Use cashback for for everything - £500 a year of free money.
Tesco Clubcard plus - £96 a year to buy in and save £500-£600 per year.
Instead of spending hours on STW, knit an artisan jumper and sell it to Hepco Trousers or whatever they are called...
Those Seiko5`s look nice. My old Seiko Kinetic is playing up...bit tempted by the £225 Seiko Pepsi at John Lewis.
This thread is not really saving me money 😉
A quick google shows Halfords will do Oil and filter change for a MINIMUM of £109. You can do it yourself in 30-45 minutes for £45. So you save £60 for the ‘hassle’ of undoing a sump plug and unscrewing the filter.
In principle I agree with this, but you also need a place to do it, tools to do it, something to catch the oil and you then have to dispose of it.
I always do my own oil changes, but I can understand someone not wanting to faff for the sake of £60.
I actually came on here to posy "Be nice to people, even if they are not being particularly nice at the time".
It is amazing how many times I have been given discounts, let in free, had stuff given to me by people I only have a passing acquaintance with
just because I was nice to them when they were having a bad time. The latest example is the lathe and loads of chisels, probably over £500 worth, a friends Dad gave me because I was 'nice' when he was getting divorced and didn't take sides. This was a few years back and all I remember saying was something like 'Life happens but there will be sunshine again when you get through this". Clearly that remained in his mind.
EDIT - also when selling a painting for £350 to a young-ish couple I offered to deliver it to their house for free as they only lived 5 miles away from my house and we were both at a market about 30 miles from home. I got to the house that evening and they gave me the money plus a nice bottle of wine. I thanked them and said my wife would love that, as I don't drink, and it would help make up for the time I spend in the studio. The bloke smiles, took the wine back and gave me an extra £50 and tld me to get something we could both enjoy.
It is amazing how many times I have been given discounts, let in free, had stuff given to me by people I only have a passing acquaintance with
just because I was nice to them when they were having a bad time.
I've had that recently from two purchases. Work wear shorts - got to the till after spending a while discussing options with the sales assistant and he knocked 10% off because I was "a nice guy."
Bike shop - I asked if the Maxxis tyres were part of the sale and the guy said "everything is if I want it to be, let me see what I can do." He knocked an Assegai exo+ max terra from $95 to $75. I should have bought two!
Another vote for bank account switch bonuses. I’m on around £800 for last year. I would need to earn over £1600 to get that as take home pay.
keep reading this. ive done about 3 now over a good few years, but whenever i look into it the ones available are the ones ive already done, which say you cant have had an account with us before. what am i missing?
Basic service is only an oil and filter change maybe just hoover out 85% of the old oil , a top up of screen wash . Unknown unbranded oil in your car unless you specify and the cost goes up
If Halfords can do it for £109 then that's an expensive MOT to make up the rest
No doubt they will add a few advisories tyres , brakes, bulbs getting dim in their old age
For those looking at oil changes. get a pela pump. It turns an oil change into a 30 min job, clean and easy to dispose of the oil. Saved me a fortune over the years.
edit:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Pela-6000-Oil-Pump-Extraction/dp/B002EJ2GUC
worth every single penny
I know it's a want not a need, but Google opinion rewards pays me just enough to cover the cost of their unlimited photo storage plan, in exchange for my privacy. It's a thing I wouldn't pay for otherwise.
I once go an estimate of £500-£600 to 'explore' a 'host of electrical problems' with a big Mercedes that had been left unused for 3 months while I was abroad. There was the parts a repair costs on top of that. I took it home, left it on slow charge overnight which curded 90% of the issues, A couple of miles driving, switch it on and off again, and everything was back to normal. Modern cars really don't like flat or low charged batteries and have a lot of parasitic drain when parked and apparently switched off.
WorldClassAccidentFree Member
a basic service/ oil and filter change on my car, with an MOT at my local indie is £189.00By the time I’ve pratted about, got mucky, disposed of the old oil etc, I’ll just pay someone else to do it.
Doesn’t that kind of miss the point of this thread?
A quick google shows Halfords will do Oil and filter change for a MINIMUM of £109. You can do it yourself in 30-45 minutes for £45. So you save £60 for the ‘hassle’ of undoing a sump plug and unscrewing the filter
Buy quality filters (Mann) from Autodoc, Mannol / Miller's branded oil in 20litre drums and a Pela pump as mentioned above. Major savings.
matt_outandabout
Free Member
Use curtains properly.
Spy on the neighbours and then blackmail them with what you have witnessed?
What if they are neither?
Learn how to lay paving slabs!
pay for subscriptions using overseas prices, using VPN. Brazil works well for a popular cycling app..
You can get a hot coffee from the Costa machine as part of a Tesco meal deal for £3.50ish.
If you want a coffee from the Costa machine, that is.
Tesco Clubcard plus – £96 a year to buy in and save £500-£600 per year.
