From Frugal Foundations to Fortified Family Future

rtandon27

Loving the green checkmarks! 💚😉

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Morning MFW'rs

I'm confused. I have had an email from our BB provider, and it's talking about 'latest updates' and offers etc. I happened to notice that they've got an app (! 🙄) to get further discounts/offers from various stores etc. I happened to spot that there was an offer for a £3 cinema ticket at the weekends. Funnily enough, I had just been looking at the cinema page, as there is still a kiddo film LG has expressed an interest in seeing - but cinema tickets have gone UP in price 😬 So I clicked through to find out more about this 'app' and sure enough, quite a range of discounts and offers were shown….. including the cinema ticket…. which had "you've already claimed this offer" against it….. 🤔 As I've not downloaded the app, I don't see how I can have claimed it. Also, I haven't paid for cinema tickets this year (last time we went, a chum ordered them, and I paid them back), and the last tickets I bought were 'full whack' (and not at a weekend anyway). And then I noticed that I have claimed a 10% discount on an online order/delivery from Iceyland…. 🤔 And apparently I've already claimed a discount on a railway pass, and a free hot drinks ticket… what a load of hogwash. I've done no such thing. Is this companies way of 'offering, but actually, not offering?' Or has an app, that I haven't downloaded, already been hacked? There is no incentive to download the app, so I haven't. I must admit, I did think it a bit too good to be true that a cinema ticket could be got for £3 at the weekend. Even MrT CC offers are limited to Tuesday showings…..

I am still contemplating the MrL app, but I haven't done anything about it, as yet.

I don't think I'll get any washing dry today. We've had overnight rain, and I think more is forecast. Although it is quite breezy - perhaps I'm missing a trick.

I'm not sure what will be for tea tonight, but it may involve l/o pizza from the freezer. If I have the oven on, I shall probably make a crumble.

Right, snap to put together.

Greying X

themadvix

I would definitely be querying that with the provider GP - it sounds like it could have been hacked. Generally perks are available on platforms like that and would just impose terms (not available for use at weekends for example), not say that you’d already used them. It might be a blip in their system of course or a mix up on their end (C0nfused did this to me the other week - I got an email claiming that I didn’t qualify for the rewards I should have got for taking out insurance, but it was worded more likeI’d tried to commit fraud to get it, which I was not impressed with! When I emailed, they investigated and reinstated.)

Greying_Pilgrim

tmv - there were pages to flick through of these offers, and it was presented as a webpage, so maybe not "specific" to me. However, any offer that was…….mmmm, shall we say vaguely interesting to me personally (which is not to caste shade on any offer that I may be less seduced by), had been marked 'you have already used this offer' - even if I hadn't (eg I've never had an online grocery delivery from any provider, let alone Iceyland), whereas any offer that might be a bit more……."always on offer somewhere" had an 'offer valid until" date on them. So the boxed meal deliveries, the ubiquitous EHert'ge 25% off, the protein powders and make-up offers. Perhaps if I downloaded the app, I would find that all the offers were, in fact still open to me - but presented in this way, I've no incentive to even try. It looks like it's a 'sprat to catch a mackerel' to me…..

I do quite like the sMart-y mobile phone ad on TV at the moment, based at an airport, with the gate opening, being announced, and it being announced 'closed' by the time the guy gets to the counter……….definitely sending out those type of vibes.

Greying X

greenbee

It's probably worth logging into your provider account, changing your password, and making sure multi-factor authentication is set up. If anything is hacked, it'll be your account, not the app specifically (apps are generally more secure than browser-based web portals). The weak point is always identity :)

Greying_Pilgrim

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81966522#Comment_81966522

I'll happily do that greenbee, but I still think it's a sprat to catch a mackerel. I don't think these offers are actually open to everyone, whatever their account level with the provider, or the offers have been pulled by the companies. It is quite a split of offers that are few and far between, or are around everyday, from a number of sources.

Greying X

Greying_Pilgrim

🙄 I hate being wise old.

So I've done all the necessaries to my BB account. On the account, the write up of the +app was much more encouraging. So dear reader, I downloaded it. Well, I downloaded the provider app - which is what you were sent to (from the account page). And when - from that - I tried to load the +app, guess what… "that app is not available to you". And many of the reviews say the same thing…… I have uninstalled the blessed thing.

Sprat to catch a mackerel.

The account app, is not something I wish to carry around with me, and if the 'rewards' app isn't available, then I am not going to clutter my phone up unnecessarily, I shall keep it 'clear' for apps that do want to do something - whilst not 'for' me, that may as an aside give me some benefit whilst harvesting my data left, right and centre 🙄 Don't say it - I'm a luddite, I know.

