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

sammyjammy

Wicked_Lady said:

My W*rose vouchers were worse: £11 off a £70 shop!
No way will I be spending that much in any supermarket

I got £8 off £40, 8 of them to be spent by 24th April, it'd be extravagant to use one - shame they can't be shared about!

dmcint

Well, first day on the increased price cap was a bit of a shocker. My smart meter display shows my electricity use in KwH is about the same as yesterday but the cost is roughly double. Gas is up as well but not double.. Am going to have to cut back on electricity usage (as it's 4 times my gas cost per Kwh) which is do-able but not going to be great fun. More 'surviving; rather than 'living' unfortunately.... 

Florenceem

sammyjammy said:

Florenceem said:

Been to have my yearly eye test and buying 2 pairs of cheap glasses. While there - a woman was paying £400+ for one pair of glasses. She said to the assistant - the cost isn't an issue.
Price of DK yarn has shot up in Wilk. - £1.60 for 100g. I usually buy online and pay £1 or £1.25 - depends on colour requirements but I needed yellow yarn urgently. I can make 14 chick creme egg covers with 100g of yarn - making £14 for the SA.

They still have lots of wool from a special buy a few weeks ago in my Aldi, worth a look

Thanks - I am going to Ald. tomorrow - first shopping for 16 days.

CCW007

Spendless said:

Daughter wanted pizza for tea, so I decided to get this £5 deal  from Co op deal to fill the freezer with the extra bits. https://www.coop.co.uk/products/deals/freezer-fillers


Daughter is vegetarian and me and DH don't really eat chicken nuggets but I thought I'd either have them at some point or DS would eat when home. I was pleasantly surprised when I got to the shop to see they were offering a veggie version as an alternative. 

https://www.birdseye.co.uk/range/meat-free-mealtimes/green-cuisine/green-cuisine-chicken-free-dippers

If anyone is interested I'd say check your local store just in case it differs,  

The green cuisine dippers are lovely and usually quite expensive so great they are in the deal.

Brambling

sammyjammy said:

Wicked_Lady said:

My W*rose vouchers were worse: £11 off a £70 shop!
No way will I be spending that much in any supermarket

I got £8 off £40, 8 of them to be spent by 24th April, it'd be extravagant to use one - shame they can't be shared about!

My Waitrose vouchers are £14 off £70 in shop or £100 on line, six vouchers to use by 24th April I'm sure even a family would have issues with two shops of £70 a week 🤔 a single person £70 is also out of range. Sammy they can be shared if you don't mind handing over your loyalty card as well for the shop, I have done that before.  

Floss

I regularly spend up to £70 for a big start-of-month shop, but my monthly shop would cost more than £70 at Waitrose.

Spendless

I took DD out for lunch yesterday for her birthday. Weekday lunchtimes are often cheaper than evening and weekend menus. We went to an 'all you can eat' tapas for a set price. However I made a rookie mistake. A complimentary small loaf of bread with dip came first. If you eat it you are more full. As DD is vegetarian (and a faddy eater - which was also the case when she ate meat!) I let her order and thought I'd order a couple of veggie dishes too so she can try new things. Though the small plates are meant for 1 the quantity in them is sufficient for 2. The premis is you order 3 dishes per person first, then when eaten a further 2, then when they're finished, 1 by 1 if you still want any. DD ordered chips as 1 of ehr dishes and I ordered potatoes with a spicy tomato sauce. This was a mistake, 2 potato dishes plus the bread meant we were pretty full on the first round of ordering. I wouldn't do that again, I'd make sure I ordered lighter dishes for the first round and move onto something heavier for the 2nd one. I'd also be careful of eating all the bread! 

otb666

@Vanlady "does anyone know if it would be more economical to boil the kettle and use that to wash up with as opposed to using the hot water from the combi boiler"// As gas is 4 times cheaper than electric Gas is always gonna be cheaper/// I always check the patio slabs are dry before putting washing out// I personally think there is not much difference between putting DW on and hand dish washing, just use the eco mode and also i dont always run it full But thats just me.  Love my DW and see it as giving DW a clean as well when half full.  Done unis for kids and glad thats over as it was an expensive time.  I can confirm you get 4 years funding.  Love reading this thread

Spendless

nannygladys said:

I'm another who looks out of the window before doing the laundry, this morning was glorious sunshine but cold, so I thought I would try a quick wash cycle, and hang it all outside. The funny thing is the towels dried quite quickly but a couple of my t-shirts were quite damp still!!!! 

I've been trying a few things out today to lesson g&e usage  but will have to assess after a few days to see if I really want to be doing them, there's only so many things I will do unless they are necessary, even when I can see the smart meter galloping forward!!
Nannyg

I live in the North and where it's flat. This morning for the 2nd day it was snowing! Frequently not having enough wind or sun I wasn't drying outside for around 5 months of the year. Then I read a tip on here that said if your garden path (or outside pavement) is dry then your washing will dry too. I've followed that ever since Sometimes in the earlier spring/later Autumn months it doesn't fully dry but still far better than I was doing previously.

skogar

I've seen the vouchers from Waitrose and the like before and I think they usually seem to offer you a discount on an amount higher than you normally spend to make you spend more. It also seems to vary what the percentage discount is.

I used to regularly call in at Waitrose on my way home from work and often used to do quite well with yellow stickers and buying bits that I couldn't get elsewhere or which had fairly standard pricing across most of the supermarkets. Hence I only spent a small amount probably once a week.

My friend also shopped there sometimes (and I suspect spent more than I did). She would also get vouchers but at a far better discount on a bit higher spend than mine. She used to ask me if I wanted to go with her and split a voucher so I used to use the opportunity to stock up on the things that I couldn't get elsewhere, yellow stickered, on offer or were a similar price across supermarkets. We found it worked well for us both but only used the vouchers very occasionally.