Martin Lewis’s Money Saving Expert (MSE) is never short of tips and tricks to help you make your hard-earned cash go further.
Now, the UK’s beloved finance guru has issued a warning for anyone with a Tesco Clubcard – and if you’re a fan of whacking a few points off your weekly shop, you’ll want to tune in.
On November 30 at 11.59pm, £18 million worth of Tesco Clubcard vouchers are expiring, with the supermarket urging its customers to use or lose their reward points before the deadline.
But fear not, as MSE has issued the lowdown on how to check when yours go out of date, or extend their validity if you won’t get a chance to spend them in time.
Here’s everything you need to know.
How do I convert Tesco Clubcard points into vouchers?
You can spend Clubcard points on more than just your weekly shop by converting them into a voucher, which can then be spent at an array of exciting locations, from restaurants to theme parks.
You’ll need a minimum of 150 points to claim a voucher, which you can do by signing into the Tesco Grocery & Clubcard app, or by visiting the ‘My Clubcard account’ tab online at tesco.com.
Next, select the button to turn your Clubcard points into vouchers, click on ‘request vouchers’ and, ta-da, they’ll appear in your Clubcard account within seconds. Just like magic.
How do I extend my Tesco Clubcard vouchers and when is the deadline?
As MSE outlines, Tesco Clubcard vouchers are only valid for two years from the date they were issued – but there’s a nifty way to extend the expiry date by an additional two years.
‘Technically, under the Clubcard T&Cs, Tesco can refuse a Reward Partner order if it decides you’re trying to game the system by redeeming vouchers just to extend their validity – but we tested the trick at MoneySavingExpert.com Towers this month and it worked just fine,’ an blog post from the money advice platform explains.
The next deadline to extend your vouchers is 11.59pm on Saturday, November 30, which you can do by buying something either through the Tesco Clubcard Rewards page or by donating to one of its charity partners.
‘The remaining balance is credited back to your Clubcard account as points. So if you spend 50p using a £5 Clubcard voucher, you’ll get 450 points back (worth £4.50),’ MSE continues.
‘You can then swap your points for vouchers manually or wait for them to be converted with your next statement. The expiry date for these new vouchers will be two years in the future.’
It’s worth noting that while there’s no minimum spend, MSE suggests aiming for as little as possible, so going for a 50p restaurant voucher (worth £1 at a restaurant of your choice), could be the way to go.
You’ll need to do this for each and every voucher in your account if you want longer to spend them – and you might want to do the maths first.
Essentially, if you’ve got a £10 voucher it might be worth the hassle (and it’s potentially easier to just spend them) but if you’ve got a bunch of £1 vouchers, MSE reckons it’s less so.
Feeling inspired to get more bang for your buck? Set your alarms for the end of the month and make a date with your Clubcard app.
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