Shopping around for the best deals

Internet Guides  

Which – Cost of Living

Lots of money saving tips and guidance, from supermarket deals to reducing energy and other household bills.

MSE – Cost of Living Help Guide

90+ ways to save from Money Saving Expert and MoneySavers - Get help with the cost of living.

Staff Benefits

VivUp!

Looking to make some savings?  Vivup has a range of discounts on high street favourites, eating out, entertainment and travel, both local and national.  There's a host of wellbeing support on there as well as a quick link to our employee assistance programme hosted by PAM.   Just click here and register - https://bolton.vivup.co.uk/

From January you’ll also be able to purchase goods from John Lewis, Currys and Primrose via Vivup and pay for them directly from your salary over a 12 month period. Sign up now so you don’t miss out!

There are also a range of offers available on the Bolton Staff Loyalty Discounts page for staff with access to the intranet.

NHS Fleet Car Salary Sacrifice Scheme

Life has enough worries without the added stress of running and maintaining a car. The salary sacrifice car scheme from NHS Fleet lets you drive away a brand new, fully maintained and insured car for three years.  You get a fully inclusive motoring package for a fixed monthly amount, so all you need to worry about is fuel and oil.

Access NHS Fleet through VivUp today!

Cycle to Work Scheme 

The scheme allows you to pay for a bicycle directly from your salary over 12 months, making savings on tax and national insurance contributions. The council offers this benefit through Cyclescheme. For more details please see the page on VivUp.

Cycling

Why not spread the cost of bikes for your children at Christmas through our cycle scheme provider. Visit VivUp for more information Discounted Gym Membership.

Gym Membership

Bolton Council employees can purchase an annual gym pass at a preferential rate at Bolton Community Leisure Gyms and at Bolton Arena. For more details please see the discounted gym passes page.

Vivup also offers staff access to membership at a wide range of gyms via Gymflex, which offers up to 20% discount on membership fees.

Benefit Hub and Kaarp – accessible via the intranet

Staff also have access to two benefits platforms with exclusive discounts across all sectors and featuring leading brand names.

Kaarp provides access to discounts and offers available both locally and nationally. The website offers hundreds of discounts for entertainment, health, finance, motoring, shopping and travel. To log in and access discounts, visit – Kaarp Benefits Discounts

Benefit Hub also offers staff a range of discounts and offers.

Independent Greater Manchester

Have a look at Independent Greater Manchester, a discount club for local offers and discounts around Greater Manchester, including Bolton! Get a one-year free trial through VivUp!

Access your free trial on the Lifestyle Savings page of VivUp.

Planning for the Future

Thinking about retirement might not be on your mind at the moment, but it's good to plan for the future to give you and your loved one’s piece of mind. We have a range of options to help you, including:

• Offers on will writing services.
• Training courses to help with planning your retirement and focusing on your finances.
• Information on flexible retirement.
• Shared cost AVC scheme to top up your pension.
• UK Healthcare Cash Plan to help with medical expenses

Please see our Planning for the Future page for more details.

Buying, Selling, Swapping & Give Aways

Voucher Plug Ins

Pouch is a free shopping tool that applies every voucher code across the internet in one click. Pouch does the voucher search for you.

PayPal's Honey app is a popular deal-finding tool designed to help shoppers track prices, save money and earn rewards on online purchases. Find coupon codes on 30,000+ sites.

School uniform

Looking for school uniform? There are lots of ways to save:

Buy, sell or swap school uniforms in a Facebook group for Bolton.

Lower-income families could get as much as £200 a year towards the cost of their children's school uniform – saving £100s or even £1,000s (if you have more than one child) over their school years. Visit bolton.gov.uk/free-school-meals-clothing-allowance/free-school-meals-help-school-uniform/2 or check with your child’s school.

Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis also offers some advice - Can I get help towards my child's school uniform costs? 

Second Hand Items

Freecycle is a grassroots & entirely non-profit movement of people who are giving and getting stuff for free in their own towns. It's all about reuse and keeping good stuff out of landfills. Membership is free. For more information, visit Freecycle: Front Door

Facebook Marketplace is a digital marketplace where users can arrange to buy, sell and trade items with other people in their area.

Going green doesn't have to cost the Earth. Visit the Money Saving Expert page to find ways to save and be more environmentally friendly, including getting paid to recycle, switching to reusable sanitary products, cutting your plastic use and getting cash for old mobiles - Quick ways to go green and save.

Social Media & Websites

Spending online? Check out these cashback and savings sites and see what you can save:

Free stuff UK on Facebook.

Extreme Couponing & Bargains UK - Extreme Couponing and Bargains UK group (Facebook)

Ashleigh Money Saver - Ashleigh Money Saver (@ashleighmoneysaver) (Instagram) and Ashleigh Money Saver's Bargain Hunters UK (Facebook).

Gumtree gets over 11 million visitors a month, and lets sellers list for free, so is a great place to search for sale items or list your unwanted goods.

Also visit second-hand site Preloved*, where placing ads is free, as is Shpock

Cash Back

Why not earn money whilst you spend? Cashback sites are a great way of earning money on your spending:

TopCashback offers free membership.

Quidco offer free membership - Quidco | The UK's Highest Cashback Guaranteed

For more information visit the Money Saving Expert page cashback page.

