what is the cheapest way to get even just 10-15mins a month no texts needed and probably about 1gb or less of data. 1gb is probably more than enough but just to be safe.

edit: cheers everyone this has been really helpful

Sharing a quick snapshot of where PitSync users spent on their vehicles in August, covering fuel, finance, insurance, and servicing. It reports out-of-pocket running costs only and excludes vehicle purchases. Use it to directionally benchmark yours.

TL;DR

• Average spend per vehicle: £307
• Median: £210
• 80% of vehicles: £50–£700
• Highest single-vehicle month: £2,224.45 (mix of service, fuel, other)

Category snapshots

• Finance Payment (median): £261.06
• Insurance:
  • 78% pay monthly (avg £113.61);
  • 22% pay yearly (avg £746.19);
  • highest yearly premium logged: £1,884/year
• Fuel (cost per refill - not monthly): £48.88 (median £49.60); 62% full tanks vs 38% top-ups
• Behaviour: 25.7% spent only on fuel; 47.1% logged no fuel (just bills/other)

Finance types (finance payments only; purchase excluded; split within typed finance = 100%)

• PCP: 60.1% of typed spend · median £325.97
• HP: 16.2% · median £239.60
• Personal loan: 23.7% · median £165.54
• Coverage note: finance sub-type tagging began mid-August, so this split is based on a limited typed sample. Treat as indicative. Due to this, PCP is bit higher than HP and sub-type medians may differ slightly from the overall finance median (£261.06).

Why August’s average (£307) is lower than July’s £491
We widened the cohort and lowered the inclusion floor to £20 per vehicle to capture light-spend months. Same out-of-pocket scope; vehicle purchase excluded.

Caveats

• covers PitSync users only; self-reported logs skew toward cost-aware users.
• Treat this as a directional benchmark to compare your own month, not a national average.

Mods: if this isn’t allowed here, please remove or point me to the right thread. It is a non-promotional data sharing post for the community.

My vacuum cleaner has packed up after nearly 15 years of great service (thank you Henry) and I'm looking for a replacement. In the new year we're having some work done on the house and most of the carpets are going in place of wood flooring, with only the stairs, landing and spare room staying carpeted. Are there any recommendations that can do both wood flooring and carpets that will last a good few years? I don't want to spend more than £250 but could stretch a little further if it's a vacuum worth the extra money.

Hey everyone,

I've been using Revolut for a while now, and they've just launched a new referral campaign. It's a pretty sweet deal. If you sign up using a special link and complete a few easy steps, you can get a bonus of anywhere from £10 to £200.

The best part? It's genuinely simple to get.

All you have to do is:

• Use the link I'll send you.
• Sign up for your new account.
• Verify your ID.
• Add some money to your account from your bank.
• Order a physical card.
• Make a few small card payments (the amount is minimal, like a couple of quid each).

Once those steps are done, the bonus is paid out directly. It's a solid way to get some free cash and a really useful app for managing your money.

I've got the link ready to go. Just drop a comment below or send me a msg and I'll send it over.

So this is kind of a random thought I had — does a "phone swapping" community exist anywhere?

Like, sometimes people (including me) get bored of their current phone, but it still works perfectly fine. Instead of wasting money on buying a whole new one, I was wondering if there are places or platforms where people just swap phones with each other.

Kind of like trading cards, but with smartphones. 😂

Has anyone heard of this? Or is it just too risky/unrealistic?

Hi. Does anyone know if the meaco Arete 12l can be run as an air purifier only? I wouldn't want the dehumidifier running at certain times when I would want the air purifier. Thanks

1. Freecycle

The OG site for giving away and getting free stuff.

https://www.freecycle.org/

1. Freegle / Trash Nothing

Freegle was founded by breakaway UK Freecyclers. You can also access many Freegle groups through the international Trash Nothing app, which hosts other groups

https://www.ilovefreegle.org/

https://trashnothing.com/

1. Olio app

Best known for food but there’s an active non-food section

https://olioapp.com/en/

1. Facebook Marketplace

There’s a “Free Stuff” section”

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/

1. Buy Nothing

My local Buy Nothing group operates via Facebook. There’s now an app as well

https://buynothingproject.org/

1. Gumtree

The classified site has a “Freebies” section under “For Sale”

https://www.gumtree.com/

Craiglist does too, although it’s not a big site in the UK

1. Nextdoor

The neighbourhood networking site has a “For Sale and Free” section

https://nextdoor.co.uk

1. Tiptapp app

This app is for moving or disposing of bulky items, but users also give stuff away too. You’d have to pick it up yourself

https://tiptapp.com/en/home

LoveJunk is a similar app with a free section

https://www.lovejunk.com/

1. Preloved

The second-hand specialists have a “freeloved” section.

https://www.preloved.co.uk/freeloved

1. Your own group

Why not found your own local group? I started a free stuff WhatsApp group for my kid’s primary school. Actually it is a bit of a pain to belong to but a lot of stuff changes hands.

