Archive: MoneySavingExpert's Money Tips Email

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas (eek!)
Take the pressure off with 20 tips, tricks and savvy strategies for last-minute Christmas shopping

While some started their Christmas shopping in January and had most of it (literally) wrapped up by July, many still have done little, and are starting to feel the panic. This can result in buying out of desperation, and spending money on things neither wanted nor needed. So our aim is to prick that bauble to reduce the pressure.

Below we've a host of tips and tricks to make online shopping at this (or any) time of year easier, quicker and cheaper. Before we start though, some key rules whether you're buying for you or others...

- Make a list. Don't buy on impulse, know what you want first.
- Christmas is just one day, don't ruin your new year for it. Work out what you have to spend & stick to it. Don't borrow, it's not worth it.
- Cut out unnecessary presents. See Martin's No unnecessary presents pact info and help.

1. Abandon ye shopping basket all those who enter... Log in to your online shopping account, add what you want in the basket, then fail to finish, and companies often send you codes to tempt you back.

As CS Chamberlain tweeted: "@MartinSLewis This is my favourite game to play with Boden... leave a full basket a few days and a £10 voucher turns up in the post every time."

Martin recently asked for your experiences on Twitter, and the firms most commonly said to do this were Argos, Currys and Morrisons. Off the back of those experiences, we've updated our list of retailers which offer abandoned basket discounts including the type of discounts each offer.

2. Last ORDEEERRRSSS. The big day may still be a fortnight away, but very soon the last free or cheapest delivery dates for major firms start - indeed M&S is as early as Sunday (17 December). After that, if you want things delivered in time, expect to pay more. See last dates for...

Adidas | Amazon | Argos | Asos | Boots | Currys | John Lewis | M&S | Nike | Selfridges

3. Predictions of deals yet to come. Scrooge may've needed ghosts to see into the future, we just track the marketing patterns of major firms over the last decade to do the same. We're quite a way through now, but the Christmas Deals Predictor still has a decent number of highlights left (bah humbug).

4. FREE Christmas gifts
Forget giving things, they're often transitory. Give a pledge to do something nice for someone, eg, babysitting, breakfast in bed, cook them a feast, massages. Whatever you want. Our printable Christmas gift cheques are a nice way to 'give something' and work well in a card.

5. Know your Christmas & sales shopping rights... they're different in store and online. Many assume shops have to refund items that are the wrong size or colour - this isn't the case. Our Consumer rights guide has full info, but it's worth knowing...

- In-store purchases: You've NO RIGHT to change your mind, by statute you can only return faulty goods (see Martin's SAD FART definition of fault). Some stores do allow no-fault returns, but this is a contractual policy, not statute law, and it's up to the store to decide what it wants to offer. It's especially important to check this time of year as some suspend their usual rights for sales.

- Online purchases: Here you do have a statutory right to change your mind - you've legally got 14 days to tell 'em and 14 days after that to send it back (there are exclusions, the main ones being personalised or perishable items).

6. Get cashback four times when you pay. Just a reminder that in last week's email you can read how to become a CASHBACK COMBINER and earn £100s or £1,000s a year with cashback when you spend on cards. Sometimes you can even stack cashback using the cards through specialist websites or apps.

7. Hunt big discounts at Amazon's lesser-known discount outlet. Amazon Warehouse is a section of the giant e-tailer's site that resells returned or slightly-damaged items, such as laptops, kitchen appliances and tablets, at knockdown prices. Yet it can prove tricky to spot the best bargains in this treasure trove of deals - so we've built the Amazon Warehouse Discount Finder tool to make it less taxing (like Amazon).

Tell it what you're looking for - either a specific brand item or a broad search like 'toaster' - and it'll display:

- The percentage saving compared to buying new at Amazon.
- You can then filter items by brand or condition.
- You can order results by the biggest discount.

We've heard from many who have saved big using the Warehouse, including Phil who emailed: "I was reminded about Amazon Warehouse in your Weekly Tips. I had a look and found a pair of Samsung Galaxy Buds2 for just over £65. I had them in my wish list for £129, so they were effectively half-price. Bargain! Many thanks."

Of course, always compare prices elsewhere before buying. Our Amazon Warehouse guide has full info and help.

8. How to get free delivery when it's not offered. It's worth checking what you need to spend to get free delivery (for example, £50 at John Lewis or Matalan, £40 at Asos). If you're just below it, it can be cheaper to add a low-cost extra item that's less than the delivery charge to get you over threshold - bizarrely, buying more to pay less.

