In preparation (and to ward off evil spirits) I've been gorging on frugal living videos on YouTube. My favourite by far is Tania, 68, living on her UK state pension for a year and saving her civil service pension to re-build her emergency fund.
Tania is a marvel, full of tips and hacks, ideas for saving money and, more than anything, an upbeat personality who is fun to watch. Dipping into her back catalogue I came across Saving money with loyalty cards. This was a run-through of Tania's favourites - Asda, LiDL and Boots - and how she is using them to outwit the cost of living crisis.
Like me, Tania's thrilled when she's got enough points on her Boots loyalty card to get her purchases without parting with any cash. I love it! I shop Boots when I can but I must admit I haven't paid proper attention to all the additional benefits of the loyalty card and I usually forget my vouchers that arrive through the post.
Tania had a good wheeze which was to reduce her spending to her projected pension income for the final two years she was working (publishing a blog called Frugal in Essex) and managed to save £25,000. I would say I was a modest spender, rather than a frugal one, with a balance between convenience and saving money, but I wondered whether, with a few changes, I could build a few more savings for treats and travelling.
I've used Asda for years mainly for household shopping like toilet tissue and laundry liquid, heavy items which I don't want to pick and lug about. I usually purchase every three or four months, buying just up to the minimum threshold for delivery and choosing the cheapest time slot.
But Tania tells me there are benefits to having a loyalty card, not least of which the points for shopping turn into pounds in your cashpot. Like the Boots card, there are other benefits, including the Christmas Club Savings Card where you can earn bonuses for how much you save by 5pm on Sunday 9 November 2025. The top value is £15 on £280 or over savings - about £60 a month. I can't work out:
- is this a good deal?
- do I want £295 worth of goods from Asda?
You can spend it through the following year, so I suppose it would be good to know I had paid for my shopping for the year in advance. There's also the Christmas Saver Cashpot and already I'm out of my depth!
A week ago, Tania posted about the £1.50 LiDL Too Good to Waste Box. This video is a treat just for Tania, as she packs filming in between coming back from walking her dog on the beach and setting off for aqua-aerobics! Anyway, she had managed to get a £1.50 box with 5kgs of fruit and vegetables - still good to eat but beyond their very best.
I was passing LiDL's on Saturday on my way back from the dry cleaners and, given Tania's enthusiasm, I thought I would pop in and see what all the fuss was about. I have shopped at LiDL and Aldi once or twice in the past, just to see what they were like. They never been quite convenient for me, although midday on Saturday there was plenty of room to park and the store was busy but not packed.
I'd downloaded the app and activated everything that I could, but I wasn't quite sure what would happen. I was impressed with the fruit and vegetables, though. It was fun looking at all the nice deli things and continental bakery items and, of course, I got caught in the Middle of LiDL looking at inflatable beds to use on the back seat of your car and other things I never knew existed.
I did pick up some aqua shoes for £4.99 - very pleased as Sports Direct has them at £14.99 - and a garden bag and two terracotta gnome water reservoirs for houseplants when I'm away. With all three, it was partly price and partly convenience that I'd not got to traipse to the Range or B&Q.
Anyway, my exploratory trip didn't cost too much and I found out how to use the loyalty app at the checkout and ended up with free avocados as a result - that was a nice LiDL surprise!