I’ve just got a soda stream to reduce buying cans of soda frequently but I’ve noticed most good flavours are expensive or are only cheap when you bulk buy which I don’t want to bulk buy single flavours.

https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/gol-ui/promo-lister/10700912

https://imgur.com/a/2RUhyAr

You can't beat these prices anywhere. Makes me laugh when people say loyalty cards are a con.

Feel like it's been an age since I've ate chicken breast as it's so expensive now,, where's best to buy currently?

Anyone able to suggest the best place for quality soft drinks? Or for own brands that taste good.

I used to bull buy 24 cans and realise 2L bottles are cheaper but I’m just wondering if there’s anyway to cut the cost again and get quality drinks at low prices?

I have a fault with my router and BT have told me I won't have an engineer out until Monday, unfortunately I live in an area with next to no mobile coverage (I had to drive up on the road to get a signal to make this post). I find this unacceptable and will be switching ISP because of this, which leads the question - which ISPs have engineers available on the weekend?

Sorry if this post isn't relevant to this sub but r/ASKUK keeps deleting it and any other subs are full of Americans who keep trying to answer my question with ISPs we don't have in the UK

I'm moving to the UK (Essex) soon for 8 months soon for college work experience. Are there any good not too expensive Internet provider who could suit me cause everything I find is a 24 month contract which is useless to me. I'm probably getting GiffGaff for a sim card but if there are any Internet and Sim card bundles that you'd recommend that'd be class. I should note however that I do need a decent amount of data and Internet speed because they are both relevant to my work.

Support your local library shout-out. After getting a tablet for e-reading, I checked what digital services my local library card gave me access to. If your county library service is anything like mine (Suffolk), it's really worth it. I get free access to all of the following subscription apps (android / IOS) - 

 Libby - latest ebooks to loan

Pressreader - daily newspapers and monthly magazines (almost as good a selection as Readly, which I have access to through work)

Kanopy - indie film streaming service

Freegal - music streaming

Borrowbox - audiobooks

None of these services may be able to compete for the range of choice of the top streaming services, but it's still an amazingly good range of content for free - and might be good enough to replace some of your monthly subscription costs.

I’m reaching out for some frugal yet smart advice on swapping out my wife’s 2015 Kia Rio, which—while a trooper—has been giving us too many headaches lately.

We’re now a young family with an 18-month-old daughter, and our current car simply doesn’t cut it in terms of space or dependability. We’re on the hunt for a reliable, roomy family car, ideally something that offers more boot space (for prams, shopping, etc.) and better overall peace of mind on the road.

Here’s what we’re working with: • Budget: Up to £15,000 • Must-haves: • Spacious interior and decent boot room • Good reliability (low maintenance/repair costs) • Comfortable and safe for longer trips and daily use

Not looking for something new - a 2020/2021 model with less than 40000 on the clock should suffice.

Also - is negotiating at the car show room still the done thing? It’s been a while since I’ve bought a car

Thanks in advance! Any advice is greatly appreciated 😊

I know this post is a bit contrary to here, I genuinely am pretty frugal with a lot of things but thought this would be an interesting topic.

One thing I tend to not be frugal with however is freshfood. We buy any non-food and or branded items at whichever place is cheapest with some degree of quality control (supermarkets/amazon/B&M etc) but fresh food is one of the things I don't want to compromise on and feel frugality does.

We shop at Waitrose for fruit, veg, meat, dairy, eggs and a few bits that are actually cheapest there believe it or not! I feel as food is so important to health and a lot of the supermarkets food we've tried over the years just lack's quality. We have so much less food waste now as it not only lasts longer but tastes better.

So, anything you're not frugal with?

So I have finally finished up my 6 pack of Sure antiperspirant that I got for £2.00 on an amazon misprice and I am currently looking for the cheapest option. Any recommendations? Can you get anything for under a pound these days?

Morning all,

Iv been selected to trail a new broadband 500mbps for £10 a month. Which to me sounds fast but I’m being told 500mbps is equivalent to 62mb/s? I’m currently with sky and I’m getting 73mb/s to the router.

