It's getting tough out there. Feeling the pinch?

dander

Don't know if anyone's mentioned this because I haven't been through every single page of this thread, but with all people talking about slow cookers, I'm chipping in. I live on my own and find the air fryer a great energy saver. I have the smallest most basic model (bought from B&M  in a January sale about 2 years ago) which takes up very little worktop space and I use it as a small oven. Only has to heat up a tiny space and there's plenty of room for most things I'd ever want to oven cook or grill, so it's far more efficient than turning the oven on. You could probably do two portions of most things in mine and certainly in the slightly bigger versions. They're not as cheap as they used to be though, so whether it's a moneysaver probably depends on whether you've already got one and might not be using it to its best advantage.

NoraNoir

@dander Same! However I still think it uses quite a bit of electricity (or at
least my bills seemed to jump up when I got it?) so sometimes I’ll pop things (veg, tofu, frozen vegan sausages - not sure how safe this is for meat) in the microwave for a few minutes beforehand to get them heated through, before popping them in the airfrier to crisp up/roast. So handy!

Mummy2cheekymonkeys

euronorris I use greengin but not as often as the other 2 apps you mentioned. If you have a quidco account you can also get their app clicksnap which I find has a lot of the same offers as checkoutsmart so sometimes if there is a good offer on both you can get it twice.

euronorris

Mummy2cheekymonkeys said:

euronorris I use greengin but not as often as the other 2 apps you mentioned. If you have a quidco account you can also get their app clicksnap which I find has a lot of the same offers as checkoutsmart so sometimes if there is a good offer on both you can get it twice.

Oohh thanks. I did look at them yesterday, and saw it was all the same offers so just assumed it was the same company under a different name and just dismissed it. Didn't realise I could do it twice.

I've had my shopping, and put my claims in. My shopmium ones have already been approved and money should be paid in 1-2 days. Checkout smart still pending at the current time. But its all good 👍 

ETA: checkout smart just approved.

Mummy2cheekymonkeys

My understanding is that you can purchase an item twice and get the cashback on each app but you can't purchase once and then claim cashback on both if that makes sense. I use a different bank account and email for each of the apps.

Rosa_Damascena

This morning's headlines shows just how ridiculous inequalities are. Gas companies are paying minus 19% tax and raking in billions whilst our bills go through the roof! 

Shame on them.

TheAble

Rosa_Damascena said:

This morning's headlines shows just how ridiculous inequalities are. Gas companies are paying minus 19% tax and raking in billions whilst our bills go through the roof! 

Shame on them.

They did lose 5.7bn last year though when you couldn't give oil away, but then that's readily forgotten. Not a crime to make a profit.

Rosa_Damascena

TheAble said:

Rosa_Damascena said:

This morning's headlines shows just how ridiculous inequalities are. Gas companies are paying minus 19% tax and raking in billions whilst our bills go through the roof! 

Shame on them.

They did lose 5.7bn last year though when you couldn't give oil away, but then that's readily forgotten. Not a crime to make a profit.

And to profiteer at the expense of those at the other end of the economic scale? From people who already struggle to provide the basics for their families? I'll change my view if all that profit goes into R&D and saves the planet in the process but its not going to happen. 

Another small way in which I've made savings before is going to be scrapped: 
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2022/02/anyone-with-stacks-of-stamps-at-home-has-less-than-one-year-to-u/ . The cost of posting a simple greeting card these days is just ridiculous.

euronorris

A couple of other saving points I've picked up today:

- if you are an O2 customer, you can sign up for airtime rewards by linking a payment card. When you shop at an affiliate company, you then earn small amounts of cashback (so to speak) that will be offset against your mobile phone bill. Includes places like Boots, Wilkes and Argos (there are many more).
- I just noticed on the Lidl app that they have a bakery happy hour, where the fresh stuff is 30% between 7pm and close each day. So worth keeping in mind if you're planning to do a shop there, going after 7pm may make it slightly cheaper.

nannygladys

dander - what sort of things can you cook in an air fryer, I've been thinking of buying one, but can't afford the really expensive ones and thought you would only be able to cook chips in the small ones. I live on my own and hate putting the oven on just for a couple of things.