Free Laptop Plus Cash-back Mobile Phone Deal

In an attempt to gain your custom in the lucrative but crowded mobile phone market, third party retailers are throwing in as many goodies as they can into their pay monthly deals.

The top deal I have found is at Dial a Phone. Reason being because you can get a decent little phone, a lovely laptop AND staggered cash-back. Opt for Orange's Dolphin 26 over 24 months and you'll get 400 minutes, unlimited texts, a free HP laptop, an LG GM360 and £70 cash-back - all for £26 a month. That's hard to beat.

The LG GM360 is a solid little handset. Its no iPhone, but it does offer a 5 Mega-pixel Schneider lens equipped camera and some nice quirky features (favourite contacts appear on the home screen as little characters - touch them to call, send a text, edit their profile etc). The real star of this deal however, is the HP DM1-4027SA. Any pay monthly mobile phone deal offering a free laptop is not going to give you a top of the range machine, but passing over useless netbooks and breeze block size low-enders finds you the delightful little HP. With an 11.6" screen it is in the ranges of larger netbooks, but is marketed as a portable laptop. With 4GB of RAM and a 320 GB hard drive it is fairly fast with a decent amount of storage for a machine of its size, but the real treat is the Beats audio technology speakers. They are simply superb and the best you will find on any laptop.

If you are in the market for a new contract, don't mind not having a top-end phone and wouldn't mind a free laptop then this may be the deal for you. Or if you are looking for a new laptop and find yourself near the end of your mobile contract at the same time then this also could be just what you're looking for. For those who want a better phone you can get a similar deal with the competent Samsung Ace for £31 a month at the same site.

The link for the LG/HP/Cash-back deal is on the Mobiles link page.

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Rewarding Surveys

A great way to save money on shopping or even earn some extra cash in your spare time is to take paid surveys.

The very nature of surveys necessitates that real people take them rather than relying on the statistical forecasts of a computer or other mechanical processes. There are several websites out there offering to reward you for taking part in surveys on behalf of their clients, but the best ones are listed below:

Valued Opinions - Offers Tesco, Amazon, Boots and Marks & Spencer vouchers, amongst others. Take surveys to build up cash equivalent and then redeem as vouchers to save on your shopping, gifts, hotels stays or cosmetics. Individual survey opportunities sent by email.

Toluna - Offers Debenhams, Amazon, HMV and Halfords vouchers, amongst others. Take surveys to build up points and redeem for vouchers to save on shopping, gifts, music or automotive items. Individual survey opportunities sent by email.

Survey Network - Get  rewarded with cash for taking surveys. Normal rewards between 0.50 and 1.50 GBP per individual survey. Payment will be made by PayPal. Multiple survey opportunities sent by email.

Check the Surveys page for the links.

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Switch Your Current Account and Receive Cash

There has never been a better time to switch your current account as banks continue to clamber for business.

My recommended deal out there would be the Reward current account from Halifax. You are paid £100 for switching, which is credited as soon as your new account opens and then £5 a month every time you pay in over £1000, which for those working shouldn't be a problem.

There is an overdraft facility, but if you are one liable to regularly go into the red then this is probably not the account for you, as you'll be hit for £1 everyday that you remain overdrawn. You can apply on-line, as well in branch, but be quick because the offer ends at midnight on 19th February 2012.

Other than that, it is pretty par for the course - you get a Visa debit card, 24/7 telephone and on-line banking and a £300 ATM withdrawal limit. See the Banking & Finance page for the link.

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Eat Like a Rich Man, Spend Like a...Average Joe

Sometimes the way to save money is to take advantage of something that we all know about but rarely give much thought to.

Such is the way with supermarket discounts; specifically the section that all supermarkets have where they put yellow discount stickers on their food because it is about to pass it's sell-by date. If you are shrewd about it you can actually save money and eat better. The key is not just glancing at what's on offer when you happen to stroll by, but finding out when the particular supermarket applies its final discounts.

The final discounts are applied on the last day the food is sell-able (the sell-by date), and are applied in the evening so as to get the most money possible before the items join the 500 million tons of food that is wasted every year. For example, in my local Sainsbury's, by trial and error I know that they can start to receive their final discounts anywhere between 6 and 8pm. Shopping between these times has lead to picking up a £12 joint of beef for less than £2, four pints of milk for 30p, Taste the Difference meals for under £2 and many other great bargains. In practice, you may find particular days are more productive than others also.

I know many are thinking how I eat that much in one night, but the answer is to immediately freeze what you buy. I was surprised that thawed out milk seems to last just as long as fresh milk, but should at least get you a few more days out of it once its defrosted. Drinking milk with a sell-by date of the 31st of December on January the 12th is an interesting experience!

If you time it right and factor it into your shopping budget you could find yourself eating well and saving money at the same time. Getting to know the staff member that actually does the discounting is always a bonus. Although normal regulations rule against discounting on request, I have found that being friendly to my regular 'discount pixie' actually allowed me to search the shelves myself and bring whatever I wanted for a quick price slash. Try it yourself and let us know what happens...

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2FOR1 at London's Top Attractions

Although entry to London's top attractions would normally costs you an arm and a leg (possibly two legs) these days, National Rail continues its fantastic 2FOR1 scheme into 2012.

That means pay for one and the other gets in free, or effectively both of you get in half-price (if your mates are stingy). The catch is that you technically have to travel by train to render the print-off voucher valid on presentation. Those who live in London know what a nightmare it is travelling into central London, so most of us would opt for jumping on the tube anyway. That's the problem, Oyster cards are not accepted! Its run by National Rail of course, and they wouldn't be making any money out of it if we all took the tube to get there.

