Grocery shopping - how handy is it?

Are you, like me, one of those people who wishes to handle the produce? Ensure that tins aren't dented when you pick them from the shelf?  At the same time, you're armed with a long list and barely a moment to yourself?

Mr Frugal and I have always liked shopping, choosing our produce but now we realise what we've been missing out on.  When I popped into our local Sainsbury's store, I received a till spit to receive £20 when I spend £60 on my first online grocery shop.  As we've been away, I thought it would be an idea to order groceries online instead of trudging grumpily around the supermarket.

I wish to purchase British produce, where possible and Sainsbury's handily shows all those items which are grown and/or reared in Britain.  Even though it was so easy to put things in the virtual trolley, it wasn't racking up as quickly as when I'm trailing up and down those aisles.  Maybe the key is that I wasn't swayed by "special" offers as much, or that lovely packaging as I wander past the chocolate... Sigh!

The cost of delivery, at £6 for a Sunday morning, was a little eye-watering.  However, we did have a voucher and it will save us trotting around the supermarket on our return from holiday.

What a great service!  

Get paid for shopping!

Do you purchase clothes online?  Do you insure your house/contents/car? Do you buy presents online?

If the answer is yes to any of the above, are you a member of a cashback website?  Cashback websites exist to refer shoppers to a wide range of companies and in return they get a referral fee which they then pass on to you, the shopper.  It adds an extra click to your shopping, but so far I've earned £980 in cashback from Top Cashback for purchasing items which I'd have bought anyway.  

For example, I booked a hotel room via Top Cashback for a city break.  I'd already checked which was the cheapest website for my intended hotel, clicked through via Top Cashback to Expedia, booked the hotel, gained £75 in cashback and Nectar points into the bargain!  It takes approximately 11 weeks for this to become payable, but hey, not bad for something I'd have done anyway!

You can choose for your cashback to be paid into your bank account by BACs, Paypal or you can request payment in Amazon vouchers, or such like.  In the past, I've used cashback for a treat which we wouldn't have otherwise had, new cutlery, rail travel to see friends... the possibilities are endless!

As you can tell, I'm really quite evangelical about cashback websites.  We have Avios credit cards too, so we do our shopping by paying with these - more rewards for our shopping!

Cutting down on unnecessary spending

I've just been doing an annual check of our spending and realised that I have two lots of insurance which covers the same thing.  The insurance covers my phone and anything in my handbag... well so does my home contents insurance.  One phone call to the "extra" insurer and I'm now on track to have an extra £120 in my pocket per annum.  Not to be sniffed at and I can put that towards paying extra on our mortgage.  Not loads, but better than nothing.

A recent mailing by my teaching union also suggested that I could save on my every day supermarket shopping.  I have to buy a supermarket gift card and every time I load credit onto it, I will get 3% off.  It's not as much as other supermarket offers through the same provider but we stand to save £60 per year.

That's £180 saved.  I'm feeling quite virtuous!