The UltimateGuide to Penny Pinching

olliebean

Steve-o wrote: »

Do vouchers work in the self scan isles?

They do, but my experience is that if you use more than two at a time it needs staff approval.

jackieb

flippin36 wrote: »

Off topic of moneysaving, but did anyone notice how polite that little boy was in the supermarket? - He was adorable! They seemed like a lovely family as did the voucher family (sorry don't know their names).

I noticed it too. He made a point of saying thank you, repeating it to make sure the cashier heard him. :A

Eyeore

Slightly off topic but does anyone know if it will be repeated as unfortunately my recording did not work! Arghhhhh was really looking forward to watching!

elgar_2

In fear of being shot down in flames, I did think the lady with the vouchers probably could have had the lunch free as a thank you, but what i didnt like was fact she said she wouldnt pay 'fair price' for a similar lunch and also fact that she seemed not even to have considered paying for her lunch to help support the charities. Granted without her efforts they might have not made as much money but if everyone there didnt pay fair price then it wouldnt have raised money either.

I say well done to her for doing it and hope she continues as for some it will be a vital social event that also provides them with some food as well as helping charities. So Im not trying to be overly critical of her and know programmes are made for ratings and entertainment and only perhaps sometimes facts!

It is a shame that Judith has been slated (perhaps in other places too but this is only of the forum I really read) as perhaps she would have lots to contribute. I think we all want to know where she got so many vouchers and how she got to use them in the shops!

Personally we had a wedding without alcohol (a personal choice rather than money saving) and everyone said it was the best wedding they had ever been too, we had fun and enjoyed ourselves without it ..the ceilidh dancing was so fabulous people didnt have time to drink much anyway!! I think the wedding couple did a fab job though as it suited them, it just we all want different things and our wedding was saved and paid for so we could have some extras!

Im still not convinced by roadkill though..and have now got the thought of maggots in my head from somewhere so I wouldnt do it!!

I did wonder if the family with the wee boy did need to relax more, if they have saved so much what is wrong with taking his wife out for a nice dinner for their anniversary, I mean pizza hut is fine but hardly romantic meal I imagine she was thinking of!! But it was nice to see their wee boy enjoy the park and blowing bubbles, simple things are the best!!

oops this is a long post..it must be late!!

jackieb

Eyeore wrote: »

Slightly off topic but does anyone know if it will be repeated as unfortunately my recording did not work! Arghhhhh was really looking forward to watching!

I'm not sure, but you can watch it on 4OD. http://www.channel4.com/programmes/tags/documentaries/4od

Ishtar

Thought the programme was very interesting. Our local Tesco has varying policies regarding coupons - at the moment they aren't accepting them from other supermarkets, but 3 weeks ago they were. The policy changes frequently - I suspect that this week they will only let you use a max of £10 or something

Personally, I wouldn't be driving to two or three different supermarkets to find a bargain - but then we only have a Tesco and a Waitrose here - I'd have to travel 8+ miles to reach my nearest Sainsbury's. Plus, you have to add in the cost of running your car and what your time's worth. Each to their own, though.

I agree that the voucher lady maybe should have had lunch for free - she organised it, sorted out how to feed everyone for £15 and, as they said in the programme, any local restaurant would be very happy with the profit margin. Her comments about not paying a fair price for a charity lunch herself should perhaps have been kept to herself - you can take money-saving a bit too far!

I'd love to know where she gets her vouchers and offers from, but I don't think we'll see her again now...

thriftwizard

Living where we do, roadkill is an emotive subject in our household and the programme caused a certain amount of "discussion"...
The DDs & I are quite happy to prepare & eat the things we find that are worth eating, but DH & the DSs won't touch it, though they have different reasons - the sons just think it's disgusting (heaven help them if they ever saw the inside of a slaughterhouse, but they'll eat steak) but DH thinks we're depriving other wild animals of food. IMHO they'd be putting themselves in more danger going down onto the road surface to eat it, says she who once stopped the car on a rural road on seeing a rabbit apparently sliding sideways across the road. It was dead, or nearly so, and being dragged across by an enterprising weasel. A lot of drivers wouldn't have stopped, and there'd just have been two dead animals, but as DD1 would say, that's a Darwin Award situation...

