Grab a bargain with Martin's Savers
The cash ISA year ends in 23 days - use it or lose it, last minute Mother’s Day deals, £10 Champagne, a free Guinness and two ‘free’ Alton Towers tickets (usually £100). 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.
New top two year fix ISA paying 2%
The cash ISA year ends in 23 days, either use it or lose it. Everyone over 16 in the UK can currently save up to £15,000 in a cash ISA this tax year (6 April until the following 5 April). These are savings accounts where you don’t pay tax on the interest. For a detailed rundown see Martin’s Top Cash ISAs guide, but in brief…
If you want easy access, the top payer open to all is the Post Office at 1.5% variable. The top one year fix is from United Bank UK, paying 1.65%. The top two year fix is the Post Office paying 1.95% or 2% with Santander if you’re a 123 or Select customer. Alternatively, Coventry BS pays 2.25% till November 2018, but let’s you access cash early by closing the account for just a 120-day interest penalty, which in practice means after one year you’ve effectively earned 1.51%, 2 years it’s 1.88% and 2% after 3 years. Or the top regular Saver ISA is from Newcastle BS, which pays 2.57% if you save between £1- £1,250/month.
Mother’s Day – this Sunday 15 March
Loving your mum needn’t mean having to shell out a lot of cash, but if you are going to, deals are usually available. Many of the really good ones go over a week in advance, but here are some of the top last minute ones.
£25 M&S couriered flowers: Go online to M&S to get a 100 stem bouquet for £25 (was £30), including courier delivery on Mother’s Day. It includes 80 yellow daffodils and 20 purple tulips. You'll need to order by 1pm on Saturday 14 March to get them on Mother's Day (or until the 13,000 available run out).
Of course many supermarkets sells daffodils for £1 on the day too – and it’s always worth checking your local florist.
Restaurant deals:
- Frankie & Benny’s ‘free’ bottle of wine: Mums get a 'free' bottle of house wine (red, white or rose) or soft drinks (or chocolates in Scotland) at Frankie & Benny'swhen at least two mains are ordered from the main menu on Mother's Day.
- Bella Italia ‘free’ pud and Prosecco for mum: When mum orders a main course at Bella Italiaanytime on Mother's Day, she'll get a classic dessert for 'free' (worth £4-£6ish). But dine after 5pm and she’ll also get a ‘free’ glass of Prosecco too.
- Harvester ‘free’ mum’s main: Mums can eat 'free' at Harvesteron Mother's Day after 6pm when at least one other main meal is ordered.
£10 Champagne at Asda and Aldi
A corker of a champers deal. Pierre Darcys Champagne Brut N/V is £10 (was £24.25) in store and online at Asda until Sunday 15 March. Or Veuve Monsigny Champagne Brut is currently £9.99 a bottle at Aldi. Usually this bottle costs £11.99, but it often drops down to £9.99. Please be Drinkaware.
Free pint of Guinness for St Patrick’s Day
Sign up online to Pitcher & Piano's newsletterfor a code for one free pint of Guinness or Jameson Irish Mulecocktailat any of its 18 bars (most in England, with one in Swansea, Wales) until Tuesday 31 March. It’s valid on any day in March, including St Patrick’s Day.
If you’ve already signed up Pitcher & Piano should have already sent you this offer. If you haven’t seen it, check your spam box or sign up again and it’ll resend it.
Two ‘free’ Alton Towers tickets
From Saturday 14 March, collect 10 tokens or codes printed in The Sun newspaper (40p weekdays, or 60p on Sat and 80p Sun – excludes Northern Ireland) every day until Tuesday 31 March to get two 'free' adult tickets to Alton Towers.
If you collect the tokens from inside the paper, you’ll need to send them off with your five preferred date bands and The Sun will allocate a day you can go within your chosen band dates. You do need to be flexible with the postal application (though it’s slightly cheaper than applying online as it’s £5.24 all-in).
Or you can collect the ‘paper perk’ codes from the back of The Sun newspaper and apply online (slightly higher cost of £5.50 all-in) but you can pick any available date between 30 March and 5 November 2015.