SPLASHING out on a coffee pick-me-up doesn’t need to cost as much as you think it does.

Dee Bespalova, named the best Starbucks barista in the UK, has shared her top tips on how to save money – including the secret to free refills.

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Star barista Dee was awarded after taking on her fellow Starbucks coffee connoisseurs from up and down the country.

She has now shared her top tips for saving money at Starbucks – and who better to get the inside information from?

Buying coffee on the go can be shockingly expensive when added up over time.

According to Wholesale Coffee Co, Brits spend on average £5.50 per week on coffee, which is £286 a year.

And on average, people who buy a Starbucks three times a week spending approximately £54 a month, which is a whopping £648 annually.

At The Sun, we always recommend you make coffee from home to save money.

For example, with Tesco Clubcard prices you can buy 6 sachets of Costa Barista Creations in any flavour for £1.75 – that’s 30p a coffee.

Meanwhile, a Starbucks can typically set you back around £4.50 for one drink, or up to £6.55 for special recipes.

Starbucks prices change based on availability, and between locations.

However, we also know that, sometimes, a DIY coffee from home isn’t quite as exciting as a Starbucks on the go.

And with experts like Dee making the coffee, sometimes it’s okay to spend a little extra on a hot drink you know you’ll love.

For this reason, we put together Dee’s top tips for enjoying a Starbucks the savvy way – so you don’t have to miss out on that coffee catch up with friends.

By combining all of these tips across the year, a person who drinks three coffees a week and spends £648 annually will save £343.20.

The amount you save will vary depending on how much you typically spend of course.

GET FREE REFILLS – £271.20

One of the most exciting tips Dee whispered to The Sun was that filter coffee-drinkers are actually able to get refills for free.

She said: “Whilst lattes and flat whites are many people’s favourites, if your usual order is a black coffee, or a coffee with just a splash of milk, consider asking whether your local store offers filter coffee, which you can swap out for your americano and enjoy a free refill.”

A filter coffee at Starbucks is easy on the wallet too, starting at just £1.95. 

If you were to buy two americanos (£3.80 each), this would cost you £7.60.

If you did this once a week for a year, you would rack up a spending of £364.80.

Instead, you could save a total of £5.65 a visit by ordering a filter coffee and getting a free refill instead.

If you did this once a week for a year instead, you’d spend £93.60 a year – saving £271.20 across the year just by swapping for filter coffee.

Dee recommends going up and asking your barista if it offers filter coffees, as they are not in all stores and might not always be on the menu at the tills where you’ll usually find the latest additions and seasonal drinks on show.

You’ll need to purchase the first drink to have in to then qualify for a free tall refill.

SWAP SYRUPS – £72

When you fancy your coffee with a little twist, a syrup will usually do the trick – but if you are looking to save, there is a cheaper option.

You can swap out the dairy milk for an alternative to bring a different flavour to your drink.  

According to Dee, dairy alternatives at Starbucks are offered at no extra charge.

Customers can request oat, soy, almond or coconut milk.

“But if you’re a bit stuck for where to start, choose a drink with a dairy alternative as standard”, she told The Sun.

“For example, the Iced Brown Sugar Oat Shaken Espresso is designed to work best with the delicious roast nutty flavours of oat dairy alternative.”

Starbucks is one of very few chains which offers completely free milk alternatives.

In Costa for instance, soya is the only non-dairy milk you can buy free of charge. For oat or coconut, the customer must spend 45p.

A shot of syrup at Starbucks typically costs 50p, so you can save £1.50 a week based on having three drinks a week on average – that’s £6 a month, and £72 a year.

Of course, keep in mind that out calculations are based three coffees a week – the amount you save will vary based on how much you usually spend on coffee.

GET FREEBIES WITH STARBUCKS REWARDS – £72

Regular Starbucks customers can download the Starbucks app and collect points, which can be used to gain free rewards.

Dee said: “It pays to be loyal and Starbucks Rewards is quick and easy to use.”

Customers can collect three stars for every £1 spent, and when you reach 150 stars, you’ll get a free drink of any size.

If customers reach 450 stars, they will be rewarded with Gold status.

This means extra shots of espresso, selected syrups and whipped cream are all on the house. 

Each of these extras usually cost 50p, meaning you could save £s off a single purchase.

