will pay you £35 in cashback – which’ll cover most of the fee anyway and smashes Barclaycard’s deal.
But be careful, as both Halifax cards and the Barclaycard are ‘up to’ deals, which means if your credit score isn’t great you could be offered fewer 0% months which won’t make this a good deal. For more alternatives and how to check which card you’ll be accepted for see Martin’s full best balance transfers guide.
Always follow the Golden Rules
a) Never miss minimum monthly repayments, or the bank can end your 0% deal and charge far more.b) Clear the card or balance transfer before the 0% ends, or the rate rockets to 18.9% APR for both cards. c) Never withdraw cash on the card. It's not at the 0% rate. It's often far more, and just doing it can hurt your credit file.
October half-term activity trip £50 (or free for some) for teens
This England and Northern Ireland scheme gets 16-17-year-olds abseiling, canoeing and learning life skills in the October half-term (including a three-night activity trip away and 30 hours’ voluntary work in the community). It’s £50 or less, or even free for some as part of the National Citizen Serviceprogramme backed by the Government.
It doesn't matter if your kids are at school or not. If a teenager's been on a course before, they unfortunately can't go again. To apply, enter your details on the National Citizen Service registration page and it will contact you to explain more. Register as soon as possible as once places are gone, they’re gone.
I’ve had great feedback on this about previous years such as “The change has been wonderful; it’s something that a parent only hopes to witness, their child growing into a better person."
Molton Brown £15 off £30 in £4ish magazine
Pick up November’s edition of Good Housekeeping magazine (£4ish with Nigella Lawson on the front) and on page 164 is a voucher to get £15 off a £30 spend in-store and online at Molton Brown (delivery is £4.95, plus you’ll get a free 30ml body wash or lotion sample). The magazine will only be on sale until Friday 30 October and the voucher expires Saturday 31 October. So this means you could get a Travel Body Wash set which is £30 for £15.
£10 off £30 Amazon trick using its Prime Now app, if you live in West Midlands or within M25
If you’re an Amazon Prime customer or sign up to its free one-month trial (if you don’t cancel after this it’s £79/year so diarise it), you can get £10 off when you spend £30+ on your first purchase using the Prime Now app, provided your delivery will be in certain postcodes in the Midlands, including Birmingham, Coventry and Wolverhampton, and most postcodes within the M25 – it had a similar deal last month but this is for a wider area.
Not everything Amazon sells is on the app, but I couldn’t find anything missing when I checked, so a large selection is. You must place the order before Friday 20 November.