Seven ways to save money on your shopping from loyalty cards to recycling

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GROCERY bills are rising and inflation could top seven per cent this year, says the Bank of England.

That means an extra £7 on a £100 weekly shop — £364 a year. But you can cash in and save yourself hundreds of pounds with these simple steps . . . 

There are several steps you can take to save cash while you shop

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There are several steps you can take to save cash while you shopCredit: David Dyson – The Sun

Get paid for your view

MYSTERY shoppers are employed by agencies working for high street retailers and other businesses who want to make sure that their goods and services are up to scratch.

They pay people to visit a specific shop or restaurant or try out a service and provide feedback.

Experienced mystery shoppers can get paid hundreds of pounds. Some pay in gift vouchers, others will give cash.

Stay loyal

ALWAYS scan your loyalty card when you get to the checkout.

You can add cards to a virtual wallet on your smartphone or use free app Stocard.

Even if you only plan to buy from a shop once, signing up could save you cash.

If you use smaller shops such as Nisa, loyalty app JISP notifies you of offers at your local store.

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Maximise points

TESCO: At Tesco you get 1 point, worth 1p, for every £1 spent. You can spend these in-store or swap them for up to three times their value on the Clubcard site.

NECTAR: Use at both Sainsbury’s and Argos to get 1 point, worth 0.5p for every £1 spent. Look out for personalised offers.

BOOTS: At Boots you get 4 points, worth 4p, for every £1 spent. You can only spend them once you’ve got enough to cover the cost of your purchase.

M&S: Its Reward card gives users two M&S points for every £1 spent.

Each point is worth 1p, so spend £500 at M&S and you’ll get £10 worth of points, which will be converted into vouchers and sent to you.

Get paid to shop

YOU can use cashback websites and apps to get paid to shop.

It works on everything from electronics to fashion and even new mobile or insurance deals.

The two biggest sites are Topcashback and Quidco. Both are free to join — or you can pay premium membership for exclusive deals.

Find the best price for the item you want and then check if cashback is available.

Once you find an offer, click on the website to buy. It normally takes 30 days for cashback to be added to your account. You can register your debit card with Topcashback to earn in stores.

Some of the best offers at the moment are 15 per cent off at M&S and Iceland for new customers or £5 cashback on JustEat when you spend £10.

Keep your receipts

APPS such as CheckoutSmart, Shopmium and GreenJinn will give you cashback if you buy featured items. Meanwhile, Shoppix and HuYu pay you when you upload pics of receipts — as they can harvest the information to sell back to shops.

Ricky Willis, of money-saving website Skint Dad, says: “If you use all the apps weekly, I don’t think it’s unrealistic for people to make £200 a year.”

Get paid for recycling

HIGH street shops will give you vouchers or discounts for recycling clothes and beauty products. Boots gives shoppers 250 Advantage Card points worth £2.50 for bringing in five old beauty and health packages.

John Lewis gives £5 off beauty purchases by taking in five or more empties. You can get £5 off a £35 spend at Marks and Spencer for taking clothes to Oxfam and swapping them for a voucher.

H&M gives shoppers a 15 per cent discount voucher for every full shopping bag of clothes you donate in stores.

Credit card cashback

CASHBACK credit cards reward you for spending. The AmEx Platinum Cashback Everyday card, for example, pays out 0.5 per cent, which means you’ll earn £5 when you spend £1,000.

“I always wait until retailers do deals on products I want”

POLLY Arrowsmith, 54, a business adviser from Islington, North London, always looks to earn rewards on spending.

She said: “I love using cashback and earning loyalty points. It’s changed my buying habits to a degree.”

Polly, who is single, always goes the extra distance to get the right deal.

She adds: “I have Sainsbury’s, Waitrose and M&S near each other where I live so I go in all three to get the offer on the item I want.”

Last year, she saved up £150 worth of Nectar points and also earned £225 in cashback and £92 in Boots points. But she is careful to only buy what she was going to buy anyway.

She explained: “I always wait until Boots does a deal, for example, and have a list of stuff I want ready to go as soon as the deal drops.”

Polly then builds up the points she earns to buy bigger items she wants
“At Boots I will wait until Oral-B is on offer and I can buy a top-of-the-range toothbrush,” she says.

“At Sainsbury’s I will build a bit more and wait for Argos to drop their price on things like Sony headphones.”

Tracy McLaughlin has earned good money as a mystery shopper

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Tracy McLaughlin has earned good money as a mystery shopperCredit: Oliver Dixon

BEING a mystery shopper has paid dividends for Tracy McLaughlin.

The 52-year-old finance manager from Enfield, North London has been paid for sharing her experience of shops, banks and even car dealers.

Tracy who also runs blog MindOverMoneyMatters.co.uk, earned £200 to take her car to a dealer and discuss finance options.

She was also paid £150 for having a mortgage consultation with her bank.

Mystery shoppers put shops and organisations to the test then fill in questionnaires about the experience or record phone chats with staff.

Tracy, who lives with husband Taz, 61,a training manager and her sons Jamie, 26 and Robbie, 22, said: “It’s a great way to learn new skills – and I’ve earned a decent amount of money.”

But not all tasks earn big money. A coffee shop visit only paid Tracy £10.

More in-depth shop visits with specific instructions are worth around £30.

“Cashback sites help us buy our family treats”

Kate Tynan says she turns to cashback sites first when shopping online

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Kate Tynan says she turns to cashback sites first when shopping onlineCredit: Jenny Appleton Photography

CASHBACK queen Kate Tynan, 43, and husband Ben, 44, from Marple, Gtr Manchester, made more than £4,000 using sites like Topcashback and Quidco.

Kate, who runs wedding cake business Little Button Bakery, and Ben use the cash to buy treats for themselves and kids Noah, ten, and Martha, eight.

Kate, right, said: “I always make cashback sites my first port of call whenever I’m shopping online – whether it’s switching my insurance, or buying clothes for the children. I’ll check which site is offering the best rate.

“I recently bought myself Apple AirPod Pros for £199 and some new Converse boots for £60 with some of my earnings, as well as a lava lamp for my son.”



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