Anyway, if you listen to people who eat roadkill regularly, as my brother did for a year whilst writing a book (thus not willing or able to claim benefits - and the book never got published) you'd know that seagull tastes disgusting (like muddy, metallic fish :eek:) and there's not enough eating on a squirrel for one, never mind a dinner party. You'd be deeply suspicious of rabbit (may well have died of Myxy, poor little soul) but pheasant... mmm! :beer: It's normal behaviour for a (male) pheasant to fly out in front of a 4x4; the heroic little fellow thinks he's distracting a predator, and often the only damage is to the head. Pigeon's rather good too, and they often die because they've eaten so much their wings won't take the strain.

Anyway, not to stray too far OT, there was a certain amount of sensationalism in the programme, but I suppose that's what makes good TV. For many of us who live out in the sticks, or even on the edges of the sticks, there's not much difference between eating a roadkilled pheasant and eating blackberries - or nettle soup, or comfrey fritters!

kazmeister

Does anyone know if the redlaser app works in the UK as it seems all the feedback is from usa. Thanks

European_Citizen

I thought Jwen was OK: at least she's put her talent into good use by organising charity dinners so I wouldn't call her selfish. It's obvious that voucher-hunting is her obsession but everyone has something they are mad about (or so I hope ). I felt really sorry for her children though: I hope they will not be mocked at school for having to wait for the sun in order to shower or for eating microwaved burgers all week just because they are on offer. Perhaps she should have kept them out of the picture.
It was clear that she was saving in order to spend on other things which is fine: people have different priorities. But the Asian couple seemed to be saving just for the sake of it. I usually compromise on something in order to be able to afford something else: life's too short after all
The wedding couple: they got married in a castle (correct me if I'm wrong, but it didn't look like a church) but served only juice and cold finger food to their guests which I found a bit selfish. And they said they were hoping the guests would by drinks "for themselves and for the bride and the groom"...

JulieGeorgiana

bramble1 wrote: »

I did wonder why the kids where fed pizza and she cooked a whole fresh packet of chicken just for her and her OH. Wouldn't it have made more money sense to bulk that up with more veg and feed everyone that?

This is what we said! I have read the comment from Jwen's husband, but I still think that she was too extreeme. The fact that she had the pizza means she bought it because it was on offer... she gave the boys HALF a pizza each, no side salad or anything nutritious. Her and her Husband a WHOLE chicken breast each with more rice then is healthy (75g is an adult portion not 200g!) and the smallest amount of cucumber on top!

Then to claim the whole meal cost £2 and think that's great!! Well most my meals are 35-50p a head WITHOUT couponing and with a TON of veg and it's all nutritious.

I would not feed my child processed foods of any kind, not even had it been on offer or free! Not even for a TV programme! I don't buy food which I don't like or feel is 'processed to death' because mine and my families health is at risk.

I think the Charity Lunch was a great cause... and she did really well buying all the food for so little, and shouldn't be critisised. My only concern was the comment that if she went to a Charity Lunch she wouldn't want to pay very much... Taking back her expenses is fine... admitting that you wouldn't be willing to pay much if you were eating and not organising... that's the issue for me!

As to the rest... the wedding was nice, but for £2,000 I had a sit down meal, paid for hotels and got married in Scotland and alcohol for the toast at my wedding. And I didn't expect anyone to buy me a drink because I wanted to save money.

The Roadkill... i would have eaten at the BBQ... but I would also prep all the meat before putting it in the freezer!

the aisan couple... well they were great! I shop at 3 supermarkets a week (one is walking distance, the other two are passed most days) so this makes sense for us. However, I make a list and stick to it... I check prices online before I go shopping. My only issue was why buy everything branded??? I pay 19p a packet of biscuits... they were talking 69p on offer! No thanks! Buy Basic!

Overall i didn't enjoy the programme... it made me realise that living oldstyle meant I was saving so much more money then any of them on the programme... and so much healthier too!