Now there's a thing. The coupons on the left arrived last month. Hmmm, £12 off when I spend £60 or more by 16th of June. I thought about it, not a bad saving, and I thought again. They were stuck to the boiler in the kitchen with a magnet, I thought should I use them? Is there anything I need to buy? Food most definitely, but £60's worth? I could stock up, ten boxes of bran flakes, ten tins of beans, ten cartons of soya milk. Possible I suppose. But no, can't find any enthusiasm for totting things up as I trundle around the store with my trolley. None of the coupons on the left were used. Couldn't be bothered.
And so the next batch arrived, to be used in July. WHAT! Only £10 off a £70 shop. I don't think so Tesco. If I don't feel enthused to spend £60, how the heck am I going to spend £70. It aint going to happen. Why do these coupons never arrive when you actually need to buy something.
My baby loves me. This has become a night time ritual before bed time. I watch something on yooootoob at about 9pm ish, and Mayze wants a cuddle. She plonks her body on the desk, I have to pull my chair up close, and she crawls up my chest and tries to snuggle under my chin. I have to have one arm outstretched so she doesn't fall off.
Thanks to the walking group members for checking in with their miles yesterday. If you haven't yet done so, you can go back to that page at any time.
Toodle pip. ilona
That's a heart melting photo Ilona.
ReplyDeleteBriony
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Hi Briony,I hope its ok to send you a message via Ilona,but Ive tried sending a comment 3 times on your page about Rupert..but it wont seem to go through.xx
DeleteI have gotten a few coupons like that-spend more this time than last and the amount I save is less. I can do better taking the bargains as they come.
ReplyDeleteSpending to save is definitely NOT the way to go in this case! I never spent £70 in one go at Tesco even when I was feeding the family!
ReplyDeleteI get these too, they want me to spend way more than I usually do and I never use them. I have well stocked cupboards by sensibly buying things I need and use and keeping spares when they are on offer. It's way to get you to be 'loyal'. I am not interested in being loyal to a supermarket I just want good value for the money I spend all the time.
ReplyDeleteWouldn't be any good to me, many moons ago I will fill a trolley up with a weekly shop, these days its yellow stickers and bargains all the way in this household.
ReplyDeleteHi Ilona MAYZE HEIDI and OSCAR - what a lovely photo of Mayze with you - its obvious she really really loves you. I have Amy who is very similar. Benny is a rescued cat and spends his summer days in next doors garden calling when he gets hungry for hugs kisses and food. He is a darling but Amy being female is closer to home and very loving like Maisie. She is a treasure and very sweet. Lots of love Liz Amy and Benny.xxxxxx
ReplyDeleteIt's funny how cats seem to want more cuddles as they grow older - my 16year old cat Hector never used to come near my lap: too busy playing and racing around. Now though he's always up for an evening curled up with me on the sofa.
ReplyDeleteI am not a fan of T.... but my daughter and I share the coupons together for we have the same cards. I would rather have discount on the items.
ReplyDeleteIt's hard for people that do not have a car and have to shop everyday. Especially for the older people.
Hazel c uk
I'm not sure how spending the amount needed to get the money off is throwing money away? You will have had a substantial discount and have got a cupboard full of goods. How is that throwing money away? When you've got what you paid for and had a lot discounted from your total bill. If you get non perishable goods you won't be paying for more of them on your weekly shop.
ReplyDeleteThe vouchers have an amount of money printed on them, therefore they are money to spend. I didn't spend them therefore I threw this free money away.
DeleteI don't do a weekly shop.
DeleteYes I know they're money to spend, I don't understand how you think you are saving money when you say you threw that free money away!
DeleteI used vouchers last week, not only had I got the usual reward card vouchers to use against my bill, I'd also got some of the money off vouchers that you've thrown away. A great big lump off my bill. What's more apart from some dog food I bought all yellow stickered goods! Win win! It just needs a bit of thought how best the vouchers can be used. Some people have the mindset that they're not going to add to the profits of the big stores but you just need to think how to use the vouchers to your advantage.
I don't do a weekly shop either, it was a figure of speech, that eventually you're going to need to shop again but if you've used the vouchers sensibly there are some items you won't need to buy for quite some time.
Yes, I understand what you are saying. After ten years of money saving, scrimping, and watching every penny I spend, I am now in the position that I am able to loosen the purse strings a bit. I am not as skint as I used to be, I can now afford to spend some money. I can relax, my spending habits have changed. My shopping no longer has to be a military operation of planning and checking my cupboards.
