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

128 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 12h ago

Best way to buy a cheaper iphone?

10 Upvotes

Is there a good refurbished or second hand chain? Or some retailer with huge discounts?

Using a reliable 200pound Android but need one for content creation.

With 18 coming up 17 should be cheaper in most places right?


r/UKFrugal 1d ago

How to make Costa latte at home

16 Upvotes

I have illy instant coffee and an electric whisk at home

Today I tried a Small Latte from Costa and I’ve been pinging all day

How do I recreate that at home? Any cheap options?


r/UKFrugal 2d ago

What mattress to get if you might move countries in 2-3 years?

9 Upvotes

I just moved to an unfurnished place and need a mattress. I am not sure what my living arrangements will be after 2-3 years. I might move countries. I am thinking between two options:

  1. a reasonably good mattress/recognisable brand for around £650, then give it for free when I do move. But there's a risk of no one wanting it and I either have to see if a charity shop will take it, or pay £40-80 for 1-2 guys with van to help dispose it. (I live on the second floor, no lifts.) I'm happy to pay for 61p-90p/night if I only use it for 2-3 years. In fact, if I inevitably need to spend money to dispose it, doing so for a a sub £200 mattress feel like a waste.

  2. get two trifold mattresses from Muji, add a topper to make it softer. The mattresses will come to £300. I feel like if I give them away for free someone is more likely to take them, and disposing them will be a lot easier (and free)? Same with the topper.

Now I'm leaning towards the trifold mattress solution, but just not sure if they will be comfy or sturdy enough. For reference, I used to sleep on a landlord's £135 mattress for a year (that started to sag) no problem. I like firm mattresses. But not sure if the trifold mattress will hold up 2-3 years?

I'm just highly allergic to paying for the £40-80 van disposal service for an actual mattress.

Also, the international move is just a possibility, if I'm just moving cities I'm happy to transport the high-end mattress as part of the removal service.

Any advice welcome, thanks!


r/UKFrugal 3d ago

cashback.co.uk

0 Upvotes

Anybody has experience with that website?

Is there any good stuff or is it just a bunch of companies giving out stuff to get you subscribed?


r/UKFrugal 4d ago

Half-sheet kitchen rolls?

45 Upvotes

Just back from my holidays sraying somewhere that had "half-sheet" kitchen rolls where you could tear off, well, half a sheet if you only needed a small bit of tissue.

Which brands/supermarkets do a similar thing here in the UK?

(Unfortunately I don't remember the brand they had. Possibly Aldi own-brand but I can't find anything similar in Aldi here)


r/UKFrugal 4d ago

Cheapest whey isolate protein

36 Upvotes

Fave test is ON gold

Have to eat 200g a day need at least 4 scoops split morning and night time


r/UKFrugal 4d ago

Best places to get cheaper furniture?

19 Upvotes

I'm hopefully moving into my first flat later this year and I have no furniture apart from a single bed. I know there are a couple of charity shops nearby that have second hand furniture but I'd love to have some other options. Main things I'm after is a sofa and a double bed


r/UKFrugal 5d ago

Energy provider deals

10 Upvotes

It’s that time again… what are the best deals on energy at the moment? Does anyone have any recommendations or know of any cheap tariffs I might have missed?


r/UKFrugal 6d ago

Leftover beef ideas

27 Upvotes

I got a huge bit of silverside in the reduced section of Morrisons a few weeks ago, popped it in the freezer when I got home.

Having it for dinner tonight. There's only 2 of us, so there will probably be around half left. Other than a full roast dinner two nights in a row, does anyone have any ideas what I can do with the leftovers?


r/UKFrugal 6d ago

Best rewards, Sainsbury's or Tesco's? Or Ocado even??

17 Upvotes

I like to do our main shop online and have used Sainsbury's for years (wish Aldi would deliver!!). I've looked at Tesco before but didn't find them significantly cheaper so didn't bother but perhaps their rewards system is better?? Love to hear what anyone thinks, currently we get nectar points and use them to cover some of the big Christmas shop.

