Hello again! This is a post I started during lockdown – 17th December 2020. I’m quite chuffed that it’s finally come into fruition because it was originally a thought in my head and I know it will help a LOT of people. A lot of the rewards schemes mentioned, some may not even be aware of them ( I know I certainly wasn’t).
I have BEEN waiting to post this and I know a few others have as well. Please note there a bunch of affiliate links which will not only help you but will help me to keep spreading the word 🙂 This post will be updated as and when I find new things, so feel free to subscribe to kept in the loop!
Rewards Programmes and Points
You can sign up, save money and earn cash back from the list below 🙂
AIRTIME REWARDS
Some of us have contracts, which we may not want to pay by the time the end of the month rolls round, but if you are someone who likes to spend in stores such as: Primark, Argos, Missguided, Wilko, Greggs, Argos, Boots, Halfords, The Body Shop, New Look, Harvey Nichols, Debenhams, Dropbox, Boohoo* – you will earn percentages of money back from your spend. I hope this entices you to pay your bill 🙂
Airtime Rewards also have challenges where you can earn stamps (converted into £1 winnings) but you must opt in for this as well.
Click the below image to download Airtime Rewards for free with my code BQEAJHWX and save money off your phone bill every time you shop with brands like Boots, Greggs, Wilko, Argos and loads more:
WE ARE 8
This is an online platform that, in the past few months received quite a bit of coverage on tv and on the tubes (transport for london service in London, UK). This app allows you to watch very short vides and receive a small payment each time, which can be helped towards your phone bill.
Videos tend to be ranged from short ads about drinks to cleaning products. So far I’ve accumulated the below since May 2022 (it is currently Aug 2022). Payments can be issued daily and can start off very small from 6p! However, once this grows you’ll see a difference.
Please check out my referral link below! https://weare8.onelink.me/zMp3/7pmov00w
—- The below require going through the app to obtain cash back —
BARCLAYS BLUE REWARDS
AS OF DEC 2021* – This is a service you’d pay £3 a month for and get £7 back each month in return. For example, in three months you’d save £21, and you can deduct this anytime and spend as cash with no penalties (saved in Barclays Blue Rewards Wallet) .However, you can only apply for this if benefit it you have an overdraft set on your account (will go into more details about overdraft)
I am not sure if other banks have better deals these days, but it seems like most are getting rid of the rewards. Barclays used to allow you to claim cashback through purchases from a very long list of retailers but its not the case now. If you know of any good ‘bank’ cashback rewards, please leave a comment below!
*Unfortunately, they have now upped the price to £5 p/m receiving only £5 back which makes you think… However, you will get good interest rates with some of their ‘Blue Reward accounts’.
Like most banks now, Barclays will send out offers of every now and then of things you can get cash back on. To be honest a lot of things are quite irrelevant to me – I haven’t seen any offers where I’d actually spend money on. Nevermind, I hope it improves!
NECTAR POINTS
You can also spend and Earn the points in Argos, Ebay, Sainsburys, Dulux Decorator Centre simultaneously.
Bonus points can be obtained via the likes of eBay (current deals – I have previously posted on this [insert link}. This often done via the app or Nectar app itself where you can also claim extra points
*As of 17/12/20: JustEat, Ted Baker, Wowcher, Booking.com, New Look, Boohoo, Sainsburys Bank (Travel Insurance and Car Insurance), Very, lastminute.com, AO, Groupon, Asos, Made.com, Maplin, Selfridges.
Offers at the moment (Collecting points):
Sky 5,000 nectar points
Offers at the moment (spending points)
Vue Cinema, Eurostar
You also get personalised offers for spend in store with Sainsbury’s e.g. . I used to buy tin fruits / indomie or crisps each time I go into Sainsbury’s. Here, I received one 1 nectar point for every point but because they see it’s a habit they’ll give me 40 points instead.
They can also do it with other healthy items in particularly fruit and veg, ultimately encouraging you to buy these (and boost your points). You can save the offers and add them for spending in store. For example February 2022 I got 500 points ‘juicy points boost’ as I saw this was an offer.
CLOTHING SALES (ONLINE or SHOP)
*TBA
I was going to mention a certain clothing brand (Missguided) until they screwed me over !!
SAINSBURY”S NECTAR POINTS
At the the time of taking out my Sainsbury’s card, I just liked saving my nectar points and they had a a really good offer where I got 10,000 for just taking out a credit card and double points between a certain period. This certainly ties in well with Ebay 😉 where I can purchase stuff on there!
Points are generally more than what you would receive on average when spending with your debit card.
BIG SAINSBURYS FOOD SHOPS (OR OTHER STORES WITH POINTS)
They really help to boost your nectar points- somewhat double and triple them! It is surprising to see how much is accumulated when shopping at not only Sainsbury’s, but the additional points you get using your card. (I am not trying to promote Sainsbury’s although they do they do have some delicious foods).
A big food shop will allow you to obtain even more food in the future with the points! I know Tesco have club-card points which you can generally use to purchase food/get decent offers. Of course, the more points you the more you get out of it – pleas be patient with saving them.
OVERDRAFT
Most banks offer arranged overdrafts, obviously this is something I do not promote, however if you know you need something but cannot wait till payday (not partying and banter but real life stuff) then this is something you can opt for.
Arranged overdrafts allow the consumer to pay for stuff urgently on credit. It is designed to reassure the consumer that an item would be paid for once pay day arrives. Please also make sure you can afford to pay it back (without feeling bad) – perhaps take it our of next month’s budget? Sometimes this is useful if you desperately need some food/snacks to tie you over until payday.
