Christmas and the whole festive period is an incredibly expensive time of the year for most, but many supermarkets offer saving schemes to help ease financial pressures over the busy time.
Asda, Sainsbury's and Morrisons all have their own savings clubs, as well as Iceland and the Co-Operative. And while Tesco also runs one, their deadline for this year has unfortunately passed.
The schemes are designed to help customers and consumers save over the course of the year in time for Christmas, and many supermarkets still hold a plethora of benefits - even if December 25 is just around the corner.
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The Mirror reports that the only downside is that your money isn't covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme in the event of your local go-to supermarket going bust out of the blue. And while earlier this year the Government announced plans to bring in a barrier of protection - nothing has been finalised in black and white as of yet through Parliament.
If you join a savings club close to the deadline, then this reduces any risk.
Here is everything you need to know about each supermarket Christmas saver scheme.
Asda -
The Asda Christmas Savings scheme involves topping up a physical card. You then get a bonus based on how much you've saved. You can order a card on the Asda website or pick one up in store, and you can top up in person and online as well.
The cut-off date is 5pm on November 13 and the bonus will come through on the card by November 14. The bonus will be added to your card by the end of November.
The maximum bonus is £15 with the breakdown on how much you get as follows:
- £1 bonus when you save between £30 and £79
- £3 bonus when you save between £80 and £129
- £6 bonus when you save between £130 and £179
- £9 bonus when you save between £180 and £229
- £12 bonus when you save between £230 and £279
- £15 bonus when you save £280 or more
Co-op -
The Co-op Christmas scheme involves collecting physical stamps. You first need to pick up a stamp book from your local store, which you'll need to fill up to get a bonus.
Each stamp costs £1 and you need 48 to complete your stamp book - so you'll spend £48 in total and this money can be used against a future shop. Redeem your book in December and you'll get an extra £2 off - this adds up to £50 off a shop.
Iceland -
Iceland runs its Bonus Card scheme all year round - so not technically a Christmas scheme, but still a good way to put away little and often. For every £20 you load onto your Iceland Bonus Card, you'll get £1 back in return.
You can load up a maximum of £1,000 - meaning the biggest bonus you can get is £50. The bonus is applied within 24 hours normally.
When you want to use your savings, tell the cashier how much you'd like to spend and the amount will be taken off the card.
You’ll need to register your card online.
Morrisons -
The Morrisons Christmas scheme is also about buying and saving stamps - but these ones are digital and linked to the My Morrisons loyalty scheme. You can buy stamps in stores from a cashier, which will then need to be linked to your digital My Morrisons account.
The digital stamps can be purchased in units of £1s. The cut off point for the Morrisons Christmas saver is midnight on October 31 and you’ll receive your vouchers between November 6 and December 31.
The maximum bonus you can get through the Morrisons scheme is £6.
Here is what you can get:
- £1 bonus when you save between £49 and £96
- £3 bonus when you save between £97 and £145
- £4 bonus when you save between £146 and £193
- £6 bonus when you save £194
Sainsbury's -
The Christmas Club scheme run by Sainsbury's also involves topping up a physical card. Depending on how much you save, a 5 per cent bonus is applied to your card to spend during the festive season.
The minimum bonus is £2.50 and for this amount you need to save £50. Saving £100 would get you an extra £5, going up to the maximum bonus of £25 when you save £500.
You need to top up your card by 11.59pm on November 1 to get the bonus. The bonus will then be added to your card by the end of November.
Here is the breakdown of the bonus:
- £2.50 bonus when you save between £50 and £99.99
- £5 bonus when you save between £100 and £149.99
- £7.50 bonus when you save between £150 and £199.99
- £10 bonus when you save between £200 and £249.99
- £12.50 bonus when you save between £250 and £299.99
- £15 bonus when you save between £300 and £349.99
- £17.50 bonus when you save between £350 and £399.99
- £20 bonus when you save between £400 and £449.99
- £22.50 bonus when you save between £450 and £499.99
- £25 bonus when you save £500 and over
You can save up to a maximum of £1,975 though you won't get any extra bonus beyond £500.
Tesco - CLOSED
It is too late to sign up for the Clubcard Christmas scheme this year - but here is how it works. If you're a Tesco Clubcard holder, then you can choose to save up your points throughout the year to use at Christmas.
Do this by logging onto your Clubcard account and selecting the Clubcard Christmas saver option. But if you also top up your account with cash, you can earn bonuses on top of your savings in the form of Tesco vouchers.
You get your bonus in your November statement and they'll be valid for two months to use.
Bonuses are up to 6 per cent with a maximum pay out of £12. Here is how the bonus is calculated:
- £1.50 bonus when you save between £25 and £49.50
- £3 bonus when you save between £50 and £99.50
- £6 bonus when you save between £100 and £199.50
- £12 bonus when you save £200 to £360
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