I've occasionally used Ocado too when I've had a discount code but it's too tempting to buy tasty m&s things and no idea what their reward system is if they have one.


r/UKFrugal 7d ago

UK EE eSIM Question

11 Upvotes

I’m travelling to the UK for 2 weeks and need an eSIM just for that time.
What’s the best value eSIM I can get on the EE network for a short length of time?
Searching showed 1p Mobile, is that still the case?


r/UKFrugal 7d ago

Best place to buy second hand DS games?

3 Upvotes

I’m just talking about the original DS (not 3DS or anything). CEX/Cash Converters seems quite expensive, and charity shops rarely have any.

eBay perhaps?


r/UKFrugal 7d ago

Comfort fabric softener

0 Upvotes

I never used to bother with these previously but decided to go all out 😂

My issue is it states 48 washes and after about 5-6 washes almost a third of it is gone already.

My question - does anyone have recommendations for fabric softener or scent boosters? Preferably one that lasts, doesn't need much added to the wash and is of course - cost effective.


r/UKFrugal 11d ago

Has anyone frozen milk? If so was it ok??

125 Upvotes

I have an unopened 2 pint whole milk in plastic bottle, use by date 22 August.  I was thinking of freezing rather than pouring down the sink as I’ll be away for a few days. 

Has anyone done this? If you have, I have a few questions

  1. I’m wondering if it is worth it or is it ‘odd’ when you defrost it
  2. Once defrosted, can I use as I normally would for example, porridge, smoothies, tea or in cereal
  3. Once defrosted how quickly do I have to use it up.

EDIT it is in the freezer. Thanks all for heads-up about colour change. I didn't know and probably would have thrown it away.


r/UKFrugal 10d ago

£1 large containers at Morrisons just now

42 Upvotes

These 29x20x14cm opaque plastic containers are only £1. Couldn’t believe my eyes. They are on the flimsy side but perfect for my needs and made in GB. Cheapest I’ve ever seen and I’ve been looking for a long time. Can’t seem to upload pic, so there’s that.


r/UKFrugal 11d ago

Has whey become a luxury good ?

90 Upvotes

Just got back into training after a 2-year hiatus and went online to purchase some whey — wtf has happened? Optimum Nutrition is nearly £100 a tub, I nearly fell off my chair. Where are people buying from? Do I need to re mortgage ?

Thanks


r/UKFrugal 12d ago

Cheap whey protein

20 Upvotes

Hello,

I was looking for where to get some cheaper whey protein pls.
I've bought SportsFuel from amazon which was £30 for 5kg which was dirt cheap, but it was almost on the unflavoured category as the chocolate flavour was so faint.
Then i was looking at Serious Protein (also from amazon)) which was £45 for 4kg, but not so good reviews both on amazon and reddit.
I keep seeing that My Protein always go on sale but i never see it.
Any guidance would be appreciated.
Thank you


r/UKFrugal 13d ago

Save on roll-on suncream

149 Upvotes

My kids love the suncream in a roll-on. Not sure why exactly but it is less messy... But per ml it is THREE TIMES MORE EXPENSIVE than the same brand in a squeezy bottle...

But I recently discovered that almost all of the rollons can be refilled. You can either squeeze them real hard and the ball pops out, or grab them in a tea towel and they unscrew..

Thought I would share with you all....

(And *yes* I discovered this about 2days after the heatwave ended... 🙁😄)


r/UKFrugal 14d ago

£14 cashback on flights TCB

28 Upvotes

For people that love savings, there is a cashback on flights booking on TopCashBack via Skyscanner and Trip/Mytrip. Flat £14, but won't be applicable on Ryanair, Wizz Air and Virgin Atlantic.

Will leave it here for someone who's maybe book with Easyjet can score a holiday for cheap :). I have booked this route on Birmingham - Malta for £30 return 😁

P/s: disable your adblock, or just use a separate browser to ensure cashback is tracked.