Motoring & Travel

Fuel

Compare fuel prices near you with the Petrol Prices App – available through VivUp.

Join over 2.1 million UK drivers who already compare petrol and diesel prices and you could save over £220 a year - Find the Cheapest Fuel Near You.

Check your tyre pressures - tyres under inflated by 15psi can use 6% more fuel, which could have given you an additional 26 miles from a 60-litre tank of fuel.

Vehicle Insurance & Breakdown Cover

Haggle or shop around for vehicle insurance and breakdown cover - don’t simply accept your auto-renewal quote. You can make savings by storing the vehicle in the garage, reducing the number of miles you drive, or you could purchase ‘black box’ insurance. Try visiting comparison sites on the internet.

Do you need to add family members to your insurance? If they’re going to drive your vehicle as well as you, adding them as named drivers can balance the risk and reduce your premium by a few pounds.

Don’t overestimate your annual mileage as you could be paying for a higher-risk premium than is actually needed.

Dump the Junk

Don’t carry unnecessary weight. On average every 50kg increases your fuel consumption by 2%. A boot full of junk means you’re using extra fuel for nothing. Removing your roof bars when they’re not in use will reduce your fuel consumption by about 10%.

Parking

Use apps to find cheap parking spaces - don’t simply park up in the closest car park you can find, or the one you know the best. Check there isn’t a cheaper one nearby first, using apps such as Parkopedia.  Alternatively, park on the edge of town and take a walk. Your fitness tracker will welcome the additional steps!

Travelling by Train

If you’re travelling by train, travelling at off-peak times can give big savings. You can also try ‘splitting’ your ticket for longer journeys. This can require a little bit of research but it’s well worth it. Just pick a major station on your route and look at separate tickets to split your journey. These separate tickets can be cheaper than your original route, without actually having to change the journey at all. There are also many great online tools that do this for you, that’ll find you the best savings automatically!

Booking your tickets in advance can save you money. Advanced tickets are generally released up to 12 weeks in advance.

Investing in a Railcard gives you discounts on your train tickets, with at least 30% off most train fares. This is a great way to save money, especially if you’re a regular traveller or commuter.

Travelling by Bus

You may qualify for a pass that saves you money on fares with your local bus operator if you’re aged over 60, dealing with a disability, in full-time education or aged between 16-25.

If you use the bus or train on a daily basis, you can save a lot of money over a year with a monthly pass or annual season ticket which works out cheaper than paying for each journey separately.

Bolton Libraries & Museum Service

Ask Bolton Libraries - Who? What? Where? Why? When? We aim to answer questions big and small on anything and everything.  We can give information and refer you to the most relevant agency or person to help you with your query. Ask Bolton Libraries

Borrow books and audio books from the library for free - Libraries

The library also offers a free eBook,  EAudiobook and eMagazine service - eBooks, eAudiobooks and eMagazines

Home Library Service - for anyone who has difficulty accessing our libraries in person due to mobility issues. For information, visit Home Library Service

Events and activities – a programme of free events for children and adults in our libraries, museum and at Smithills Hall all year round, ranging from toddler tales, book groups, film screenings, Tai Chi, Knit and Knatter, talks and craft activities.

Health Information and books on prescription - provides mental health workers with an alternative and additional approach to a problem. A doctor or mental health worker writes a “prescription” for a self-help book and the patient takes that prescription to the library & exchanges it for the book. Health information at Bolton Libraries and Books on Prescription

Business Information - Business information resources plus through our Build a Business project:

• One to one information and support (by appointment)
• Free accountancy clinics
  • every third Thursday in term-time 10am to 2pm – Free advice from qualified accountants.
• Workshops
  • Power Up Your Business!
  • Know Your Customer – get Competitive
  • Intellectual Property: Protect Your Assets
• Events
  • Partner events like the Proper Good roadshow, CyberSecurity business breakfast, 3D printing training from 3D 360
• Webinars
  • Reset.Restart series from the British Library
• Evening talks
  • Twilight Talks – one hour talks from professionals and specialists
• Coffee Mornings
  • Wednesdays 10am to midday – drop in and chat, network and offload
• Co-working space
  • Bookable PC and free printing* (*fair use policy applies)
     

Online information resources for adults and children - Online information resources and Online resources for children

The  information about all of the above can be found here Discover at the Library. There’s also free WiFi in all our buildings.

Digital Skills Support in Bolton  

One-to-One Support - free one-to-one support to help you get the most from your laptop, tablet and smartphone. Whether you need help with online forms and shopping, applying for jobs or downloading our free e-books and e-audiobooks, our Digital Helpers are on hand to support you. There are a variety of time slots available including Saturday. To book your session please call 01204 332853 or email digitalhelp@bolton.gov.uk

Digital Drop-Ins - call in to one of our monthly drop-in sessions at your local library to get help with your device. Our friendly team will be on hand to guide you. There's no need to book, just turn up! The frequency of the drop-ins for each location are listed below. To find out more about your nearest library please call 01204 332853 or visit: www.bolton.gov.uk/libraries             

For further information, visit Digital support

… and don’t forget, Bolton Council staff get a 10% discount at the museum shop with your staff ID card.