Day 4 of #FoodBankAdvent on a budget
This week, I started a reverse advent calendar as part of the UK Money Bloggers #FoodBankAdvent Christmas campaign.
I’ll be popping one item in a box each day for 25 days during November, so it can be delivered to my local food bank, FIND in Ipswich, ready for distribution in December.
(More details in my previous post)
I started by checking out the kind of items food banks include in their parcels (Trussell Trust list here. FIND’s list here).
It’s also worth contacting your local food bank, to see what they need most. They might have mountains of pasta and tonnes of baked beans, for example, but be short on long-life milk.
Hopefully, adding one item a day shouldn’t break the bank. I shop on a tight budget, so I’m always keen to save money on food shopping.
Here are five frugal ways to make #FoodBankAdvent more affordable:
Pasta ‘n’ sauce: warm food, fast
Spot supermarket offers
This is an easy one. For my #FoodBankAdvent box, once I knew the kind of products to buy, I could look out for good offers.
So when searching for cereal, I went for Shreddies on offer at just £1. I chose Macleans toothpaste as it was half price, and Mac ‘n’ Cheese rather than Pot Noodles because the price was down from £1.15 to 60p in our local East of England Co-op. Buy one get one free type offers can also be great for donations. Hopefully I can snaffle a big box of cut-price biscuits or chocolates too.
Normally I buy a lot of own brand and value range products – and they’re still a great way to stretch money available for a reverse advent calendar. However, I’m including some branded products in my #FoodBankAdvent box, as they’re more familiar and predictable.
£2 on tea, £1 back via Shopmium
Take advantage of cashback apps
Check out supermarket cashback apps to see if you can get relevant items for less. With supermarket cashback apps, you buy the product, then use your phone to scan the barcode, submit a photo of the receipt, and get money back. Some products are even free!
For example, using Shopmium I got Yorkshire Tea teabags for £1 rather than £2. If you sign up for the Shopmium app using the code KFKKAMKL, you can also claim a free bar of Lindt Excellence Chocolate. Could make another food bank donation, if you can resist!
I also spent 75p on a McVitie’s Lyle’s Golden Syrup Bonfire Toffee Cake, then requested 40p back via TopCashback’s Snap & Save*.
Meanwhile you can get certain jars of Cow & Gate baby food entirely free from Superdrug, by claiming cashback for the whole price from CheckoutSmart.
Just make sure you choose appropriate items – so no alcohol, only products with a long shelf life, and perhaps not some of their more weird and wonderful options. I eyed up Primula cheese, which is 50% off with Shopmium. However, it has to be kept in a fridge, which is no good for a food bank.
It’s also worth checking whether you’re actually saving money compared to other products. I decided against 40% off £1.99 Kabuto noodles via Shopmium, as this would still be more expensive than £1 for more familiar Pot Noodles.
Freebie sandwich filler via Latest Free Stuff
Load up on freebies
Apart from free products from cashback apps, you can also find freebies on sites like Latest Free Stuff. I printed out a voucher for a free pack of Princes Tuna Sandwich Fillers, which would normally cost £1, and sent off for a free sample pack of Aldi baby wipes. These kind of offers tend to have limited availability, so it’s worth snapping them up when you see them. By checking early in November, hopefully any free samples will arrive in time to add to the reverse advent calendar.
Using loyalty card vouchers to cut costs
Cash in loyalty points and online shopping offers
Could you spend loyalty points, rather than cash? Every so often, I get £5 vouchers from using my Morrisons Match & More card, or build up Nectar points buying petrol from Sainsburys. Boots Advantage points would be good for essential toiletries and baby products.
Alternatively, many of the supermarkets offer money off your first online order, which could be used towards items for #FoodbankAdvent.
So for example, Sainsbury’s offer £18 off your first order over £60, using a code here. Meanwhile if you’d like a £20 voucher off your first Ocado order over £80, let me know so I can email you a voucher, and I’ll get £20 too (hello@muchmorewithless.co.uk).
Shop from the contents of your cupboards
Do you already have any brand new items needed by food banks?
For example, if you’ve got loads of tinned tomatoes, maybe you can pass on a can. Just make sure there are still several months left before the “use before” or “best before” date. Trouble is, after several store cupboard challenges, I don’t have many extra groceries stashed in my kitchen cupboards!
Otherwise, how about toiletry sets you’ve been given or raffle prizes you’ve won, but are unlikely to use? FIND in Ipswich are particularly short of men’s toiletries. I’m adding an unopened bag of nappies, embarrassingly still at the back of a cupboard despite my children’s advanced ages. Our local food bank say they always need nappies in larger sizes, so hopefully they will be useful.
So now – over to you. Who’s up for taking part in #FoodBankAdvent? What have you put in your box so far?
Looking for more ways to save money on your food shopping? Check out my post with more than 80 ideas!
I’m linking up with Cass, Emma and Becky in this week’s ‘Five Fabulously Frugal things I’ve done this week’ linky.
*indicates an affiliate link, so anything you buy through it will help support the blog, as I will get a small commission at no cost to you. Many thanks!
Pin for later:
I am doing all toiletries this year. If people cant afford food they cant afford these and somehow they are more embarassing to ask for (in my experience as a foodbank volunteer).
Dog and cat food also greatly appreciated.
Author
Good luck with your reverse advent calendar. Also good point about cat and dog food – I’ll have to get advice on what kind to include!
What about a few Christmas treats, too, chocolate, crackers, mince pies, etc.
