If you’re not happy with the service you receive from your bank, or your loyalty isn’t rewarded, then why stay with them? A year ago, I decided to switch to First Direct because they were offering a £125 incentive – brilliant. Three months after opening the account (and having my salary paid into it and two direct debits coming out of it), £125 landed in my account. Effectively, for doing nothing. The switching process is simple, and should anything go wrong, the banks are required to pay any fees and make corrections.

Here’s a fantastic post by Debt Busting Chic (whose blog you really should be reading!) about what her bank (Halifax) offered her after a simple visit.

There are great offers around – most of them require you to have a certain amount paid into the account monthly, as well as switching over a few direct debits – this was fine for me. I get my salary paid into my First Direct account, have my phone bill and regular savings come out of it via direct debit and standing order, then I have a standing order to send the rest to my other accounts (I have a lot of accounts!) including our joint account.

At the moment, we are eyeing up the Santander 123 current account, which gives you cash back on bills (including a mortgage!) and some other purchases. It does cost £2 a month but hopefully we would be making more back in cash back.

Below is a great selection of bank accounts to choose from – in no particular order.

• First Direct – £100 for switching. Must have a monthly income of £1,000 paid into the account (or put £1 into one of their e-savings accounts).
• Santander 123 current account – costs £2 a month, but you get up to 3% cash back on bills
• The Co-op bank gives you £100 and £25 to charity, but you must pay in £800 per month.
• Halifax offer you £100 to switch and £5 a month as a reward. You must pay in £750 per month and close your old account.

Have you switched recently in order to get an incentive? How’d it go?

What’s #dfwbloggers you ask? “dfw” stands for Debt Free Wannabe, which is a forum on the Money Saving Expert site. There’s loads of great advice on that forum, from debt free diaries to challenges (make a payment a day towards your debt; pay off your debts 1% at a time and many more) as well as debt advisors on hand to assist you. Back in 2006 I came across the DFW forum as being the best forum for money making ideas – people who were making extra money to clear their debts. It is home to the “make £10 a day” challenge that I participate in most months. #dfwbloggers  is a Twitter hashtag created by @Mse_forum for anyone (not just bloggers) to chat together every Friday between 8.30-9.30pm (after Martin Lewis’ money show on ITV which has just finished for the season) about debt, paying it off and making some extra money.

Debt can be such a horrible thing when left un-managed. I have debt which I happily manage at 0% interest, but I’ve made it a real goal to clear it this year, especially before we get married. And between you and me, I really want to clear it by the end of June. Debt shouldn’t be a taboo subject, and attempts to reduce or get rid of it should be shouted from the roof-tops.

It’s definitely different to the usual beauty bloggers, fashion bloggers and lifestyle bloggers chat. You’ll also find the chats motivating as each week there are more and more people who become debt free.  I’ll also be around most weeks to chat about things from debt to making extra money (which is why you’re here!) so it would be great if you could get involved by joining in or raising awareness for the weekly chats.

Going to the cinema is expensive! A 2D screening is £9.40 for an adult, and a 3D screening would set you back at least £10.50, not to mention the £1 for 3D glasses. In the past we’ve used Orange Wednesdays to get buy one get one free on cinema tickets on Wednesdays, but now that neither of us has an Orange phone, we had to look for other ways to save.

That’s when we discovered Cineworld Unlimited. For £15.90 a month, you can enjoy unlimited films at Cineworls cinemas (you do, however, still have to pay for the “uplift” for 3D screenings, which is approximately £2.10 per screening. If you stay a member after 12 months then this fee is lifted). Which in itself is great – see two films a month and you’re “in credit”. But alongside this, you also get 10% off food and drink purchases from Cineworld, exclusive Unlimited newsletters and invitations to advance screenings. You’re still able to book tickets in advance using the Cineworld website with your Unlimited card.

You can buy the Unlimited card in person or online – I opted for online as you can upload your own photo and save time at the cinema. I also had a refer a friend code, offering my referrer and me an extra month at the end of the initial 12 month contract for free. I was able to print off a temporary card and use it that same day to go and see a film. You can opt to pay monthly or for the year in advance – there’s no discount for paying it all upfront, so I decided to pay monthly. The first payment is due when signing up, and subsequent payments are taken via Direct Debit.

If you’d like to sign up using a code that gives both you and me a month’s free membership after 12 months, then please use either of the following two codes:
RAF-07GR-59RW-05PQ-69UW            or             RAF-24VB-07EJ-74CL-16LS
I’d be extremely grateful if you used one of these code – helping us to save some money to put towards our wedding!

Do you have a Cineworld Unlimited card? Do you find it good value for money?

BIC are currently running a promotion to earn £10 by sending them an empty pen back. If only it were that easy! But of course there are some terms and conditions that you should be aware of.

1. Buy a pack of 10 BIC^® Cristal^® medium pens between the 1st of October 2013 and the 31st of January 2014 and get going!
2. Write, draw or doodle until all the ink in your BIC^® Cristal^® pen has gone – no mean feat!
3. Congratulate yourself – that’s a lot of ink you just got through
4. Download and fill out the form below
5. In the form, write a 15 words explanation on how you finished your BIC^® Cristal^® pen
6. Wait 30 days before sending it along with a copy of your receipt and the empty BIC® Cristal® pen to:
   • UK residents: BIC Cristal Challenge, PO BOX 133, Uckfield, TN22 1HH
   • ROI residents: BiC Cristal Challenge, Dept. AA2566, PO Box 6151, Dublin 2
     You have until the 31st of May 2014 to claim your reward
7. Be patient, it can take up to 28 working days for you to receive your £10 cheque once we’ve received your submission

You need to have a receipt from your purchase, have bought the pens before 31st January, use up the pen and send it back by 31st May 2014 to get your £10. The pens are currently in offer in Sainsbury’s for £1.49 (although they usually cost £3, so even at full price, there’s £7 profit to be made).