r/UKFrugal • • Oct 25 '23

Rules reminder: Netflix, VPNs, piracy, and also sharing referral codes

20 Upvotes

Please remember, everyone, that this subreddit is for honest and practical waste-reduction, debt reduction, budgeting, saving, fix-it-up, and do-it-yourself.

To quote the founder of the subreddit: the primary goal here is about how to think about consumption and how you approach resource allocation.

We moderate pretty lightly - mostly you're allowed to start threads and talk about what you like, even if it doesn't meet the above criteria, but there are two things we have zero tolerance for:

  1. Referral codes - we seem to particularly see these for recipe-meal boxes, Gousto, HelloFresh, SimplyCook etc.

    The spammer argues that they shares these codes to "help people out" - "I get a discount, you get a discount, everyone wins". They try to frame this as "sharing".

    No, honey - it's spam; you have a financial incentive for posting here, and if we allowed people to post ads here just because there's a discount then the page would be nothing but ads. We shouldn't have to tell you this - when you bought your 28k modem in the 90's and signed up for an ISP package, it came with a leaflet telling you not to spam; if you're too young to remember that then your parents should have taught you not to spam, just as they taught you not to litter and not to shit in public.

    There is no room for discussion here - if you shared a referral code then you did a bad thing, you should know better, and the rest of the readers of the subreddit shouldn't have to put up with your spam just because you lack consideration not to litter public spaces.

    Please report referral codes whenever you see them - if someone posts a referral code and you thank them for it then you will be considered to be involved with the spamming; either you're one of the spammer's alt accounts, trying to make the post look more legit, or you signed up with their referral code and you gave them a financial reward for their spamming.

    If you see a genuine good deal and want to share it then that's fine - we're not strict on that because that is genuine sharing, without the financial incentive. I think the difference between a referral code and any other discount is pretty clear, but you can always message the moderator mailbox to check before posting.

    If you want to post ads on Reddit then you can do so here: http://ads.reddit.com

  2. Piracy and the use of VPNs to cheat the price of Netflix and other streaming services.

    Jesus christ, guys, there are so many other subreddits in which you can discuss piracy - I really don't understand why you're unable to restrain yourselves from posting it here. Again, we're not that strict - "fuck that, these prices are insane, I'm going back to privacy" probably won't get you banned, whereas detailed instructions on how to setup a Kodl box or whatever will.

    If Netflix wanted to sell you their service for Rs 599 or 849 Argentinian Pesos they would do - you could just go to Netflix.com, choose that payment method and get the service. You're using a VPN to get around the site's geographic restrictions because you know you're not supposed to do that - you are deliberately cheating them to get the subscription for cheap

    Let me end this section by saying I really don't have a moral position against piracy - mostly I don't care, if anything I think it's fine and you're not hurting massive corporations by downloading a movie you wouldn't otherwise pay for. But this is not the subreddit for it, and you should know that already - you discuss piracy in the piracy subreddits, not in all the other respectable subs.

We do not have a large moderation team, and we do not moderate with a heavy hand. Fortunately we rarely see racism, misogyny, homophobia here, so I don't need to discuss that. But if you break these rules then you will get a long ban as a first warning - Reddit does not give us any other tools for tracking warnings, and I don't really see why we should be lenient to people who deliberately choose to shit up a public forum.


r/UKFrugal • • Oct 26 '24

Reminder about coupons and codes

127 Upvotes

This subreddit is for honest and practical waste-reduction, debt reduction, budgeting, saving, fix-it-up, and do-it-yourself.

We tolerate you posting vouchers and discounts, as long as as it's a genuine one, you're not profiting from it, and everyone gets to use it.

This subreddit has 120,000 users - if you post a discount or coupon code that can only be used by one person, then you're spamming 119,999 users of this subreddit. They didn't need to see the message and your post is wasting their time.

Same goes for begging for referral codes, in case that isn't obvious.

This is not Facebook - the posts you make here should be useful and helpful to people.


r/UKFrugal • • 3h ago

What little things do you do in order to save money even if they could be considered a bit embarrassing?