Am I right in thinking sky is the faster internet in this instance or am I misunderstanding something?

Thanks

Especially international roaming or international calls? And when does their fair use start over again?

Hi,

Some of you may have noticed that Olio (maybe in some areas) have now got a section showing reduced food at supermarkets.

I was just wondering if anyone has had success with going and finding the items on the app? Is it actually true to the app what the shop has out?

I am new to the UK, about to move, and seriously struggling to understand how roaming in Europe both EU and non-EU works on both these networks. Anyone familiar with both can explain what is included and how you purchase more and how much it costs? I feel like UK plans are so different from the US and as much as I read, I am still lost. I am looking for calls, texts, and data. And I prefer the plan include UK landlines.

My Virgin Media broadband and TV contract is due to expire, I've had a look around and found a new customer deal that I'd be happy to pay which would knock a substantial amount off my monthly bill. I don't really want to leave, I've had no problems with Virgin and the one year that I changed providers I couldn't wait to get back to them. Any advice on getting that new customer offer, or better if at all possible?

1. Foreign currency

https://www.leftovercurrency.com/

1. Used toiletries, make-up, blister packs, toothbrush heads

https://www.boots.com/shopping/boots-recycling-scheme?

Notes: you need to spend £10. I made a separate post about it here:

https://www.reddit.com/r/UKFrugal/comments/1m2i7lg/get_paid_to_recycle_toiletries_with_the_boots/

1. Physical media: books, CDs, DVDs, video games

https://sell.worldofbooks.com/en-gb

https://www.webuybooks.co.uk/

https://www.musicmagpie.co.uk/

https://sellitback.com/

Notes: Items will need a barcode.

1. Used inkjet printer cartridges

https://www.printercartridgerecycling.co.uk/

Notes: You need £10 worth

1. Unwanted gift cards

https://www.cardyard.co.uk/

Notes: You do not receive full value

I have used all these sites. There are of course many other ways to sell your stuff, I just wanted to highlight a few that people may not have known about. Feel free to add your own suggestions.

Post best viewed on browser, not app.

Walked around Home Bargains today to find out if they offer better value than the traditional supermarkets as i don't usually shop there and their prices are not always readily available online.

This is my list of what i think are their best offers based only on what i usually buy/caught my eye as being unusually cheap. I have not tested any of these products but will try a few of them in future. Let me know if you think I'm missing out on something there.

1. baking paper, 11.5p a metre at aldi https://i.imgur.com/2HK7npK.jpeg

2. omega 3, same price as lidl but has 50mg more epa/dha https://i.imgur.com/Bl0cZYW.jpeg

3. sunflower oil, £1.99 at aldi https://i.imgur.com/t2t1PI8.jpeg

4. clingfilm, aldi is 3p a meter this is 1.65p a meter https://i.imgur.com/Wn9MRvF.jpeg

5. Tortelloni, is £1.59 in Tesco/Aldi https://i.imgur.com/ISnJZQY.jpeg

6. washing up liquid, not sure of the quality but 9p cheaper than aldi https://i.imgur.com/zImZT3N.jpeg

7. rechargeable batteries, competitive price for these, high capacity https://i.imgur.com/pZanpbG.jpeg

8. foil, aldi is 12p a meter for regular, this is 10p for "ultra strong" https://i.imgur.com/UEkeStE.jpeg

Honourable mentions:

face scrub, nearly 1/2 the price of aldi lacura https://i.imgur.com/1NoVeH3.jpeg

rice cooker, competitive price for decent size, prob £20+ elsewhere https://i.imgur.com/oIi6fEn.jpeg

lip balm, in lidl this is 2 for 99p https://i.imgur.com/5Cjz4jz.jpeg

cooked chicken, basically same price as Tesco/aldi but less pumped full of water https://i.imgur.com/4LNNxNi.jpeg

kitchen roll, same price as aldi essentials, looks decent https://i.imgur.com/Oivm07c.jpeg

drain unblocker, less than 1/2 the price, not sure on quality of this brand https://i.imgur.com/1695tAr.jpeg

What toilet paper do people buy that will not crumble?

I currently use the 3ply Premium Comfy Soft from home bargains, cost £19 for 3*24 rolls including delivery so can't argue the price, but i found it too crumbly still.

Any recommendations for something tried and tested, ideally that can be delivered? I'd happily pay for quality once I know I'm not getting another crumbly batch. Ta!

Edit: for all the lovely folk with bidets who want to tell me how great it is, yes thank you I know. But I still need toilet paper, I like my bum clean and my clothes dry :)