I LOVE saving a few quid – and there are loads of online hacks to keep your bank account feeling flush.
Everything feels like it’s getting more expensive, but savvy shoppers can bag freebies and discounts worth hundreds of pounds.
The Sun’s tech editor Sean Keach has some handy tips to save big online[/caption]
I’m The Sun’s resident tech expert, and I’ve picked out some of the best.
Cheap Prime
Millions of Brits can massively cut the cost of Amazon Prime.
Normally you’d pay £95 annually – or £8.99 a month, which is about £108 over a year.
But there’s a cheaper membership very helpfully named: Prime for Students and 18-22 Year-Olds.
It started out as just for students, but now covers all 18 to 22-year-olds, as of last summer.
This cuts the cost to £4.49 a month or £53.88 over a year – or £47.49 if you pay in one go.
Students will need to be enrolled in a higher education institution, while you’ll just need ID proof for the age discount.
The added bonus is that you also get a bigger trial period.
This membership comes with a six-month trial instead of the usual 30 days.
So that’s saving you £53.94 compared to the regular full Amazon Prime pricing.
Prime isn’t the only tech saving that students can bag either.
Apple has a special education store on its website where gadgets – like iPads and MacBooks – are cheaper for students and you could save hundreds.
Amazon Prime costs loads of Brits £108 a year – but millions of us are eligible for a much cheaper plan[/caption]
Free Netflix and more
If you’re a Sky subscriber, check your account right now – you might have free Netflix waiting for you.
It’s a no-cost benefit if you have Sky Essential TV (£15 a month) or the Sky Ultimate TV plan (£22 a month).
And it’s also thrown in with Sky Glass or Sky Stream packages.
You’d usually pay £4.99 a month for the Netflix Standard with Ads subscription, so this will save you £59.88 over a year.
Sadly you will have to sit through ads on this plan, but you can upgrade to an ads-free membership and pay the difference if you prefer. It’s still a cheaper option.
Netflix is included as a freebie in common Sky TV packages[/caption]
Free video games
One for the gamers: you can bag loads of titles without paying a penny.
First, there’s a sort of half-free option with Netflix.
If you’re already paying for Netflix (or getting it free via Sky), you’ll also get access to a large library of video games that you can play on your phone or even on the telly.
A second similar perk comes via Amazon Prime.
Your membership includes Prime Gaming, which gives you loads of free games to claim each month.
Just go to the Prime Gaming website to bag them.
And you get to keep them forever, as long as you claim them before they expire and are replaced.
It’s a decent selection as well – the March lot was worth about £400.
Prime Gaming also gets you a free monthly Twitch subscription (normally £4.99), so it’s worth using that too. Just link your Amazon account to Twitch and save yourself some cash.
For a fully free option, the Epic Games Store gives away free games every month. Just make sure to claim them before they’re gone.
Cheap movie tickets
Have Amazon Prime? Stop paying full price for cinema tickets right now.
If you’re a Prime member, you can get a pair of Odeon tickets each month for £10.
And you can even get two posh Odeon Luxe recliner seats for £15 total, if you’d rather.
You can do this monthly (so 12 times a year) at any time from Monday to Friday.
Just get your monthly code here and then stick it in at the Odeon online checkout.
You can get discounted movie tickets for you and a friend every month[/caption]
Subscription savings
There are three key subscription tricks you’ll want to look out for.
The first is family pricing, and it’s a must-do.
Loads of services offer family bundles that save everyone at home paying for their own subscriptions.
But you’ll still get your own account, so don’t worry about your teen ruining your Spotify – or vice versa.
You can set up family sharing for things like:
- Apple services (including Music)
- Spotify
- Microsoft 365
- Amazon Prime
- Netflix
It’s a common feature for online subscriptions, so look out for it.
Secondly, make sure you see if bundling a subscription could save you money.
For instance, iPhone owners can often be better off paying for Apple One than subscribing to services individually.
You can get Individual Apple One for £18.95 a month, which gets you 50GB of iCloud+ storage, Apple TV+, Apple Music, and Apple Arcade.
That’s £9 cheaper than paying for them all individually.
And Apple One Premier (which costs £36.95) gets you 2TB of iCloud+ storage, as well as Fitness+ and News+, as well as TV+, Music, and Arcade.
That’s a saving of £27.99 a month versus paying for them all individually.
And if you share it with up to five people, the savings can be even bigger.
Thirdly (and another for Apple fans), make sure you claim your free trials.
Normally when you buy a new Apple gadget (like an iPhone or iPad), you’ll be able to access longer free trials if you claim them within the first three months of activating your device.
So head into Apple’s official apps to see if any longer free trials are waiting for you.
For instance, you can get three months of Apple Music for free with a new iPhone, iPad, Mac, or pair of AirPods.
Refurbished tech
Refurbished tech is one of the easiest ways to trim gadget costs.
And it’s a common offering too: Amazon, eBay, Apple and more all have dedicated refurbished stores.
Usually, these companies have their own official refurbishment schemes where they’ll restore gadgets to a like-new condition.
In many cases, you’ll hardly tell the difference between a brand-new gadget.
So it’s an easy way to slash hundreds off the price of a new device.
Always check refurbished options before buying any new gadget.
If you’re not happy with the condition, you’ll be able to return it anyway.
Discounted food deliveries
Another easy-to-overlook Amazon Prime perk is a big discount on your takeaways.
Amazon has a Deliveroo partnership that gets you access to a Silver Plus membership for free.
Normally Deliveroo Silver Plus costs £3.49 a month (just shy of £42 a year), but Amazon will give you 12 months for nothing.
That will get you free delivery on Deliveroo orders over £15 at select restaurants.
It also works on orders from shops, but you’ll need to hit £25 to claim the savings.
Just link your Amazon Prime account to Deliveroo and the membership will activate automatically.
Better yet, you can claim the offer even if you’re already a paying Deliveroo Silver Plus member.
You’ll get free Deliveroo Plus Silver with your Amazon Prime subscription[/caption]
