Pound to £5k Challenge

Edition 63

The daffodils are out and the sunshine doesn’t seem to be fading so as far as I am concerned Spring is officially here, but have we got many new Spring deals worth thinking about? Spoiler: Absolutely

Don’t forget you can check out all emails I have ever sent (62!) at the link below in case you missed anything previously

THIS WEEK’S TOP DEALS!

£0.01 Zoo Entry - Bristol Zoo Project “Pay What You Can”

From 3 March 2025 - 28 March 2025 you can visit Bristol Zoo Project (not far off the M5) from 2pm onwards for as little as £0.01 per person

This offer is structured slightly differently where the entry price is £0.01 to the zoo and anything you pay above this is treated as a donation to them

The “suggested” donation works out at half the normal price but if you cannot pay that or wish to pay as little as 1p then you just need to ask, no questions asked by the staff

You need to book online for Saturdays and Sundays by choosing “Pay What You Can” reserve slot and then pay on arrival. These slots are SUPER popular so you might need to book far in advance!

Through the week, this offer is only available on the door and there is no requirement to pre-book as it should be quieter!

I have been here before and it is a good afternoon out that I would recommend if you can pick a day with good weather!

Family Days Out from just £1 each! Eden Project, National Trust & More

National Lottery Open Week returns next Saturday (15th March) and runs through to the following Sunday (23rd March)

During this week, you can gain free or discounted access to some of the UK’s best attractions including Eden Project, museums, National Trust properties and many more

All you need to do is check where you can visit on the National Lottery Open Week site (see below), book in advance where required and take a National Lottery ticket with you when you visit

Using Eden Project as an example, 2 people can visit per ticket and a National Lottery ticket costs £2 so that’s £1 entry each! Normal adult entry is an eye-watering £38 per person if booked in advance so quite the saving!

Bonus £5 of Clubcard Points

Over the last 6 months Tesco have been continuously re-running “Clubcard Challenges” which have paid me a pretty penny for making purchases I ordinarily would have made anyway!

However, as the last one ended in February, they seem to have launched something a little different this time and you can catch it if you are quick…

This may not be available for all accounts but I have opted into get an extra 500 clubcard points (worth £5) when I collect 3 stamps over the next 3 weeks

To collect stamps, you must spend £37+ in a single shop in-store every week for the rest of March. I believe the first week ends today so if you haven’t done your shop yet, check your Clubcard app and opt-in first!

All-You-Can-Eat Breakfast for £4.99 (Weekly)

If you are an Octopus Energy customer, you have hopefully joined their Octoplus Rewards scheme (if you haven’t do so now!) and when checking out this section of your account you should see two offers:

• £4.99 Adult Breakfast at Stonehouse Pizza & Carvery

• £4.99 Adult Breakfast at Toby Carvery

For both, you can claim this once per account every week until the end of May 2025 and just need to scan the QR code when paying. For most restaurants this is available Monday-Saturday until 11am

Double-check your apps to see if you can get this offer and grab yourself a cheap breakfast. Don’t forget that you can wash this down with a free hot drink afterwards at Greggs or Caffé Nero through Octoplus Rewards every week too!

Electric Car? Get an extra year of free road tax

Electric Vehicle (EV) owners are currently exempt from paying road tax on their cars but this ends in April 2025 saving you up to £195

All you need to do is re-tax your EV before 1 April 2025 which will cost nothing and will push the renewal date to March 2026 meaning you won’t need to pay until then!

You will just need your V5C and registration number to get this completed

2 Pizzas + Ben & Jerry’s for £5

Co-Op have returned with a popular offer which was actually SO good last year that they haven’t done it the same way, last year this offer came with a £4.99 voucher for Amazon which made it DIRT cheap

However, it’s still a good deal if you are after a cheap night in

Until 25th March you can bag 2 x fresh pizzas (margherita or pepperoni) and a tub of Ben & Jerry’s in a Co-Op store for £6 or £5 if you’re a Co-Op Member (easy peasy to join!)

You can also do this offer multiple times over so it’s a good way to stock up the freezer!

Missing National Insurance contributions? Buy more!

In order to receive the FULL State Pension you need to have 35 qualifying years’ of National Insurance contributions, which many who have been in full-time work or will continue to be should meet easily

You need 10 years’ as a minimum to receive ANY State Pension

However, it can be common to have gaps in your National Insurance record for a number of reasons so it’s well worth checking whether there are any gaps using your HMRC account. If you don’t have an account it is easy to create one to view things like this, details of employment, etc.

You can make voluntary contributions to fill any missing gaps which may sound like a funny idea but it could be a small cost in comparison to the amount of income you may receive in retirement!

Typically you can only go back up to 6 years to fill in any gaps, but until 1 April 2025 you can actually go back and make voluntary contributions to fill gaps as far back as 2016!

BEST FREE MONEY OFFERS

£20 from SumUp Pay app

You have probably heard of SumUp before as the mass-market card readers used by loads of small businesses across the UK

Well, they’ve also launched a card that pays 0.5% cashback on transactions BUT they’re paying a £20 sign-up bonus through referrals

1. Message me “SUMUP” for a referral link

2. Download the app and sign up

3. Verify your ID

4. Enter a referral code (I will give to you in step 1)

5. Within 30 days, make 3+ card payments of £10+ (combined)

6. You will receive a £20 bonus for doing so!

7. You can then also refer friends and family for £20 each

£15 - £250 for a 4.6% Lifetime ISA or Cash ISA £500+ Deposit/ Transfer

$7 - $175 FREE Share from Robinhood when you Deposit £1+

Up to £100 FREE Share from Trading 212 when you Deposit £1+ (AD)

Matched Betting - Getting Cheltenham Ready

I have mentioned matched betting in my last 3 emails as the lead-up to Cheltenham can be a great time to test out this tax-free side hustle as there are a lot of good offers and money to be made as long as you know what you are doing!

I have written a free guide below to introduce you to matched betting but the best place to start after this is either OddsMonkey or Outplayed who have a great archive of videos, training materials and forums to get you started, both of whom have sales on right now!

IN CASE YOU MISSED THEM: