2017 - Spend less, live more

chanie

I know the feeling with the food situation. Its shocking how much the shopping bill increases. Our shopping bill was just short of £100 this week to account for half term.
I may attempt some baking tonight/tomorrow (a cake and some sausage rolls) to feed up the children and stop them snacking.


I'm only off 3 days during half term and so the children will be going to relatives on the other days. In terms of plans, I have English Heritage membership through work so I can get into a lot of sites for free. We have some sites locally in South London like Charles Darwins House and Eltham Palace. As they are local we can spend a few hours there and still have plenty of time to relax at home.

chanie

Me and OH have been thinking about Valentines Day. As it falls mid week, we wont be doing anything on the day itself, but will go out over the weekend. We prefer to avoid going out on Valentines Day itself as restaurants are over priced and over busy.

I have a tastecard which gives either 241 or 50% off on meals. I havent used the Card before, but we agreed to find a restaurant using it, to save some money.

sugarbaby125

Hi Chanie,

You use your English Heritage membership to good effect. It must save you money and it encourages you to expose yourself and your children to more culture and history, which brings benefits to all of you

Can I also point out that Groupon would be worth a look for a great restaurant deal as you can frequently get meals for 2 or more people that have a even greater discount of 50% and a lot of meals will have an the 1st alcoholic drink (or a soft drink alternative) as part of the meal.

For me personally I can also buy the Groupon through my cashback site Quidco, which means I save even more money, once the cashback is paid out to me.

chanie

sugar Im a history buff, so English Heritage is right up my street. When the children learn about history in school, I use it as an excuse to drag them around historical sites.

I did have a look at Groupon for some restaurant deals, but there isnt much that I fancy at the moment - I suspect that they dont really want to do deals around Valentines Day.

Frugal stuff
I placed an order for some undies for the children as Sainsburys have 25% off.

Groupon sent me a deal for a £20 voucher for Footlocker for £10.

Local shopping centre were doing a treasure hunt and we won two playmobil figures - will give those to charity.

In Poundland I bought 2 woolite for delicates.

We also went to the library this morning. My children love going, although the novelty of reading the books wears off as soon as we get home. I also got to grab a few books as well.

pennywisepoundstupid

chanie wrote: »

In Poundland I bought 2 woolite for delicates.

Thanks for mentioning this,I didn't know they sold woolite, will take a look next time i'm in and get some.

chanie

pennywisepoundstupid wrote: »

Thanks for mentioning this,I didn't know they sold woolite, will take a look next time i'm in and get some.

It’s £2 a bottle, penny.

A poster on another thread mentioned it and recommended the extra dark one, so I bought a couple of those, plus Woolite delicates and Dettol anti bacterial wash.

sashybo

Chanie, if you're looking to have a drink or two with DH there might be some drinks deals on the discount/voucher sites. I've noticed a lot more of those types of deals recently i.e. 2 cocktails each for 2 people for £12. Mind you that's Glasgow prices, don't know about London. DH & I always get a bit :eek: at London prices. :rotfl:

sugarbaby125

Chanie,

I find history fascinating and I will never know enough but I keep learning though. I may even treat myself to English Heritage membership once I know whether or not I am going to be awarded ESA beyond the assessment period and have a stable income

chanie

sashy London can be reasonable, if you avoid Central London and anywhere hipsters have moved in. Its only the housing that makes it expensive. A travel card costs under £10 a day and will get you across London, so you dont need a car. You are normally not too far from all major supermarkets, so you shop around for bargains. Theres a lot of free entertainment and cheap restaurants if you know where to look.

sugar I am a member of the civil service sports and social club (cssc) and get a lot of my discounts from there. It costs £45 for the year and more than pays for itself. The English heritage membership is included, as is royal historic palaces (tower of London and Hampton court palace), discounted cinema tickets (I know you go to special screenings, but I give the tickets out as gifts to friends and family), discounted gift vouchers (8% on Argos for example).
Its open to all public sector workers but you can link to friends and family if you arent eligible. The reason I mention it is that if you are interested in joining English heritage, consider doing so through Cssc as youll get more benefits for the same price.
Good luck with your esa assessment.

sugarbaby125

Chanie,

I agree that contrary to popular belief, London is not an expensive place to live if you open your eyes to all of the free events on offer every day and the discounted deals on offer. We also have really inexpensive public transport thanks to the hopper fare on buses and trams.

Thank you for mentioning CSSC. Once I know what income I have to live on then I will definitely love to be a member if you would not mind linking me to your membership when the time comes, as I am not employed as a civil servant and am unlikely to be in the future.