Top eight fantastic freebies YOU can claim in August – from £220 free cash to £100 warm weather pack with free fan

BAGGING a freebie or two is one of the best ways to boost your summer vibes without breaking the bank. We’ve scoured high and low for the top nine freebies worth a huge £829 you can bag this month – from £220 free cash to petting zoo tickets worth £19 for the WHOLE family, read our full list here and get claiming. You’ll be amazed at what freebies you can bag this month, from free cash to free make-up Credit: Getty We can all do with a strategy to be better off right now, as the cost of living is turning up the heat on our budgets. Food, fuel and petrol prices are all rising while the latest stats show inflation at 2.6 per cent. You’d be wise to help cushion the blow and make the most of these top free goodies. Here is what’s available… Tell your mate about great service for up to £200 Are you a Revolut customer? Refer a friend and get paid up to £200 Credit: Alamy If you’ve had great service from a provider, you can earn a stack of cash for simply referring a friend. The rewards vary by brand but can be hundreds of pounds. For example, if you’re a Revolut customer the amount you get for signing up a friend can be between £20 right up to £200 – the exact amount varies. Refer a friend by getting an invite code through your account, and your mate will need to put this in when signing up for an account. Or if you sign a pal up to TopCashback you’ll pocket a neat £20. You’ll get a unique referral code by signing up through your account. Or on the flip side, it’s also worth asking friends BEFORE signing up to a new brand if they can refer you because sometimes you can both earn a bonus – win-win. For example, customers referred to savings and investment platform AJ Bell will get a £100 Amazon gift card, as well as one for the original customer. Sign up here. Get referred to Virgin Media O2 and you’ll both get £50 by signing up here, while you and a pal will both get £50 in bill credit if you are recommended to Octopus Energy. Just bear in mind that to get these bonuses, you’ll need to sign up – or make sure your mate signs up – through a special referral link, which you can usually be found and shared through your online account. Free petting zoo tickets worth £19 If your kids love animals, you can bag free petting zoo tickets if you eat at Pizza Hut Get free petting zoo tickets for the WHOLE family when you take the family out to eat at Pizza Hut. Up to four free tickets are on offer if you make the most of the “kids eat free” deal, running from 27 July to 2 September. You have to spend £9.99 to unlock a free kids meal, and go to one of Pizza Hut’s restaurants – the deal isn’t available via delivery. To claim, have the code “KEF” to hand when paying. For a family of four, two adults would have to spend £18.99 on their meals for two kids to eat for free. Five petting zoo and sanctuaries are participating in the offer, they are: Blandford Animal Sanctuary (Dorset) – Tue & Thu, 10.30am–4.30pm Buttercups Sanctuary for Goats (Kent) – Thu–Tue, 11am–4pm Mayfields Animal Sanctuary (Sheffield) – Wed–Sun, 10am–6pm Cherry Tree Farm (Norfolk) – Daily, 10.30am–4pm Waulkmill Menagerie (Aberdeenshire) – Weekends, 10am–3pm If you went to Buttercups Sanctuary for Goats, for example, it would cost you £19 for a family with two children between 4-13 years old – a great saving. Free heatwave pack including fans worth up to £100 Brits have been keeping cool with fans – and EDF is offering free ones to eligible customers Credit: Getty If you’re struggling in the heat and you’re an EDF customer, you could be in line for a heatwave relief packs. People who will struggle to keep their home cool or are worried about the cost to run devices including fans will be eligible for the support. Those who are eligible will receive tailored help worth up to £100, which could include: Energy-efficient desk or pedestal fans Handheld or neck fans Thermal blackout curtains Reflective window film Reusable hydration bottles Cooling towels Up to £20 of electricity credit or vouchers to help cover the cost of running cooling appliances Practical advice and guidance on staying safe during hot weather Customers will be identified by EDF’s customer support teams, referrals and directly through customer engagement channels. Anyone wanting to find out more about the support available should visit EDF’s website for details here. Bag baby treats worth £15 or more Get some fantastic freebies for your little one from shampoo to nappies and wipes Credit: Alamy Caring for a little one can burn a big hole in your budget. But there are lots of places to get freebies worth a pretty penny simply from signing up to parenting clubs. In the latest deals, you’ll get a free Aveeno baby shampoo worth around £7 when you become a member of the Boots parenting club. You can also bag a bumper pack of goodies including a full-pack of Pampers nappies, worth £5, and Pampers New Baby Wipes, worth £3.50, when you sign up for free membership to Emma’s Diary and claim the ‘bump 2 baby’ gift pack. Sign up and get more information here. It’s also worth signing up to M&S’s parenthood here – you can enjoy a free slice of cake at parent and baby mornings, as well as exclusive offers such as 10 per cent off baby grows. 