AGE is just a number – but when it comes to money, getting older could save you a ton of cash.
From a £330 a year pension boost to half price football season tickets, Sun Savers editor Lana Clements rounds up all the freebies, discounts and help grandparents and over-60s can pocket worth a HUGE £14.1k so YOU can be richer in 2026.
There are already 1.9 million pensioners living in poverty and unable to afford a good standard of living, according to charity Age UK, with the charity fearing that number will pass the two million mark in the coming years.
That means hunting down all the help and discounts available is more important than ever.
Here, we explain all the different ways grandparents can be thousands of pounds better off in 2026.
Pension Credit freebies you can get worth £5,430
You could unlock thousands of extra pounds – and freebies – by claiming Pension Credit.
This is a vital benefit that tops up your income to a certain limit – £227.10 a week if you are single or to £346.60 a week if you have a partner – and unlocks loads of freebies too.
The amount of Pension Credit you could get depends on your income, but it is worth an average £4,300 a year, according to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
It can unlock housing benefit, which provides financial help with all or part of your rent. What you get depends on where you live and the type of home you rent. You usually apply through your local council.
You will also be eligible for a free TV licence, usually worth £174.50, if you are over 75. Apply on the TV licence site here.
Plus, you’ll be able to get energy bill help too. This includes the winter fuel payment which is support to help low income pensioners with energy bills, worth up to £300, and the warm home discount, worth £150.
Both the winter fuel allowance and warm home discount are automatically awarded.
You’ll also get free NHS dental treatment and help with glasses, worth around £150. You’ll just need to show your dentist proof of receiving the benefit.
Many broadband and water providers offer discounted social tariffs for those on Pension Credit, which can save around £200 a year. Get in touch with your provider to see if you qualify.
Luckily, there’s a handy tool you can use to see if you are eligible to claim Pension Credit, via Age UK’s website or use the calculator on the Turn2us website.
I’m £4k better off after claiming little known benefit
YVONNE Bailey revealed how she’s £4,000 better off a year after claiming a little-known benefit.
The 78-year-old from Witney, Oxfordshire, realised she was eligible for the Pension Credit 13 years ago after an adviser at her local Citizens Advice Bureau told her she could claim.
Per week, she receives an extra £78 Pension Credit.
Yvonne said, had it has made a “huge difference” to her life
She added: “It meant I could go out with close girlfriends and have a coffee, and go round a garden centre and just, enjoy life,” she said.
“It meant I could buy new clothes when I needed it and trousers and practical things like that.”
One major perk of the benefit is that it has opened up Housing Benefit, a 100% council tax discount, and since she turned 75, a free TV licence.
Beyond the immediate cash saving, the free TV licence has helped Yvonne, a widower who lives alone, feel less isolated.
She says: “It means a lot. Living alone I’ve got my dog Daisy for company and whether I’m watching TV or not, it’s on because the house doesn’t feel so lonely then.
“It’s like you’ve got people there chattering in the background so it keeps you connected and keeps your brain active.”
Save up to £550 on watching the beautiful game
Love football? You can get season tickets at premiership clubs for around half the price.
For example, Chelsea Football Club a season ticket in the East Upper stand costs £1,095 whereas someone over 66 can buy it for £545 – saving £550.
Or Tottenham fans can get a season ticket for around £1,022 depending on where you sit, whereas the price for a senior over 66 is £562 – saving you £460.
If that’s too much cash, there are plenty of lower-level football teams offering cheap deals for seniors.
Yateley United Football Club is selling season tickets for £60 if you are aged over 65 – a full priced adult season ticket costs £90, which is a £30 saving.
Cheap and free days out worth £278 a year including Kew Gardens and cinema tickets
If you claim Pension Credit, you get super cheap days out at top attractions – like Kew Gardens for just £1.
If you visited Kew, you’d be looking at saving £23 on the cost of an adult ticket booked online – if you went just four times a year that would work out as £92 in ticket savings.
At the same time, children under four often go free so you can make a wonderful cheap day out for you and the grandchildren.
Cineworld has weekly screenings for those over 60, with tickets priced at just £4.50 which can be up to £20 for a full price adult – a saving of up to £15.50.
If you went once a month, that’s a saving of up to £186 a year.
Take classes for free or save £156 on a gym membership
Age UK runs free exercise classes across its nationwide network, including dance, yoga, walking football, tai chi and more. Find out what classes are happening in your area here.
Lots of gyms and leisure centres offer a senior discount too. Better leisure centres offer cheaper memberships to over 66s with unlimited off-peak access to gyms, swimming pools and fitness classes.
Prices depend on location, but a senior membership is £33 a month at Basingstoke Sports Centre, compared to £46 for an adult membership – £13 cheaper a month, or £156 over the year.
Free train, tube and bus tickets worth up to £3,264 a year
Get free travel with an older person’s bus pass once you reach state pension age.
Depending on where you live, the perk can be even more valuable.
For example, if you’re 66 or over and live in London, then you can also get free travel on the tube, trains and buses with TFL’s Older Person’s Freedom Pass, except between 4:30am-9am Monday to Friday.