I just looked at that – how on earth are you saving £600 a year? Even if I could do two in-store shops a month, which I can't as our most local store is 20 miles away, to get 10% off them, I would only be saving about £300 a year.
I just looked at that – how on earth are you saving £600 a year?
I use both 10% off vouchers every month, usually saving £16-20 off a £160-200 'big' weekly shop, i.e. £192-240 saving a year (minus the £96 annual cost). I'm sure it tops out at £20 off per voucher? Not sure how to get to the £500-600 saving either,
For those looking at oil changes. get a pela pump.
Worth it alone to avoid the horrific job that is removing the clips, etc that hold on an under tray on many vehicles. The actual oil replacement bit of the job's easy, it's the stupidly designed under trays etc that make it a PITA for me.
Not sure how to get to the £500-600 saving either
HAHA! TBF, I do wish they would do the saving on deliveries too as I could probably make a reasonable saving.
We have been taking advantage of the Tesco Clubcard deal since it came out. We have a Tesco Credit card and use that for everything that we purchase as you accumulate points everywhere and then pay it off every month. Also have Clubcard plus
Its surprising how many points you can accumulate and then we always swap for the multiple offers, used to be 4x but now 2x. This years three trips using the Tunnel have been sorted at no cost to us, Should have been around £900.
any nando Chicken lovers, well they've done you a favour
card only, no cash
I just looked at that – how on earth are you saving £600 a year? Even if I could do two in-store shops a month, which I can’t as our most local store is 20 miles away, to get 10% off them, I would only be saving about £300 a year.
We consolidate our shops into 2 big (£220 each) and two small (£110 each) ones every month and thus save the full £20 on each voucher, so £40 a month over 12 months. You also get additional savings on food, clothes, household stuff to the tune of 20%. On average this is around £4-6 per shop so £16-24 a month or £200-300 a year. All totaled it's around £700-800 back on a £100 cost.
We consolidate our shops into 2 big (£220 each) and two small (£110 each) ones every month and thus save the full £20 on each voucher, so £40 a month over 12 months.
Fair enough - I think I would go insane trying to do two 'big shops' in-store every month though.
Re the oil changes thing - how many people send their car to a garage just for an oil change?
It would usually be done as part of a yearly major or minor service so the saving of doing it yourself would be negligible.
If you can be bothered using reloadable cards - many workplaces do an average 4-5% discount on grocery shopping. it doesn't sound like much but when you're spending over £7k a year on food - £300-350 is not to be sniffed at.
[i]minor service so the saving of doing it yourself would be negligible.[/i]
Check out what a 'minor service' actual is.
[i]A minor service for a car, also known as a basic or general service, typically includes:
An oil change
An oil filter change
A full car check-over
Diagnostic checks
Vehicle greasing
Tyre rotation[/i]
So change the oil and filters and look out for warning lights. Hmmm....
So change the oil and filters and look out for warning lights. Hmmm….
But for most people the security that there car has been inspected by a knowledgable mechanic is worth far more than a £60 saving.
I'm a fairly competent DIYer and can easily strip and rebuild bikes but I don't touch my car (apart from checking oil and water etc). As soon as I go anywhere near it I get gorilla hands and can strip a nut without looking at it.
And I've watched far too much Wheelers Dealers and the like where their 'simple fix' is to whip out some tool that costs £££s and would get used once every ten years by a home mechanic! 🙂
~£30 for the oil extractor and means the only thing you need to remove is the old oil filter.
I absolutely agree about getting the car seen by a professional for some things but the oil change is one step up in difficulty from changing the wiper blades.
Renewing car insurance?
Biggest discounts come if you look between 16 - 28 days before the renewal is due rather than in the last week.
any nando Chicken lovers, well they’ve done you a favour
card only, no cash
While since I have been to a Nando’s as like an independent place, but I’ll keep that in mind lot easier with a card.
Always pause monthly subscriptions like Netflix, Discovery+ or Amazon etc after renewal. That way you’ll only unpause once you need to reuse it after expiry and get a few days ‘free’.
Spy on the neighbours and then blackmail them with what you have witnessed?
I will try that out.
More on the close them as it gets dark and cold, closed properly. Open them as the light returns. Consider leaving closed in less used rooms in very cold weather.
" ive done about 3 now over a good few years, but whenever i look into it the ones available are the ones ive already done, which say you cant have had an account with us before. what am i missing?"
Just check Martin Lewis every month or two. Every bank has different conditions. This is my first year doing it so I could do any I wished.
Current Nationwide for example. If you did them before but it was before 18th Aug 2021 you can go again. Santander it is Sept 201. Etc.
So you can't do it every year. Grab everything going then go back again a few years later. I am sticking with my last switch to Nationwide for a year anyway taking advantage of the 5% on current account balance up to £1500. Next autumn I'll do a few more switches.
Save money on expensive binoculars by moving closer to what you're looking at.
Regarding those oil change pump thingies, do they remove any swarf or stuff you should be looking for in an oil change?
Never really seen them used to be honest.
