42 ways to save on entertainment, travel and bills

From free coffee and seat-filler tickets to discounts on cinema, mobile plans and utility bills. Here are 42 practical tips that help you spend less on everyday costs.

How to pay less for cinema, streaming and theatre

This section is about ticket hunting, subscriptions and tools that make pricey entertainment affordable.

1. Free seat-filler tickets. Sign up on specialist websites and get alerts about last remaining seats for a token price or even for free. Important: you mustn’t share details publicly, otherwise the seat-filler system will stop working. Services: Show Film First, Central Ticket.

2. Magazines and articles without a subscription via your library. Get a library membership and use an app to read magazines, e-books and audiobooks with no borrowing limits. Services: Libby, BorrowBox.

3. Hidden perks of a streaming subscription. Amazon Prime includes hundreds of books, audiobooks and magazines (Grazia, Radio Times) via the Prime Reading section on Kindle.

4. Online casino bonuses. They let you try gambling without spending any money upfront; you can find ones that don’t require a deposit. The downside is that they come with wagering requirements — we found more details on this website about no-deposit bonuses in online casinos. As a rule, these terms are the same for users from different countries — whether you’re in Australia or Italy. But it’s always important to keep this caveat in mind.

5. “Restricted view” in the theatre isn’t always a bad option. Before you buy, it’s worth checking real-life photos of the view from the specific seat. At the musical Hamilton, for example, side seats consistently get five-star reviews from audiences because most of the action is centred in the middle of the stage. Service: SeatPlan.

6. Discounted cinema via partner schemes. Free tickets for Sky Cinema subscribers (Vue chain), discounts for Amazon Prime members (Odeon), redeem Tesco Clubcard points (Cineworld), Cinema Society membership for Lidl Plus users (up to 40% off), and a two-for-one deal on Tuesdays and Wednesdays when you buy insurance via comparethemarket.com (Meerkat Movies, including Picturehouse).

7. Compare streaming options before you buy. The same series can be priced differently on different platforms, and available elsewhere via a free trial. “JustWatch shows every way to watch, including free trial subscriptions and buying individual seasons,” confirms cultural critic Francesca Steele. Services: JustWatch, Now (trial), Apple TV (purchase).

8. Free events around town. Sort events by price and find free concerts, stand-up comedy, live podcast recordings and exhibitions. Service: Dice.

Eating out with reservations, discounts and “menu engineering”

Here are ways to get into popular restaurants while reducing the final bill.

9. Snag a table at an impossible-to-book restaurant. Find out the exact time reservations open and set an alarm: for example, Gymkhana in London’s Mayfair opens reservations at 6am two months ahead, while Tom Kerridge’s The Hand and Flowers takes bookings six months ahead. Signing up to the restaurant’s newsletter (like Simon Rogan’s L'Enclume) gives you priority access to openings and cancellations.

10. Track cancellations via social media. Follow chefs and front-of-house managers on Instagram: free tables are sometimes announced on Instagram Stories just hours before dinner.

11. 50% off at sushi chains 30 minutes before closing. Itsu and Wasabi mark down remaining food by half at the end of the working day.

12. Apps with discounts of up to 50% at restaurants. Look for coupons and earn points via platforms that help restaurants fill empty tables. “TheFork offers discounts of up to 50% and a points system for every booking,” notes financial expert Amelia Murray. Services: TheFork, EatClub (co-founder Marco Pierre White).

13. Don’t overpay because of “menu engineering”. High-margin items are usually placed in the top right, currency symbols are deliberately removed, and an “anchor” in the form of an expensive dish makes the rest seem reasonably priced. “The top right corner of a menu is the most valuable real estate on the page — that’s where your eye lands first,” explains chef and managing director of Lumière Consultancy Ben Floyd.

Booking direct, upgrades and saving money on the road

The section covers everything from flights and hotels to bank cards and airport queues.

14. Compare a booking aggregator and booking direct. Middlemen often add mark-ups to baggage and seat selection. When you book a hotel direct, the best rates, free breakfast and better odds of an upgrade at check-in are often available.

15. Ask for an upgrade in advance. Email the hotel when booking and explain the occasion (anniversary, honeymoon, special trip). The principle is simple: “If you don’t ask, you don’t get.”

16. Check the price on your phone. The same room can be noticeably cheaper when booked on mobile. Separate discounts are available via hotels’ own apps or by subscribing to their newsletter. Services: Booking.com (mobile only), hotel apps.

17. A specialist travel agent for families. Agencies with “insider access” can offer free transfers, kids’ clubs, upgrades and knowledge of sales. The optimal time to buy flights, according to their data, is around 11 months before departure.

18. Car hire via the local version of the website. Go to the rental company’s site in the destination country’s domain zone (.fr, .es, .it) and compare the price. Important: the savings are real only with comparable insurance coverage; always read the fine print.

19. City buses instead of tours. Route 101 along the Great Ocean Road in Australia or line 7 from Tuscan Fiesole to Florence (under €2) deliver scenic views for next to nothing.

20. A bank card with no foreign exchange (FX) fees. Open an account before your trip (you’ll need a selfie and a passport photo), get the card within a week, and pay abroad without FX fees. Services: Monzo, Starling.

21. Fast security screening without overpaying. Luton Airport lets you book a security screening slot in advance for free. At Manchester and Stansted, fast track is better value if you buy it on the day you fly.

Discounts, cashback, supermarket tricks and household savings

From online carts to butchery — ways to cut spending on groceries and household goods.

