Seven Ways to Save Money in London

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Move-in expenses somehow always turn out to be bigger than initially expected. 

And especially if you are moving to London which, according to some reports, is the most expensive city in the world to live and work in.

The good news is, when you warm up your feet, you find London a bargain paradise.

Some Londoners agreed to give newcommers a few tips where to hunt for decent discounts or freebies.

1. Pay less for your food.

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Everybody agrees that good food is good mood. It becomes even better if you pay half price or less.

Many food stores in the United Kingdom hold sales before closing.

For example, half an hour before closing each Asian-inspired Itsu store holds sale. All sushi and salad boxes are half price.

Also look for yellow sticker discounts in Sainsbury’s, Marks & Spencer and other food stores. The later the evening, the larger reductions can be found for bread, meat, ready meals, etc.

In some areas of London you can see a small crowd of people going to supermarket for yellow sticker bargains before its closing time.

2. Enjoy a free cuppa daily!

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Prefer your cuppa tea or coffee on the go? It’s possible to enjoy it for free daily if there is a Waitrose store on your way.

Some stores have stricter rules, while the others have a more relaxed approach to passers-by who pop-in for a free cuppa. All you have to do is register for a free myWaitrose card and check your local Waitrose for details.

3. Get very cheap or free haircuts.

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Foreigners often complain about eye-watering prices for a simple haircut in London’s hair salons. But it doesn’t mean you must grow long locks if you are short of cash. Be a model instead!

Many luxury hair salons need models for their trainees. So it’s a win- win situation. For instance, Hari’s Hairdressers offers a free haircut or discounted colour (from £10 – £25) for people willing to be models.

Toni&Guy Academy trainees can style your hair for £5 either 9.30am or 1.45pm Monday – Friday. Just make sure to book your appointment online or by phone.

4. Trip to another city for £1.

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Need a break from London? Visit another city or town! You can find very cheap bus tickets at Megabus (http://uk.megabus.com/) if you start searching as early as possible.

The lucky ones grab one-way tickets just for £1. We checked directions to Bath Spa, Birmingham, Hull (UK cultural city 2017), Coventry, etc. and were very happy to find £1 deals.

Such prices would increase your pre-trip happiness to the max, no doubt.

5. Save 30% off train fares. Save on tube, too.

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Travelling by train is convenient but quite expensive. The first rule for saving on train fares - plan your trip well ahead and buy your ticket early.

Also it is worth considering buying a railcard that costs £30 for one year or £70 for three years. Railcards save you 30% off train fares, which is a good deal if you travel by train several times a year.

There are various types of railcards (www.railcard.co.uk).

Young Londoners use 16-25 Railcard. But what lots of them do not know, is that it can save them 30% on tube journeys, too. All you have to do, is link your 16-25 Railcard with an Oyster card to get discounts on off peak journeys.

Those, who usually travel as a pair, can save on journeys with Two Together Railcard launched in 2014.

6. Send money home for just 99 p.

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One of the main reasons people give for moving to a new country is to make extra income which allows them to save money for such things as buying a flat or to make extra money to help out their family back home. In the past the only options for sending money back home were banks or via Western Union or MoneyGram.

Not only were these options inconvenient they were also expensive. TransferGo is the leader in low-cost money transfers. TransferGo offers low transfer rates at a fixed rate that are substantially lower than you will find elsewhere. The foreign exchange rate is also fixed.  Both the fee and the exchange rate are clearly displayed when you make a transfer, meaning there are no surprises for you or the receiver.

7. Call home cheaply.

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Living abroad can be tough because your loved ones are so far away. We guess it is not possible to cure homesickness, but there is a way to make symptoms easier.

Call home with MOREmins app whenever you want wherever you are. It is very cheap and convenient like calling in the same country.

MOREmins works without internet. It converts your local minutes into cheap international ones.

How to be sure you are making a call via cheap international calling app MOREmins

Cheap international calling app MOREmins. Mantas Bardas photo

As we all lead busy lives, it is not a crime to get distracted or forgetful about things. But it is a real pain for us to know that our clients sometimes forget a simple action of opening MOREmins app before making an international call.

The result is dismaying: a huge bill from your mobile operator for a relatively short call abroad.

All MOREmins users know that this app has one distinctive feature. In the beginning of a call MOREmins credit balance is being checked and afterwards the client is informed how many minutes he/she will be able to talk. This message is a confirmation you are calling with MOREmins.

But we would like to give you one more piece of advice. Use your phone with a hands-free kit to be sure you are calling abroad via MOREmins app.

The phrase “Call via MOREmins” is displayed on a phone screen during the whole conversation. So you can't make an error.

The app has two distinctive features to let users know they are calling abroad via MOREmins.  Mantas Bardas photo

Also you will kill two birds with one stone because health experts advise using wired headsets to place more distance between the phone and the head.

Hands-free device reduces the amount of radiofrequency energy exposure to the head because the antenna, which is the source of energy, is not placed against the head.

And, last but not least, talking this way allows you to move freely and use a spare pair of hands for simple tasks and errands. ;)

When should I use MOREmins app?

We have noticed that people still do not know the difference between international calling and international roaming. This is why it is easy to confuse rates for your mobile calls.