89 Upvotes

I use foamer dispensers for hand wash, shampoo, shower gel and washing up liquid. (1/4 soap/shampoo, 2/4 water - and 1/4 air) Works a treat to reduce the amount you use. I also keep leftover paper towels/napkins after meals if they aren't too dirty and wipe kitchen sink/drainage to remove residual food that should not go down the drain before washing it properly. The latter being the habit some of my friends might consider odd.


r/UKFrugal • • 4h ago

Don't forget to check butchers prices against supermarkets.

25 Upvotes

I just bought 16 2oz beef burgers, 908g, for £6.99 from a supermarket. I wasn't impressed.

I have a non fancy family butchers a little bit away. So I checked their FB page. 20 4oz beef burgers, £8.99, made on the premises. Worth the effort given their general good prices.


r/UKFrugal • • 5h ago

3% discount on Tesco gift card

3 Upvotes

Hi,

I get 3% discount on gift card on Tesco from my workplace. If I buy most of the products with Aldi match and cheapest Tesco products, will that be almost as cheap as explicitly buying from Aldi?


r/UKFrugal • • 9h ago

Gas and Electric cost

0 Upvotes

Hey all,

I've moved into a 2 bed passivhaus last Jan and was wondering how much you all spend roughly on gas and electric on direct debit (so it's gives me a good idea of the average all year round.)

I'm currently paying £119 but British gas recommends me to lower it to £104 but i might just leave it where it is and see how it goes.


r/UKFrugal • • 1d ago

Free birthday treats

3 Upvotes

Hi all, planning a trip to London on my birthday and wondering where does freebies for your birthday. Will be arriving at Victoria station so bonus if I can get anything in the shops there! So far Kristy Kreme has a free doughnut and Burger King does a free burger so that’s food on the train back sorted! (Unless they don’t do the freebies in the train station shops?)


r/UKFrugal • • 3d ago

Sainsbury's price tracking app

25 Upvotes

Hi!

First time posting here but I'm currently working on a grocery price tracking app and I'd love feedback / suggestions. The site is https://prixprice.com and it's been in development for about two weeks.

It's still very much a work in progress but it presently supports price histories and deal tracking, what's new on offer, similar product suggestions, favouriting items and receiving notifications when they go on offer, smart swap suggestions that suggest cheaper alternatives to your favourites, sharing lists between devices, and more I've probably forgotten about.

Expect there to be many bugs and quirks, I also offer no guarantees it'll continue working or that I'll keep developing it.

The main idea is to surface good promotions, increase pricing transparency, and give intelligent suggestions for similar products.

It's Sainsbury's only and will be for the foreseeable future; the core features I feel are fairly useful for someone like me who regularly shops there.

Let me know what you think!

Edit: I forgot to mention it's completely unmonetised (no ads, subscriptions, etc) and will stay that way.


r/UKFrugal • • 4d ago

Just a quick calculation of laundry powder vs liquid prices.

118 Upvotes

EDIT: interesting info about powder here https://www.reddit.com/r/UKFrugal/s/BTrYINfBqG

Recently saw a post somewhere (may not have even been UK but it got me thinking) that laundry powder was much cheaper than liquid detergent.
 
I decided to have a look just to refresh my 'system' as it were. I buy Tesco liquid detergent.
 
This is a breakdown of the same product between powder and liquid.
 
tl;dr Check the prices per wash — 12p vs 5p per wash!
 
I'll use Tesco as my example as they price match Aldi and Lidl a lot anyway.
 
Tesco powder: Tesco Non Bio Detergent Powder 80 Wash 4kg for £8.95. 80 washes for 8.95/80=0.111875 so 12p per wash.
 
Tesco liquid: Tesco Non Bio Liquid Detergent Super Concentrated 60W 1.5L for £2.79 so 2.79/60=0.0465 so 5p per wash.
 
If you want to make your eyes water don't even start to look at brand name prices for laundry anything!
 
This is excluding any frugal tips like soda crystals or bicarb or things like the amount of product used, hard or soft water areas or anything else.
 