22. “Add it to your cart and wait.” Delaying a purchase not only curbs impulse buying, but often brings a promo code from the store the next morning.

23. Automatic coupon finding and cashback. Install a browser extension that tracks prices and finds discount coupons automatically. Services: Coupert, TopCashback, Quidco.

24. AI to find hidden perks. Write a prompt for a chatbot naming a specific loyalty card and ask it to find “double points”, referral bonuses and the best combo for “cashback + promo code” stacking.

25. Decoding freshness codes on fruit and vegetables. Supermarkets have removed the familiar dates, but internal codes are easy to read. At Asda and Tesco, the letter indicates the month (A — January, B — February and so on), and the number indicates the day. At Sainsbury's the format is different: the code starts with “J” and ends with “S”, with the date in the middle.

26. Bone-in meat and mince substitutes. Buying a whole bird instead of fillets works out cheaper, and the bones make stock. “When you buy chicken breasts, you’re effectively paying for a whole bird, but you lose the thighs for curry and the carcass for soup,” says former operations director of The Ginger Pig, Lynsey Coughlan. Italian sausages, she says, replace mince in ragù and save time.

27. Squeeze packaging to the last drop. A tube squeezer key for tubes (toothpaste, cream, purée) and a foaming soap pump that turns liquid soap into foam and reduces usage. Shops: Lakeland, Muji.

28. Points for returning empty packaging. Bring at least five items that can’t go in kerbside recycling (mixed metal, plastic, mascara), and spend £10. Benefit: 500 points worth £5. Service: Boots Advantage Card.

29. Haggling in regular stores. According to Money Saving Expert (Martin Lewis), 57% of shoppers who tried asking for a discount at B&Q got one. For Currys the figure was 49%, for Waitrose — 38%.

30. Reselling beauty sets. In the season of advent calendars and subscription boxes, marketplaces fill up with unopened cosmetics and fragrance. Last year’s example: a Le Labo Rose rollerball from Liberty’s advent calendar sold for about £20 at an RRP of £78. Platforms: Vinted, eBay.

31. Cosmetics with damaged outer packaging. Specialist resellers buy products retailers have written off but that are untouched, and sell them at discounts of up to 70%. The item is quality-checked, and the type of damage is stated in the listing. Services: This is Beauty, Boop.

Recurring payments and services that cut them

Utility costs, software, mobile plans, coworking and small but regular expenses that can be optimised.

32. Council tax and water. Almost all UK councils bill you over 10 months, but on request they spread the same amount over 12. With an annual bill of £1,800, this reduces monthly outgoings from £180 to £150. For water, a meter is usually cheaper if the number of rooms is equal to or higher than the number of occupants. A tap aerator (free on your water company’s website) cuts water use by up to 50%. Important: before installing a meter, it’s worth checking the rooms-to-occupants ratio.

33. Free alternatives to paid software. Before taking out a subscription, it’s worth looking for an open-source alternative. Gimp replaces Adobe Photoshop, Audacity lets you record and edit audio, and KeePass works as a password manager.

34. Smaller mobile operators on the “big four” networks. Lebara (Vodafone network) and 1p Mobile (EE network) offer lower rates and still rank highly in Which? satisfaction ratings. An extra perk: many of them don’t charge EU roaming charges, while three of the four major operators have brought these fees back.

35. University libraries as a budget coworking space. The University of Manchester offers free annual membership with access to 2,000 workspaces and Wi‑Fi. UCL libraries are open to the public for £7 a day, £30 a month or £200 a year (including Senate House and the student canteen at a discount). For comparison, one month in a private coworking space often costs more.

36. Buying gift cards at a discount. Buy cards via cashback sites and use them to pay for everyday purchases (Spotify, Uber, HelloFresh, supermarkets, coffee shops). Important: if you don’t use the card, the savings disappear. Service: TopCashback.

37. Comparison-site perks and “mortgage cashback”. When buying car insurance via confused.com, financial coach Claire Seal received a £20 voucher for Sainsbury's and a free coffee every month at Greggs. The Sprive app funnels cashback from everyday purchases into early repayment of your mortgage, potentially cutting the mortgage term by several years.

38. Saving mobile data. Turning on Low Data Mode reduces battery and data usage. It also helps to lower default video quality in app settings and turn off autoplay on social media.

39. A private parking charge notice. If the parking operator is not a member of the BPA or IPC, it cannot request the vehicle owner’s details via the DVLA. According to Citizens Advice, with a private company this is a civil matter, not a criminal one. Important: This only applies to private operators, not council-issued penalties.

Rates, joint packages and hidden workplace benefits

Small tweaks to banking products and employee benefits that take little effort but bring tangible gains.

40. Savings and teaser rates that fade. The best interest rates on savings accounts often drop after a year, and banks rely on customer inertia. The Raisin UK platform lets you move funds between accounts without filling in the forms again.

41. A joint paid packaged bank account. When you open a joint account with a partner, both users get access to the included options (phone insurance, travel insurance) without increasing the monthly fee.

42. Financial coaching via your employer. Employee benefits programmes often include free sessions with a financial coach, and you can bring a partner. This perk remains one of the most underused.

Some of the tips described deliver one-off savings (a discounted ticket, a good coupon), while others reduce costs month after month (switching mobile provider, spreading council tax over 12 months, moving to open source). The most practical approach is to pick one or two items from each section and try them out in practice over the next four weeks.