Your Guide to Smart Spending in January

Protein Deal Alert

MyProtein is offering 2 tubs of Clear Whey (20 servings each) for €25. Considering they normally cost €32.99 each, that's a 62% discount! Choose from fruit flavors like Peach Tea, Pineapple, and Watermelon. The offer is only for new customers and ends January 20th. Create your account, stay logged in and put your two desired Clear Whey tubs in the shopping cart — the offer will be applied automatically.

20% off Deutsche Bahn Saver Fares

DB is kicking off 2025 with extra savings: they're releasing 2 million Super Saver tickets starting at €17.99, available for booking between January 14-28. And there's more — if you're traveling on a Tuesday or Wednesday (until December 10th, 2025), you'll get an additional 20% off all domestic Super Saver and Saver fares (Super Spar- and Sparpreis). Have a BahnCard? Your usual 25% or 50% discount stacks with this offer, bringing ticket prices down to as low as €10.79.

ClassPass is Back With Their Best Trial Offer

ClassPass had been offering less generous trials lately – just two weeks with fewer credits. But now they're back with their best offer: 62 credits for a full month of workouts. That's enough for 8-12 classes, with regular studios costing 5-7 credits and premium ones 9-14 credits. I started with a free Classpass trial 1.5 years ago and have been using it ever since. Read my full review explaining the credit system, prices, and plans, and sign up for the free trial with this link to get 62 credits instead of the regular 42.

eBay x Mastercard: €10 Off €50+

Here's a nice little saving opportunity: Use your Mastercard on eBay with code MC2024 to get €10 off orders over €50 (valid until January 31st). Pro tip: eBay is fantastic for refurbished electronics – I got my Roborock S7 vacuum (which is probably my most favorite gadget ever) and KitchenAid food processor there last year, both like new and at half the Amazon price.

Podimo: Extra-Long Free Trial

Need something to make your winter commute less depressing? Podimo, a new podcast and audiobook app, is offering a 60-day free trial instead of their usual 30 days until January 19th. Think Spotify Premium meets Audible – they've got every podcast from Huberman Lab to Joe Rogan in English and German, plus lots of German audiobooks. If you mainly use Spotify for podcasts, this could save you two months of subscription fees!

Try-for-Free Promos

I love money-back try-for-free promos, and I know a lot of you do too! Most of them work in pretty much the same way: you buy a product, upload a photo of receipt, and get your money back in your bank account. Make sure to check any special conditions on the promo web page, but usually it’s quite straightforward. Here are some of my favorite deals for this month:

Actimel: Get up to €3.99 back (which is the full price at Rewe) on any 6- or 8-pack. The campaign lasts until February 28th, limited to 50,000 redemptions.

Ariel: Try their Touch of Unstoppables detergent free. The promotion works for all variants – liquid, powder, or All-in-1 Pods. They must have a large marketing budget for this promotion, because it’s already been running for several months and will be available until March 15th. Make sure you pick up the right product (Touch of Unstoppables) and not another Ariel detergent! €4.79+ value depending on the product you choose (pods are naturally more expensive).

Ferrero Küsschen: Get your money back on 20-pack Classic or White Crispy varieties. Look for packs marked with "Jetz Gratis Testen!" at the top — only these are eligible for the promotion. Valid until January 31st. €3.79 value.

Money News

Edeka and Netto are Live on Payback

Rewe and Penny are out of Payback loyalty program since December 28, and Edeka and Netto stepped in instead. The first coupons for both are already live, and while Edeka's offers aren't particularly impressive so far, Netto is offering 10x points on everything (that's 5% off on already low prices). As for me, I'm staying with Rewe – they've switched from Payback to their own app with direct cash back in euros instead of points, and their practically-free delivery service is hard to beat. Want to know more about how new Rewe app coupons work and other ways to save at Rewe? Check out my detailed shopping guide to Rewe here.

Trade Republic: Finally a Full Bank Account

For a long time, Trade Republic’s account IBAN only worked for transfers between your own accounts, but now they finally launched current account functionality. This is something I've been waiting for for a long time! You can now use Trade Republic just like any regular bank account in Germany: send money to friends, family, or any other bank account, set up direct debits (Lastschrift) for recurring payments, create standing orders for regular transfers, and receive your salary or other payments directly. I've been using Trade Republic for a while now because of its excellent debit card with 1% cashback on spending and great interest rates – and this update makes it even better. If you're looking for an all-in-one money app, this is my top recommendation. Read my full Trade Republic review here or sign up for your account here.

EU Bank Transfers Getting an Upgrade

The EU is mandating all banks to handle instant payments, requiring them to accept such transfers by January 9 and provide them by October 9, 2025. I tried it from my Trade Republic bank account, and it worked! A real-time transfer must cost no more than a standard transfer – and since standard transfers are mostly free in Germany, this effectively means instant transfers in most banks will be free too. Not great news for PayPal, but a win for us consumers.