'I never pay full price and it saves me £6,000 a year' THRIFTY mum Chinasa Akaelu, 42, from West Lothian, never misses a chance to make a saving. The mum-of-three does a big shop when she gets paid each month, and tries to cancel out the rising cost of groceries with savvy spending and collecting freebies where she can. She shops around to find the best prices, then cuts her costs further using supermarket loyalty schemes and coupons. “I use the supermarket apps, like Lidl Plus, to collect points, using them strategically,” she says. As well as working as a social worker, Chinasa is studying for a master’s in dementia studies, giving her access to student discounts. When she eats out at family favourite Pizza Express, the Unidays discount takes a 25 per cent chunk off the bill. She tries to use this with other discounts, such as any freebies that come with being a member of Pizza Express Club. She also uses her Tesco Clubcard points to turn 50p worth of points into a £1.50 Pizza Express voucher. “I weigh up this student discount with other offers to make sure I am getting the best deal, and often I layer deals. “I might buy something with an e-voucher with cashback, and then add an extra discount on top,” she explains. Chinasa looks for deals that add “free gifts” or vouchers, and also where she can use her social worker discount or TopCashback to get some of the money back. Cover your makeup base with samples worth £20 Bag a free foundation sample from Estee Lauder, worth £20 – we explain how Credit: Not known, clear with picture desk Upgrade your makeup collection with a couple of fab free samples. Head to Estee Lauder website here and you can currently download a voucher for a free 10-day foundation sample. Just take to an Estee Lauder counter to claim. You’ll be able to pick the shade and can choose from the brand’s foundation range, including the double wear products. Clinique is running a similar promotion through its website where you can access the offer for a free 10-day foundation sample – click here. You just need to sign up with your name and email address to get the deal, then head to a Clinique counter to claim. Both trial products are 4ml in size and worth around £10. Set off on an adventure with a free tent worth £250 You could bag a tent for free at Decathalon – we explain how Credit: Alamy If you’re heading to a festival this summer or for a wild weekend of camping with the family, you’ll need a good tent. And under Decathlon’s ‘no tent left behind’ initiative, you can in effect get one for free. The scheme allows you to buy one of its tents from the Quechua range between now and September 6 and if you bring it back, you’ll get the full value back in the form of store credit. Or if you’d rather take 50 per cent of the value back as transfer, you can do that too. The tents vary in value but the instant three-person camping tent, £249.99, gets our vote – it pops up in seconds, and comes with fresh and black technology to keep it cool and dark. Just bear in mind, the tent you return will need to be in good condition to get the refund – that means no stains, tears or pieces missing. Return the tent by September 6 to get the offer. Take a ‘me’ moment with free coffee and cake worth £5 at John Lewis You can get a free coffee and cake worth around a fiver from John Lewis Credit: Getty Who says you can’t have your cake and eat it? Sign up to the My JohnLewis loyalty scheme here and you can currently get a free coffee and cake at its in-store Place to Eat cafes. The treat is worth around £5 and a nice pick-me-up if you’re already heading to the department store. You’ll also benefit from other offers such as discounts on selected products, as well as competitions. Line your pockets with a £220 cash payment Get free cash by switching banks – you can get a boost worth up to £220 with HSBC Credit: Alamy Shifting your bank account is one of the easiest moves to make to get your hands on a lump sum of cash. If you have blown the budget during the warm weather, this boost could help get your budget back on track. You just need to switch to a new account with a provider offering a cash incentive – and there are a few to choose from. The biggest rewards currently on offer is from HSBC which gives newbies £220, and you can expect the bonus within 60 days. If you’re a high earner with income of more than £100,000 a year you can switch to HSBC’s premier account and receive a £500 opening bonus. You can also get £200 if you’d rather switch to NatWest, as well as £175 by moving to First Direct. Choose the bank best suited to your everyday banking needs and make sure you meet the qualifying criteria. Once you have applied, everything else is taken care of, including the closure of your old account.