thriftyclair Coupons and Cashback, freebies, Gifts for Less, Thrifty Home, Thrifty Life, thrifty tips, Uncategorized

🎄The Best Money-Saving Apps, Sites & Offers I’m Using This Christmas 2025🎄

This post contains referral links/ad content

Christmas is the most wonderful (and often the most expensive) time of the year — but with the right tools, you can save a ton while still treating your loved ones.

Here are the money-saving apps, cashback sites, and festive offers I’m using to keep my Christmas shopping budget friendly this year.

💰 Rakuten – £25 Cashback on a £60 Spend (Perfect for Christmas Shopping)

If you’ve spotted Rakuten offers and wondered what it’s all about — it’s a cashback site similar to TopCashback or Quidco.

Here’s how it works:

  1. Search for a retailer on Rakuten.
  2. Click through to the retailer and make your purchase.
  3. Cashback tracks automatically and pays out in around 1–4 months.

If you’re new to Rakuten, you can get a £25 welcome bonus when you spend £50 using
this referral link.

Tip: The £50 minimum spend doesn’t include VAT or postage, so aim for a £60+ total to qualify.

It’s especially handy right now because you can use Rakuten with Sainsbury’s and Ocado — perfect for your festive food shop!

You can also refer friends and family for extra bonuses. For example:

  • You spend £60 → earn £25 cashback.
  • Refer your partner → they earn £25, and you get another £25 referral bonus.

That’s £75 total cashback between two people — ideal before Christmas!

🔎 Join Dig – Compare New & Pre-Loved Prices in One Search

Join Dig is a brilliant new price comparison tool that searches for both new and pre-loved items across the web — including Vinted, eBay, and high street stores.

Instead of checking multiple sites manually, Join Dig does it all for you:

  • Compares new and second-hand options side by side
  • Displays real-time prices
  • Automatically tracks cashback if you’re signed up

This is a game-changer for Christmas gift shopping. You can find cheaper pre-loved options or score a better deal on something new — all in one place.

👉 Sign up for Join Dig here to start saving time and money.

📦 Amazon – Sometimes the Cheapest Option (Especially with Gift Card Credit)

While Amazon isn’t everyone’s favourite retailer, it’s often still the cheapest option, especially when comparing prices on TikTok Shop or other sites.

For instance, I recently found Bubble T products much cheaper on Amazon than TikTok — and because I had Amazon gift card credit from apps like Amazon Shopper Panel and VoucherCodes, it cost me next to nothing.

Pro tip: If you’ve got Amazon credit saved up, use it for Black Friday deals or early Christmas gifts.

🎁 Not a Prime member? Sign up for a free 30-day Prime trial to get:

  • Free next-day delivery on Christmas orders
  • Access to Prime-exclusive discounts
  • Easy returns (handy for gifting mistakes!)

🎟️ VoucherCodes – VIP Rewards & Windfall Gift Card Offers

If I had to pick one go-to site for saving money, it’s VoucherCodes. From verified discount codes to amazing cashback-style bonuses, it’s a must for Christmas shopping.

💳 VIP Rewards Scheme

You earn a £5 gift card for every two purchases with VIP retailers — up to £25 per month. Minimum spend? Just £5 per order!

Here’s how I use it:

  • I shop via VoucherCodes for Wilko and spend £5+ on bubble bath or Christmas crafts.
  • Then I make another £5+ purchase at Superdrug for small stocking fillers.
  • That’s two qualifying purchases = £5 gift card, usually ready to claim the following month.

That’s a 50% return on small purchases you were making anyway!

🎁 Windfall Offers

Windfall offers are time-limited bonuses that pop up randomly — and they’re incredible.

I’ve seen offers like:

  • £10 Amazon gift card when spending £20+ at Dunelm
  • Extra bonuses at Look Fantastic, Boohoo, Yankee Candle, and more

When these go live (often around 11am on Wednesdays), click through, shop as usual, and your reward arrives

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Sabbatical Diary – week 3

Hello! It’s week 3… I realise that my plan of a weekly blog post has already fallen behind with a completely missing week 2.

I’d like to have an exciting reason but the truth is, I am still getting into the swing of things on my “work” days. The concept of being at home and having to plan and organise my time is still a bit of a strange thing for me. I mentioned to a friend that I basically feel like I am just fannying about – as my mum would say – on my phone all day. Sometimes I am, to be fair.

Having said that, I have been busy too AND also recovering from Shingles! The after effects of which are still on goings and very frustrating. On a positive note, I am currently working on a campaign with a favourite brand of mine. A lot of the planning and creating is done and now it is at the stage of getting everything checked. I will hopefully get the green light to share it with you all soon.

I have also had some interesting emails from a couple of other companies… unfortunately I have turned them down because it just wasn’t the right fit for me. One had no budget for a campaign and other had some very questionable reviews. So when I say not the right fit for me I also mean for you, because I don’t want to share something that isn’t of any use or value or worse.

A small monthly job I do is also ending this month; it’s not ideal but that is always the risk with content creation. Especially for me, I have a relatively small account and I am still trying to find my way onto the radar of more companies. Still, I have the luxury of time to try to get my name and face out there.