Margaret P
Sounds good! I’m definitely planning some Christmas treats. My local food bank, FIND, specifically asked for boxes of biscuits and chocolates, but not advent calendars. Think mince pies can be tricky if they have a short shelf life.
Found this before doing my weekly shop! Guess who’s saving some money this week? Any chance you have any tricks up your sleeve for Christmas dinner, we have 26 People coming over.. Yes 26, I May have to sit my cousins on the roof, what do you think?
I’ve shopped for many deals and discounts for Christmas presents and have already come across many items that I will definitely be purchasing, Check it out guys!
https://blastmydeals.com/deals/home-garden/latest
I Need A Hacker To Recover My Lost Investment? Go To Lost Recovery Masters
Hello guys, I’m Lyne Azabal from France. In my investment with Acstons-Cc, I also lost 17 lakhs. Trading using the Acstons. cc app generated a profit of 197,153 USD after paying tax and a 25% fee, however they would not release my profit and all of my Bitcoins were frozen. I called my pals, who suggested I try LOST RECOVERY MASTERS, and to my astonishment they were able to assist me get back 89% of my money. Despite the fact that I didn’t get all of it back, I’m still really appreciative of LOST RECOVERY MASTERS
For advice on recovering cryptocurrencies, get in touch with Lost Recovery Masters You can also ask them questions about any firm you wish to deal with.
Contact them: Whatsapp (+44(7537)-105921) Email (Support@lostrecoverymasters.com) Learn More https://lostrecoverymasters.wixsite.com/recoverbitcoin2024
I’m impressed, I have to say. Actually hardly ever do I encounter a blog that’s both educative and entertaining, and let me tell you, you will have hit the nail on the head. Your idea is excellent; the problem is one thing that not sufficient individuals are speaking intelligently about. I am very completely happy that I stumbled throughout this in my seek for one thing regarding this.
It’s hard to find knowledgeable people on this topic, but you sound like you know what you’re talking about! Thanks
I lost my job, my spouse left me and there was no way to get income for my family, things was so tough and I couldn’t get anything for my children, not until a met a recommendation on a page writing how Mr Bernie Doran helped a lady in getting a huge amount of profit every 6 working days on trading with his management on the cryptocurrency Market, to be honest I was skeptical at first but I took the risk to take a loan of $500, and I contacted him unbelievable and I was so happy I received a profit of $5,500 with an investment of $500 within 7 days of trading , the most joy is that I can now take care of my family, i am just sharing my testimony on here. I don’t know how to appreciate your good work Mr. Bernie Doran, God will continue to bless you for being a life saver I have no way to appreciate you than to tell people about your good services. He can also help you recover your lost funds, For a perfect investment and good return on investment contact him on Gmail : Berniedoransignals@gmail.com or his whatsApp + 1 ( 424 ) 285 – 0682
tell him i referred you
I believe you have noted some very interesting details, regards for the post.
I truly appreciate this post. I have been looking everywhere for this! Thank goodness I found it on Bing. You’ve made my day! Thanks again
Very efficiently written post. It will be valuable to anyone who usess it, including yours truly :). Keep up the good work – i will definitely read more posts.
Hey! I know this is somewhat off topic but I was wondering which blog platform are you using for this website? I’m getting tired of WordPress because I’ve had issues with hackers and I’m looking at options for another platform. I would be great if you could point me in the direction of a good platform.
I like this post, enjoyed this one appreciate it for putting up.
love spells to return your ex-lover back.
Everything I’m going to suggest for you is what I’ve seen breathe new life into broken marriages for thousands of women in your distressing situation—and what I did to revitalize my own broken marriage. I was heart broken when my husband left me and moved to California to be with another woman. I felt my life was over and my kids thought they would never see their father again. I tried to be strong just for the kids but I could not control the pains that tormented my heart, my heart was filled with sorrows and pains because I was really in love with my husband. I have tried many options but he did not come back, until i met a friend that directed me to Dr. Excellent a spell caster, who helped me to bring back my husband after 11hours. Me and my husband are living happily together again, This man is powerful, Contact Dr. Excellent for any kind of spiritual problems or any kind of spell or relationship problems he is capable of making things right for you with no side effect. Here his contact. Call/WhatsApp him at: +2348084273514 “Or email him at: Excellentspellcaster@gmail. com
Hi, Neat post. There is an issue together with your site in web explorer, could check this?K IE still is the marketplace chief and a huge portion of other folks will pass over your excellent writing due to this problem.
Very interesting subject, thankyou for putting up. “Genius is of no country.” by Charles Churchill.
Hmm it seems like your blog ate my first comment (it was extremely long) so I guess I’ll just sum it up what I wrote and say, I’m thoroughly enjoying your blog. I as well am an aspiring blog writer but I’m still new to everything. Do you have any recommendations for newbie blog writers? I’d really appreciate it.
Whats up very cool site!! Guy .. Beautiful .. Superb .. I will bookmark your blog and take the feeds also…I am happy to seek out so many helpful information right here in the submit, we’d like develop extra strategies on this regard, thanks for sharing.
I truly appreciate this post. I’ve been looking all over for this! Thank goodness I found it on Bing. You have made my day! Thx again
When I originally commented I clicked the “Notify me when new comments are added” checkbox and now each time a comment is added I get several e-mails with the same comment. Is there any way you can remove me from that service? Thanks a lot!
I just couldn’t depart your site prior to suggesting that I extremely enjoyed the standard info a person provide for your visitors? Is going to be back often to check up on new posts
Would you be all in favour of exchanging links?
I have been examinating out some of your articles and i can claim nice stuff. I will make sure to bookmark your blog.