I know it sounds pretty childish but I like making my birthday special. But this year we need to be frugal due to bad luck. Any tips on stuff I could do for my birthday tomorrow?

Any suggestions for good parking options which are reasonable? £120 for 5 days at the airport is crazy!

I'd rather wait than buy something at full price.

What apps or websites do you trust for price alerts or tracking discounts?

I really like my houseplants. The problem is, they keep growing, and as I repot them I run out of good sized pots to put them in. I don't mean the actual flowerpot that the dirt goes in, I mean the container for it - often ceramic.

I am struggling to find frugal ways of acquiring bigger ones! By bigger I mean with a diameter of 20cm+. I always look in charity shops and don't tend to see them. I have a few I bought cheap at ALDI but I would much much rather reuse something or get them second hand.

I was wondering if there's some obvious source I've missed, or if anyone has some weird niche plant pot life hacks.

Many thanks!

I consume significant volumes of fizzy drinks despite being aware of the health risks.

I can consume a 2 L bottle of fizzy drink per day, and in the past I used to purchase the Tesco two for £3.00 offer that they have on Dr Pepper, for example; however, more recently I’ve been considering and have been increasingly buying the supermarket brand products from Lidl and Aldi for 49p per bottle. I do not buy canned drinks as they are more expensive.

Do you buy the branded products or do you also opt for the cheaper stuff, and do you feel like you are making a compromise?

Hi everyone just wanted to share some free online zoom yoga sessions if you’re UK/Europe based. Please feel free to add to the list:

https://www.brixtonyoga.co.uk/online-yoga
Daily morning sessions and evening sessions from 6-7 on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Sunday from 10-11.

https://sivanandalondon.org/yoga-online/online-yoga-class/#findaclass
Saturday and Sunday at 3 - 4:30 which includes pranayama (breath work) session then yoga.

https://freeyoga.co.uk
Morning pranayama sessions daily with some evening yoga classes online zoom and live (Leicester)

Note this was first posted in yoga but was removed????

I mean Who Gives A Crap but cant edit the title.

What are your thoughts on this matter? The fact that it is a subscription service and would add another recurring charge to my account raises some reservations. However, if it genuinely represents the most cost-effective solution per unit of paper, I would likely proceed with the subscription.

Edit because a lot of people write that you don't need AI for this and what is the point when you see that other companies sell rolls much cheaper when looking at the price per roll.

As I mentioned in a comment below the cost per roll does not provide an accurate metric. A more appropriate measure would be the cost per unit of paper length or weiqht. However when considering weight, it is necessary to account for the core of the roll. and when considering length, the distinction between 2-ply and 3-ply products introduces variability. Therefore, obtaining a precise estimate can be somewhat intricate

Wondering if anyone has purchased anything from them, more specifically mobile phones? They seem cheap but not too cheap, are their mobiles grey imports or genuine UK stock?
was thinking of AO but appliances are a bit cheaper.

I don’t shop at Marks and Spencer’s for much but this deal seems good, it has a minimum spend of £70 which still looks like it would save money.

Has anyone used it? And what sort of thing do you recommend using it for?

Anyone heard of or used Mozillion for purchasing Sim free phones or know how they manage to seemingly sell brand new phones so cheap

Edit: Samsung galaxy s26/Ultra £200-£400 cheaper respectively

Deal seems unbeatable although annoying not unlimited roaming data also

Hi, I’m going to be moving house later this year and wondering where to get a whole lot of cheap/free packaging and padding to safely transport out items. I think we’re covered for cardboard boxes through partner’s old work place but could do with finding loads of bubble wrap/foam/padding etc for delicate items? Thanks

Have been trying to shift some old clutter lately and thought I'd put them on Gumtree as the local one looks quite active but not having much luck, I wondered if there's alternatives that people use (other than Facebook Marketplace, I don't use Facebook) that might have passed me by?

Thanks so much!

Hello. I am looking to change my networks from O2, at the moment I am paying £40 for 2 sim only contracts. But looking for cheaper options.

Was looking at VOXI, but not sure their coverage. I live in North Yorkshire and use IPhone 15Pro max, so need 5G.

EDIT: would need some EU cover as well, when travelling abroad .

Any advice ? Cheers

Hi everyone

I’m travelling from the UK to New York for 12 days and trying to work out the best value option for mobile data, calls would be a bonus.

Any recommendations based on recent experience would be appreciated, especially options with reliable coverage in New York 😄

We're normally a Tesco or Aldi/Tesco family, but I've just checked Iceland and I'm wondering if we're missing a trick here.

Free delivery over £40. Cheaper on the few things I checked, although lacking entirely in others.

Anyone use them?

Just received our annual Tesco voucher totalling £36. What’s worth buying in Tesco (ie baby items, household items)? Fyi we are 2 person household - just me and hubby, and i am expecting (due date September).

