Shopper Reveals How She Paid £1 For £40 Paperchase & Hotel Chocolat Haul
- Anna, 44, combined multiple birthday vouchers to bag some massive discounts
- She picked up £23 worth of pens for free and also grabbed a doughnut free of charge
- Overall she has saved just over £39 on her haul
Getting a discount while shopping is always exciting, but one savvy shopper has taken savings to a new extreme by paying just £1 for a haul worth £40.60.
Anna Hicks, 44 from Beith, told money-saving community LatestDeals.co.uk: ‘It was my birthday last week so I made the most of various loyalty rewards, a great sale and a gift card that has been in my purse for well over a year to pay just £1 for some goodies.
‘My first stop was Hotel Chocolat, where I picked up a bag of salted caramel puddles for just £1. The usual price is £6, but because I’m a member of their loyalty scheme I got a £5 birthday voucher which led to the massive reduction. I was emailed a code which was scanned along with my loyalty card when I went to pay.
‘Paperchase has a similar setup - on my birthday I was sent a £5 birthday voucher and I also have a loyalty card, so I took advantage of their sale to buy eight pens. They were on sale so while the original price would have been £23, the sale price was £5 and with my birthday loyalty voucher they were completely free!
‘Krispy Kreme was the next place I went to. I was able to get yet another bargain because they also do a deal for birthdays. If you sign up for their loyalty scheme you get an email with a code for your birthday. So I went along to my local branch and picked up a free doughnut which would have been £1.60 originally.
‘While I was at it I decided to make the most of my bargain streak and use a gift card that has been sitting in my purse for probably 18 months. I got a Build a Bear for Christmas so wanted to pick up an accessory to go with it. I found a broom for £10 and got it for free thanks to the gift card.
‘Even the person who gave me the gift card got a discount on it - she had spent over a certain amount so only paid £5 for it!
‘Full price, these items came to £40.60, so I saved just over £39 by making the most of my gift cards and birthday vouchers. What’s more, I have been able to make good use of everything I got. The food was a nice treat, I am using the pens for journaling and studying, and the Build a Bear accessory goes nicely with my gift.’
Anna isn’t new to getting bargains, as scouting for discounts runs in the family. ‘I was brought up shopping for bargains - growing up, money was always tight because my mother was a single mum so she did all she could, making every penny stretch as far as it could by shopping the sales, charity shops, bartering with friends and neighbours and so on.
‘For those who want to start saving more money with their shopping, I would recommend joining loyalty schemes as these will pay off as I proved with my own haul! Don’t be afraid to have a present box full of various items you pick up over the course of the year, as you will be glad to have it if money is tight one month and a special occasion such as a birthday is coming up.
‘If you have kids in school it can be a good idea to pick up teacher gifts while they are reduced and set them aside for the end of the school year. Often there will be promotions in shops in June and July but the prices can be higher than you would get during an off-season discount.
‘Making your own gift hampers is also a great way to save money. It results in a handmade and thoughtful gift for someone’s special day and will save so much money compared to ordering a ready-made one from an online store, for example.
‘I also go to charity shops whenever I can to see what I can find. Many years ago I bought a brand new leather music case from a charity shop for £5. I thought it was a decent price but I realised just how much I’d saved when I looked up the brand. If I’d bought it brand new from the manufacturer it would have cost around £700!
‘I find that the best approach for finding bargains is not to specifically plan for what you’re buying. My birthday was an exception as I had a set of vouchers to get specific items, and I took my time to find items I actually wanted. Generally speaking though, I will buy discounted items whenever I can and put them to one side as the right time to use them will come up.
‘It does give me a bit of a buzz to buy bargains, but it also brings me joy because many of the bargains I get go on to become gifts for other people and giving gifts gives me more joy than receiving them.’
Tom Church, Co-Founder of LatestDeals.co.uk, said: ‘Anna has done really well for herself by making the most of these loyalty schemes. By combining birthday vouchers with a sale and gift card, Anna has created the perfect mixture of discounts and barely spent anything!
‘It’s always a good idea to sign up for store cards and loyalty cards, as you never know when an offer could pop up in your inbox. Plus if you register your birthday on the website, you can bag a bargain or freebie just like Anna!’
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