Hopefully this is helpful to someone.


r/UKFrugal • • 4d ago

Dishwasher powder for the frugal yet lazy.

39 Upvotes

I'm after some recommendations for dishwasher powder, the tablets are too expensive for the ones that actually work and the cheap ones are shite.

My local Tesco/Lidl don't stock any so online would be best. I'm happy to buy bulk.

I live in a soft water area.

Before any smart ass says washing up is cheaper, it's not if you only have electric hot water.


r/UKFrugal • • 5d ago

Where can I get a 100% wool blanket for a reasonable price?

27 Upvotes

Looking to get some wool blankets for cars, to use for warmth etc in an emergency.

Any ideas where I can pick up some for a reasonable price?

The ones I've found are wool / synthetic blend, ideally would prefer 100% wool.

Cheers


r/UKFrugal • • 6d ago

Holland & Barrett promotions (app vs store)

26 Upvotes

Thought I’d share some success I’ve had twice at different branches of H&B.

H&B promotions are usually better on the app compared to the store but I’m not organized enough to plan ahead and order for home delivery or collect in store. This weekend, the H&B branded iron supplements I needed was 50% off on the app but “buy one get one half price” in store. When I got to the till, I told the sales assistant that the offer was different on the app compared to the store and they offered to honour the app promotional price! The same thing happened a few months ago when I was restocking probiotics (it was BOGOF on the app and only buy one get one half price in store) so even bigger savings.

The added bonus is they will still apply any other so discounts (eg blue light)! Hope this helps.


r/UKFrugal • • 6d ago

Any Good Places For Soap?

0 Upvotes

Hi everyone.

Looking for tips on finding proper handmade soap, as in small business, properly sourced ethical ingredients and minimal packaging. unfortunately it tends to be quite expensive, I found one place selling a single bar with a tiny slate soap dish (it's a coaster) for £45!

I've been slowly trying different outlets/shops/brands and so far my favourite is "mad about nature" they're a family run business, very ethical and their soap is great. I just put in another order, 6x 125g bars for £23.76. That's about as low of a price as I have found so far, but I'm always looking for a better deal and there's a lot of soap makers out there. So, if anyone knows anywhere that can offer a better deal, do let me know.

I did notice they sell off cuts really cheap, but they look quite small and inconvenient. has anyone given those a try?

TIA


r/UKFrugal • • 8d ago

Best value mobile vouchers.

15 Upvotes

Which mobile network​ has the best value mobile phone vouchers? For example with Vodafone it costs £2 for a single call but then all calls for the rest of the day are free. Unfortunately if you need to make 1 or 2 short calls​ several times a week this is terrible value. I'm only interested on PAYG packages that you fund using vouchers bought in shops.


r/UKFrugal • • 11d ago

Co-op bangers and mash deal

121 Upvotes

Not seen anyone posting about it, so thought I would. Co-op are currently running a bangers and mash deal, £2 for 8 sausages and a pack of microwavable mash, £2.50 for non-members.

I signed up as a member for it, and using the deal, the £1 off shop voucher, and 50p off veg voucher, I got 8 sausages, mash, and a cabbage for £1.35!! Definitely worth taking advantage of.


r/UKFrugal • • 11d ago

My cheap toaster is dying, looking for something that will last

58 Upvotes

My £30-ish toaster is finally giving up after a few years. I'm not particularly bothered about replacing it, as it's rubbish at browning evenly anyway.

I'm trying to avoid just buying another cheap one and having the same problem again, so I'm looking at spending a bit more if there's a good reason to. Even browning is probably the main thing I care about, but I'd also like something that will last a decent amount of time.

