2016 Frugal Living Challenge

Wombatchops

FunBrum wrote: »

I've frugally spent the day at my friends house, so NSD and have cooked and eaten there. It helps him out as he's single and would normally just snack, this way he gets 2-3 home cooked meals a week. Plus he supplies the food and I cook and eat with him.:)
I've registered my Nectar card at Sainsburys to get extra points on items that buy from there.
I don't plan on shopping until next week and then only the items either on offer or that I have coupons for. I've got to figure out a strategy for my shopping, so that I get the best value for money.......should be interesting!:D

Hi FunBrum, if you want to earn extra Nectar points, there are a few good ways to do it. Firstly, check the Nectar website regularly, as you get points for all sorts of places if you do your online shopping through them, a bit like the cash back websites. But you can also load offers onto your card to earn extra points. And they occasionally run competitions to become a Nectar millionaire (which I have yet to win).

Secondly, you can sign up to take Nectar Canvass surveys and earn the extra points.

Thirdly, Mr S has started a coupon website, called My Coupons (I don't know if I can do a link), which gives you bonus points if you buy certain items. You just load them onto your card before you shop.

I would like to point out that I neither work for Nectar, nor any company associated with Nectar. I am merely a Nectar card enthusiast, and I have boosted my points value by over £80 in the last six months by following the above methods. I aim to spend them to get a free month of grocery shopping later this year. However, I've been told by Mr S staff that Nectar rules state that you have to have used your Nectar card three consecutive times at the same store before you can spend them in that store.

I know that's a long post, but I hope that's helped.

COOLTRIKERCHICK

I had problems with my nectar card in sainsbobs the Christmas before last. And they had to phone nectar for my points balance etc. And they said the same, about it having to be used regular instore.

I don't shop there, for 2 reasons , its too far away, plus I find then expensive .. So I heard you can use your nectar points to buy off eBay??

There used to be a site where you watched videos, and you would gain points, but that stopped a while ago..

Yes all makes sense re te$co club card points.. With amex it does give cash back on everything..

FunBrum

Haven't had to shop again today which makes a total of 12 days!:j

I've spent another day with my friend helping to clear his stuff for a carboot and cleaned out his fridge/freezer. He was throwing out 3 free range eggs and half a punnet of mushrooms, which he said I was welcome to. That's my tea taken care of. A nice omelette I think!;)

When I get home I plan on trying to finish a book I have which seems to be taking ages as I keep getting interrupted with other things.
I feel like I'm so busy racing around trying to spend time with everyone that I am in danger of neglecting things that I want to do for myself.
Still, not being at home much means I'm not using any utilities!:D

Tomorrow I'm off to London but must try to get a bank statement to see if any more direct debit have gone out.
Not shopping is keeping me on track with this challenge, which is just what I need.:)

FunBrum

Wombatchops wrote: »

Hi FunBrum, if you want to earn extra Nectar points, there are a few good ways to do it. Firstly, check the Nectar website regularly, as you get points for all sorts of places if you do your online shopping through them, a bit like the cash back websites. But you can also load offers onto your card to earn extra points. And they occasionally run competitions to become a Nectar millionaire (which I have yet to win).

Secondly, you can sign up to take Nectar Canvass surveys and earn the extra points.

Thirdly, Mr S has started a coupon website, called My Coupons (I don't know if I can do a link), which gives you bonus points if you buy certain items. You just load them onto your card before you shop.

I would like to point out that I neither work for Nectar, nor any company associated with Nectar. I am merely a Nectar card enthusiast, and I have boosted my points value by over £80 in the last six months by following the above methods. I aim to spend them to get a free month of grocery shopping later this year. However, I've been told by Mr S staff that Nectar rules state that you have to have used your Nectar card three consecutive times at the same store before you can spend them in that store.

I know that's a long post, but I hope that's helped.

Many thanks wombatchops.

I think it was the Sainsburys 'My Coupon' that I registered with.
I don't really shop that much and pop into different stores just for the bargains. I live on my own and am constantly getting free food and products from very generous family and friends, but if I can get free points for any items I do buy, then I'm happy!:j

I didn't know about the nectar points in exchange for surveys, so thanks for that and I will look into it to see if it's worth my time. Cheers for your help!:beer:

sheba

[Deleted User] wrote:

Ooh nice. I had forgotten about the no council tax payments. Thanks for the reminder. Best of luck with your savings goal.

Ohhhhh the one thing I dislike about being so organised financially is I never forget things like that or find money in my coat pocket etc so am very dependent on my wombling for those mini highs you get when you feel a 'win'. However, not found a single penny since Christmas yet which is very unusual-think it may have been a costly Chrimbo for the locals so they're not flinging their coppers away as they used to- perhaps they've all had their LBM's???

Still being mega frugal here but am mad keen to get off the mark with my savings- won't really know till about the 2nd of Feb as by then the (cashback and paid in full every month) CC bill will be in also my husbands work remittance so I will know all incoming versus outgoings for Feb and can see if there is any left for savings. So on one hand, it's nice that there is still plenty of month left as all Januarys bills are covered and my husband will make money between now and then (2nd) but on the other hand, I want to get that first £250 chunk banked!!!

Well they say patience is a virtue worth waiting for so in the meantime I suppose I can affect the savings by keeping the CC bill as low as poss.

I hope all you guys are managing to shuffle closer to your dreams and goals.

lynnejk

COOLTRIKERCHICK wrote: »

All the talk of cash back cards.. I am now looking at using my te$co cc instead of the amex one.. As at least I don't have to hit a min spend before I get vouchers etc.. So will request my pin number and a new card ( its been dormant for a while) has anyone got one?? Have you worked out what type of % cash back it works out at if you spend the points back in store??

So I will be using tsb for contactless spends at lidl

Tesco cc for fuel, and online sales.. Etc.
??

Have you had a look at Santander 123. Yes, I know they have put up their monthly charge but it's still worth a look. You get cashback on many monthly DDs and interest at different levels. You also get cash-back with the CC. They have a calculator so you can work out whether it's worth it or not
Lx

cw18

Time for the major grocery use-up (and house declutter) to start - DS1 moved out yesterday.

Went onto my local council site before I went to bed and applied for the single person discount on my Council Tax - very quick and painless :T

Even if I didn't have so much food in the house the grocery bill should have dropped by more than half, as he's a much fussier eater than me and expects much larger portions of meat than I feel are needed.

I'm also planning to spend at least one evening a week perusing one (or more) of my cookery books to find new things to try (or possibly bus trips to/from work if it's one of my smaller books) - the aim being to try at least one new recipe every fortnight, probably on a weekend when OH is here.

lcc86

CW18, your son sounds exactly like my OH! My grocery bill is huge since he moved in, I'm now a veggie but if his meal doesn't have meat he's not happy!

Have managed one NSD so far this week, spent £1 on de-icer for the car so at least when I have spent it's been negligible. Just waiting for my CC bill, it's the first one of my new card so need to know what the minimum payment is.

alec_eiffel

Thank you so much for the information about My Coupons and Nectar in general. We've had a card for many many years but have only recently started shopping at Mr S again, it will be really useful.

chocolatepiggybank

Not a bad day yesterday, only spends were a balance transfer fee and a packet of crumpets. I also switched my current account, earning myself an extra £100 for Feb, which will go nicely towards paying off my overdraft

Aiming for a NSD today, planning to batch cook whatever is in the freezer, except for the meat drawer which is OH's problem (I'm veggie) We need it all used up before we move at the end of the month. I've only given myself a £10 food budget between now and then, will eat up what's in and just top up the essentials.