How We Got a Free 42 Inch HD TV (The 3 Secrets)

Have you ever felt you needed to buy something… but couldn’t justify the cost?

Well that happened to me a few months ago.

You see, we had an old fashioned TV.

Probably one of those that Noah used in the Ark.

It worked absolutely fine.

But, for a simple 32″ TV, it was massive.

And it took 2 people to lift it.

Plus, compared to modern TVs, it was quite expensive to run.

When we bought it all those years ago (too many to remember), it was rather fashionable.

32 inches was considered to be a large screen.

But times had moved on, and our ultra-reliable TV was no longer considered to be “cool”.

“Why don’t we get one of those LED TVs Dad?”

“Oh, our TV is so embarrassing”

I certainly wasn’t going to be swayed by the “old fashioned” arguments.

It worked, and it was paid-for.

But a larger screen – in a smaller box – burning less electricity, did make sense.

The big question remained however… why replace something that works?

So we did nothing about it.

Until a moment of inspiration.

Suddenly I understood how we could get a brand new 42 inch LED HD TV for free.

For absolutely nothing.

Zilch!

A few weeks later we brought home the brand new LG TV from our local Sainsburys supermarket.

Too good to be true?

Well, here’s the 3 secrets to how we did it.

And it’s all down to simple, but careful, money management.

1. Every time we shopped at Sainsburys or bought petrol, a few more points were added onto our Nectar card. Eventually those pennies became pounds.

2. We only spend on a credit card what we can afford to pay. If we can’t afford something, we don’t buy it. It’s quite a simple philosophy, but it keeps us out of debt.

So because we pay off our credit card bill each month – and therefore don’t pay interest – we went for a credit card that pays us 1% cashback on everything we buy.

By the way… the interest rate on that particular card would be much higher than normal if we didn’t have a “don’t spend what you can’t afford” philosophy.

3. We use a cashback service called Quidco.

How does Quidco work?

It’s very simple.

If you buy something online from a major company (e.g. car or home insurance, shoes, books), going to the retailer’s website via Quidco means that Quidco get a commission for introducing you to them.

Quidco share that commission with you.

On average, cashback values range from 1% to 12%.

But occassionally, you’ll get a massive £70 for a new car insurance policy.

Anyway…

When I added them all up, I found out that we could afford the new TV.

And there was some money left over to buy a nice TV table to put it on.

So what happened to our old TV?

Well, at first I wrote a post on Facebook, offering it to anyone brave enough to collect it.

Responses ranged from “try the science museum” to “does it come with wall fittings?”.

But someone suggested donating it to The British Heart Foundation.

So a quick telephone call…

And within a few days, the British Heart Foundation had collected it.

And they even sorted out gift-aid on its value.

So someone will get a nice 32″ colour TV with a posh remote control.

And the British Heart Foundation will get some money for it.

Everybody’s happy!

Including our sons who can watch football and QI on a larger-screened modern TV.

And my wife who can clean behind it (ooh, don’t tell her I said that or she’ll make me do it instead!).

And the electricity company who don’t need to charge us quite as much.

Oh… and me who can now finally watch TV in HD.

Welcome to the 21st Century!

 

P.S. If you want some info about Quidco, the cashback company, here’s a link to their website.  It’s my “refer a friend” link, so they may give me £10 cashback for the referral if you sign up via my link.  But it won’t affect your application in any way.  Just remember though to let me know when you get your own brand new TV from your cashback!