Win Cash and Prizes with Lucky Leftovers

Win Cash and Prizes with Lucky Leftovers

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If you own an Android smartphone, here’s a great risk-free opportunity to win cash and prizes from it.

Lucky Leftovers is an Android app that takes advantage of your monthly text allowance. Nowadays most people get ‘unlimited’ texts on their mobile contracts, but unless perhaps they are teenagers they may only send a few texts a month. Lucky Leftovers allows you to put this mostly wasted allowance to good use.

Once you are signed up with Lucky Leftovers – which is free – you can enter any of the giveaways listed. You can enter just once or (better) daily. Once you have chosen the contests you want to enter, the app (in conjunction with your phone) will submit entries for you every day, with no other input required from you.

Just to make clear, these are not the type of contest where you are charged a fee per text (which I don’t recommend at all). So long as you have an inclusive monthly or prepaid contract and stay within your allowance, you will not be charged anything for entering these contests.

If you are lucky you will win a prize, but even if not you will get a point for every entry. The points can be converted to Amazon vouchers or cash in your PayPal account once you have earned £5 or more (see What Are Points Worth? below).

The prizes aren’t spectacular, but they aren’t bad either. Here is a screen capture showing some of them…

Lucky Leftovers prizes

Other prizes on offer at the time of writing include Bluetooth speakers, headphones, a trip up the London Shard, two Lion King tickets, a remote-controlled drone, a PlayStation 4, and plain old cash. If you win a prize but don’t want it, you can usually request a cash equivalent.

As you may have noticed, many of the giveaways are also raising money for charities.

What are points worth?

I’ll resist the temptation to say “What do Points Make? Prizes!” (rest in peace, Sir Bruce).

Each point on Lucky Leftovers is worth £0.001p. In other words, 10 points are worth a penny, 100 are 10p, 1000 are £1, and 5000 are £5.00.

£5 is the minimum threshold to request a payment. You might think it will take a long time to accumulate 5000 points, but actually if you submit 5000 prize-draw entries a month, that would give you £5 every month (plus any prizes you win, of course).

That’s not the whole of it, though…

Extra ways to earn points

As mentioned, you get one point for every entry, including automated entries.

There are other ways to earn points as well, though. You can do so by watching short videos (typically promoting games) via the app. You seem to get anywhere between 10 and 30 points per video you watch, so this can boost your total quite quickly.

In addition, you can earn points by purchasing via selected retailers listed on the app (see screen capture below). You get ‘cashback’ on these purchases, which is paid to you in the form of points.

Lucky Leftovers Cashback

Finally, you can get extra points by referring other people or joining via someone else’s referral link. More about this below!

Watch your limits

I said earlier that most people nowadays have an ‘unlimited’ texts allowance, but that doesn’t apply to everyone. If you are on a cheap deal there may be an upper limit every month, and you don’t want to exceed this or you will start being charged extra. You should also to allow for the fact that you may want to send some text messages to friends and relatives yourself, so you need to leave a few in reserve!

Even if you do have an ‘unlimited’ allowance, so-called fair usage restrictions typically apply. A common one is an upper limit of 5000 texts a month. Again, you don’t want to exceed this. Check with your provider if you are unsure what your monthly limits are.

The good news is that Lucky Leftovers allows you to set maximum daily and monthly texting limits on your Settings page. You can start low to test the water if you like, and increase the numbers as you gain confidence. That’s what I did, incidentally.

Will you be spammed?

This is obviously a concern with any app of this nature, but my experience so far has been entirely positive. I have not received a single spam text or phone call as a result of using the app. This has also been the experience of others using the app longer than I have.

Get 500 points through me!

As mentioned earlier, Lucky Leftovers has a referral scheme that lets you earn points by referring others. So here is my referral link. If you click through this and install the app, you will be credited with 500 points (worth 50p), and so will I. That’s a nice little bonus to start you on the way to your first £5!

Good luck if you do decide to join up with Lucky Leftovers. I hope you win lots of points and prizes.

If you have any comments or questions, as always, please do leave them below.




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An Essential Guide to Writing Your Will (Infographic)

An Essential Guide to Writing Your Will (Infographic)

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Today I’m bringing you an infographic created by I Will, a firm of solicitors who specialize in will writing.

I thought this summed up very well the importance of making a will and having it done properly, so I wanted to share it with readers of this blog. It’s quite a long graphic, so please take a little time to scroll down it, and I’ll see you at the other end!