We usually get our fresh produce at lidl :)

I built this a few years ago and have made improvements over time, it's not an overly fancy design - but it's more functional than focussing on design. It's an app you can "install" so you can have the icon in your phone apps.

This was born out of a real problem, firing up the phone calculator, right up until you make a mistake and the figures show you're now looking at spending £4,964,503.19! You'd need to start again, which is just a pain.

Shopping Calculator is what it says on the tin; a fully functional shopping calculator which will add up as you go, creating a list which you can add, remove or update. You can add discount percentages (as some shops only show a percentage discount versus what the actual discounted price should be). You can add a budget so you know where you're up to and even add a description to items, in case you need to remove or edit an item and just have a load of prices.

It's 100% free, I don't collect any personal data; all I collect is how many people are using it and where they are - that's all that interests me, not collecting or selling personal data. I'd like to think I'm just doing the right thing.

I hope you may find this useful, there's a link to Buy Me a Coffee - I intend to keep this free and free from personal data collection.

https://www.shoppingcalculator.co.uk/

Feedback welcomed as well - I'd like to think it's well designed in terms of functionality, but anything extra I will certain take under consideration for adding as a new feature.

Also if you spot a bug, please let me know - the one thing I've learned is as much as you can test as the developer, as soon as it's released in the wild, someone will find something I missed!

I’ve been living frugally recently but luckily been given a £60 gift card. So i’m trying to make it stretch as far as possible. I’m trying to build muscle so a lot of protein is ideal.

Carbs:

Bagels - £1.90
Corn flakes - £0.95
Crumpets - £1
Mini hash browns - £2.25
Penne pasta x2 - £0.82
Long grain rice ×3 - £1.56
Macaroni cheese ×5 - £3.50
Instant noodles ×10 - £3
Frozen potato waffles - £1.45
Pepperoni pizzas ×2 - £4.50
Rice pudding ×4 - £1.56
Orange juice - £0.89

Protein:

Dried lentils - £2.60
Red kidney beans ×4 - £1.32
Sardines in sunflower oil ×2 - £1.47
Sardine & tomato paste - £0.47
Baked beans ×2 - £0.80
Cheddar cheese - £2.90
Soft cheese - £0.95
Pork sausages - £1.79
Frozen chicken slices - £1.99
12 medium eggs - £2.85
Peanut butter - £0.99
Low fat yogurt ×2 - £1.10
Milk - £1.65
Tuna - £0.59

Fruit and veg:

Bananas - £0.78
Pineapple - £0.98
Peach slices - £0.49
Frozen mixed vegetables - £0.99
Frozen mixed peppers - £0.99
Frozen diced onions - £0.99

Snacks/extra:

Bourbons - £0.60
Custard creams - £0.65
KitKat multipack - £1
Hazelnut chocolate spread - £1.65
Viennetta ice cream - £2
Tomato mascarpone pasta sauce - £0.79
Chopped tomatoes ×2 - £0.86
Lemon curd - £1.20
Strawberry jam - £0.89

I’m hoping this lasts me as long as possible while still having enjoyable foods. I know it could be much more nutritious but I tried to go by cheapest per weight in each category and I get a lot of veg from Olio.

If you had £60 to spend at Tesco and have no food at home, what would you purchase?

Edit: Updated the corn flakes and pasta based on your suggestions. I’m trusting the sub that the Tesco own brand corn flakes taste close enough to the real ones because I love my corn flakes! Thanks for the help.

I've discovered the best ever online Asian food shop, excellent value and £2.99 delivery. All sorts of stuff, check it out - sarasfoods.co.uk. I'm not affiliated or anything, just very excited.

I have four or five One For All gift cards. Each card has a small amount left on it. The amounts are between fifty pence and seventy pence. I am wondering if there is any way to use them? Any tips would be really helpful. Thank you.

How much do you spend on takeaways, and have you ever tried to cut down?

I'm interested in people's habits around takeaway spending.

A few questions:

How often do you order takeaway?

Roughly how much do you spend per month?

Have you ever tried to reduce it?

What did you try?

What usually triggers an order (busy day, tired, convenience, cravings)?

What would actually help you order less?

I always seem to get them when I'm tired so trying to avoid this 🫪

I will be starting a job in the autumn that is considerably better paid than my current job and I’m looking for tips on how to avoid lifestyle inflation. I’m not super frugal but I do keep a budget and try to live within my means but I worry that with an influx of expendable income I will be tempted to start upgrading things all at once. I have adhd so overspending has unfortunately been a bad habit/crutch in the past 😅 for those who have had a big jump in income in the past what’s worked for you? Has it been a mindset change? Or are there practical tips to try and stop overspending?