1p hot drink every day – trick to get a basically free coffee or tea
Nothing beats starting your morning with a nice brew – but buying it from Starbucks or Costa will set you back a good few quid. Luckily, I have a trick that’ll get you a basically free coffee or tea – you only pay a penny.
Loyalty schemes are one of my favourite ways to save money. You sign up once and reap the benefits through in store offers and money off through the post.
If you’re not signed up to the many loyalty schemes on the high street, you could be missing out on some great freebies like this one.
Shopping in Waitrose for your groceries might be on the pricier side… but its loyalty card is in fact your source for a 1p coffee or tea every single day. A few stores are excluded – but it works in most places (see below for exclusions).
How to get a ‘free’ coffee or tea
The MyWaitrose card is free to sign up to, and once you do, it unlocks benefits such as member pricing in store, and also a free coffee or tea when you make a purchase in Waitrose.
If you sign up for one, you’ll need to wait for your card to be delivered to start getting the deal.
To get the free coffee or tea, you’ll need to make a purchase and scan your MyWaitrose card at checkout.
There should be an automatic coffee machine near the customer services desk, in which you can grab an americano, cappuccino, latte or tea.
Yes… you have to make a purchase in store, but the trick here is… there is no minimum spend. So you can buy the cheapest thing you can find, checkout and grab a drink.
What is the cheapest thing you can buy?
There are a few cheap items to buy in Waitrose (would you believe it). If you wanted a banana for your lunch, that’ll cost about 12p – which is still a good deal if you get a free coffee or tea with it too.
You can go cheaper though, pick up a single carrot and you’ll only pay 6p (and get something for dinner), but you can go cheaper still…
As per the title, you can spend just 1p, and that’s by buying a singular brussels sprout. Yep, that’s right, find the smallest sprout you can, and they’ll weigh in between 1-3p per sprout.
Put it on the scales, and grab a price sticker, and skip on over to the till. Love them or hate them, this is your ticket to a free brew.
If you do this every day, you should have a full portion of sprouts for a Sunday roast after a week or two – so they shouldn’t go to waste.
You must bring a reusable cup
There is one caveat to all of this. Waitrose has stopped its use of plastic and cardboard cups when getting your coffee or tea, and therefore they ask you to bring along your own cup to get your drink.
If you don’t have a reusable cup, you can purchase them cheaply – including one in Starbucks for £1. Even if you bought this and then popped to Waitrose, £1.01 is still cheaper than getting one from Starbucks!
Which stores are excluded?
If your local Waitrose is in Hazelmere, Battersea, Bagshot Road, Roehampton, Burgh Heath, Burnt Common, Petts Wood, Sceptre, Ealing, Horley, Ken Gardens, Broxbourne, Tubs Hill, Headington or Guildford, you’ll need to spend £30+ on fuel to get your free coffee or tea.
There are a few exclusions in terms of what you can buy to get the freebie too, including infant formula milk, lottery tickets and tobacco. For the full list, see the terms and conditions.
I hope this keeps your caffeine cravings at bay a penny at a time. It’s a cool little hack, that could become a morning routine if you have one on your commuting route.
There are plenty of tricks like this coming up too! In the mean time, check out my Airtime Rewards, Shopmium and Jobspotter articles for different phone apps to save you money.
Will you be picking up a 1p coffee or tea? I’d love to know in the comments below, on Twitter @Jordon_Cox or on Facebook.
4 Comments
Christine Taylor
I thoroughly enjoy my ‘free’ coffee when I shop at Waitrose! I combine it with spending £10 to ensure I pick up a free newspaper too, the price of which is included in the £10!!
KatSaffi
No Waitrose near me. However, I’ve been traveling to a hospital in another area for a weekly appointment for the last two weeks. There is a Waitrose about halfway on the journey so I have been loving this freebie! I’ve got another 10 weeks of appointments so this really helps lift me on my visits.
Thanks Jordan! 😺🐾
Blueizs
Well I’m going to give it ago I’ve got my reusable cup and I do like things for free !!!
Merry
Good poat however I was wantinng to know if yoou could wrige a littge more oon tthis topic?
I’d be very thankful if youu could elaboirate a litle
bitt more. Kudos!