By going to Marks and Spencer at 6pm tonight to try and get a bargain. Shall we play who's got the best Christmas bargain today??!!

[Husbandrippedmeoff]

Who's in?

My DH got two FREE organic sourdough baguettes from a nice bakery in town. Toasted up to have with Camembert earlier. Result! Canne beat free.

And I got a couple of Emma Bridgewater Xmas mugs for £16 each I think they're £28 normally are they?

From what I see on the app around here, it’s all crap like tonnes of bread and lettuce, unless the people collecting are keeping anything decent. Everything is from Tesco too, so I guess that they’re the only supermarket locally signed up.

Although I agree generally that the app is great, anything I post is usually gone within the hour. It’s a fantastic way to reduce food waste

20 minutes before close, lovely large free range bronze Turkey, was £70, got for £16. Dated 26th.

https://www.thepoke.com/2023/12/15/author-marian-keyes-sent-this-fabulous-thread-about-working-at-ms-at-christmas-wildly-viral-again-and-its-simply-brilliant/2/ this is a nice thread about m&s Christmas, went viral in Ireland a few years ago and always make me smile.

I got 4 sets of matching Christmas pj's for about £3 per set yesterday. Was about £13 total for all 4, should have been about £70 full price

Im totally happy with my haul from M&S

I needed a birthday cake, £6 reduced from £20

I got some mades salads ( coleslaw, potato , pasta ) at £1 and pennies

Two salmon en croute for less then £3 ( I dont have the receipt at hand so just going from memory )

Dauphinois spuds - £1.50. Huge tray of sprout and leek gratin - £2

I wont even tell you how cheap the turkey and ham joints were, just that the huge box of the ultimate turkey dinner ( everything included ) was down from I think £98 to £35

And a takeaway box of Chinese for £5 ( fed 3 of us with leftovers )

Adding to the carp tales. When we were in Prague just before Christmas, they were selling live carp out of dustbins on street corners. Apparently folks take them home and keep them in the bath until needed!

The M&S at the train station and also at the petrol forecourts near me are all signed up to Olio, and they give amazing hauls for £4.99.

I haven't seen M&S main stores signed up to it though.

From my experience (living around the corner from an M&S and having worked there) you have to be more strategic. Clock in advance how many are dated 25th and 26th and then usually 4pm onwards but recently due to past food waste they’ve began reducing earlier. I was hoping for a cheap joint but got some reduced fresh chicken nuggets. Roast potatoes, salmon and cream cheese sandwich spread, some spinach, chocolate mousse, a pasta ready meal and a few other bits. These were on ‘first discount’, ie about 30-60% off and at 11.30ish. Whatever is left will be discounted again later. For future reference!!

They mark the really cheap things down closer to closing time. At my M&S the good stuff starting coming out about 20 minutes before the shop officially closed.

Guest turned up at mine at 5 with a serves 8 pack of M & S profiteroles reduced from £15 to £2.50.

This morning, early. Dinner is normally 6pm but my DH says 3 tomorrow. Beans on toast it is!

Who would get up four hourly to put it in and out?! Leave it out it will be fine!!

Sprouts for 8p in Aldi yesterday 😊

This has been my least bargainous year. My best year was when I got a very, very posh turkey for £13 in Aldi at 9.30 am on Christmas Eve. Last year in M and S at about 4pm, there was virtually free seafood and quarter price posh turkeys.
This year, we got a seafood pie M and S down to £17 from £50. The £17 is egregious enough - I can’t imagine anyone having paid £50 for it! I went to 3 Lidls this year and there were no discounts. I went to 2 Aldis and managed to get a half price posh turkey crown. Morrisons had no bargains at all.

We went to collect the turkey from M&S at 1.30pm. Also got less than half price smoked salmon, tiger prawns and Aberdeen Angus burgers, and some of the delicatessen items yellow stickered too.

This was the same in ours. I’m remembering for next year get there for opening. I was really shocked how many bargains I got.

I got a smoked salmon starter/canapé plater for £7.50 was £25 and ok until the 27th

Outstanding!

Good job, and still 2 days to use!!!!

Isn’t Olio all free?? I thought too good to go was the one that charged!

Oh nice, have you got some chutney to go with that?

Any luck in London's M&S?
We went at 11 this morning to Kensington High Street one and it was too late/too early for yellow labels on Christmas food, though plenty of regular stuff with yellow labels.

Like getting up to feed a baby. No way, it’ll be fine out in a cool place.

What what did they do