How to Be a Savvy Shopper With Esso & Nectar
This is a sponsored post with Nectar and Esso, but all opinions are my own.
There are all kinds of ways to save money over the long term, and reap the rewards at the end of the year.
Today we are going to look at how you can be a savvy shopper using Esso and your Nectar card!
Nectar Cards
Have you heard about Nectar cards before?
They are, in my opinion, one of the best loyalty cards out there. I use mine all the time, and have done so for years.
I love watching the points add up, and this is something that you can easily check by doing something as simple as checking your receipts.
Nectar cards are a loyalty card which you swipe at the till when doing your shopping (in relevant stores), and can accumulate points.
These points can be used to redeem amazing rewards (e.g. towards your next holiday) – or you can use them towards things like your food shopping, but the rewards are better bang for your buck.
Esso Nectar Loyalty Programme
Esso Nectar is a loyalty programme which is offered at participating Esso stations (so be sure to check yours is doing it!).
You can collect Nectar points at all participating Esso branded service stations (apart from those which have a Tesco Express shop attached) and get one Nectar point per litre of fuel purchased.
You can also get further points if you are buying in the shop or car wash – this will earn you two Nectar points per £1 spent on qualifying products.
My tip: get everyone in your family a Nectar card, and collect more points that way. My boyfriend and I each have a Nectar card for the same account, and we both earn points on it.
When we first got together though, he didn’t have a Nectar card – despite frequently going to places which he could get Nectar points. I was shocked!
He was resistant at first to having a card, but I showed him the rewards and things that you could get in exchange – I explained that it’s basically free money – and he was on board.
There are 1200 Esso branded fuel stations around the UK which serve around 800,000 customers a day!
With that in mind, there’s sure to be one that is near you, or you are passing through. Even if you don’t have one down the road from you, it’s still a good idea to sign up for a Nectar card just in case you get fuel somewhere else.
I don’t know about you, but I’ve done that – not signed up to the loyalty scheme because I’ve thought that there’s no point due to not having one near me. Then I’ve gone on a trip or something and needed to get fuel… at a station with a loyalty scheme.
It’s definitely worth signing up for a Nectar card, because you can get points at a large variety of other places too, including when you are doing your grocery shopping.
If you want to see all of the different places that you can collect Nectar points, be sure to check out the Nectar website.
You can also link your Nectar card to the Esso App, which you can use to pay for fuel from your car.
Spending Nectar Points
Ok, so we know how to collect Nectar points now, but how to spend them?
Don’t worry, I’m not starting to encourage you to spend! I still stand by my money philosophies.
In particular, my feeling that you should only spend money on the things that you need to, and that includes the things that make you truly happy.
Of course you need to spend money on your bills, even if paying your rent doesn’t make you feel warm and fuzzy.
I’m talking about the other stuff. The things that we spend our money on after we spend our bills – this is what determines our quality of life and how we achieve our goals.
Something that may be really important to you and your family may be going on several holidays a year. This is something that you need to save for, and include in your budget – but you can also hack it using your points.
Remember those Nectar points that you’ve been accumulating throughout the year? You can use them towards your holiday! No kidding, there are rewards on there which include flights, trains, holidays, days out and more.
Around the festive period is a time when it’s important to look at the different savvy ways in which you can save money.
If you have accumulated Nectar points throughout the year, you can put these to good use to save you money.
I find it’s always best to get the most out of your points by being specific about what you are going to use them for in advance.
If you’re just going to have a little browse through the rewards, you can end up spending money that you weren’t originally planning on.
I would suggest at the beginning of the year having a look at the rewards and seeing how you can use them towards your goals.
The plan here is to save money in the long run, and not just go for the quick wins.
Paying for fuel can be a really big part of the budget, so getting points for the money that you’re spending is a great way to deal with that. I love that Esso and Nectar have joined up to enable you to save money this way.
Esso Nectar is here to help you earn on the things you need, to spend on the things you want! Terms and conditions apply. Further info can be found online:
https://www.esso.co.uk/loyalty-program-nectar
Looking for an easier option than having to take your kids into the shop with you? Don’t forget that you can also link your Nectar card to the Esso App, allowing you to earn points when paying for fuel at the pump. The Esso App is available to Android phone and iPhone users with PayPal or Apple Pay.
Between 5th November 2019 and 26th February 2020, Esso customers can benefit from a Nectar points double up, helping to make the everyday more rewarding for drivers.
For every qualifying purchase of £5 or more on shop items such as milk or snacks at participating Esso Stations, customers will receive double the amount of Nectar points, simply by swiping their Nectar card at the till when they pay.