I'm Britain's Coupon Kid, and I'm here with my first money saving column for Netmums. A regular face on This Morning and Steph's Packed Lunch, I've got one aim: to save YOUR FAMILY money...
I'll be sharing my money saving tips every Thursday on Netmums and on Instagram and TikTok. You're going to love today's top tips... get ready to save!
I get it – raising a family can be hard on the ol’ pursestrings. It’s been tough on my partner and I with prices rising, and that’s without having any kids in the mix!
It’s a hard line to tow, as you want what’s best for your little ones, but sometimes the budget just doesn’t stretch far enough.
That’s why I think it’s so important to save money wherever you can. Offers, deals and discounts are in abundance, and could really make the difference between being able to afford something or not.
And on top of that, there are also a lot of ways to save money as a parent, that you may not even know existed.
Some require a bit of work, and others are a piece of cake, but these resources can save you £100s or even £1,000s a year combined.
That could pay off some bills, or be put towards a nice family holiday. Either way – it’s better in your pocket than anywhere else!
Here are the five apps every parent should download...
1. Airtime Rewards – Average Yearly Saving: £120*
Airtime Rewards
This is perhaps one of the simplest ways to save money. It’s an app that gives you cashback automatically – so once it’s set up, you can just watch the money come in.
Once downloaded (on iOS or Android), link your credit and debit cards to the app. From then, if you shop at any of its retailers, and pay with one of the linked cards, you’ll earn cashback.
It does it all for you, and you can look to get around 1-5% cashback for each retailer, which includes 100+ in total such as Boots, Argos, Halfords & John Lewis.
The money earned will accumulate in your account and once you’ve reached enough, you’re able to pay off your mobile phone bill with the money earned.
2. Jam Doughnut – Average Yearly Saving: £500*
Jam Doughnut app
Another app where small savings can add up! This one allows you to buy gift cards for one of hundreds of brands.
These gift card purchases give you an amount of cashback instantly when purchased. For example Starbucks gives you 9% back, so purchasing a £100 gift card would get you £9.
The range of retailers here is huge, too. Lots of supermarkets including Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Aldi; restaurants including Nando’s, Toby Carvery and Pizza Express, and holidays including Airbnb, LastMinute and hotel bookings.
Before you’re about to pay for something, quickly head onto the app and buy a gift card for the amount you need. The cashback is available straight away to withdraw to your bank (once you’ve reached £10).
3. Shopmium – Average Yearly Saving: £200**
Related articles
- The 28 best meal deals for February half term 2024: From Asda cafe to Angus Steakhouse, Bella Italia and more
- Martin Lewis shares tip that could bag you £200 free cash – deals are back!
- Calls for maternity pay to be doubled as mums are skipping meals and taking drastic measures to get by
Shopmium app
Gone are the days of physical coupons – they’re now all in the palm of your hand.
Shopmium offers cashback on supermarket items, if you buy them then take a picture of the receipt. It can be 50p back, £2 back, or all of your money back – depending on the offer.
You can get cashback on things like bread, cereal and yoghurt, and money will be in your PayPal account within two business days.
Offers rotate quite often, so each time you go shopping there’ll be a new cashback deal to pick up!
4. Too Good To Go – Average Yearly Saving: £150**
Too Good To Go app
This app helps everyone cut down on food waste, and also gets you a bargain!
At the end of the day, instead of throwing away excess stock, supermarkets and restaurants offer ‘surprise bags’ of food for a fraction of the price.
You can go and pick up a bag of expiring fruits, vegetables and ready meals from an M&S Food for £4, or get some leftover toasties and cakes from Costa for £3.
There are thousands of places nationwide, you just need to be able to turn up with an empty stomach (or a large freezer!)
5. Honey – Average Yearly Saving: £100
Honey app
How often do you see the ‘have you got a discount code?’ box on a website? If it exists, then there’s a voucher out there somewhere.
But instead of searching the whole web for one that works, Honey tries all the codes it knows about at the click of a button, and applies the best one.
You can install it on your Safari web browser, so whenever you’re shopping on your phone, iPad or laptop, you’ll be able to have codes entered automatically.
It saves all the faff of searching for codes yourself, and could save you quite a bit, even if it works just once.
*According to their website data
**According to my best estimate
Which money saving apps are your favourite? I’d love to know what you think! If you need a deal on something specific, email me on couponkid@netmums.com. Or you can message Netmums on Instagram or TikTok and we may feature it in one of my columns.
See you next week!
Deal of the Week!
Get half price bowling at Hollywood Bowl this half term.
Use the codeFEBFUN50 atcheckout and you'll get 50% off, dropping the price from £5.70 down to £2.85.
Here's what you need to know:
- On games before 11am only
- Works on both adult and child’s tickets
- Some locations are excluded from the deal
- Prices vary per bowling alley, with the cheapest up north
- Offer runs until Sunday 18 February 2024
Related stories
Meet Britain's Coupon Kid
CHAT: Money saving tips
More money hacks in our Cost of Living hub
