Double-Save for Christmas and earn 14%

MSE_Martin

This  relates to the following article

Double Save for Christmas

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blinko

you are one truly crazy dude martin how you managed to figure this out is a mystery but i trust you and it all seems legit so im willing to give it a go

thanks once again for a great article

dag_2

I'm very intrigued by this one. I have a cahoot flexible loan - and if Martin's article is correct, I figure it would pay me to sign up for a savings stamp scheme now, and then advance some money off the loan into the scheme in November.

What I'm wondering is - where are you finding out about these supermarket savings stamp schemes? I can't find anything about them on any of their web sites, and I've never seen any in-store promotions of them either. All I can find out about is loyalty cards - which I guess isn't the same thing.

MarkyMarkD

They are not meant for the financially astute, so they are not advertised online!

They are meant for people who can't cope with saving in a normal way, and like the idea of savings stamps. Urgh!

If you are going to spend a large amount in one of these shops, I suppose it's worth doing the deal. But I'm not that faithful to any one shop so I don't think it's ideal for me.

snaggle

Nice One MARTIN, You beat me to the punch with this one. I was going to mail in with the same info, (ie) to join the Xmas club at ASDA at the start of November by putting £144.00 on a card and getting the extra £6.00 for free, But your idea is even better as you dont fork out a lump sum in November but put it away over the year and earn interest from day one. That works out at around £3.00 a week into savings with a pay out in November.
I have only been getting your tips for about a month but I have started saving cash already, And enjoying doing it too, THANKS ::) Snaggle

Walletwatch

Christmas shopping is one area where I prefer keeping my options open till the very end and doing my shopping where the best deals are on offer. This makes it literally impossible to decide upfront which supermarket I am going to patronise next Christmas... in any case, I spread my shopping across a number of shops, as true Christmas shopping satisfaction for the missus at least, is when she's visited a whole lot of shops and done some piecemeal shopping every where.

Another point is that, IMO, this is a good tip to make a non-saver conscious of the possible benefits of savings, but not for someone who already has his antennae tuned to savings opportunities (in my modest opinion, I fall under this category)

Will look forward to your analysis of supermarkets offering this scheme as we approach next Christmas though, Martin...

Sofa_Sogood

This would probably benefit someone like me. (I think)

Like some of the others have mentioned, I like to spend money as, where and when etc, BUT, each Christmas I (or should i say 'we' because I'm speaking on behalf of a small company run by my husband and myself) spend at least £600 to £800 on Christmas gifts for customers.

I loathe this practice, but it's an annual thing, and it's always spent on wines and spirits. So, looks good already, plus it will get one, or both of us, a bit more disciplined and organised moneywise. Won't it?

I'm not sure I've got my thinking hat on straight , but it looks good to me.

dag_2

They are not meant for the financially astute, so they are not advertised online!

Heh - that figures.

So - if they don't advertise them online - then how do we know that the scheme is offered at all the branches of any one retailer? And how do we know that the terms and conditions of the scheme are the same at all the branches?

I guess we don't know.

More to the point ... do the savings stamps lock you in to one particular branch of a retailer - or can you use them at any branch? For example, if you were to buy Christmas savings stamps at Asda Clapham Junction, would you be able to redeem them at Asda Park Royal, or Asda Roehampton - or can you only redeem them at Asda Clapham Junction?

Christmas shopping is one area where I prefer keeping my options open till the very end and doing my shopping where the best deals are on offer. This makes it literally impossible to decide upfront which supermarket I am going to patronise next Christmas

True - but in my opinion, you can't really go wrong with food. How much do people really shop around for groceries? Do people honestly believe that Tesco Pricewatch gives the true prices of groceries? And don't people suspect that prices vary from one branch to another anyway?

The main thing I'd worry about is the expiry date. Do you have to redeem your savings stamps before Christmas? Or can you hang on to them until January or February, just in case you don't see any bargains soon enough?

Thanks.

Walletwatch

True - but in my opinion, you can't really go wrong with food. How much do people really shop around for groceries? Do people honestly believe that Tesco Pricewatch gives the true prices of groceries? And don't people suspect that prices vary from one branch to another anyway?

The main thing I'd worry about is the expiry date. Do you have to redeem your savings stamps before Christmas? Or can you hang on to them until January or February, just in case you don't see any bargains soon enough?

Thanks.

Agreed, but then, that is where my second point comes in - if someone is already savings-conscious, all he needs to ensure is that he has liquid cash to buy these stamps to the extent he projects he'll need for his grocery shopping for the duration when he can redeem the stamps for extra cash.

Which is where I say, I'll keep an eye open for Martin's analysis at that stage, and pounce upon the best deal going at that point in time - pretty much as we do while selecting a savings account with the best rate to put money into ;-)

ohit

Apart from Christmas, I assume this can apply to any type of super market shopping? Do the saving stamps things have expiry dates etc.?

juno

Heh - that figures.
More to the point ... do the savings stamps lock you in to one particular branch of a retailer - or can you use them at any branch? For example, if you were to buy Christmas savings stamps at Asda Clapham Junction, would you be able to redeem them at Asda Park Royal, or Asda Roehampton - or can you only redeem them at Asda Clapham Junction?

The main thing I'd worry about is the expiry date. Do you have to redeem your savings stamps before Christmas? Or can you hang on to them until January or February, just in case you don't see any bargains soon enough?

You can use it at any Asda in the UK. The T&C's on the back of my card say that you only get the bonus if you redeem the whole amount between 22nd Nov and 31st Dec, but you can spend the money you've put on the card at any time.