I am reminding myself that the content creator side of things is only a small part of my year long sabbatical. The other – more important – part is about gaining some much needed work life balance and family time. Another part is getting our kitchen sorted but that is still in the planning stages after months and months of discussing ideas. More on that another time.

Now we’re a few weeks into my son attending nursery for two days a week, we have noticed he is a bit clingier at times. I completely get it as it is such a big change so I am making sure our days together are proper quality time. Next week we’re starting a new toddler music group with a bit of a twist. I think, and hope, that it is going to such a cute and wholesome experience for us both and a lovely way to kick off my favourite season of the year.

That’s it really. Life has plodded on as normal as usual which as far as updates go, isn’t really that exciting. That’s not to say I am not enjoying this time though because I absolutely am! A slower pace of life is what I have been craving. I have been reflecting on that a lot this week and feel very VERY fortunate to be in this position right now. I almost feel a bit guilty at times too.

I have to keep reminding myself that I am just seizing a bit of a once in a lifetime opportunity. One that is actually thanks to this very website. I started this blog 7 years ago as a bit of a hobby and then made an Instagram account a few months later. Ironically, it was my Instagram page that grew to a point that it provides me with work. I am very aware that Social media can be very fleeting so I am making the most of it whilst I have it. That way, I won’t ever wonder ‘what if?’ because I am doing it.

I think writing this post and putting my thoughts and feeling onto paper – or screen? – has actually made me feel a little bit more balanced about things. So if you are reading this, thank you for being on the other side reading my ramblings. It’s time for a cup of tea before doing to nursery run soon, so that’s me done for the day… apart from a £1 reel I am posting later!

I hope you all have a lovely weekend,

Thrifty Clair

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Sabbatical Diary – Week 1

It feels like a lifetime ago that I last wrote a blog post – I’ve had a baby, been on mat leave, gone back to work for a year and now I am embarking on a career break. It feels like the perfect time to get back to writing…

I started my first week off strong with a trip to M&S for free cake with Joel and I also managed to get a few charity shop bargains. I am currently sitting at the table in my conservatory, my son in at nursery and I have a long list of idea and plans. Things I hope to accomplish on my year off, things I want to work on and then the usual life admin list of jobs I need to do around the house.

I didn’t actually plan on being home for this first “self-employed” day of work. Unfortunately it seems that sods law has decided to bestow shingles upon me. Well, possibly shingles, there is also a chance it is a nasty reaction to some questionable Voltarol gel from my mums medicine basket at the weekend. After a few days of pain and then a nasty rash appearing on one shoulder I popped to the pharmacy and they suggested that is what it looks and sounds like.

As a precaution I now have a weeks course of antiviral medication to take along with a burning shoulder blade and very tingly side-boob! I am hoping it doesn’t get any worse because the fear or burning pain is quite unnerving. Whilst I am frustrated by the timing of this – and the fact my almost two year old son is at risk of catching chickenpox if it is in fact shingles – I also know I just have to accept that this is what it is. It is just typical!

With that in mind I have used today to reply to emails, planned some campaign work and got my accounts in order. I’ve also ate cake, organised my sons clothes and attempted to watch an episode and Emily in Paris and then switched it off because I can’t remember what happened in the last series. All in all, quite a productive day really.

The majority of what I have got done has also helped to keep my mind off my son being at nursery for his first full day. I am genuinely conflicted with how much I have both loved and hated the quietness of the house today. I’m currently counting down the minutes until he is home.

And that’s it really. That is as exciting as it is for a self-employed day as a part time content creator who might have shingles. In a way I think it is probably good to have a realistic start to my year off from my “proper job”. I know there will be times when my son is ill from nursery and seasonal germs, there will be times I have no paid work or when I have to turn work down for one reason or another. I also hope that there will be some exciting and unexpected times too.

I’ll try my best to keep up a weekly diary of what I have managed to get up to. Of course I will still be sharing my usual content and I am hoping to bring back some Thrifty Fakeaways and recipes.

Thanks as ever for reading and following along,

Thrifty Clair x

thriftyclair Dining for Less, Thrifty Recipes

Thrifty Eating

You’ve heard of HelloFresh, Gousto, Mindful Chef and all those fancy meal prep boxes… Like me, you might have tried some of these subscriptions too. I’ve had these boxes when they have been on offer and they can be from as little as £1.16 a serving right up to £7 per meal! I decided to create my own “Recipe Box” costing £17.31 for five meals for four people. That’s just 87p per portion!

Continue reading “Thrifty Eating” →
thriftyclair Thrifty Life, thrifty tips

Am I an Influencer?

Ad- this is a paid post in conjunction with Influence Network

The word ‘Influencer’ is not one I would associate with myself. I started Thrifty Clair in 2017 as a way of documenting my savings progress and to share various deals I found but over the last eighteen months I’ve had more and more people telling me how they have been inspired by the things I’ve posted… so it would seem that I might actually be an influencer. 

Continue reading “Am I an Influencer?” →
thriftyclair Thrifty Life

Thrifty Clair – Three Years On…

I’m often asked how I grew my Instagram account… my answer is always the same: I’ve just been here for a long time and been lucky with my following. I never set out to grow my account this way, it just gained momentum, it still surprises me that it has happened. So now seems a great time to have a look back over the three years of ‘Thrifty Clair’…

Continue reading “Thrifty Clair – Three Years On…” →