Some overdrafts are also ‘fee-free’ meaning you will not have to pay a fee for going into that overdraft, however you may have to pay a separate fee which allows you to have this feature alongside better deals with the other accounts the bank has to offer, e.g. higher interest rates, cashback etc.
QUIDCO
The biggest site I know with cash back. They have a variety of retailers, where you can obtain cash back through purchases. They include:
Amazon
Ebay
Expedia
Hotels.com
AO
and MANY MORE.
Sometimes they have bonuses. Cash can be redeemed for cash via bank transfer (no fee) or a gift card of their choice (Primark, Uber, Amazon). Please note this choice of gift card can only be redeemed once. So if you were to choose Amazon this time, you wouldn’t be able to choose it next time. They also add bonuses on top when you choose a gift card. So far I’ve been lucky enough to have the choice of uber eats.
Click the below pic to get £15 bonus (Tab will open in a new window). This will be received once you have £5 confirmed cashback.
TOP CASHBACK
After doing some research I have discovered this one, like Quidco the rates are pretty good. Top Cashback appear to be the ‘highest paid’ cashback site. They also provide discount codes you can use in checkout – which is pretty handy! Retailers include:
Boohoo
Whistles
AO
Rayban
SHEIN
and MANY MORE.
They also have offers with mobile phone contracts so you’d get cashback whilst signing up for a new phone contract – pretty handy! The link below, will allow you to receive £30 cashback upon sign up!
https://www.topcashback.co.uk/ref/jju1992
BARCLAYCARD CASHBACK REWARDS
Iff you have a barclaycard this is very useful – I am sure other credit card companies provide something similar. Retailers include:
WHSMITH
Toolstation
National Express
and MANY MORE.
POUCH (Google Chrome Extension Only)
Collect points on purchases made through purchases on websites, for example ticket master and many others.
Click the below image to receive 350 starter points!
HONEY (Google Chrome Extension Only)
Collect points through online purchases such as Treatwell, Bluehost, Currensea and many others. I revived the most points (2000) by purchasing my website and then 100 for booking a massage. Points can be redeemed for gift cards which include:
Spotify, Currys, Google Play, Eurostar, Boohoo, Ticketmaster, argos
Use my link for a £10 Gift card: joinhoney.com/ref/rvio2e9
REWARD CARDS / CLUBCARDS
SUPERDRUG HEALTH AND BEAUTY CARD—-
CO-OP MEMBERSHIP CARD
TESCO CLUBCARD
Benefits of these cards:
- Now you can get discounts on packs of items for instance – there is a difference in price. I think this came into fruition (2021)
- Use points to buy foods. During times when I was short on cash I’d use this as an alternaive.
BARCLAYS BLUE REWARDS + OTHER BANKS
Now being with Barclays you can open a blue rewards bank account if you are a blue rewards customer. As previously mentioned this will incur a fee (currently £5). This allows you to have access to higher interest rates.
For example if you have savings of £1,020 (providing this is in your account before month end and you have not deducted any money in the past month or so *there are rules about this) you will receive about 84p interest. For me this is something that I’ve never seen in a bank before other than 1p! Only except for using the Help To Buy ISA – the interest was crazy! Hence why they got rid of it…
With Barclays they allow you to open bank accounts under Blue Rewards, where customers are entitled to this level of interest. To me it is not fair that you have to do this in order to get something more than a penny, however such is life and in this country, in particular you do have to pay into something to get something out i.e. pension…. But that’s another story!
*UPDATE* As of October 2023, Barclays have reinstated the additional Cashback incentives. They are currently offering 5% extra if you use your debit card between Oct 4th up until the end of of Dec 2023.
Barclays blue reward members can signup in the app.
Please see if your bank allows you to sign up with a rewards scheme to enable benefits such as the ones mentioned and more. I know it’s generally something people don’t talk about but if you have any questions let me know!
*Rules – you cannot deduct with Blue Rewards otherwise your interest payments will decline – you will not get paid for that month and so on.
MARKET RESEARCH
Below I will post a list of Market Research companies I use.
What is Market Research?
Individuals apply to part take in a series of questions anging from sport, broadband, food and general day to day topics. Market Research companies work on behalf of the client to explore their customers’ needs. A fee for the applicants time is paid. This could be between £20 – £200, depending on the survey and length of time participated.
Don’t forget to mention my name if you apply 😉
- Bunnyfield (bunnyfoot)
- Saros
- People4U
- Vocal Views
- Trend Market Research
- Research Opinions
- HealthCare Opinions
- FTMR
- Many more…
SPENDING ABROAD
CURRENSEA
Currensea is a great form of “currency” whilst abroad. Sometimes spending abroad can be pricey but it will no longer be the case when you have this.
Currensea helps you to save on bank fees whilst abroad and also offered other incentives and discounts on other retailers.
I’ve been using Currensea and I’ve been really pleased with it, so I would like to recommend it to you.If you sign up with using the code or link below, Currensea will give you £10 💸 after you have spent your first £100 in foreign currency 💳:JJZ93A or https://www.secure.currensea.com/referral/JJZ93A
RAILCARDS
For those who like to travel across the UK and see their Uni friends, visit family if your have moved out or simply use it travel round London on your Oyster Card, a railcard is the best option.
We know train fares are soaring and can be unreasonable sometimes but I must admit this has helped me since I was 15 and could no longer pretend I was a “child” in terms of train tickets :’D
The 16-25 Railcard sorted me out through Sixth Form College, Uni and beyond. Was even surprised to hear this could be added to your Oyster Card whilst travelling around London. Attending UEL meant that hanging out in Stratford only cost me £1 (this was back in 2011 lol). Miss those days.
Luckily, the 26-30 Railcard is still available to me (just about). This has been super handy and I really recommend!
By Judith J
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