Considering a zone 1-6 pass costs £3,264 a year for an adult, it’s a great saving.
Or if you live in West Yorkshire, residents at state pension age can get half-fare off-peak train travel throughout West Yorkshire.
Save £520 on your yearly food shop
Some high street chains offer exclusive discounts for customers aged over 60.
Every Tuesday, customers in this age group can enjoy a 10% discount on their shopping in Iceland, with no minimum spending requirement.
If you’re a member of the Midcounties Co-operate and you’re over 60, you can also get 10% off on Tuesdays as part of its Diamond Day Discount.
This means on a weekly shop of £100 at either shops, you’d score £10 off. Over the year, that’s a saving of £520.
Get extra Boots advantage points worth £8 plus free No7 gift worth £25
Anyone over 60 shopping at Boots and with a Advantage Card can also earn more points on their purchases (eight rather than three per £1 spend) which can be converted into money to spend at the chain.
Each point is worth 1p in store. Usually if you spent £100, you’d earn a £3 spend.
But pensioners instead earn 800 points or £8 in rewards after spending the same £100.
Look out for extra discounts on special over 60s shopping days.
On February 5, the retailer is offering a free No7 gift including replenishing facial oil worth nearly £25.
At the same time, you can get 10% off when you spend £20, 15% off when you spend £30 and 20% off when you spend £40 in-store on the day.
Save up to £169 a year dining out
There are plenty of restaurant chains that offer discounts to get older people through the doors.
Greene King pubs offer a specially discounted ‘Seniors menu’ for over 60s where you can get dishes for less on weekdays until 5pm at select pubs.
You could expect fish and chips at £7.49 on the seniors menu compared to £9.79 on the main menu – a saving of £2.30.
If you dined out once a week, that’s a saving of around £119.
Until the end of February, Asda is offering over 60s the chance to enjoy soup, bread and unlimited tea or coffee for just £1 in any of its 212 cafes.
The supermarket’s cafe also has a 10% discount on Wednesday for over 60s, so if you spent a fiver, that’s a 50p saving. If you visited the cafe once a week, that’s a £26 saving over the year.
Morrisons also runs a Club 60 scheme where anyone over 60 can tuck into a £10 afternoon meal deal featuring fish and chips, bread with butter, any slice of cake and hot drink, available from 12pm onwards every day.
Morrisons says the deal will save you up to £3.25. If you did this once a week, you’d save £169 over a year.
Boost your pension by £330 a year by looking after your grandkids
You can get paid for looking after the grandkids by applying for Specified adult childcare credits.
This is a type of National Insurance (NI) credit that can help you boost your state pension to get the full amount (which is currently £230.25 a week).
Each year of transferred credit can boost your state pension by £330 a year.
Apply by completing the CA9176 form on the gov website – then print and post it to HMRC.
Why should I claim adult childcare credits ?
APPLYING for specified adult childcare credits is a great idea if you need to boost your state pension.
To get the full state pension, you need to have made 35 years worth of National Insurance contributions. To get any state pension at all, you need at least 10 years.
National Insurance is a tax paid on your earnings, and is used to calculate what state pension you’ll get.
You may not have 35 years worth if you have had time out of work – such as to raise children, or look after a family member.
A way of topping up your record for free is to apply for specified adult childcare credits.
To qualify you must be an eligible family member, such as a grandparent, aunt, uncle or older sibling.
You need to be below the state pension age, which is currently 66, and the parent needs to be claiming Child Benefit.
Check if you’ve got holes in your record by checking your National Insurance record on the gov.uk website.
Boost income by up to £1,260 with marriage allowance
Couples can claim marriage allowance and slash their tax bill by £252 a year.
This lets you transfer £1,260 of your personal tax allowance to your husband, wife or civil partner if you earn below £12,570.
Whoever gets the boosted allowance must be a basic-rate taxpayer, which means their annual income is between £12,571 and £50,270.
It can also be backdated by up to four years – meaning you’d get £1,260 extra money in your pocket in just one year.
The easiest way is to fill out a form on the Government’s website.
Reunite with Premium Bonds worth £2,307
Check to see if you’ve lost track of any Premium Bonds prizes.
Premium Bonds works a bit like a lottery – you can buy a bond for £1, and it will be entered into a monthly draw where you have a chance to win a prize worth between £25 to £1million.
Last year more than £166 million of prizes were reunited with savers working out an average £2,307 per person.
Use the free tracing service, My Lost Account, to check if you have forgotten prizes.
Checklist of freebies to claim
ONCE your reach over 65 there are a lot of freebies you can get to save cash, Make sure you don’t miss out..
- Flu vaccine
If you are over 65 you can get the shot for free from your GP surgery and pharmacies. - Eye test
If you need your eyes checked, Boots and Specsavers offers NHS eye tests plus discounts on glasses for over 60s. - Hearing check
At Boots, if you are over 50, you can book a free hearing test and ear health check - Free prescriptions
If you are over 60, medicine prescribed by a doctor is free anywhere in the UK. You will just need to tell the chemist and fill in any forms for the prescription at the till.
