This article is your permission slip to spend less while doing more this winter. Inside: unlimited cinema from €14/month (if your city’s on the list), ClassPass bringing back a proper free trial, a sneaky option for cheaper YouTube and Spotify Premium, money-back promos and more.
Note: this article contains affiliate links, which are marked with *.
🎬 Tip of the Week: Unlimited Movies from €14/month
Ready to spend all winter watching movies? Same. CINFINITY is a cinema subscription that gives you unlimited movies in participating cinemas. The monthly plan is €15.55/month, plus a one-off starting fee of €9.99. The yearly plan works out to about €13.83/month (and you skip the starting fee).
The only real catch is the network: it’s quite small, so you have to check the participating cinemas list before you sign up. In Berlin, there are three participating cinemas: Kino Central, Moviemento, and Kino Toni. Hamburg has Koralle Kino, Elbe Filmtheater, and Blankeneser Kino. And Munich… nothing. Apparently this business model doesn’t survive in Germany’s most expensive city.
If CINFINITY doesn’t work for your location, have a look at Cineville Karte at €24/month (or €20/month with a yearly Abo), and UCI Unlimited from €23.40/month with a 12-month term – these subscription are more expensive, but have much wider coverage.
🔥 Hot Deals
🏦 €250 Welcome Bonus at Berliner Volksbank
This deal has been a reader favorite for months – and now it got even better. Berliner Volksbank* is now offering a €250 welcome bonus for their regular checking account. I’ve never seen a higher bonus for opening a Girokonto in Germany, so I highly recommend grabbing this deal. Despite the name of the bank, the offer is open nationwide in Germany.
The standard account costs €3.95/month, and the bonus conditions are straightforward: give marketing consent within the first 4 weeks (and don’t withdraw it until you get the bonus), and have at least one incoming payment of €700 per month for 5 months starting from month 2.
If you’re under 30, check the Girokonto blauorange* instead: it’s free, comes with a €150 bonus, and the monthly incoming payment requirement is €400.
If you’ve been thinking about switching accounts (or just want a very strong welcome bonus), this is worth a look. Open your account here*. If you’ve already used this offer and are ready for your next welcome bonus, check out the list of the bank accounts with the highest welcome bonuses here.
Berliner Volksbank’s welcome bonus is now higher than it’s ever been.
🏋️ ClassPass Is Back With Their Best Trial Offer
I’m super excited about this one because I love ClassPass, but they had been offering less generous trials lately, with shorter duration and fewer credits. Now they’re back with the proper trial: new users get a 1-month free trial* with 54 credits.
That’s usually enough for roughly 5–8 classes, depending on the studio – regular places in Berlin cost 5–7 credits, and the more premium ones can be 9–15. I started with a free ClassPass trial over two years ago and I’m still using it – the selection of studios is unbeatable (with higher quality than Urban Sports Club), plus you can book massages and beauty in the same app.
If you’re new to ClassPass and want the full breakdown (credit system, pricing and how to make the most of your credits), read my full guide to the app. And if you’d like to try it for yourself, sign up for a free trial with this link* and get 54 credits instead of the regular 34.
Save Big on YouTube/Spotify Premium
I recently discovered GameSeal* – a website mostly known as a third-party reseller for video games, but they also sell digital subscriptions, including YouTube Premium and Spotify Premium. Important: since it’s a reseller, you’re buying at your own risk. That said, I recently bought YouTube Premium there and had zero issues: the price was great and the activation link arrived in my inbox almost immediately.
The prices are compelling: 12 months of YouTube Premium* is €44.99, and 12 months of Spotify Premium* is €19.99. For reference, if you buy directly on these platforms, an annual YouTube Premium plan will cost you €129.99 and Spotify Premium €155.88 (€12.99/month). Keep in mind that with Spotify you’re getting a new account and not an activation key for your existing one, so if you’ve built a huge library over the years, you’d have to migrate it to a new account.
On top of the advertised price, there’s a small service fee at checkout (€3–€4 per product). You can get a €2.49/month SealPass membership which can reduce the fee and the prices further – just remember to cancel it afterwards if you don’t want to keep it. I was getting really tired of ads on YouTube, so I’m happy with my decision to buy Premium on GameSeal and I think it’s a great deal. Shop subscriptions here*.
💰 More Deals
Deezer: This audio streaming app (music, podcasts, and everything else you find on Spotify) is currently offering 3 months of Premium for free – and the cool thing is that it also applies to Duo and even the Family plan (6 accounts). After the free trial, Premium is €11.99/month, Duo €15.99/month, and Family €19.99/month. Time to pause your Spotify Premium for a bit? Start your free trial.*
Wispr Flow: I’m in love with this voice-typing app – it’s so much better than built-in MacBook dictation. It handles punctuation well and you can even correct things by voice. I don’t even type anymore – this is so much faster. The free plan includes 2,000 words/month on desktop and 1,000 on iOS, and my link gets you a free month of Pro with unlimited dictation. Try Wispr Flow.*
Ninja Kitchen: The Ninja AF100EU air fryer* is €59.99 right now with code XMASAF10 (advertisement) (valid until Jan 5 or while stocks last). If you want the bigger, newer Foodi FlexDrawer model*, it’s €139.99 (down from €269.99) with code AF500WH (advertisement) (valid until January 31, 2026). And Ninja pots & pans* are 15% off until Jan 5 with code TIPTOPF15 (advertisement).
sim24: Phone plan prices keep sliding downwards, and no one is mad about it. sim24 currently offers a 15 GB plan for €4.49/month – and they are also throwing in 2 months free for a limited time. You can bring your current number with you if you switch from another provider. See the plans*.
Thalia: Tis’ the season for frantically looking for Christmas presents. Thalia has 15% off LEGO (including on already reduced sets) with code WEIHNACHTEN until December 15. Shop here.
Dictation on Wispr Flow is so good that I just can’t fathom going back to typing.
🎁 Freebies
Money-back grocery promos are one of the easiest ways to cut everyday costs, and there are usually several running at the same time. A lot of promotions from previous issues are still active – you can find them all here if you’d like to try more. For more free grocery products, Rewe product tests are worth a look as well.
Smol laundry capsules: Get 9 laundry detergent capsules for free – you only pay €1 shipping. You do need to set up a recurring delivery, but you can cancel right after your free pack ships. Get your free pack here*.
Toppits freezer bags: You can test Toppits paper freezer bags (1L, 3L or 6L) for free. Buy the promo product in-store (or online via Rewe/Rossmann), then upload your receipt and product photo here until December 31. Limited redemptions.
Oral-B Whitening toothpaste: Buy one of the Oral-B Whitening toothpastes with a promo sticker (in-store or online), upload your receipt and a product photo, and get a full refund. Purchases are allowed until December 31; uploads are accepted until January 15, 2026.
GEFRO sample pack: New customers can get a free sample pack of GEFRO products (soups, seasonings, dressings, etc.). Good for testing out flavors without commitment. Get your sample pack*.
A free pack of laundry detergent capsules from Smol – just pay €1 shipping.
If you want more deals like these, you can subscribe to the Smart Living in Germany newsletter here – it’s free, and I send new offers and money-saving tips every week, plus occasional deep dives on things like banking, taxes, and insurance.
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