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Bargain Basement

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Re: Bargain Basement

Postby Renee » Wed Sep 02, 2020 9:59 pm

What a difference in price! Thanks for the comparisons Sakkarin. I shall avoid Barts spices in future. I think that's the make that Waitrose has. I'm sure that I've seen Steenbergs spices in there.

The whole chipotle chillies would be much more flavourful than the flakes or the ground up versions because whole spices and ground up at home are always much better than buying ready ground. I brought a few bags of chillies back from Florida the last time that I went there, but they were out of stock of the chipotle variety.

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Re: Bargain Basement

Postby Sakkarin » Thu Sep 03, 2020 12:55 pm

The other thing about the whole chillies is that many recipes require the stem and seeds to be discarded from the "posh" chillies.

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Re: Bargain Basement

Postby jeral » Fri Sep 04, 2020 11:04 pm

Browsing Nisbets, I notice they have balti dishes (S/M/L ones if scroll down) reduced by about 1/3rd. I don't know if these are a good price after VAT & P&P added but look good:
https://www.nisbets.co.uk/flat-bottomed ... -dish/f469

Also face masks (50's) also reduced by c.1/3rd:
https://www.nisbets.co.uk/cleaning-and- ... nt/_/a33-3

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Re: Bargain Basement

Postby Pampy » Fri Sep 04, 2020 11:12 pm

Same face masks much cheaper on Amazon https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08 ... UTF8&psc=1

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Re: Bargain Basement

Postby jeral » Sat Sep 05, 2020 1:20 pm

Cheaper at Amazon? Well I'll go to the foot of our stairs ;) I'd probably be worried about quality and chance of getting a refund if warranted, although perhaps unnecessarily.

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Re: Bargain Basement

Postby Pampy » Sat Sep 05, 2020 3:27 pm

They're absolutely fine - I've bought them.

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Re: Bargain Basement

Postby jeral » Sat Sep 05, 2020 3:49 pm

Good to know, as a trusted recommendation is valued :thumbsup

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Re: Bargain Basement

Postby Stokey Sue » Sat Sep 05, 2020 10:23 pm

I was wondering if anyone had used Look After My Bilks or anything similar to track and switch energy providers?

These
https://lookaftermybills.com/?marketing ... IfEALw_wcB

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Re: Bargain Basement

Postby jeral » Sun Sep 06, 2020 12:07 am

No, I don't like idea that they will switch me automatically to the best they have a commission agreement with, thus excluding numerous companies they don't.

You can see this by looking at price lists on officially accredited websites and often cheaper companies aren't even shown on these "we'll switch you" sites, although they are on some whereby you need to contact the suppliers directly if there's no switching arrangement with them.

I reckon the big saving is one's first switch. After that it's more saving £s than £hundreds, or not if energy prices have risen.

Ebico Summer Deal came out cheapest for my relatively low usage in the last few days (it's fixed expiry time for me) but not worth me switching for the tenner it'd save me given I can renew with the company I'm with that I found by myself last year.

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Re: Bargain Basement

Postby Renee » Sun Sep 06, 2020 12:27 am

No I haven't used them, but went through Martin Lewis' website and then changed to Octopus which has great ratings in the Which magazine. The price was very good, although not the cheapest. The customer service is excellent. I left EDF who tried to get me back by offering special deals.

I bought the P3 masks which give almost 100% protection against the virus and bought them from Screwfix.
https://www.screwfix.com/p/jsp-fold-fla ... pack/8927k

Now that everyone is wearing masks in supermarkets, I feel a lot safer so will order the masks from Amazon, so thanks for the link.

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Re: Bargain Basement

Postby jeral » Mon Sep 07, 2020 10:54 am

Incidentally, if comparing energy prices for yourself and you can use Excel, a worksheet is fairly straightforward to set up so that only the name and prices of different suppliers need to be entered. If anyone's interested, I could post a How To for the format.

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Re: Bargain Basement

Postby Stokey Sue » Mon Sep 07, 2020 11:37 am

I think I'll probably just a quote form Octopus, and go with them if it seems reasonable

I'm just fed up with British Gas (who were the cheapest dual fuel for me when I switched to them) and if I can make any saving and get better service, so much the better. I ignore all those ads that tell me I can save £300 per year, which seem to based on a large family who live in a house with windows that don't shut and who keep warm by wallowing like hippos in hot baths. I know it's not difficult ot switch, it's just getting a round tuit more often than once a decade

As a single person of parsimonious habits in a well-insulated flat, it would take a miracle to save £300 a year on fuel.