If you cashed in on these extras three times a week, you’d save £1.50 – that’s £6 a month, and £72 a year.

To begin collecting rewards, download the Starbucks app and sign up with your email address.

However, keep in mind that with all schemes such as these, the goal of the company is to get you spending more money.

If you become a rewards member, be sure to use it as a perk, and not an excuse to buy more coffees when you’re out of the house – otherwise you will lose money rather than saving it.

Also remember that having apps and email notifications from businesses like Starbucks may subconsciously encourage you to spend more money, so be mindful of marketing influences.

In moderation, rewards are much more enjoyable.

To find the nearest Starbucks near you, visit their website.

Do you have a money problem that needs sorting? Get in touch by emailing money-sm@news.co.uk.

Plus, you can join our Sun Money Chats and Tips Facebook group to share your tips and stories

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THE BEST pizzas in Britain have been revealed, but does your hometown favourite make the cut?

Pizza is undoubtedly a much loved food among Brits, with a variety of toppings plus vegetarian and vegan options to choose from.

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Now, we know exactly where to go to find the perfect slice.

Following the 2024 National Pizza Awards, the 16 UK finalists have been unveiled.

The list includes both high street chains and indie joints.

On November 12 at London’s Big Penny Social, the finalists will fight for the title of Pizza Chef of the Year in a live cooking challenge.

It’ll be a technical task where the finalists must create “the ultimate pizza”, as reported by Time Out.

Assessed by a panel of beady-eyed expert judges.

This year will also see the introduction of The Alternative Slice Award.

Whoever puts together the most delectable dish using free-from products will claim this title.

Earlier this year, the pizzeria in London was crowned as the best in Europe a the World 50 Top Pizza Awards.

Napili on the Road, owned by Michele Pascarella, scooped up the award dubbed the Michelin Awards of pizzerias.

The selection process for the Top 50 awards is “very mysterious” and includes anonymous restaurant visits by pizza critics.

Not only is Napoli on the Road Europe’s best pizzeria, but Michele was also named the world’s best pizza chef at the awards in 2023.

Born in Caserta near Naples, Michele started making pizzas when he was just 11 years old.

After moving to the UK aged 19, he set up Napoli on the Road, which as its name suggests, started out life as a food truck selling slices at food markets and festivals.

Since then he has settled in his spot in Chiswick, where his talents have now earned him global recognition.

With several awards now under his belt, it’s safe to say that Michele knows exactly how Brits should be eating pizza too, and as it turns out some of us might be doing that wrong.

He told the Daily Mail: “‘I think there are few mistakes about eating pizza, for example, overloading with too many toppings, making it difficult to enjoy the base, using a knife and fork instead of eating it with their hands, not pairing it with a suitable beverage – missing out on a complete dining experience, and adding chilli oil everywhere.”

It comes after a burger shack in Rye has been crowned the best place in the UK to grab a quick bite to eat.

And a restaurant in Solihull less than a 10-minute drive away from Birmingham Airport has been crowned the best “hidden gem” restaurant in Britain.

SAVVY shoppers have gone wild for the latest Sol De Janeiro dupe scanning at a bargain £4.

The popular scents are on a sale in Lidl for a fraction of the price.

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A bargain-hunter spotted the dupe an posted them on the Exteme Couponing and Bargains UK group writing: “For the people who like Sol De Janeiro, Lidl have their own version for just £3.99!”

Fans of the “lush” Sol De Janiero Dupe flocked to the comment section.

One person commented: “Need these for Christmas.”

While another added: “Now that is a close dupe bottle.”

A third person added: “They smell identical too.”

The popular Sol De Janiero products normally sell for £24, but at £4 the Lidl dupes are a savvy shoppers dream.

It’s always best to phone ahead to your local shop to check what they have available to avoid disappointment.

It always pays to compare prices so you know you’re getting the best deal.

There are dozens of similar-looking scents listed online at the moment.

Another savvy shopper also spotted the lush smelling dupe at Morrisons for a fraction of the price.

They spotted the bargain buys and posted them on the B&M Bargains, Extreme Money Saving Deals and More Facebook group, writing: “Found these Body mists in a Morrisons local £2 they smell amazing smell lasted for hours I have one happy teenager.”

The user also replied to a comment saying: “It’s a body mist Sol de Janeiro dupe sorry I am not a professional social media Guru.

