A stamp rush is possible after viewers were alerted to price hikes next month.
Martin Lewis advised people to stock up on stamps for this Christmas now. The advice came during a cost of living special on his ITV show on Tuesday night in which he also spoke about how to ward off the effects of impending energy price hikes.
Martin Lewis Money Show viewers have been warned that the cost of stamps and prescriptions will rise from April 4. The price of first class stamps will increase from 85p to 95p and the cost of second class stamps will increase from 2p to 68p.
The founder of Money Saving Expert explained that regular stamps are expected to be replaced by barcode stamps from February 2023. As a result, stamps purchased now can only be used until January 31, 2023.
Lewis advised people who expected to use a lot of stamps this festive season to stock up now to avoid being hit in the pocket later this year. He said anyone who buys stamps now but has some left over by February 2023 could take advantage of a free exchange program that is expected to arrive later in the year.
He said: “The key rule here is stockpile those class stamps now, i.e. the ones that say first or second. In the past when prices went up I always said you could use them indefinitely. , but you can only use them until Jan. 31 2023. So buy Christmas stamps now if you can. But if you’re going to use stamps in the future, you might as well buy them now as long as you can. they are cheap.”
The increase in the cost of stamps will deal a further blow to people who will be hit by rising energy prices next month. From April, Ofgem’s price cap will increase for 22million homeowners, with the average household bill expected to rise by around £693 a year. Lewis shared a number of money-saving tips during the hour-long program. These included people checking if they could store energy now to beat rising prices and taking a meter reading now if they were paying by direct debit.
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