Bag £60 in one day with Tesco

There are some good discounts and instant earnings to be had for the savvy consumer at the moment. Ruth Jackson rounds up the week's personal finance news.

You can make £60 in a day by exploiting a loophole in Tesco's new savings account, says Martin Lewis on MoneySavingExpert.com. Open a Tesco Instant Access Savings account and depending on how much money is in it on 7 October they'll give you some Tesco Clubcard points regardless of whether or not you keep the money in the account beyond that day.

So move some money in for that day then move it to somewhere else with a better interest rate the account only pays 0.75%. If you have £1,000 in the account on the right day you'll get 500 points (worth £20 in rewards). You'll get 1,000 points with £3,000 and if you have £10,000 saved, that's 1,500 points, which are worth £60 in Tesco's Clubcard rewards scheme.

NatWest and Royal Bank of Scotland have reduced their charges. From 1 October their 'unpaid item fee' imposed when a cheque, direct debit or standing order bounces will fall from £38 to £5. The fee for paying for an item when someone is overdrawn will be halved to £15 a day. And the monthly charge for going overdrawn without consent falls to £20 from £28. Several other charges are also being dropped.

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Shoppers are saving £600 or more a year by using online discount vouchers, says Ali Hussain in The Sunday Times. Internet searches for 'discount' and 'vouchers' have risen by almost 50% this year according to internet research firm Hitwise. To start taking advantage, go to Vouchercodes.co.uk, 123vouchercodes.co.ukor Myvouchercodes.co.uk.

A quarter of us will only eat out these days if we have a deal or voucher to cut the cost, reports Emma Wall in The Telegraph. So here are more deals to take advantage of. Pizza Hut is offering 50% off all food until 8 October. Go to https://vouchers.pizzahutoffers.co.uk to get your voucher. Zizzi and ASK are both offering diners a second main course for £1 if they buy a full-priced main. The offer is valid from Sunday to Thursday, until 11 October at Zizzi and 19 October at Ask. Visit moneysupermarket.com for more details on these offers and many others.

Ruth Jackson-Kirby

Ruth Jackson-Kirby is a freelance personal finance journalist with 17 years’ experience, writing about everything from savings accounts and credit cards to pensions, property and pet insurance.

Ruth started her career at MoneyWeek after graduating with an MA from the University of St Andrews, and she continues to contribute regular articles to our personal finance section. After leaving MoneyWeek she went on to become deputy editor of Moneywise before becoming a freelance journalist.

Ruth writes regularly for national publications including The Sunday Times, The Times, The Mail on Sunday and Good Housekeeping, among many other titles both online and offline.