If you've worked in public sector and retired, you can still apply for the blue light card. Wife has done it recently.
Use cashback sites. Even for small purchases.
If you're on EE you can get 6 months free either Apple TV or Apple music through the EE app under rewards.
Use Tesco clubcard vouchers for discounts on eating out at certain pub chains / restaurants.
Tesco Clubcard plus – £96 a year to buy in and save £500-£600 per year.
Nectar card plus use of their app for me. Once it knows what you buy regularly, it often gives up bonus points for those items plus there's a few decent partner offers, extra points (and discounts) at Esso, Argos etc and a few competitions, occasional bonus points (most pretty token gestures like 5 or 10 Nectar points bonus but I did once win 7000 points!)
I can often end up with £100 in Nextar points by the end of the year.
My phone contract was up recently and I have moved to a Lebara Sim only deal via the ubiquitous MSE.
It's ridiculously cheap for the first six months (like under £2/month) then rises to £5 or £6/month.
And uses the same network I was already on.
Farmfoods discount vouchers - I ve seen cafe and shop owners in farmfoods. Subscribe you get vouchers 2 quid off 25 spend. Cheapest place for chocolate, marmite, peanut butter even before extra discount.
That’s a time v’s money thing though… a basic service/ oil and filter change on my car, with an MOT at my local indie is £189.00
By the time I’ve pratted about, got mucky, disposed of the old oil etc, I’ll just pay someone else to do it.
But unless you can do something of some value in the Kwikfit reception, it takes you just as long.
Eurocarparts will deliver me an oil and filter (free next-day delivery) for ~£50
Drive the car onto the ramps, remove plug, remove filter, let it drain, fit filter, refit plug, fill with oil.
30min and it's done. The oil sits in the old bottle until the next tip trip.
I'll be finished, washed up, and drinking a cup of decent coffee before you're even sat down in the waiting room drinking the complimentary mellow birds from the machine.
There's jobs I don't do because they're a faff, I just paid the local garage £30 to swap an exhaust because it involved 2 hard to reach bolts that I just CBA doing on a cold driveway, but even that is still saving £100 buying the generic pipe for £90, and paying the garage £30 Vs the £250-£300 Kwickfit charge for the job. Cambelts and clutches, depends on the car, a that stage I usually decide I don't have the patience to work on the job for 6 hours efficiently (which really means it's a 2 day job with tea breaks), But the routine stuff just makes economic sense because you'll do it every year saving a few hundred quid each time.
Regarding those oil change pump thingies, do they remove any swarf or stuff you should be looking for in an oil change?
Never really seen them used to be honest.
They remove all the same stuff the sump drain would have.
Depends on the engine, some are designed to be emptied via a pump not the sump plug. If you think about it lot's of higher performance engines are built like this, e.g. motorbikes. They have a dry sump which a scavenger pump transfers the oil to a separate tank from where you drain it. I own a pump, but don't use it on the fiesta because there's no undertray or anything so it's as quick to drive it onto the ramps. And I have to go underneath it to access the oil filter anyway. If the filter was on top and the engine designed to allow emptying that way then I'd have no qualms about it unless there was some other reason like the sump itself had to be removed to inspect the pickup pipe.
If there's swarf in your oil then the engines f***ed. Worrying about whether there's 10ml or 20ml of oil left to be diluted into the next 4.5l is the least of your problems.
Buy high ticket Christmas presents after Christmas
I've been beating the current account switching bonus drum on here for years - options are now scarcer for me, given the number of times I've switched, but the odd one still comes up. Literally free money.
Stoozing is a good alternative to cashback cards. Do all your spending on a 0% interest card and put the corresponding sum into a high interest savings account. At the end of your 0% period, pay it off and pocket the interest. I've made nearly £600 in the last calendar year. You need to be on top of it, but it's as close to totally passive income as I've ever got.
Convert Tesco club card vouchers into money off the channel tunnel crossing
[edit because i missed it]
Re the oil changes thing – how many people send their car to a garage just for an oil change?
It would usually be done as part of a yearly major or minor service so the saving of doing it yourself would be negligible.
But for most people the security that there car has been inspected by a knowledgable mechanic is worth far more than a £60 saving.
What I can't spot myself, the MOT does, and I can't recall the last MOT fail that I hadn't identified in advance. And no one starts off knowledgeable, but if you do your own oil change you're far more likely to spot other problems before they escalate. And 90% of fixes are either low skill but take time / faff so anyone could do them with instructions, Or take a bit of skill / tools but most of the time the cost of the tool is still less than the garage bill would be.
Unknown unbranded oil in your car unless you specify
If it meets the spec it's fine.
If the garage was prepared to use the wrong oil entirely then why would you trust them with any work at all?
I've not always used the cheapest, my usual rule of thumb is to pay less than £5 more for a gallon than the cheapest that meets the spec. Most years that means ECP or Halfords own brand synthetic rather than semi, or Magnatec if it's on offer.