Amazon user not on Prime? For Amazon, there's even a nifty free delivery tool which helps you find cheap items to hit its £25 threshold.

9. Can't find a discount code? Try department store codes. Don't just check the site you want to buy from for a discount code - online stores that sell a range of brands often have a workaround. For example, La Redoute stocks Adidas, Converse, Levi's and more, and has up to 40% off selected items using the code 'WINTER' until 11.59pm tonight (Tue). See our list of 10 multi-brand online stores this works with.

11. Check past Amazon prices to ensure you're getting a good deal. Finding discounts on Amazon is tricky as the prices are always moving. 20% off sounds good, but what's it compared with? CamelCamelCamel's Amazon price history tracking lets you see if a deal really is a deal, or if it's been cheaper before. For example, we found Remington hair straighteners "69% off" at £40 - but they were £35 in Oct this year. See all our 30+ Amazon buying tricks for lots more.

12. Buying a mobile handset? Our Cheap Mobile Finder tool allows you to find the cheapest standalone handset, or with a contract (often cheaper than buying outright, plus you can usually get 100+GB/mth data too), as well as refurbs.

13. For bigger items especially, use a shopping comparison site. We like PriceSpy and PriceRunner, though there's also the ubiquitous Google Shopping.

14. Haggle big discounts online. While buying online is usually cheaper, the one advantage of buying in store is you can usually haggle. Yet even here, the web's catching up. If you get a window offering a live chat, don't dismiss it. See how to haggle with online chats.

15. A word about 'up to' sales. Over to Martin: "This felt an apt space to tell you an improvement we're planning for MSE. During Black Friday, a few people told me of their frustration with sales that said, eg, 'up to 80% off', which allow firms too much wriggle room.

"So going forward, for these sales I've asked the team to i) explain that only 10% of sales items need to be at the top discount, ii) list the min and max discount, and iii) pick a random selection of 10 items and calculate the average discount from those 10. So you can hopefully get a better idea of how good a sale it is. We'll be gradually introducing this over the next months."

16. Hunt out online outlet stores. Don't drive miles to outlet villages to snap up end-of-line bargains, just go online. Lots of big names, such as Dyson, Office and even Tesco, offer substantial discounts off unsold lines through online outlets. Our Outlets deals page lists over 20, for huge clothing, homeware and other discounts.

17. Pay just 1p on a credit card to protect £100s. Buy goods costing over £100 (and under £30,000), and even if you pay just 1p on a credit card - the rest any other way - the card company's jointly liable with the retailer for the WHOLE amount. It's the veritable financial superhero, especially if a firm then goes bust. See full info in Section 75 protection.

- Spending £100 or less, or on a debit card? You can still claim for faulty or undelivered goods under the less well-known chargeback scheme.

18. Last post dates. There's still time (just) to cut the cost of sending parcels for Christmas. Use discount courier websites to get the big firms to deliver, but for less than they'd charge you. And until 1 Jan you can get a further 15% off discount courier website Parcel2Go. Full info in Cheap parcel delivery. Worth noting too, Royal Mail's got free from-home pick-up.

19. How to buy 2nd hand in a first-class way. Grab goods for a fraction of the original recommended retail price. It's planet-friendly too. We've tips to track down uber-bargains in 29 Vinted tips, eBay buying and Facebook Marketplace. Clare told us on Facebook: "I'm addicted to Vinted. I'd say 90% of my clothes come from there. Even got a brand-new wedding dress with tags still on for £23. Have sold a few things too."

20. Don't pay full price for wine. If you're stocking up for the festive period, head to Tesco or Asda where you can get 25% off when you buy six or more bottles of wine (including prosecco). Cheers to that - though please be Drinkaware!

For lots more... our Cheap online shopping tips can help slash the cost.

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PS: It's a Merry Christmas & goodbye (for now) from Martin. A quick note from the boss: "This is my last email of 2023. My show ends this week, so from next week I'm gradually taking a back seat until the new year, leaving the site in the overly-capable hands of the MSE team.

"I'd like to wish all who celebrate a joyous, peaceful and warm-hearted Christmas and happy New Year. Thank you for your continued support. For those who find this time of year difficult, grief-filled, or lonely, may your passage through it be easy, with more smiles than you expect."