Thanks again to I Will Solicitors (not an affiliate link) for permission to use their graphic. There are some valuable tips in it, not least the advice to use a properly qualified solicitor. In the last few years I have had a couple of experiences when failing to do this has caused problems..

One actually concerned the will of my late partner. We had created mirror wills some years before, using a well-known postal will-writing service. At their suggestion we named the will-writing company as joint executors, as their representative said this meant they would be able to step in and help if required.

Sadly my partner passed away and I then discovered that having the company as a named executor meant I couldn’t have the local solicitor I wanted handle the estate on my behalf. It took several months (and a lot of hassle I could really have done without) to get them to renounce their interest in the will so that my preferred legal firm could take over.

Another instance concerned a family member who passed away earlier this year. I don’t want to go into detail about this, for obvious reasons, but he had used a family friend who ran a will-writing service to create his will. The will was poorly drafted and did not make clear exactly how the estate should be divided up. The result was a bitter dispute between two of the main beneficiaries, which ended with an outcome that was probably far from what he had intended.

So my top tips with wills would be (a) make sure you have one, (b) have it drawn up by a qualified solicitor, and (c) give careful thought to whom you name as executor. For other advice, please refer to the infographic above!

If you have any comments or questions, as ever, please do post them below.




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How to Save Money on Days Out With Your Grandchildren

How to Save Money on Days Out With Your Grandchildren

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Today I’m delighted to bring you a guest post from my UK money blogging colleague Fiona Hawkes.

Fiona’s post covers a subject I am sure many readers of this blog will be able to relate to – how to have a great day out with the grandchildren without spending a fortune.

Over to Fiona, then…

 

There are currently around 14 million grandparents in the UK and more and more of them are taking on the role of childminder for their grandchildren, as growing costs mean that more families need both parents to work to make ends meet.

One in three over-fifties in the UK are grandparents and they help families cut the costs of more formal childcare arrangements – especially during the long six-week summer holidays.

But some grandparents may find that the continual extra mouths to feed and days of entertaining the little darlings are having an impact on their own finances. While the older generation of course love their children and grandchildren and want to help out however they can, it shouldn’t come at the expense of their own financial health.

While this generation of grandparents may be the ones who know how to be thrifty and make do and mend, they may not be quite so savvy when it comes to saving money online, for example.

I realise most grandparents may already have plenty of thrifty ideas for days out – picnics in the park, feeding the ducks, museums, etc – so in this post I am going to discuss ways to save money on the more expensive days out, e.g. to theme parks and attractions.

While they may not be the sort of thing you want to (or could afford to!) do every day, I do think children and adults alike look forward to days out doing something fun and different, such as country farms, zoos and trips to the cinema.

Saving on Trips To Adventure Parks, Zoos and Farms

Down here in Somerset there are several local attractions that we usually try and make a visit to during the summer holidays. These include Crealy Adventure Park, Woodlands, Longleat Safari Park and Bristol Zoo. I know there are similar parks dotted all over the country and there are bound to be similar ones near you. Wherever you are based, though, there is bound to be one thing in common – entry is not cheap.

Here are my tips for saving on adventurous days out with your grandchildren.

  • Book online. Most places offer discounts of between 10% and 20% if you pre-book tickets up to 48 hours in advance.
  • Check out sites like Groupon and Living Social for discounted tickets and cheaper entry special events. Bristol Zoo, for example, has special evening events throughout the year.
  • Some places offer a ‘return in the next 7 days for free’ – plan in advance to ensure you are able to take up this offer and get two days out for the price of one.
  • Most pubs, shopping centres, etc, have leaflets offering discount vouchers – look out for these and pick a few up when you see them.
  • Use OAP discounts and Family tickets wherever you can.
  • Annual membership could save hundreds if you live close to a popular attraction and plan to go there often. If you’ve already bought tickets for that day they will often be deducted from the cost of an annual pass.
  • Look out for free open days – I recently attended one that offered free tractor rides and animal petting at a local farm.

Saving on Trips to The Cinema

Trips to the cinema can soon start adding up – tickets alone can be as much as £10 each (I’m looking at you, Odeon!) and that’s before adding in drinks, sweets and popcorn!