From June next year, roaming in the EU will be abolished completely.

But international calling rates remain unregulated and many operators keep them high.

MOREmins provides cheap international calling services.

Call abroad from the country you live in (international call)

MOREmins is a service for people who want to make cheap international calls. Just open the app and call. 

You should call abroad from the country you live in.

Example: you live in the UK and subscribe to UK mobile operator. When you call abroad from the UK via MOREmins, you are making a cheap international call.  

       

Don't use the app when you are traveling abroad (roaming)

MOREmins uses your local minutes for internet-free calling. 

In most cases, it is better not to call via MOREmins when you travel outside your home network or to put it simply, when you use your phone abroad.

Your mobile operator will apply roaming fees if you use MOREmins while traveling abroad.

Example: you live in the UK and subscribe to UK mobile operator. Roaming is when you make calls and receive calls while traveling abroad. Usually this happens during holidays or short business trips abroad. 

New Cheap International Calling App

Hey MOREmins friends!

We would like to share some good news with you! MOREmins has released a new cheap international calling app. 

It works without internet and converts your local minutes into cheap international ones. 

People who live in Ireland, Lithuania, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Spain, United Kingdom and USA can use our app. 

Download MOREmins cheap international calling app for iPhone: https://goo.gl/e4qbiM. And for Android (Samsung, HTC, LG, Huawei etc.): https://goo.gl/wtDMuJ. 

Feel even MORE joy calling your dearest ones who are abroad!

Cheers,
MOREmins

www.moremins.com

Why Regular Calls Sometimes End up on Viber?

Recently we've got a couple of questions regarding regular mobile calls which unexpectedly ended up on a call receiver's Viber app. It happened while making international calls (also when calling with MOREmins).

Why our clients were worried about regular mobile calls received with Viber?

First of all, in some cases the quality of the sound/voice was really bad because the receiver of the call did not have good internet connection. To use Viber you need good 3G or Wi-Fi connection.

Secondly, callers had to pay regular international calling rates to their mobile operators even if calls were received with Viber.

It turns out that Viber has a new feature called Viber-In Calls. But MOREmins could not find much information about it.

At the moment (26/06/2015) this feature is described in apps shortly: “Receive regular incoming calls with Viber, when possible“.

  

 If you click on the link “Learn more“ all you can find is this:

We think that Viber-In Calls feature is useful when you receive calls while traveling abroad to avoid roaming charges. Just keep in mind, that to answer your phone calls with Viber you need good Wi-Fi connection.

If you are not traveling abroad, in our opinion, it does not make sense to use this feature, because it doesn‘t cost a thing to answer your phone calls. 

And the caller has to pay for his/her calls in both cases: whether they reach you on Viber or in a regular way.

Apparently Viber-In Calls feature was turned on automatically to some of Viber's users.

We've found out that you (and especially your call receiver) can easily turn this feature on or off using these simple steps:

More (or menu symbol for Android users)/ Settings/ Calls and Messages/ Viber-In Calls.

Also MOREmins came across an old but quite informative article about Viber-In Calls feature in GeekTime tech blog.  http://www.geektime.com/2013/07/02/exclusive-viber-testing-new-business-model-hijacking-your-cellular-calls/

It seems that these days more people are searching for information regarding new Viber's function and find this GeekTime post. 

"This is quite a problem for me, all foreign numbers are ringing via Viber app which has a significant worse voice quality as a build-in phone app. I have to turn off my mobile data to receive calls from foreign countries so the other side can hear me well." someone commented below the article 4 days ago.

  

Wishing you a nice weekend,

MOREmins

http://www.moremins.com

What is the Difference between Roaming and International Call?

We have noticed that people still do not know the difference between international calls and roaming. This is why it is easy to confuse rates for your mobile calls. 

Let us shortly remind you the difference between these two terms.

An example of roaming: you live in the UK and subscribe to UK mobile operator. Roaming is when you make calls and receive calls while traveling abroad. Usually this happens during holidays abroad or short business trips abroad. 

An example of an international call: you live in the UK and subscribe to UK mobile operator. When you call from UK to another country you are making an international call. 

MOREmins is a service for people who want to make cheap international calls. MOREmins app converts your mobile network operator's local minutes into international ones for a small fee.

These days subscribers of mobile operators get hundreds of free local minutes. If you cannot use up all your free local minutes, it is worth to consider converting them into cheap international ones. 

It is also worth mentioning that MOREmins app works without internet, so you can make your calls on the go.

But let's come back to roaming. Sometimes we get more complicated questions regarding it. One of them is really popular.

Example: you live in the UK and subscribe to UK mobile operator. Your friend also lives in the UK and subscribes to UK mobile operator. One day your friend goes abroad for a short vacation.

If he/she still uses UK mobile phone abroad, it does not cost you more than usual to give him/her a call (because you call from UK number to UK number). 

On the other hand, your friend pays for receiving your call because he/she receives it when traveling abroad (roaming).

We hope you'll find this information helpful.

Cheers,

MOREmins

www.moremins.com

Need Some Ideas When to Use MOREmins Calling App?

Have a nice week!
MOREmins
moremins.com