How are you money savvy? What deals do you find?

[Closingtime94]

Hello,

This is intended to be a more light hearted thread than an actual scrimping and saving thread as I've seen loads of posts like "I only have £1600 disposable a month" or "I only have 750 a month left, am I struggling?" Etc and I know a lot of people cope on a lot more and cope on much much less so I don't want to get anyone's backs up and thought this could be a bit of fun and who knows maybe help those who are struggling and those who think they're struggling.

So I've got a lot of new born baby things second hand but my all time favourite thing was I got a sleepyhead delux pod for £20 on eBay when they retail for £130! It was in such good condition too and had everything included I was over the moon .

Another example is my cousin starts university next week and she wants an Apple iMac and she found one in curry's for something like £1164 so I told her to let me check and it's a bit of a cheat but on one of my student discount websites I found the same model for £896 with free AirPods so saved her a bit of a her student loan (because being 18 with no bills to pay is so hard work )

Being everyday savvy I shop at Aldi a lot as I find a lot of their stuff to be on par with Tesco, I check online and charity shops before buying new clothes as it's surprising what people will sell for dirt cheap brand new. I use eBay a lot.

I can't think of anything else but I'm hoping to nick some of your ideas 💡

Yes @BarbaraofSeville like that. I don't use sainsburys much but got the nectar app and search partner offers if I need something. I had not realised so many places included, it's really added up.

If you get interest free credit on something there should be a VAT reduction. The cost of the finance is included by a subsidy from the seller, and the VAT on this should be removed as credit is zero-rated. Big saving on a car, for example.

I'd second cash back sites although be aware that if you use a voucher code they've not approved it won't always pay. I've also had a few instances when I've googled to find the item I want then logged on to the cash back site to transact and pay and because I've not done the entire process via them, it again doesn't pay.

If you fancy doing surveys Prolific is a good one and the surveys themselves are quite interesting too, often part of actual research not just "what's your favourite coffee brand". They aren't often big paying and they're first come first served but I find I do enough to average £10 a week which they pay into PayPal. I'm building a nice pot for Christmas

Also, and more applicable pre Covid but Meerkat movies is bloody brilliant - if you don't buy a policy that you'll actually use (as they're not always cheapest) buy a one night travel insurance policy for the UK. It'll pay for itself in two cinema visits.

I'm not convinced. Most of the deals aren't available at weekends and if you find yourself going out midweek to take advantage of the offer, you haven't saved anything

Some people prefer to go out midweek instead of the weekend (quieter and easier to get a table, plus fits in with work as not everyone works M-F) or go out then in addition to the weekend, so as long as you're just doing something you would normally do but it costs less, yes you are saving money.

I don't routinely go to chain restaurants and certainly not at the weekend, but if I was faced with a choice of spending £15 at Pizza Express on a Wednesday or £25 on a Saturday, I would much prefer to go midweek because IME, chain restaurants are priced on the basis that most people use vouchers, so if you go and don't use a voucher, it's expensive for what you get. If I was eating out at the weekend, I'd definitely go to an independent that charges the same price every day and is cheaper without a voucher than a chain is, with a voucher.

I tend to buy what I need rather than want. I use pricerunner app for finding the best prices for big ticket item. I use honey and Quidco on my chrome browser which does all the work in getting the cashback and discount codes. I purchase everything on my Amex cashback card, I'm up to £200 so far this year. The shops that don't take Amex I have a Aqua cashback card. I use the receipt scanning apps Storeward and shoppix. I switched banks earlier this year and got 2 lots of £175 bonus.

So in summary, I don't spend for the sake of it and if I do buy something I try to get the best price and cashback.

I was terrible for popping into b&m at lunchtime then I would look at my bank statement a few days later and couldn't even remember what I had bought so it couldn't have been anything I really needed. We also live very near to a convenience shop so easy to pop for milk and come back with chocolate and wine midweek . So on Monday this week I challenged my dh not to spend a penny until Friday and we have both done it so far ,bet we have saved about £30-40 . We have decided we will do that once a month.