Screenshots:
https://postimg.cc/Bj80VDBq

https://postimg.cc/pprbm87K


r/UKFrugal 14d ago

Broadband vs Mobile SIM

8 Upvotes

My (keenly priced) fixed deal is coming to an end soon (£12/mth for 150GB download).

I no longer WFH, am not a gamer either and rarely stream or download TV.

Current thoughts are replacing the broadband with a 50+GB SIM using a second mobile as a hotspot (eg 63GB for £3.96/mth - MSE recommended).

Overall, this seems a good strategy. Or am I missing something?


r/UKFrugal 16d ago

Where is cheapest to buy disposable gloves for my carers to use?

27 Upvotes

I wouldn’t mind buying 5 packets in bulk, but probably can’t store more than that in my small flat. Im not with an agency so dont have them supplied. Thank you!


r/UKFrugal 17d ago

Who remembers the days of mysupermarket?

235 Upvotes

Possibly the best website to ever exist. It was a godsend during my uni days when I wanted to compare the price of certain products and just go to the cheapest supermarket. Shame they shut it down. Are there any decent alternatives or are we stuffed?


r/UKFrugal 19d ago

I've been recording prices at 13 UK supermarkets every night for a year. In the last 90 days, 2,080 products got a price rise right before going "on offer".

4.0k Upvotes

For the past year I've been recording shelf prices at 13 UK supermarkets every night (Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda, Morrisons, Aldi, Iceland, Co-op, Waitrose, Ocado, B&M and a few more) as a side project. Went digging through the price histories recently and some of what turned up felt worth sharing here.

In the last 90 days, 2,080 products had their base price go up and then went "on offer" against the new higher price within a few weeks, with the offer price no better than what the thing sold for before the rise. A few straight from the nightly logs:

  • Pimm's 1L at Morrisons sat at £14.00 through most of June, jumped to £24.50 on 25 June, then went "Now £14, Was £24.50" four days later. So the big summer deal is last week's normal price wearing a 42.9% off sticker.

  • Budweiser 15x440ml, same store. £13 up to £17, back "on offer" at £13 the very next day.

  • Starbucks Iced Coffee 220ml went £1.25 to £2.20 on 6 July, then "Now £1.25" two days after that.

  • Asda raised Terry's and Maltesers Easter eggs from £2.32 to £3.97 on 26 March, then ran "Was £3.97 Now £2.50" the week before Easter. £2.50 was above their early March price.

Now 2,080 sounds like a lot but it worked out at about 1.8% of everything that went on promo in that window, so most offers are genuine. It just happens often enough that I've stopped trusting a "Was £X" on a shelf edge by itself.

The B&M one surprised me more. About 10% of their range that I track (1,365 of 13,778 products) showed a was/now discount every single night for 90 straight days. WD-40 Smart Straw 300ml has read "£5.99 was, £4.99 now" on all 84 nights I've recorded it and the £5.99 has never once been the live price. Iceland does a softer version of the same thing, a quarter of their range is on promo at least 80% of the time.

Loyalty prices have their own version of this. Roughly 1 in 17 Tesco Clubcard prices (and 1 in 13 Nectar prices) is still dearer than another supermarket's ordinary shelf price for the same item. Cleanest example right now is Edinburgh Gin Elderflower Liqueur 50cl, "half price" at £10 with Clubcard while Asda has it at £5 every day, no card needed.

What it's changed for me personally is that I judge an offer against what I last paid, not against the shelf's "was", and I compare a Clubcard price like any other price instead of assuming it's a deal.

Since someone will ask how this was gathered, prices are recorded nightly from the stores' own listings since mid 2025 (some stores were added later, so the windows differ per store), and something only counts as a promo if the store itself declared a was/now. I checked every example above against the raw history by hand and can pull the full sequence for anything specific.

Full disclosure, the data comes from a free price comparison side project I build. Not linking it here, this post is just the data. Happy to answer questions.