Been gradually swapping out branded stuff for supermarket ownbrand over the past few months and the weekly shop has dropped by a fair bit. Not everything is worth it, the ownbrand instant coffee is grim and I will not be repeating that experiment, but a lot of it is genuinely fine or close enough that it does not matter.

Pasta, tinned tomatoes, frozen veg, washing up liquid, most cleaning stuff, all pretty much identical in practice. Dairy is hit and miss depending on which supermarket you go to. Aldi and Lidl ownbrand cheese is decent, Sainsbury's basics range for some things is a bit rough.

The thing is nobody really talks about which ownbrand swaps are worth making and which are a waste of time. Bread is another one where the quality difference is actually quite noticeable, so I still buy a named brand there.

Curious what others have found. Any swaps you tried and immediately regretted, or ones that surprised you and you would never go back from? And which supermarket do people generally find has the best ownbrand range overall, because I feel like that varies a lot depending on what you are buying.

Hello all, hope you are well.

I want an android phone that is within £200-£250 if possible.

I currently have an s23 ultra but i don't use any if the fancy features it offers.

Generally, I don't use the fancy features that the high end phones have.

Screen of my s23 ultra is cracked so need to replace it.

Things i use my phone for:

I'll use call, text, social media eg tiktok, snapchat, WhatsApp.

Shopping apps like amazon, uber eats etc.

Occasionally watch netflix or disney or prime video.

General browsing, like checking the weather, food recipes and information about days out etc.

Listen to mp3 music files when cooking or cleaning. Might connect a speaker via Bluetooth for this or use wireless headphones.

All my pictures and videos are stored on onedrive and some on google drive so would like to log into these platforms to be able to access online.

I will need to log into emails.

I'm a stay at home mum at the moment and don't see myself needing the phone for work anytime soon.

I don't game.

I don't need a super speedy phone but also don't want something that will take a long time to load everything.

I have 2 small children so am prone to accidents and would like something that won't break the bank to repair/replace.

Any help or suggestions would be appreciated please.

Hello! Just moved to London (Kentish town) from the USA and I’m missing somewhere to buy kitchen products in bulk for the lowest possible price. Dish soap, trash bags and laundry detergent are the main ones I can think of. Are these sold in bulk in stores or am I better off just buying sales where possible?

It’s time to share your frugal wins from the past week.
They don’t need to be impressive. Small wins absolutely count.

Did you:

• Save a few pounds on your food shop?
• Avoid buying something you didn’t really need?
• Use something up instead of replacing it?
• Cook a cheap, cheerful meal?
• Cancel, downgrade, or rethink a subscription?

You can also share:

• A near-miss (something you nearly bought but didn’t)
• A habit that’s starting to stick
• A small mistake that taught you something useful

If it made your week a bit cheaper or a bit smarter, it belongs here.

Drop it in the comments and let’s normalise the small victories.

Having someone over on Saturday who specifically requested a prawn curry.

I’m looking for the absolute best value place to buy Frozen Raw King-size Prawns in bulk. I’ve spotted an XXL pack at Farmfoods for £19.99 (I think it’s around 1kg-1.5kg total weight).

Before I run out and buy it, is Farmfoods my best bet for price vs size, or are there hidden gems I'm overlooking? I have access to Lidl, Aldi, Asda & Tesco.

Where do you guys suggest?

Hi, I’m planning on going to London Zoo next week (Probs Monday 13th) with my 4 year old.

Is there any way of getting in for a bit cheaper than usual please? I understand that there’s a way of getting in with 2 for 1 with a train ticket, but would that work for 1 x adult and 1 x child ticket please?

He doesn’t have a blue peter badge yet, so I can’t try that.

Many thanks in advance for your tips :0)

I used to buy a ton of different skincare products trying to fix every little issue separately. Eventually I found beaund nmode pro, a very smart working and important device that actually worked consistently and stopped impulse buying new products every month. Curious if anyone else has had a beauty or skincare purchase that seemed expensive at first but ended up saving money over time

Their croissants are 50p, sourdough loaves around £1.79, and the fresh pastries are noticeably cheaper than Tesco or Sainsbury's equivalents for what I think is actually comparable quality. Also started freezing half the loaf as soon as I get home which stops the "eat it all in 3 days or it goes stale" problem I always had

It’s time to share your frugal wins from the past week.
They don’t need to be impressive. Small wins absolutely count.

Did you:

• Save a few pounds on your food shop?
• Avoid buying something you didn’t really need?
• Use something up instead of replacing it?
• Cook a cheap, cheerful meal?
• Cancel, downgrade, or rethink a subscription?

You can also share:

• A near-miss (something you nearly bought but didn’t)
• A habit that’s starting to stick
• A small mistake that taught you something useful

If it made your week a bit cheaper or a bit smarter, it belongs here.

Drop it in the comments and let’s normalise the small victories.

