Get a free McDonald's burger
Avoid TalkTalk TV £48/yr price rise, free McDonald's burger and free PG Tips tea bags. 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.
Avoid TalkTalk TV’s £48/year price hike – how you can avoid it
If you’re one of 100,000s TalkTalk TV customers (free if you’ve got its broadband) then from February you’ll be hit with an additional £4/month charge, as it'll start to charge ALL of its customers for its multi-room service (allows you to watch TalkTalk TV on two screens in separate rooms at the same time), not just to those who sign up for it. So even if you don’t have screens in separate rooms so don’t use the service, you’ll be charged the extra £48/year.
But if you don't want this you can opt out now by calling it on 0345 172 0088, or at any time after you start paying with a month's notice. You’ll still be able to use your box and TV service to watch Freeview, pause and rewind live TV, watch on-demand content such as BBC iPlayer and Netflix, and to rent movies. But you won't get multi-room or a £5 TalkTalk voucher it's giving if you stay opted in (you can use the voucher to rent movies). You also won't be able to get paid for add-ons such as Sky Sports or Sky Cinema.
If you want to get an additional box for multi-room, there's a £50 fee – a £25 fee for the box plus a £25 installation fee. And if you do want to keep the service but don't want to pay the full £4/month extra, you could try haggling, especially if you're near the end of your broadband or fibre contract. In fact in my last poll, I did back in September last year 80% of people who haggled with TalkTalk had success, so it’s worth a try.
Martin’s Quickies:
Free McDonald’s burger: Download the free My McDonald’s app (for Apple or Android) and register your details, and you’ll be able to get a free hamburger (normally 89p) or a free cheeseburger (normally 99p) at most UK McDonald's restaurants. To get it, in the app select the McDonald’s restaurant you’re in and order the burger on the app, then you’ll get an order number which you’ll need to collect it. There’s no minimum spend and you won't need to enter any payment details unless you want to add extra items. You can get it from 10.30am-11.59pm till tomorrow (Fri 25 Jan). Unfortunately, there isn’t a veggie alternative.
Free PG Tips tea bags: Go online to the Veganuary website, and there’s a coupon which you can print that gives £1 off ‘PG Tips perfect with dairy free’ 70s packs of teabags at any supermarket that stocks them. However, if you print this coupon, and also pick up another £1 off coupon in Tesco's free in-store magazine, that’s £2 off and they only cost £2 in Tesco right now (reduced from £2.60), so you can get a pack completely free until Tuesday 29 January, or until all coupons are gone.