The best freebies in January from food to cash worth hundreds of pounds including Greggs, Morrisons and £175 cash
THE best things in life are free, most especially in January when many of us will be feeling the financial pinch after the festive season.
From food and drinks to hard cash, there are plenty of ways to bag freebies this month that will help get you through to payday.
Most brands offering freebies do so in return for you signing up to loyalty programmes or mailing lists.
To avoid being inundated with marketing emails it can be worth setting up a mailbox specifically for these kinds of lists.
You should always check terms and conditions on any freebies offered, as there could be some strings attached that you may not want to agree to.
However, with a little savvy know-how, you can definitely bag freebies worth hundreds with very little effort.
Here’s how…
FREE DRINKS
A hot drink in your day can perk us up and provide a little glimmer in our everyday lives.
The cost of a daily takeaway tea or coffee can soon add up, but there are a few ways to grab one on the house.
- Greggs
Get a free regular-sized hot drink, worth around £2, when you download the Greggs loyalty app.
- Ikea
If you join the Ikea loyalty programme, you can get a free cup of tea or filter coffee, usually £1, at the in-store restaurant.
- Waitrose
Sign up for a myWaitrose loyalty card and you can get a free regular-sized tea or coffee in-store from the self-serve machine each day. However, you will you need to make a purchase at the same time- though this can be as small as a 20p banana.
- Morrisons
You can get unlimited free refills at Morrisons in-store cafes. You’ll need to buy a hot drink in the first instance with prices starting from £1.85.
FREE FOOD
- Krispy Kreme
You’ll get a free doughnut just for downloading and signing up to Krispy Kreme‘s loyalty Rewards app. You’ll also get a treat on your birthday, plus earn points on spending that adds up to freebies.
- Birthday freebies
Krispy Kreme isn’t the only brand to offer free food on your birthday. Many brands offer you little treats of free food when you sign up to their loyalty schemes and tell them your birthday.
This includes Greggs, Subway, Gails, Burger King, Costa and Lidl.
- Mystery dining
You can get a free meal in exchange for simply giving feedback on your experience .
There are a number of firms that recruit people to dine and review.
For example, Service Scan works with fast food outlets as well as top-end gourmet establishments. See service-scan.com.
- Food waste apps
You can pick up free food that is about to expire from local shops and restaurants through food waste app Olio or Too Good To Go.
Tesco is among the firms partnered with Olio. You simply sign up and look for postings in your local area and arrange a time to collect.
Or Too Good to Go users can order free ‘surprise’ packages to be collected or delivered to their home.
FREE CASH
You can get ‘free’ money in January which can certainly help ease the pain of a financial hangover from Christmas, and help keep you going until payday.
- Switch banks
You can get a cash bonus when you switch to a new bank account provider. For example, Nationwide Building Society is offering £175 to switch to its FlexDirect, FlexPlus or FlexAccount current accounts.
And First Direct is currently giving £175 as an incentive for anyone who opens a 1st Account.
Santander is offering a £150 switching incentive to new and existing customers.
To get the money when changing bank, you will also usually need to switch through the Current Account Switch Service (CASS).
There are certain terns and conditions that need to be met in order to qualify for free cash.
For example, customers switching to NatWest must pay £1,250 into their new Reward Account – through either single or multiple payments.
You should also check the bank account suits your needs before making a move.
Some current accounts charge fees that may cost you more over the longer term if associated perks are not of any use to you.
- Cashback sites
When you are buying goods or services, you should always check if you can get cashback.
This is in effect free money for spending that you are already planning to do.
Join Cashback.co.uk and you’ll get a free £10 welcome bonus without buying anything at all.
Other sites include Topcashback or Quidco and they work by rewarding you if you click through to selected retailers to shop.
You can also get money back when buying insurance or signing up for other household bills.
- Cashback cards
You may also be able to earn cashback through your debit or credit card.
For example, the Halifax reward account gives cashback when you shop with selected retailers.
You can also try the Chase debit card, which you can get through the Chase app. You load it up with money and get one per cent cashback up to £180 a year.
FREE FURNITURE
Buying brand new furniture is usually a big investment. But if you need a new sofa, table or other household items, and don’t mind second-hand you may be able to get them without paying any money at all.
- Gumtree
This site features classified local ads as people try to flog their services and goods. But you can also search for freebies. A quick search in my local area, shows free mirrors, drawers, stationary, carpet, hamster cages – and much more.
- Freecycle
As with Gumtree this site is aimed at matching people with items they are looking for with people who are trying to clear out. You can search by filters such as furniture but also sports goods, clothes and other items.
Through the marketplace section of Facebook, you’ll find people trying to get rid of items for free or very cheap – though you will need to search through people selling items.
There are also dedicated groups where people can list freebies which can help you to find local freebies. Most local areas have a group of this kind, join one for where you live and you can search through postings.
How to save money on your food shop
Consumer reporter Sam Walker reveals how you can save hundreds of pounds a year:
Odd boxes – plenty of retailers offer slightly misshapen fruit and veg or surplus food at a discounted price.
Lidl sells five kilos of fruit and veg for just £1.50 through its Waste Not scheme while Aldi shoppers can get Too Good to Go bags which contain £10 worth of all kinds of products for £3.30.
Sainsbury’s also sells £2 “Taste Me, Don’t Waste Me” fruit and veg boxes to help shoppers reduced food waste and save cash.
Food waste apps – food waste apps work by helping shops, cafes, restaurants and other businesses shift stock that is due to go out of date and passing it on to members of the public.
Some of the most notable ones include Too Good to Go and Olio.
Too Good to Go’s app is free to sign up to and is used by millions of people across the UK, letting users buy food at a discount.
Olio works similarly, except users can collect both food and other household items for free from neighbours and businesses.
Yellow sticker bargains – yellow sticker bargains, sometimes orange and red in certain supermarkets, are a great way of getting food on the cheap.
But what time to head out to get the best deals varies depending on the retailer. You can see the best times for each supermarket here.
Super cheap bargains – sign up to bargain hunter Facebook groups like Extreme Couponing and Bargains UK where shoppers regularly post hauls they’ve found on the cheap, including food finds.
“Downshift” – you will almost always save money going for a supermarket’s own-brand economy lines rather than premium brands.
The move to lower-tier ranges, also known as “downshifting” and hailed by consumer expert Martin Lewis, could save you hundreds of pounds a year on your food shop.