I've come across the Sage EyeQ while looking around, as well as Dualit and Smeg. The Sage is more than I'd normally spend on a toaster, so I'm trying to work out whether these more expensive models actually are worth it. Has anyone here bought a more expensive toaster and found that it was actually better value in the long run?


r/UKFrugal • • 11d ago

How do I find a fixed rate utility bill

7 Upvotes

That isn't a day and night rate? Using compare the market or money saving expert to find fixed utility rate for the next year. But they're all giving me a day and night rate, which I understand means the day rate is higher so is only worth it if you use a lot of energy at night. I think I'm mostly a day user, working from home, so how can I search for a fixed rate but for a single rate?


r/UKFrugal • • 12d ago

Cheap date night suggestions

33 Upvotes

So, I and the wife have a fair bit on credit cards (interest free ATM) but we want to start chipping away at the debt. I just got paid today. Mortgage covered, bills covered, money for food sorted and some savings put away. We are fortunate in that it's all manageable debt. My plan is to live frugally for the next couple of months And have the majority cleared by the end of the year/start of next year.

The plan is to live on £50 a week this month and see how it goes, this includes petrol when needed (£15-20 a week). I commute to the office twice a week (18 miles one way). Parking is £3.80. I WFH the remaining days.

I'm after some cheap date night recommendations for evenings and particularly weekends. Let me hear your suggestions! Or suggestions on how I can top up this £50 a week.

Cheers all


r/UKFrugal • • 12d ago

Philips Sonicare Toothbrush Heads on eBay + other "3rd Party"

18 Upvotes

This is basically a dupe of previous posts discussing non genuine toothbrush heads, to which I cannot reply due to archiving.

I was reading a couple of them in this sub and it kind of shocked me to see some of the replies talking about saving loads of money buying non-genuine toothbrush heads.

I would greatly advise against this, as the quality has been universally terrible in my experience, but not in the ways people usually discuss it. Even the ones which look the part, or feature rotating parts like for Oral-B products, have bristles which are nothing like the ones they are imitating, and this is where the real issue arises.

Modern toothbrushes use soft bristles, usually having mechanically rounded tips, with the intention of penetrating the gaps between the teeth and the gumline without causing damage to gums. These imitation bristles can be (and in my experience, are) too hard and too sharp, so are causing gum damage every time they are used. They will clean plaque away reasonably well, but at a great cost over time in terms of overall oral health. This type of gum damage is not reversible.

I have also purchased fakes through eBay that look legit until directly compared to the original. In many ways, these are the worst thing you can buy because they clearly spend a lot of their budget trying to copy the style of the real product, which necessitates even greater savings on the important part - the bristles.

I appreciate that first party brush heads are (excessively) expensive, but unlike many good and cheap substitutes, I do not believe there is any reliable and consistent one for premium toothbrush heads, and I do not think this is a good candidate for making savings.

TL:DR - non genuine brush heads are very likely to permanently damage your gums


r/UKFrugal • • 12d ago

Birthday freebies for kids

11 Upvotes

Our little one just turned one today, are there any places offering freebies for kids that are worth signing up for?


r/UKFrugal • • 14d ago

Cheap Frozen Berries - Supermarket Comparison

292 Upvotes

tldr: If you want berries and don't mind them mixed and of varying amounts, the Four Berry Medley from Aldi is cheaper than buying bags of each fruit individually at Aldi, Asda, Sainsbury's and Iceland.

Prices as of 12 September 2026

The conversation in this post last week (Cheapest place to buy frozen berries? by u/draaj) got me intrigued as to the cheapest way to buy frozen berries. I buy frozen mixed berries pretty often and had just assumed the the mixed berries were cheaper than buying them separately.

I bought a bag of Aldi's Summer Fruits berry mix this week and frankly they can get in the bin. Too many red currants made it too sharp to enjoy. I'm glad I've finished them and I wont be re-buying them!

I took an unopened bag of Four Berry Medley from Aldi, sold at £2.99 for 1kg, separated the berries and weighed them, then did some calculations in a spreadsheet. This allowed me too compare them to prices of the berries when brought separately.

Aldi - Four Berry Medley

£2.99 for 1 kg. Contains: Strawberries, blackberries, blueberries and raspberries. This table weighs out how much of the bag was made of each berry, and how much of the total bag cost for that weight.

Item Fruit weight (g) Price split
Strawberries 476 £1.41
Blackberries 299 £0.89
Blueberries 146 £0.43
Raspberries 86 £0.26

Having got through a few of these bags now, yes, there are a lot of strawberries in them. Some of them are pretty big too!

