The OS Doorstep - a helpful and supportive thread in these tough times

FairyPrincessk

Morning all,


Princess, £45 for £5. Sigh. That puts it just at the cusp of our weekly spend. I'll have to use it as a stocking up week and then make cutbacks on other weeks. Does anyone know what the %off vouchers are? I'll pop out later to get a copy, but if they aren't for anything good I might think twice. I like to adhere to that old rule of a voucher doesn't save you money if you weren't going to buy it in the first place.

Not much news today. Kitty is using the upstairs as a racecourse, although it is somewhat shorter than usual as I've locked her out of the bedroom so I could open a window to air it out.

Looks like it will be a lovely day here although after today there is mostly rain forecast. Oh well.;)

[Deleted User]

Morning Toughies, the hound and I are on our own today as He Who Knows has gone off fishin' so I'll be pottering in the house between houndy walkies. I wonder if the vouchers are proving so popular that it's no longer viable for the SMs to make a profit on £5 off of £40? I know our Co-Op always gave coupons at the till for £5 off of £20 but that's now £5 off of £50 which is eyewatering for a small village store and Mr.T gives such tiny amounts for the loyalty points and when they do send money off coupons for various items of grocery it's always for the Finest range or expensive things I don't buy anyway. I'm even to the point where I'm so disillusioned with the loyalty schemes I don't bother to swipe the card any more, it isn't worth a bean to us.

Washing has just finished in the machine but it's still so grey and damp out there I think I'll hang it in the utility room, it will dry in the heat from the boiler, have a good one all, Lyn xxx.

kidcat

morning toughies

thanks for the aldi voucher reminder nutty, I had totally forgotten, I only plan on buying one paper this time, as a £45 is far more than I can store twice in seven days. There is a chimea on sale next Thurs in the specials that I quite like the idea of so I may wait and use my voucher then as I would be guaranteed to spend the £45.

Have hit the ground running since our return, washing non stop and all the usual school runs etc. Add in extras like dentist and OT appointments yesterday and its just like we were never away.
Really good news is that DS15 has waited three years on the OT waiting list and when I complained I was told he was still low on the list. I complained again and they said it related to a five minute call three years ago where he was prioritised as low priority, however the manager agreed to re-assess his priority level and after visiting yesterday has moved him right up. He will now be seen in two weeks time

CC - it sounds as though you are doing incredibly well, I love that you are getting out and about. Its lovely to hear from you

nuttyp

I got the paper, and aldi have sneakily moved the spend threshold up to £45, to get the £5 off. I had to add my mums shopping to it to meet the limit. Still its a saving. I didn't use many of the % vouchers, mum used the breakfast cereal ones, but apart from that they were really random items.


Sorry I didn't realise until I got the actual paper myself. hope it helps some people.

kidcat

Nutty it is very sneaky - even Mr T gives it off a £40 spend.

I used a Mr T one whilst we were away, but ordinarily don't spend enough to use theirs either. Am I imagining that the Ald! one used to be £30 spend last year?

monnagran

Feel really left out of the coupon using club. Our Aldi is a good 25 minute drive away so have to have a very good reson for going in that direction. When we move I don't know where the nearest Aldi will be, I've not seen one in our 'getting to know the area' expeditions. However, with 2 or 3 markets a week just a 5 minute walk away I think my food shopping will be taking a different direction.

Why am I here at this time in the morning? Well, it's magazine week and I will do anything to put off starting. I have 2 days to write, type, print, collate and staple 200 magazines. Leaving aside the interuptions - visitors, phone calls, essential coffee breaks etc. - it will definitely mean burning the midnight oil again. Probably the 1.00am, 2.00am, and 3.00am oil as well.

Better get down to it. I'll see you again when inspiration dies.

Well done CC. Atta girl!.

x

nuttyp

Kidcat your right it did start off at £30 and has grandually crept up. It is a shame as some of the people than need to save money the most may not be able to spend £45 t o qualify, I put most of my mums shopping through to make up the total.

savingqueen

I got the voucher today but haven't used it yet - thanks for pointing out the £45 spend, I probably wouldn't have noticed. I generally use one or 2 vouchers and stock up on stuff to make up the money. My current storage area will be no more (spare/box room which will become a bedroom for DS9 this year) so I will need to get used to going shopping more often and taking less advantage of coupons like this anyway. With the supermarket in question getting more and more popular, I guess they will eventually do away with the coupons.


DS7 had nightmares last night so got into our bed so we are both very tired today, we had tears before school. Wish I hadn't stayed up doing that report for DH now!


Meet up with a friend for coffee in town this morning, heavenly latte (sorry not MS/OS but my down time) and we have been making various plans and swapping childcare favours. She came into a venue with me to check out a party for DS9. it was the best value around so will run past DH and book it. Another thing ticked off, only 1000 things left (at a conservative estimate!)


Popped in to Mr Testcows as heard they had a clothes sale. Picked up some clothes in next size to stash away for DS9 and 4 pairs of slippers for me - 2 were wintery types for £2 each and 2 were reduced from £4 to 50P in my fav colour as well. Bargain! Figured I wouldn't get much else done so coffee and non food shopping were my best use of time.


Going to wash up, tidy round before school run and might have to sneak a nap in when the boys are back home. Don't think I will last out til the evening otherwise


sq zzzzzzzzzz

ginnyknit

Just been to M&S Outlet to find my favourite sandals but they were all too baggy - think I may have to pay full price so am going to earn lots of swagbucks to get vouchers off.

Did buy a long dress type top to go over my leggings - not very tight ones like the locals wear here, proper fitting ones from Mr S. I also got a t shirt and with my vouchers both came ot £9.50 instead of £25.50 :j the dress was £6 cheaper than marked when I got to the checkout so that was a bonus. I rarely clothes shop so am happy to save up my vouchers.

I think loyalty cards are now just for the benefit of the stores now so they can monitor our habits and adjust stock levels to save their money :mad:

Dgs is off to France tomorrow to stay with his other Grandad so have a week off from minding and delivering them to classes etc, just hoping hubby has a burst of energy and we can go out for a day.

Cornish glad to hear you are getting out and about a little. A coffee tasing sounds like fun but I bet you wont be able to face a cup for a few days

PRINCESSX87

Aldi I believe have become very sneaky. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t think for the time being I will stop shopping there, However, With their price’s sneaking up and the trick in today’s paper I find very disheartening.

I was shocked on Tuesday when I done a compare shop with a well known comparison site to relies that Asda & Morrison actually turned out cheaper then aldi. That’s with the delivery added on. I suppose that this is the world we live in nowadays. Just seems its never ending increase of everything going up other than wages & incomes.

Talking of incomes, we had a little shock with OH’s wages. As I put a few days ago. H2b hadn’t been paid. He finally did yesterday but only to be told from the accountant that he now has to work 2 weeks with no money. One because of the tax year. Apparently:

Every year, At the new tax year, You have to start again working a week / month in arrears.

So OH questioned this, As he’s already done this, The accountants reply was yes. You loose 2 weeks of money.

OH & I had a huge fall out over this, Because one, Its not right? And two, We would never manage a fortnight with no income. With this being said, OH went to his employer (Brother) and stated that if he was to go this long with no wages, He is refusing to work. Completely confused, The employer called the accountant and gave him a mouthful asking what’s going on. Seems someone was trying to pull a fast one and now OH has been told he IS getting paid. Safe to say the accountant is apparently being sacked.

Thankfully. We managed to get over this week - JUST - The thought of 2 weeks was just not on.