Cost of living crisis tips?

[Thora]

I've had a search and not seen a similar thread - would anyone like to share money saving/making tips?

I don't really have many.

I've started doing paid surveys on Prolific - you don't make much but when I was being consistent with it I could make £5 a day which went into paypal and I was then using it to pay for things like kids' snack money/school trips/pay a pound for non-uniform days or whatever. I've probably made a couple of hundred quid on it all together.

I've been looking at buying a tumble dryer, and apparently 'heat pump' type ones only cost 50p per cycle to run compared to £1.25 for traditional ones.

Obviously meal planning and cutting down on meat and wearing an extra jumper and burning the rich...

Anyone else?

 

[Thora]

Oh and also an app called 'Too Good To Go' where you can buy a random bag for about £3 of stuff a business would otherwise throw away. There's only a couple of places near me that do it unfortunately but I've had some good stuff from Morrisons and Costa.

 

[Sasaferrato]

I've had a search and not seen a similar thread - would anyone like to share money saving/making tips?

I don't really have many.

I've started doing paid surveys on Prolific - you don't make much but when I was being consistent with it I could make £5 a day which went into paypal and I was then using it to pay for things like kids' snack money/school trips/pay a pound for non-uniform days or whatever. I've probably made a couple of hundred quid on it all together.

I've been looking at buying a tumble dryer, and apparently 'heat pump' type ones only cost 50p per cycle to run compared to £1.25 for traditional ones.

Obviously meal planning and cutting down on meat and wearing an extra jumper and burning the rich...

Anyone else?

How much more do they cost than ordinary ones?

 

[Looby]

We’ve got a heat pump tumble dryer and I don’t think it was that much more than a condenser when we looked. We’ve had less shrinkage too as it dries more gently.

Thanks for the prolific reminder too, I’d got out of the habit of doing those.

 

[Looby]

I haven’t really got any tips. I saw the random veg boxes at lidl the other day and they looked good.

 

[skyscraper101]

Oh and also an app called 'Too Good To Go' where you can buy a random bag for about £3 of stuff a business would otherwise throw away. There's only a couple of places near me that do it unfortunately but I've had some good stuff from Morrisons and Costa.

Second this. Most of my dinners are now from that app

 

[telbert]

Oh and also an app called 'Too Good To Go' where you can buy a random bag for about £3 of stuff a business would otherwise throw away. There's only a couple of places near me that do it unfortunately but I've had some good stuff from Morrisons and Costa.

Ive signed up to this in my cafe,its very good. We sell food thats still good to eat to someone that needs it at a discounted price instead of it going into land fill and we get a couple of quid for it.

 

[telbert]

Thers also a FB group caled Giving up the game where you can source free game .

 

[scifisam]

You can get a Totum student discount card if you have access to a .ac.uk account. I have one just from doing a short course at CityLit, and a lot of people have access to their old uni emails. The main saving with that is 10% off at the Co-Op - the card costs £24 for 3 years (and it lasts for three years even if you won't be a student in three years) and it paid itself off within six weeks.

 

[Thora]

Ive signed up to this in my cafe,its very good. We sell food thats still good to eat to someone that needs it at a discounted price instead of it going into land fill and we get a couple of quid for it.

It would be good if there were more places doing it near me. The Costa bag has been good for treats - usually get 5 slices of cake for £3, or 3 cakes and 2 sandwiches.
The Morrisons one is good for fruit and veg - the last bag I got was a bag of new potatoes, broad beans, courgettes, leeks, celery, tomatoes, pears, two packets of cherries and two packets of strawberries. The fruit had to be eaten within a couple of days but that is no problem with three kids

 

[miss direct]

scifisam apart from Coop (I never shop there), what other discounts are there with Totum? Is it worth me getting one? Can I use the card for discounts in Europe too?

 

[Supine]

Buy a clothes horse rather than a tumble drier. Save on the machine and running costs.

 

[moomoo]

Follow Jack Monroe for cheap meal ideas. Find out when your local supermarket does their reductions.

 

[scifisam]

scifisam apart from Coop (I never shop there), what other discounts are there with Totum? Is it worth me getting one? Can I use the card for discounts in Europe too?

Don't know about Europe, esp post-Brexit. You used to get discounts in Europe with an NUS card, the predecessor to Totum, but I have no idea if you do now.

In the UK it's mostly clothes shops (a lot of them offer it in person and online), some bookshops, entry to most museums and tourist places, and a fair few other retailers, especially for computers - it varies a lot which, and I don't actually buy much that isn't groceries. You can also get half price Amazon Prime and Spotify (actually, Amazon Prime is free for the first six months, then half price - not sure about Spotify). One of my very local supermarkets is a Co-Op, so it works out worthwhile for me.

I've also started remembering to use things like Nectar cards. You can get more than one card, so I have a spare card for my GF's Superdrug account (she shops there a lot, I do occasionally) and she has one of my Co-Op membership cards (no student discount if she's not with me, but you do build up a little cash). Better than us all having separate accounts.

 

[nagapie]

I would like to know more about putting that tape on your windows to insulate them. Does it work? Where do I get it? How well applied does it have to be, I'm cack handed?