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Re: Bargain Basement

Postby jeral » Mon Sep 07, 2020 11:53 am

I initially saved a huge amount so the ads are true if moving from standard tariff single fuels with big six to one of the cheapest duel fuel ones.

Octopus is middle price range now on my quotes. It's grown so much and might now be trading on their erstwhile "cheap" image. Perhaps compare your quote with one from say Bulb, being at the cheaper end. Still, it's whatever you'll be happy with so good luck for a smooth transition.

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Re: Bargain Basement

Postby Pampy » Mon Sep 07, 2020 12:07 pm

Stokey Sue wrote:
As a single person of parsimonious habits in a well-insulated flat, it would take a miracle to save £300 a year on fuel.

I'm exactly the same, Sue - despite living in a large 4 bed house, my combined gas and elec. costs around £500 a year - no chance of saving £300 pa!

A word of caution from my own experience of using a couple of the myriad new utility companies offering low prices. They are mostly fine when it comes to normal day-to-day operation but they lack expertise when there are problems. I had to have my gas meter changed a couple of years ago. A few weeks after the change, I switched my dual fuel supplier from Tonik Energy to Bulb (both relatively new to the market). When the meter change had been done, Tonik should have immediately registered it (including meter readings) with the Meter Point Administration Service (a central switching service) - but they didn't, which meant that my opening meter readings with Bulb were incorrect. Instead of querying this, Bulb ignored it which then caused endless problems with entering meter readings and billing. After about 6 months and endless phone calls trying to get it rectified, I was finally told it had been sorted. Because I'd had such a bad experience with Bulb over this, I then switched to e-on - only to find that Bulb hadn't sorted the problem out at all - they'd just manually adjusted their own system but hadn't notified the MPAS! Fortunately, e-on is an established provider so they finally sorted everything out. Never again will I switch to an inexperience supplier, no matter how much they promise in savings!

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Re: Bargain Basement

Postby Stokey Sue » Mon Sep 07, 2020 1:23 pm

One reason I was hanging on with British Gas :evil: was because I though I'd get smart meters first, as self reading is a bit tricky for me

They just said I can't have them because I'm in a flat - no assessment of the specific premises, in fact because it's a one- off flat, not part of a block and the meters are in a private yard very close to the flat itself it's a particularly easy installation (according to the engineer who came to fit them a couple of years back) It couldn't be done until recently as I had to wait for next door's building work to be completed, I also need a new meter box which may not be straightforward (usually they just bung a new one on the old base plate, but mine is so old the base plate isn't the current size) So it needs the base plate replacing while the meter is disconnected

I'll keep looking

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Re: Bargain Basement

Postby Suelle » Mon Sep 07, 2020 2:05 pm

Renee wrote:
I bought the P3 masks which give almost 100% protection against the virus and bought them from Screwfix.
https://www.screwfix.com/p/jsp-fold-fla ... pack/8927k

Now that everyone is wearing masks in supermarkets, I feel a lot safer so will order the masks from Amazon, so thanks for the link.


Masks are meant to be worn to protect others from you if you are carrying the virus asymptomatically, as much as, if not more than, protection against the virus.

Because of that, it isn't recommended that you use masks with valves fitted, as that doesn't stop you breathing the virus over anything that you come in contact with, whether that's other people or surfaces on which the virus can linger and be picked up by someone touching it.
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Re: Bargain Basement

Postby aero280 » Mon Sep 07, 2020 3:13 pm

I prefer the valved mask because it's the only one I have that keeps my glasses unmisted. But there are some P2/P3 masks without a valve that fit very snugly over my nose and stop the misting.

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Re: Bargain Basement

Postby Suelle » Mon Sep 07, 2020 3:28 pm

aero280 wrote:I prefer the valved mask because it's the only one I have that keeps my glasses unmisted. But there are some P2/P3 masks without a valve that fit very snugly over my nose and stop the misting.


A common problem, Aero. I have home-made face coverings with a removeable nosepiece (a pipe-cleaner), which work well at keeping my glasses from misting up, most of the time, but there can still be a problem when moving from outside cold to warm interiors - a problem which will get worse going into winter.
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Re: Bargain Basement

Postby Renee » Mon Sep 07, 2020 4:17 pm

Sue, when you contact Octopus, you could use this link and we would both get £50! You don't need to of course, but I'm very happy with the clarity of everything and their customer service.

https://octopus.energy/friend-referral/

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Re: Bargain Basement

Postby Stokey Sue » Mon Sep 07, 2020 4:25 pm

Aagh! Too late, I've already had my quote

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