But you can be smart: just top up your oyster at a station that has a London Overground line and you can use their ticket machines, which give you a receipt. The key thing is the receipt bares the National Rail symbol and the chances are you should be able to use it to validate your voucher on entry to your chosen attraction. I have only tried this at London Zoo, but usually they just accept the print-off voucher without asking for a National Rail ticket. The one time they did, me and my wife's top-up receipts were accepted without question.

As with many money saving deals, its worth a try. Check the Leisure & Entertainment page for a link to the Days Out Guide website.

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Honey's Medicinal Properties

Before you start thinking that Money Saving Man has gone all 'alternative', there are valid money-saving reasons behind a post on natural remedies.

The drug and medicine industry is a large and profitable one, and as with all large and profitable industries, the consumer is sometimes not informed about what is best for them, but which product is best for them.

Honey has been used medicinally for thousands of years - the ancient Egyptians, Assyrians, Greeks, Chinese and Romans all used honey for its medicinal values. From wound dressings to disorders of the bowels, honey was a regular feature on the prescriptions of ancient physicians.

As shifts in thinking, most prominent in the twentieth century, took effect, traditional remedies took a back seat to modern drugs. No longer was the natural world seen as a source of sustenance and vitality, but man was seen as the answer to his own problems. There was no longer a perceived need to search the bounty of creation for health and healing, but man was now thought to hold the key to life and well-being within himself.

What this meant was a loss of confidence in cheap, free or at least  freely available natural remedies and a dependence upon doctors, prescriptions and the drug companies that produced the prescribed medicines. Time wouldn't allow us to go into all of honey's potential uses, but one that is pertinent in its money-saving abilities is the use of honey as an antacid.

This is not a call to throw away the Gaviscon, but after a meal before bed the other day I decided to take a teaspoon of honey. Eating so late and then going straight to bed would normally cause me heartburn to varying degrees, but with the honey I slept peacefully. If heartburn/acid reflux is a regular problem for you then honey may save you a few quid on that £5 bottle of medicine.

This is not medical advice and of course, no treatment should be sought without the advice of a physician - you have been warned!

Relevant websites:
http://www.honey4allergies.com/medicinal.htm
http://www.benefits-of-honey.com/
http://www.manukahoney.co.uk/

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NHS Staff Discounts

The NHS is the third largest employer in the world (after the Chinese army and the Indian railway), yet many of its thousands of employees are not taking advantage of the discounts available to staff.

www.nhsdiscounts.com offers savings on electricals, leisure & entertainment, holidays & travel, health & beauty, department & retail stores, finance & insurance, cars & motoring, home & garden, fashion, gifts and weddings. Phew! Now that's a lot of areas.

Deals include 50% off at Domino's Pizza, and although only NHS employees can sign up to the NHS discounts website friends can also benefit. Offers are redeemed through the employee's account, but of course can be passed on in some cases. Where an employee ID needs to be presented, the friend who works for the NHS can simply attend while the non-employed friend can pick up the bill and enjoy the benefits.

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Cheap Mobile Tariffs Plus Cash-back

The mobile phone market is more competitive than ever.

The iPhone has seen strong rivals emerge in the form of HTC and Samsung and can no longer win customers simply by it's technology or ubiquitous media campaigns. The death of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs has done even more to divert eyes over to other manufacturers.

There are now a range of mobile phone retailers who have gone all out to win custom, including offering a variety of free gifts, including 'cash-back'. Instead of getting a second laptop, games console or tablet, many consumers are realising that being given money to buy something is quite appealing. It must be made clear that there are two types of cash-back: 1. Standard 'cash-back' 2. 'Automatic (or 'auto') cash-back'.

Many find themselves frustrated by signing up to a deal promising cash-back, only to discover that the amount quoted will be paid in instalments, spaced out over periods of six months e.g. £20 after six months, £20 after 12 months for a total of £40 cash-back.  If you don't want to receive your money like this then opt for automatic cash-back.

Although called 'automatic', this simply means that the money you receive will not be spread out across the duration of your contract. In reality there will still be a period before you receive a cheque for the full amount/the full amount is credited into your bank account. With the top two websites for automatic cash-back this is after either 27 or 30 days, but to call it a month is more accurate.

The bonus of automatic cash-back mobile contracts is not only that you get money for buying something, but that you have several options for what to do with the cash. Sites such as www.dialaphone.co.uk give you an 'effective cost' of the contract - what this means is they have offset the cash-back against the total cost of the price plan over the duration of your contract. In theory you could hold onto the cash-back and use it to pay/contribute to your monthly bill and thus achieve a lower monthly charge.

Another option, which is particularly useful if you go for a higher cash-back deal, is to sell the basic handset you receive with the contract and buy a better one. Taking advantage of the January sales can lead to paying a competitive monthly tariff with a quality handset, while still having some extra cash in your pocket. For example you could get a Samsung E2550 from www.phones4u.co.uk, with £400 automatic cashback, and use £199.95 to buy a Sony Ericsson Xperia PLAY in their Pay As You Go sale. You would then be getting a decent phone for £36 a month with 600 minutes and unlimited texts, PLUS £200 still in your pocket!

Decide on what you want out of a mobile phone contract - decent phone, maximum cash-back or maximum minutes/texts - and then make an informed choice. Strike while the iron is hot in the January sales and the current highly competitive market and you could find yourself walking away with a great deal, cash in your pocket and a smile on your face.

Top sites:
http://www.phones4u.co.uk/special-offers/cashback/?intcid=salebanner-autocash
http://www.dialaphone.co.uk/gift/automatic_cashback/FG_CB1/

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