Haggle with Barclaycard for its 5% hidden cashback deal

Barclaycard holders can sneakily get up to 5% cashback just by calling up and threatening to leave. You need to show a bit of chutzpah but in return it's likely you'll be offered a cashback deal between 2% and 5% for up to six months just for agreeing to stay with it.

5% is the current best cashback deal offered to new customers (by Amex Platinum) so anyone with a Barclaycard should give this a go, especially if big purchases are likely within the next couple of months.

Once you've bagged the deal from Barclaycard just load all your spending onto the plastic during the cashback period, as long as you make sure you pay the amount off in full each month to avoid paying interest.

Read Martin's Best Cashback Cards guide for full information on the top deals.

Travel between London and Manchester for £1

Virgin Trains is selling dirt cheap tickets between London Euston and Manchester. They start from a remarkable £1 each way but are more commonly sub-£10.

You can book up to 22 May 2008 at the moment and it’s not the first time Virgin’s offered the £1 deal.

To book simply go to the Virgin Trains website and click on the 'tickets@home' section on the top left hand corner. If you can't find £1 tickets, then £3, £7 and £9 fares are widely available, which is still a great bargain.

For extra tips and tricks to cut the cost of rail fares, read Martin's full Cheap Train Tickets guide.

 
Students get Microsoft Office software for a fraction of the price

Until the end of the month students can get the latest Microsoft Office suite for just £38.95. Considering it normally sells for up to £600 this is a huge saving. The suite includes its most popular software, including Word, Excel and PowerPoint.

To get this offer you have to be a bona fide student with an active university email address and must be taking at least one half-course to qualify, but you don’t need to be a full-time student. The package is available at theultimatesteal.co.uk.

But before buying the cheap deal remember there’s a handful of good quality office suites downloadable for free too.

All the free downloads are included in Martin's full Free Office Software article.