  • If you’ve used Compare the Market in the last year and opted in then you should be entitled to 2 for 1 cinema tickets at participating cinemas on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. You can download the app, apply the code when booking online or print it out to show at the cinema. If you haven’t used Compare the Market before buy inexpensive travel insurance once and get 2 for 1 tickets for a year. Valid for two people. Don’t forget to check this is cheaper than a family ticket. Plus, this offer can be used when you don’t have the grandchildren too!
  • During the school holidays and most Saturdays and Sundays many cinemas have cheap kids’ movies being screened. These films tend to be older ones that have been around a while but tickets are much cheaper and usually the same price for adults and children. Showings are usually in the morning, around 10am, and will be called something like ‘Kids AM’ or ‘Kids Club’.
  • Take you own (well hidden) drinks and snacks. Wilko’s is our favorite for pick ‘n’ mix and Poundland is great for 2 for £1 bottles of fizzy drink and £1 bags of chocolates.

Saving on Eating out in the Holidays

Eating out in the holidays with grandchildren can be tricky. Places like McDonald’s offer a quick fix but aren’t really what can be considered a ‘nice’ dining experience. Go to somewhere ‘family friendly’ like Harvester and the cost soon starts to creep up. Try these tips for saving on eating out with grandchildren.

  • Loads of places offer ‘Kids eat free’ or ‘Kids eat for £1’ during the holidays. Find a list online and plan your days around where it’s cheap (but nice!) to eat.
  • Tastecard offers 2 for 1 meals at lots of chain restaurants including Prezzo, Zizzi and Ask as well as many local eateries too. If you can’t save on the kids’ meals at least you can save on the grown ups! Tastecard is around £30 for a year but we usually make that back after two meals out. [Note from Nick: You can get the similar Gourmet Society discount card for just £3.99 if you get an NUS Extra card, as described in this recent post.]
  • Wherever you plan to eat, always check for vouchers online before you go or download a vouchers app such as vouchercloud.
  • With older children and teens who have a big appetite, something like Pizza Hut’s Pizza buffet is a great choice as they can eat as much as they like for one set price. It can also be great for fussy eaters as if they don’t like something they can choose something different without it costing any more money.

I hope you find these tips helpful in planning some cheaper days out with your grandchildren!Fiona Hawkes

Byline: Fiona Hawkes (pictured, right) is a personal finance blogger who loves saving money almost as much as she loves spending it. She saves hard to be able to live better, afford a few small luxuries and see a bit more of the world. Fiona blogs at www.savvyinsomerset.com. You can also follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

 

Many thanks to Fiona for an enjoyable and thought-provoking article. Do you have any additional tips to share for having a great day out with the grandchildren (or children) without it breaking the bank? If so, please do post them below!




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Active 10 - A Free Fitness App to Get You Walking!

Active 10 – A Free Fitness App to Get You Walking!

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According to a recent story in The Telegraph, Britain is in the middle of a laziness epidemic. This applies especially to over-40s, with four in ten failing to manage even one 10 minute brisk walk a month.

The effect of all this inactivity can be devastating. It is estimated that physical inactivity directly contributes to one in six deaths in the UK. On the other hand, Public Health England (PHE) say that one brisk walk a day is enough to cut the risk of early death by as much as 15 per cent. It can also prevent or delay the onset of disability, and further reduce the risk of serious health conditions, such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, dementia and some cancers.

To encourage middle-aged and older people to get more active, PHE has launched a free smartphone app called Active 10. As the name suggests, this aims to encourage adults to do at least 10 minutes’ brisk walk every day.

The app is available for both Apple and Android phones, and is quick and easy to install. Using sensors in your phone, the app measures when you’ve reached a target speed (about 3 miles an hour) and when you keep that going for 10 minutes.

The app allows for the fact that you might have to stop at traffic lights or for some other reason, so you can slow down for up to 2 minutes of any 10 minute period and this will still count as an Active 10.

You can set your own targets, maybe starting with just one Active 10 a day and going up to two or more as you build your fitness. You can also do longer walks – Active 20, say – for even greater health benefits.

Active 10 is aimed at those in the 40 to 60 age group, but in my view many people over 60 could benefit equally (or even more) by using it. I like the fact that 10 minutes a day isn’t too daunting to start off with, even for couch potatoes like me, but can still bring you considerable health benefits.

I am already enjoying using the app and there is a surprising amount of satisfaction in achieving your daily goals and seeing them recorded on the app.

As they say at the end of the Active 10 homepage, stop scrolling and start strolling 😀

  • Or if you prefer cycling to walking, you can get bike discounts here!
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