It cost way to much normally

Im trying to get the cheapest whole chicken I can find and someone says farmfoods is a good option. The cheapest I've seen is the frozen qualiko whole chicken usually around 1.1kg for around £2-3 but I'm just wondering if anyone has tried it and what it tastes like? The next step option is Lidl which is unfrozen and we've been fine with how that tastes so far.

Does anybody know a SIM that doesn't require a minimum top up to activate it?

I foolishly took out a new, second contract with Three mobile as it was a good deal and then wanted to port my current old Three contract number over to the new contract. Three tells me this isn't possible.

Apparently I can port to a third party, then port from the third party to the new contract, but running into the issue of getting a third party SIM that's active. They all seem to require a minimum of £5.

Not only is aiming to being healthy makes you feel better it can save you money. Keeping and maintaining a constant healthy weight means you change clothes a lot less, eat less, and thus save more. But also will save you on potential future medications and health treatments you may need to go private for.

Walking (ditch the car when you can) more instead of driving to local shops/work, if you live 20 min away walk, walk, save on petrol, get you 10 000 steps in. Moving down to 1 car if possible, do you need two cars? Cars cost an average of 500k in your life time, more dangeorus than planes, buses and trains on average and mena you are sitting down alot more.

Get rid of mouth wash, brush, change diet 9popcorn instead of crisps etc), maybe floss once a month, but Mouth wash did nothing for my teeth, get rid.

Deodorants-not really health, but they are plaster jobs. My error was I did not dry properly, also on hot days, wipe arms pits wth paper towels regularly. Where crocks at work, so you shoes do not scent as much. Remember deodrants are masking the scent, not preventing the scent.

Bars of soap instead plastic soap dispensers

Make the world your Gym, walk more, press ups, Get some dumbells for Xmas instead of joining a gym. Moderate exercise is the key.

If anyone else has any tips for naturals ways to prevent my hay fever I would be ever so grateful.

In a world of ever increasing costs, with wages not rising as fast, how do you make your money go further in a single household?
What frugal/money saving tips can you offer?
Things like - which shops do you buy bulk kitchen or toilet roll for the best prices, good smelling toiletries that don't break the bank etc

Husband and I are naturally adverse to spending money, so we've always lived pretty frugally. But we're actively trying to eat more organic, avoid unnecessary ingredients, and choose more natural household products - and the prices are eye watering! We've set up a vegetable patch, but so far it's only yielded about 10 strawberries. Any tips for making this work? Are those organic veg boxes good value for money? Keep getting served ads for Purdy & Fig and have resisted temptation so far!

It’s time to share your frugal wins from the past week.
They don’t need to be impressive. Small wins absolutely count.

Did you:

• Save a few pounds on your food shop?
• Avoid buying something you didn’t really need?
• Use something up instead of replacing it?
• Cook a cheap, cheerful meal?
• Cancel, downgrade, or rethink a subscription?

You can also share:

• A near-miss (something you nearly bought but didn’t)
• A habit that’s starting to stick
• A small mistake that taught you something useful

If it made your week a bit cheaper or a bit smarter, it belongs here.

Drop it in the comments and let’s normalise the small victories.

I just thought I should mention this (though perhaps you all know about it already), as I wish I'd started using it sooner. Neighbours can list food items that they're not going to eat so others can collect them and prevent waste. But additionally, if you do a mini online course to become a "Food Waste Hero", you can collect food from certain shops at closing time (for some you have to list some of the items using the app for neighbours to collect, but for some you can keep as much as you like)

I’ve recently bought a small air cooler/air conditioner that can run off a power bank, which I could charge at work or on my travel on public transport. I don’t want to spend out money on one which will overheat or die in the UK heat! Any help greatly appreciated!

It’s time to share your frugal wins from the past week.
They don’t need to be impressive. Small wins absolutely count.

Did you:

• Save a few pounds on your food shop?
• Avoid buying something you didn’t really need?
• Use something up instead of replacing it?
• Cook a cheap, cheerful meal?
• Cancel, downgrade, or rethink a subscription?

You can also share:

• A near-miss (something you nearly bought but didn’t)
• A habit that’s starting to stick
• A small mistake that taught you something useful

If it made your week a bit cheaper or a bit smarter, it belongs here.

Drop it in the comments and let’s normalise the small victories.

Been trying to cut costs wherever I can this year and started questioning whether the annual boiler service London is actually necessary or just something engineers push to make money.

Did some reading and the argument for keeping it is that it maintains the warranty, catches small issues before they become expensive ones, and Gas Safe engineers are legally required to flag anything unsafe. Skipped it one year and ended up with a repair that cost significantly more than 3 services combined would have.

A neighbour mentioned wpj heating as one option worth looking at, Gas Safe registered and apparently leaves a written report each visit which at least gives you a paper trail if something goes wrong later.

Curious if anyone here has done the maths on this properly. Is self insuring and skipping the service genuinely cheaper long term or does it tend to catch up with you?