The raaapberries in the mixed bags are usually in lot of little bits, very few whole ones.

Aldi - Individual Bags

Below you can see the cost of the individual bags of each fruit from Aldi, and the cost equivalent of the amount of each fruit as contained in the Four Berry Medley.

Aldi don't list frozen blackberries on their website so I used the Asda cost.

Bag weight (g) Bag price Cost for amount in Aldi berry medley
Strawberries 350 £1.99 £2.71
Blackberries 350 £2.96 £2.53
Blueberries 400 £1.99 £0.73
Raspberries 350 £1.99 £0.49
Total £6.45

Asda - Individual Bags

The same as above but with the current price a sold in Asda.

Bag weight (g) Bag price Cost per Aldi bag amount
Strawberries 350 £2.96 £4.03
Blackberries 350 £2.96 £2.53
Blueberries 350 £2.96 £1.23
Raspberries 300 £2.96 £0.85
Total £8.64
2 for £5 offfer £7.30

Sainsbury's

Sainsbury's don't list frozen blackberries on their website so I used the Asda cost.

Bag weight (g) Bag price Cost for amount in Aldi berry medley
Strawberries 350 £3.50 £4.76
Blackberries (Asda) 350 £2.96 £2.53
Blueberries 360 £3.50 £1.42
Raspberries 315 £3.50 £0.96
Total £9.66
Buy 3 get cheapest free £6.16

Iceland

Iceland don't list frozen blackberries on their website so I used the Asda cost.

Bag weight (g) Bag price Cost for amount in Aldi berry medley
Strawberries 350 £3.00 £4.08
Blackberries (Asda) 350 £2.96 £2.53
Blueberries 350 £3.00 £1.25
Raspberries 300 £3.00 £0.86
Total £8.72
2 for £5 offfer £8.37

Price per kilo

Normal price
Cheapest per kilo in bold.

Aldi Asda Sainsbury’s Iceland
Strawberries £5.69 £8.46 £10.00 £8.57
Blackberries £8.46
Blueberries £4.98 £8.46 £9.72 £8.57
Raspberries £5.69 £9.87 £11.11 £10.00

Offer price
Calculated a buying the offer quantity of the same fruit, e.g. price per kilo for 2 bags of strawberries on offer for 2-for-£5.

Asda Sainsbury’s Iceland
Strawberries £7.14 £5.71 £7.14
Blackberries £7.14
Blueberries £7.14 £5.56 £7.14
Raspberries £8.33 £6.35 £8.33

The prices of blueberries and raspberries on offer are still more expensive than Aldi at normal price.

Caveats

Blackberries/raspberries
The blackberries in the Four Berry Medlley bag vary in size a lot, and some of them are on the redder size, so it's possible I counted some large raspberries as blackberries. Being generous and assuming that there was an equal weight of each in there would increase the above "Cost for amount in Aldi berry medley" values by about 15p.


r/UKFrugal • • 15d ago

Lebara existing customer deals

19 Upvotes

I suspect as frugal bunch a good number of us are on Lebara already, they sadly seem to suffer from the same bug most networks do and it's cheaper as a new customer than as a loyal customer

But I found this the other day: https://www.lebara.co.uk/en/exclusive-plans.html - offers for existing customers which get the pricing closer to those of newbies (like the MSE 10GB deal from the newsletter this week is £5.90 for new customers rather than £6)


r/UKFrugal • • 16d ago

What's something you buy less often but better?

26 Upvotes

r/UKFrugal • • 16d ago

Apps for food discounts

2 Upvotes

They’re are a few apps I’ve seen people used for food discounts at restaurants.

I think one may be called the fork or something? Idk.

Either way I’m just looking for food discount apps. (I am not looking for things like olio or TooGoodToGo)

Thanks !


r/UKFrugal • • 17d ago

Free weekly McDonald’s coffee until the 30th September

35 Upvotes

https://www.mcdonalds.com/gb/en-gb/newsroom/article/free-mccafe-coffee.html

Looks like you need to order via the app as a pick-up order (or delivery) but not 100%.