“I was asking the lady in the shop she said they have gone into all Morrisons locals.”

The Morrisons deal will likely not be around for long as the sign above the bargain bin states “when it’s gone it’s gone”.

The original branded product costs £24 for 90ml but is currently on offer at Boots for £19.20.

Earlier in the year Primark released brand new dupes, with a selection of different scents costing just £3.50 for 100ml.

The pink version is Primark’s Hawaii Paradise Body Mist.

It’s always a good idea to shop around to make sure you can find the best deals.

There are plenty of comparison websites out there that’ll check prices for you – so don’t be left paying more than you have to.

Most of them work by comparing the prices across hundreds of retailers.

Google Shopping is a tool that lets users search for and compare prices for products across the web. Simply type in keywords, or a product number, to bring up search results.

Price Spy logs the history of how much something costs from over 3,000 different retailers, including Argos, Amazon, eBay and supermarkets.

Once you select an individual product you can quickly compare which stores have the best price and which have it in stock.

Idealo is another website that lets you compare prices between retailers.

All shoppers need to do is search for the item they need and the website will rank them from the cheapest to the most expensive one.

Model portfolio sales in the UK finance adviser channel slowed in the first half of this year despite the market ‘boom’ of 2023.

According to data from ISS Market Intelligence (ISS MI), sales grew 6% over the course of H1 2024, both in aggregate and among individual firms.

This is compared to 13% in the same period last year.

Altogether, model portfolios still saw £8bn in net sales. However, net sales outside of models continued to see significant redemptions.

The five best-selling providers for H1 2024 were Quilter, Tatton, Parmenion, Timeline Portfolios and Financial Express

The best-selling fund managers for the same period, by gross sales, were Vanguard Asset Management, BlackRock Investment Management and Legal & General Investment Management.

The research also showed that the average financial adviser firm only uses two separate model providers.

Overall, 14% of adviser firms are using more than five providers, a year-on-year increase of 11%

Altogether, 38% firms using model portfolios rely on them for more than 75% of their fund sales.

The report also found that the average ongoing charge figure (OCF) for model portfolios used by financial advisers was 41 basis points at the end of H1.

ISS MI said this means that 43% of all share classes sold through models had an OCF below 20bps at the end of H1, “highlighting how the growth of passives has changed the cost profile on MPS programmes”.

ISS MI EMEA research leader Benjamin Reed-Hurwitz said: “Although gross sales lagged the channel in the first half, model portfolios are proving their staying power and continue to bring in net new money.

“While much of the growth seen in 2023 stemmed from firms moving money towards insourced MPS programmes, model growth was driven by the adoption of outsourced MPS programmes this year.

“Passive investing continues to grow within the UK as questions around value and cost remain predominant.

“For MPS providers, this has meant further scrutiny of both portfolio management costs and underlying fund costs.

“As a consequence, the last 18 months has seen many MPS providers look to lower their costs on one or both fronts, which is a trend we expect to continue as competition within this space remains high.”

Insurance broker Reassured has partnered with owners of Confused.com, RVU, on life-insurance offering.

The partnership offers RVU consumers the ability to compare and switch across a range of utilities and financial services products.

It will see RVU brands using Reassured’s services to support customers in comparing life-insurance cover from a wide range of leading insurers, both on an advised and non-advised basis.

RVU owns several comparison site brands, including Money.co.uk and Uswitch, and plans to expand further in the life-insurance market.

Reassured is the UK’s largest life-insurance broker and specialises in arranging life insurance for people across the country. It has helped protect over 1.5 million families over the last 15 years.

Mark Townsend, Reassured chief executive, said: “The RVU brands are huge household names in our industry, and we are delighted that they have chosen Reassured to power its life-insurance offering.

“Now, customers of Confused.com, Money.co.uk and Uswitch can utilise our digital and offline expertise to get the life-insurance cover they need. This deal is a win-win for both RVU and Reassured, and we look forward to working alongside such an established and well-respected company for many years to come.”

Steve Dukes, Confused.com chief executive, added: “Reassured’s commitment to being a consumer-focused organisation was a big attraction for us, as well as their deep expertise in the sector.

“Giving our customers the best experience is at the very core of what we do. And with this partnership, we’re able to utilise Reassured’s expertise alongside our own experience in the industry to help our customers get the right cover for their needs.”