 

[miss direct]

Don't know about Europe, esp post-Brexit. You used to get discounts in Europe with an NUS card, the predecessor to Totum, but I have no idea if you do now.

In the UK it's mostly clothes shops (a lot of them offer it in person and online), some bookshops, entry to most museums and tourist places, and a fair few other retailers, especially for computers - it varies a lot which, and I don't actually buy much that isn't groceries. You can also get half price Amazon Prime and Spotify (actually, Amazon Prime is free for the first six months, then half price - not sure about Spotify). One of my very local supermarkets is a Co-Op, so it works out worthwhile for me.

I've also started remembering to use things like Nectar cards. You can get more than one card, so I have a spare card for my GF's Superdrug account (she shops there a lot, I do occasionally) and she has one of my Co-Op membership cards (no student discount if she's not with me, but you do build up a little cash). Better than us all having separate accounts.

You don't need the student card to get the Amazon (I might be on my second free six month trial )
I'm just weighing up whether it's worth getting.

 

[jontz01]

You can get a Totum student discount card if you have access to a .ac.uk account. I have one just from doing a short course at CityLit, and a lot of people have access to their old uni emails. The main saving with that is 10% off at the Co-Op - the card costs £24 for 3 years (and it lasts for three years even if you won't be a student in three years) and it paid itself off within six weeks.

A coop members card gives you 10% off and it's free afaik

 

[scifisam]

A coop members card gives you 10% off and it's free afaik

It doesn't though...

 

[Elpenor]

Anyone who can get a blue light card can get 10% off at Asda if that’s of any use

 

[scifisam]

You don't need the student card to get the Amazon (I might be on my second free six month trial )
I'm just weighing up whether it's worth getting.

That's true, you just need the ac.uk account. Think Spotify is the same. I was thinking of student discounts rather than Totum card in general - and some shops aren't that arsed about checking your student ID anyway, you just say you're a student.

£24 over three years probably would pay itself back, but it does depend what you buy and do. For me it's worth it purely for the groceries.

 

[scifisam]

Anyone who can get a blue light card can get 10% off at Asda if that’s of any use

And some discounts to some tourist places - free at Kew Gardens. Not useful for most people, of course, but, well, it's still a free day out. My nearest bubble tea shop has a discount for students and NHS staff! They definitely do not care about ID though.

 

[Thora]

Anyone who can get a blue light card can get 10% off at Asda if that’s of any use

Only in person though annoyingly and not online!

 

[Looby]

I got an app recently to store all my loyalty cards. I haven’t tried it yet but it seems legit. Hopefully it works then I don’t need to carry as much and I’ll remember to use them.
It’s called stocard.

I’ve also renewed my Blue Light Card for the asda discount.

A totem card is definitely worth it but I have noticed that some retailers are using other verification like student beans because it’s so easy to get/renew totem now.

 

[Puddy_Tat]

A coop members card gives you 10% off and it's free afaik

may depend which co-op you're with - i'm pretty sure the one round here doesn't - it does give you a dividend of a few pence in the pound, but don't think it's anywhere near 10%. and think you have to pay a quid for the card.

it does give regular offers - something like login online and select two discounts from these possible 5 or 6 - which are useful some weeks

i don't go to the co-op that often, it's not so convenient in my current job, in previous job, there was one that was about 4 bus stops away from home so i could get off the bus, go shopping and either walk home or catch the next bus. it's about a mile (mostly uphill) to walk there and i don't have a bus season ticket now, so it's not that convenient...

Some professional bodies also offer the Totum Pro card (mine does, but when i looked i didn't think it was worth the 24 quid.)

And some workplaces / unions etc have some sort of discount vouchers scheme you can sign up to - mostly on electronic vouchers or online top-ups once you've got your initial gift card. I tend to use these for sainsburys / morrisons and get either 3 or 4 % off, which isn't much, but it's better than a kick up the tail...

Buy a clothes horse rather than a tumble drier. Save on the machine and running costs.

but surely after the feed and stabling and vet's bills for the horse, it's probably not much of a saving...

 

[Elpenor]

And some discounts to some tourist places - free at Kew Gardens. Not useful for most people, of course, but, well, it's still a free day out. My nearest bubble tea shop has a discount for students and NHS staff! They definitely do not care about ID though.

Yes they have the usual range of discounts you can often get via other sources eg corporate rewards portals, my union, cash back portals, offers online etc. I have found a few things genuinely useful like 10% off at Homebase for something. My gut feeling is that the days out stuff is targeted at families so not really my thing but very useful it must be. Kew Gardens sounds worth a look

Only in person though annoyingly and not online!

Ah, didn’t know that but I suppose they need to police it. Not a fan of Asda myself and doubt it’s worth my time going all the way into town when Lidl is much closer.

 

[Looby]

Buy a clothes horse rather than a tumble drier. Save on the machine and running costs.

I live in a damp prone house and can’t dry clothes inside so in winter and on wet days I use my dryer. But thanks for stating the obvious. I’m sure none of us had thought of that.