DeleteI still look for yellow stickers first, indeed I just spent £1 03 on the bread counter in Asda, a store I don't normally shop at. I happened to be passing so called in to see if there was anything.
I don't expect to be a tight arse all my life, I can now throw away a few quid now and again, if it will give me more time to enjoy myself.
I think it's also worth saying that even if someone was prepared to stock up, some people might not actually have the £70 to spend upfront in order to then gain the benefit of the long term saving.
DeleteIlona,Im sat here reading the comments and different points of view on these vouchers...and then I read your words....I dont expect to be a tight arse all my life...and Im sat here laughing!!.You are so funny sometimes and one of the most caring,trust worthy,kindest people I know!!.Hope the sun is shining for every one today.Here in Leicester its beautiful!,xx
DeleteI had to go into Tesco yesterday to buy flowers for my Aunties funeral and had a look round for a few bits that i needed.It just reminded me yet again why I do my shopping at Aldi.Every thing that I needed was dearer in Tesco,apart from the milk,which was the same price.I picked some of their 20p gravy up,which is good value but the rest of the stuff they could keep!.It was only about 2 in the afternoon,so although there were alot of yellow stickers..but with only 10p or 20p off.And they were only ready meals that were very expensive to start with!.I got fed up at looking at overpriced 2 for 1 offers,so I came away with just my flowers and 6 tubs of gravy mix!.The rest of the bits I needed can wait until I go to Aldis in a couple of days time...we wont starve,lol...Thats a lovely photo of Mayze,and I love it when they come and cuddle up.4 of mine do this alot but Fibert only does it when he feels like it,lol.He seems to prefer my Hubbys lap to mine!xx
ReplyDeleteI haven't been sent one of those types of Tesco vouchers for years, I only get the normal clubcard ones from collecting points. I did use a £5 off £20 spend at Lidl voucher that was in the paper a few weeks ago. 25% off was too good not to use to stock up on non perishablles.
ReplyDeleteI do a monthly shop with a few top-ups in between. £12 off £60 would be very useful but I never get anything like that! I like Tesco (can't stand Aldi) so happy to spend a little more, though when I have tried Aldi I find that there's very little difference in the price of the things I buy regularly.
ReplyDeletewhn I went to get my "new to me" Macbook , the company had a 10% off sale and I could combine another coupon code with that, so I saved a substantial amount on a laptop. If I need something i use coupons, But the "spend more save less" ones i do not understand why companies do that. Those ones just do not make good sense to me. I would up saving $80 on my Macbook. When I want/ need stuff, ( not food, for that is a necessity), I either wait for it to go on sale, or wait until I can get a demo/ floor model when the stores decide to sell them. Also "open box" sales are a good way to save a ton of money on different things , as well. By waiting a year to purchase a Camcorder that I wanted, I got a $400 model ( Sony Handicam) for $125, I found online a Digital camera ( Casio Exlim) through a "open box" sale for $60 ( almost $350 new). I am just using that as a example of what you can save on bigger purchases if you can wait and keep checking back and keeping a eye on the things that you want. I , too live from month to month and I have to be careful with my spending as well. All three purchases were from years ago and they are still working like a charm. Just a few tips for your readers as well. I love reading about your money saving tips!
ReplyDeleteMy standard approach for these 'big shop, big discounts' is bulk buying pet food and other things that will keep but I can quite see that a single person without a vast menagerie would struggle to make it worthwhile. I've not always used vouchers like this when I've got them because it isn't always great for cash flow or for saving. I can imagine though that it might be worthwhile to club together with someone else and share the discount.
ReplyDeleteMy Aunt was shopping in Lidl the other day when a lady said she had the 5 off 20 coupon but didn't need it and gave it to my Aunt to use..I don't bother with coupons anymore either, they are not so popular here in Ontario where I live. I find if we stock up we eat more because it is there.
ReplyDeleteYou did the right thing. Tesco and Sainsbury's regularly send me money off if I spend a certain amount vouchers. The only ones worth using are for a £20 pound shop because then I stock up on the few items I do always get from those shops. For a start, if I did my whole shop there, it would work out more than Aldi even with the vouchers, secondly, I struggle to get my shop up to more than £20 and make it things I would have bought anyway. If you use the vouchers, they send you more for larger amounts, if you don't spend them, they revert to the £20 ones.
ReplyDeleteThey do it for themselves, their profits and to keep you buying. It isn't free money!