Martin's Valentine's Day deals
Valentine’s Day deals, Reclaim £12 energy credit, free £150 bank switch and free posh chocolate. 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.
Valentine’s Day deals:
How you doin’? While there’s still 9 days to go, this is the key week for deals. While I’m all for romance, don’t be forced into spending a fortune on an over-commercialised day. But if you’re planning to spend here’s the cheapest deals.
A dozen red roses, £22 couriered. You canget anM&S bunch of 12 Fairtrade red roses for £22, couriered on Valentine's Day (or any day between Thursday 11 – Tuesday 16 February). The last order date for Valentine’s Day delivery is 13 February. M&S haven’t said how many roses they have in stock, but in previous years the promo bunches have run out quickly.
Also check out your local florist, and look for short lived promos on deals sites which will pop up over the next few days.
£10 bubbly (was £24.50). This is a corking deal from Asda, it’s reduced the Louvel Fontaine champagne to £10 from £24.50 a bottle until Sunday 21 February, both in-store and online (maximum six bottles per person). There’s also £10 Comte de Senneval champagne in-store at Lidl, and £11 Veuve Monsigny Brut champagne in-store at Aldi – both of which were rated quite highly in recent taste tests. Please be Drinkaware.
Give a free gift Cheque. Thoughtfulness melts the heart far more than a pricey pressie so why not give your loved one a personalised gift cheque instead, you can download them online, so when they present it to you, you’ll do whatever it says on demand. You could make it a back massage, breakfast in bed, rustle up a romantic picnic, let them pick a movie of their choice or go to the in-laws without complaining
Free £2ish Hotel Chocolat chocolate. Smartphone users can get a free £2ish 50g chocolate slab at most Hotel Chocolat stores via the O2 Priority Moments app (the app will show you your nearest participating store). Just show the code from the app to staff at the checkout. It's due to last until Sunday 7 February, but could end before if all the codes run out.
If you aren’t on the O2 network you can still get the freebie. Just order a free Pay & Go sim card from O2 and put it into your unlocked phone and download the free O2 priorities app. Then put your old sim card back in your phone, and the app should still be there (it’s meant to disappear, but when I’ve tried it, it stays and is usable).
Reclaim £12 prepaid energy credit
If you are on a prepaid electricity meter, you have until Sunday 28 February to grab £12 credit that you’re owed on the back of the government cutting Green Levies in 2013. This payment is for those who had a prepay meter on 11 October 2015, you should’ve received a letter in November from your energy supplier with a voucher for the £12 credit which you can then redeem at the Post Office. Yet there are still 1.3 million of the 4.5 million letters unclaimed, so if you haven’t done it and you’ve got the letter, do it asap. If you’ve binned the letter get in touch with your energy supplier.
And while I’m talking about energy, another big six provider, Scottish Power, has joined SSE and Eon, in announcing cuts to its standard tariffs prices by around 5% on gas only. But this is trivial. Many of you are still massively overpaying by £300 a year even after the cuts. It only takes 5 mins to slash the amount you pay for gas & electricity, then it's switched over in just 17 days - perfect for lowering bills this winter. Use Martin’s ‘Cheap Energy Club’ to do a comparison or any Ofgem approved comparison site.
Free £150 for switching bank accounts
The bank price was is ranging and some banks want you so much they are willing to pay you to switch to them, and now’s the best time ever to do it. The biggest tax-free bribe is from Clydesdale Bank which pays you a massive £150 bonus if you switch current account to it and it also gives 2% AER interest on £3,000.
But this isn’t the only bank fighting for your business. There’s loads more – some paying you cold hard cash and some offering high interest rates. Watch Martin’s Money show on ITV tonight at 8pm for who’s best and full details on what to do.