I have however put a wash on, as the weather folk have changed their mind. I got suspicious when there wasn't any rain on the school run (was supposed to be pouring at that point), and now we're not looking like we'll have rain (famous last words…🤣). So I've thrown caution to the wind and put a load in, as the breeze we have is far too useful to ignore.

Greying X

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Morning MFW'rs

First wash of the day on. Bright, sunny and a useful breeze with us at the mo. Workwear will go in second, and if it all dries, I'll be about caught up, which is not to be sniffed at, even as we venture into spring.

Tea last night was 'pizza selection' (aka all the leftovers in the freezer 🤣), wedges and apple crumble for pud with yoghurt. The wedges were the Easter tatties (Saxon variety I think), and the apples that went into the crumble were the shonkiest of the eating apples out of the bowl. They didn't look the best, and one had gone wrinkly, and I know that DH had been trimming and cutting them to oblivion, whereas in a crumble, they worked really well. There are 3 portions of crumble left for tonight/another day. I was also reading the other day, that cooked apple/stewed apple makes pectin better bioavailable than just eating an apple 'raw'. I don't put much sugar into my crumble mixture, so hopeful this was a 'reasonably' healthier pud too.

I don't know what will be for lunch, I'm hopeful I can squeak soups in again this weekend, for no other reason than we're especially low on cheese. This was a thought out gamble, we're not down on our uppers. If I grate the remaining piece of cheese in the fridge, it should last for snap/pack-up/pieces for next week, until the next shopping run. DH is very good at being realistic with sandwich filling if the cheese is grated, but is a bit of a 'hacker' if he has to cut from the block. So it's down to me to grate the cheese, so that it lasts. I know though, that there is insufficient to provide cheese sangers on the weekend, as well. This isn't about stinting ourselves, it's about trying to keep to the budget, when perhaps the pressure is off, so that if things get worse, we may be better placed to cope. And we do have alternatives - we're not looking in an empty cupboard, although both DH and LG point blank refuse to take egg sangers for lunch on a weekday.

Right, best shift-a-tail-feather and get the workwear ready to go in the machine.

Ta for popping in. Greying X

peb

I now want an egg sandwich....

Frustrated here as just went to get the washing in three minutes too late - we'll class it as an extra wash added to which I forgot to freeze the left over Apple crumble before going away for a week (work - not fun)

Greying_Pilgrim

….Passes dearest peb an egg sanger……..

☹️ poor you - I didn't bother getting mine in - we just had a 5 minute sharp shower ☹️ I might have missed the opportunity to get the washing any drier, as the weather map is now showing rain all afternoon ☹️ Ah well - it's a gamble at the moment, and I can't moan, when I've been very blessed with more being dried outdoors lately.

We've just had the veggie version of Harira for lunch.

I have signed up again to do the May Grocery challenge, although my month won't start until the 1st. I need another lean month - as much as anything, the GC has made me really focus on using my storecupboard, not just storing more in my storecupboard. At the moment, "using" doesn't necessarily equate to having nothing down the road, as currently I am able to replenish stores, either with the same or similar products. I'm not getting complacent, but I do need to focus more on 'churn'.

May isn't any better than April for budgeting, as there is Half-term, and DH will be on leave again. Plus, and yes, I am a putting myself under pressure - we are going to try to go away for a long week-end in May. I will be reliant on Purple hotels for accommodation, but this helps, as we can use 2 locations to make driving to/from manageable in a short space of time. We want to try to take in an event that will really interest DH and to a certain extent LG, and there will be an opportunity to take in a couple of (possibly) interesting museums that are only open on certain days/times.

The timing isn't brilliant - having just come back from a little stay away, but we'll see if we can make it happen. I've done the 'flex' booking, so that if all else fails, we can cancel - I can't say that I'm not worried about the fuel situation at that point, but you can only insulate yourself so much - and if there is no fuel, or the price is prohibitive, then we'll not go. Simple as that. I'm actually more worried about when to book the attraction that is the focus of our visit. It's no small amount of money, and non-refundable if we just decide we can't afford to turn up. I have saved some money by combining hotels, and I was lucky that there seemed to be a reduction in the room rate for one night, from when I first started researching. Every little helps.

I have got the washing in. It has been made wet again by the sharp shower ☹️ But we're due intermittent showers now, so it would only get worse. But yes, had I got it in 15 minutes earlier, there's no doubt it would have been 'dry enough' to finish off on the airer. I'm now - probably - best getting the dehu out.

Greying X