Yep, as Barbara said, some people prefer to go midweek. I dont eat out a lot as I have a young kids, but the rare occasion I did, it worked out cheaper. It would be worth doing for someone who ate out more regularly.

I'm tempted to get the meerkat movies once normal comes back.

Cook everything from scratch. Use appliances during cheap time. Put everything on a credit card for the points which are paid in full each month. Use the roll up points vouchers. E.g. had a 500 points worth £5 for clothing bought which meant that my 5 pairs of socks from M&S cost a fiver. Yellow sticker shopping. Always hunt for the best deal if anything needs replacing. Maintain linked spreadsheets with all expenses on for the next year! Salaries go straight into savings with an amount transferred to cover expenses for the month. Only ever use cash for hedge veg. Look for the wine offers when topping up the supply! Use a fuel account for the points and pay the monthly bill with cc thereby getting double points. Sounds like I think about money permanently which I don’t, but I feel more in control by being financially organised.

I buy a lot of food in the reduced section. 14p for a loaf of bread which is absolutely fine for toast, pizzas for £1 for kids lunches on the days they are home from college. I got 15 red roses for £1.25 last week and they have been lovely for ten days now. I always buy bread, cakes, fruit in the reduced section as with four kids/ teenagers it is gone quickly and rarely has time to go off.

Can you tell me where you find the laptop for lower price please? My DD needs one for Uni.

Use appliances during cheap time

Assuming you’re in the UK, there’s no such thing as “cheap time” for the vast majority. Unless you’re lucky enough to have a legacy Economy 7 rate, it hasn’t been available to new customers for years.

Use loyalty cards and cashback schemes. Between nectar, co-op, quidco, the odd prolific survey, cashback credit card etc, I usually have between £300-500 to spend at christmas.

We are not on a particularly tight budget but why would you spend more than you have to on anything?

My freezer is full of yellow sticker products, I don't think i've bought fish or meat full price in months.

Always check for a discount code when buying things online - or go through Quidco.

Big second hand fan too, not just clothes but furniture and other things too.

@AdoraBell

Can you tell me where you find the laptop for lower price please? My DD needs one for Uni.

She should be signed up through Unidays - you just log in using your uni or college email address. then there's a link on the site which takes you to the discounts.

My employer has a website where employees get offered special deals. So I was in the market for a new tablet and got it there for 28% off. I'm also going to sell the old one for £75 to Music Magpie. So there are some of those deals like that out there. If I want something, I do price check it first. The other thing to watch out for are the big sales like Black Friday. You can track the best prices at Amazon over a year for your item on a website called Camel Camel Camel and then you will know when you are getting it at the best price.

@newtb

If you get interest free credit on something there should be a VAT reduction. The cost of the finance is included by a subsidy from the seller, and the VAT on this should be removed as credit is zero-rated. Big saving on a car, for example.

Really? It's admittedly been a long time since I worked in the finance industry but it was illegal under the consumer credit act to offer a better price if you took finance.

Finance might be zero rated for vat - you don't pay VAT on loans, credit card interest etc - but if the core item you're taking out the loan/credit to pay for attracts VAT, you can't just get round it that way.

I'm trying to get 2019 apple airpods with the charging case cheap for a student, can anyone help me??

What I have learned is when you go into any shop, look for the red ie yellow stickers, that's where the bargains are.

I am relatively money savvy about big ticket items but I don't have time to shop about for everything
The way I look at it my charge out rate for the work I do is high and It wouldn't be possible to save enough money on my shopping to make up for 1/2 hour of client work
Do buy meat from butcher,good quality food I won't compromise on

Buy shopping gift cards from employee perk site they give you 2-10% back.
Got a car older than 1980 free tax mot exempt and £150 fully comp insurance.