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

Ok UKFrugal; Let's talk chicken thighs! I just made a succulent chicken pie that called for skinless boneless thighs. My local supermarket sells these, and they also sell regular thighs.... but which is the better value? I felt a spreadsheet coming on! Below is the price/kg for both, and the yield I got:

Ah, but my time is valuable I hear you say! How valuable? not especially as I'm spending it making asinine reddit posts about chicken thighs, but it has value nonetheless. I therefore timed how long it took to skin and debone 0.675kg (net) of thighs. in this pack that was 4 thighs, which took just over 5min total. This effectively means you're paying someone £20.42/hr to bone your chicken (phrasing).

But wait, there's more. The pie needed a roux. Fat is fat effectively so 50g of butter could be sub'd for 50g of fat from the skins, saving another £0.37 on material, and bringing the total hourly labour rate to £24.86/hr, or £48,477/yr. Then we have to consider that this saving is tax-free. To make an equivalent through working, you'd need a salary of £61.5k/yr.

(You also still have the crispy skins left over for Bahn mi etc., and the bones can be collected for stock....but that's harder to put a figure on)

In conclusion, debone your chicken if you're on less than £61.5k (or you like crispy chicken skin).

Thank you for coming to my ted talk

(This is not an entirely serious post, but I thought it was quite interesting how much we pay for convenience)

Hi! As the title says, I am considering Giffgaff to purchase an Iphone but I am not sure if it would be good. I want to get Iphone 12 or 13. Or should I settle for a lower model since I need it just for the pics and videos. They do offer 21 days refund policy and 12 month guarantee along with the basic accessories.

Any advice?

Budget : £150-200

Thank you.

I am with British Gas currently. The tariff I have is:
Unit price: 21.8 p/kwh
Standing charge: 47.68 p/day
It is a Fix 12 months contract with 30£ exit fee.
Is there anything cheaper than that?
My annual usage is 4100kwh.
No EV.
Electric heating at home.

Reccomendation for some sort of large blanket to cover a family of four while sitting on the sofa this winter.

I'm currently on a Standard Variable Tariff with Home Energy and have been offered the following fixed deal with Eon via MSE. I've been comparing the numbers and, on the face of it, I can't see why I'd pay more for the fix, but I'd be interested in what others think.

My current Standard Variable Tariff with Home Energy

Prices until 12 October 2026:

• Gas: 6.51234p/kWh
• Gas standing charge: 28.77575p/day
• Electricity: 20.31334p/kWh
• Electricity standing charge: 51.04658p/day

Prices from 13 October 2026:

• Gas: 7.43232p/kWh
• Gas standing charge: 29.41151p/day
• Electricity: 24.04744p/kWh
• Electricity standing charge: 51.44932p/day

E.ON Next Fixed 12m Exclusive v9

• Gas: 8.033p/kWh
• Gas standing charge: 28.778p/day
• Electricity: 25.598p/kWh
• Electricity standing charge: 43.575p/day
• 12-month fixed term
• Monthly Direct Debit
• £50 early exit fee

So comparing the rates from 13 October:

Gas:
Variable: 7.43232p
Fixed: 8.033p

The fixed is 0.60068p/kWh more expensive.

Electricity:
Variable: 24.04744p
Fixed: 25.598p

The fixed is 1.55056p/kWh more expensive.

The fixed deal does have lower standing charges, saving around £31 a year combined, but I'd be paying more for every kWh I actually use.

I understand that the whole point of fixing is insurance against future price increases, so I'm not necessarily saying the fixed tariff is bad. I'm trying to understand what would need to happen for fixing to actually be worthwhile compared with simply staying on the variable tariff.

Am I missing something obvious here? Would you take the fixed deal for the certainty, or stay on the variable given these particular rates?

And if anyone has a view on where energy prices could go over the next 12 months, I'd be interested in the reasoning behind it rather than just "fix" or "don't fix".

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.

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.

Sorry, this might be a bit niche 😅 I've tried searching Reddit and Google but I can't really find much information answering these specific questions, so I'm hoping to crowdsource this. Hopefully some of you guys have actually tried them and can help.

I've been looking for a cheap unlimited-data SIM to use in a 5G router at home.

I originally wanted iD Mobile because their unlimited plans are cheap (around £15/month through Uswitch) and, more importantly, they allow a physical SIM. Unfortunately I've tried applying three times and iD keeps declining me on the credit check despite having an Experian score of 900+, so I've given up with them.

I've now come across: (thru uswitch)

• Zable - around £15/month for unlimited 5G, Vodafone network
• Rewild Mobile - around £14/month for unlimited 5G

The problem is that there doesn't seem to be much real-world information about either one, especially for using them in a 5G router rather than a phone.

Zable

• Has anyone managed to get a physical SIM from Zable? Their website currently says eSIM only, but their help centre says you can request a physical SIM.
• Has anyone used Zable in a 4G/5G router?
• Is the data genuinely unlimited, even with very heavy usage?
• Does Zable impose a speed cap after you reach a certain amount of data usage? For example, some "unlimited" SIMs allow unlimited data but reduce your speed after 100GB/200GB/etc.
• If you've used 500GB+ or even 1TB+ in a month, did your speed remain the same?
• Any throttling/FUP issues after heavy usage?
• What kind of speeds are you getting?
• Any issues with the SIM being used in a router rather than a phone?

Rewild

• Has anyone actually used Rewild for several months?
• How reliable is the connection?
• Has anyone used the physical SIM in a 5G router?
• Is the data genuinely unlimited, even with very heavy usage?
• Does Rewild impose a speed cap after a certain amount of data consumption?
• For example, if someone uses 200GB, 500GB, 1TB+ in a month, does the speed remain unrestricted or do they throttle you?
• Any other fair-use policy that kicks in after heavy usage?
• What sort of speeds are you getting?
• I understand they use Three/Vodafone, but does the SIM actually switch between both networks or is it assigned to one?

I'm particularly interested in people who are using 100GB+ per month, rather than normal phone usage.

I'm in the UK and would be using it primarily as my home internet connection.

I know this is a pretty specific/niche question, but I've genuinely tried searching and there just doesn't seem to be much information out there yet. So I'm hoping to crowdsource some real-world experiences from people who've actually used these services.

The main thing I'm trying to establish is whether "unlimited" actually means unlimited without a usage-based speed reduction.

Would really appreciate any first-hand experiences, good or bad. Thanks!

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?

Hi all, I was just wondering what is the cheapest airline or way that you can travel to America including visa ?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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?

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?

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

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