loyalty schemes

Online companies appear to set out to mislead customers about the prices they will charge  when we get to the checkout.  
Everyone knows that the flight price first offered is likely to be doubled by the time we pay.   Unfortunately many other companies are using the same trickery. 
The government is consulting on whether it needs to ban charging more than the initial price  by what it calls "drip pricing."
It will, no doubt, take a long time for legislation to be imposed until then lots of prices will  not be easy to understand or in many cases honest.
We should be able to ask for the cheapest price and be given it.  But too many service providers make us do all the hard work to find the best price.
Until the law changes we have to do our homework and check out prices if we do not want to be ripped off. 

Please send ideas questions, tips and warnings about rip-offs to Mrs Mean through the contact page on her website: mrsmeanmoneyshow.co.uk or to infomrsmean@gmail.com

Every week grocery prices increase and we all need to change the way we shop - avoiding the traps laid for us by supermarkets.   
Check shelf edges for unit prices to work out what is cheapest.  You may have to use your phone calculator as stores are not very good at maths or try to confuse.
Look to the lower shelves for better value products and avoid month-end price increases. 
Count everything from crisps to biscuits to make sure that while the packets are the same size the contents are shrinking. 
Do not let supermarkets increase their profits and break your budget. Supermarkets are battlegrounds. We must win every round.

Please send ideas questions, tips and warnings about rip-offs to Mrs Mean through the contact page on her website: mrsmeanmoneyshow.co.uk or to infomrsmean@gmail.com

Grocery price inflation is over 16% making it difficult to budget.  The discounters are regularly the cheapest in research by Which?, the consumer group, but often customers do not have one of their stores nearby.

Sainsbury and Tesco are the cheapest of the big supermarkets , but we have to be careful which of their stores we use. Tesco Extra and Sainsbury Local do not have the same prices as the group's larger stores. 

Which? estimates that regular shoppers at Tesco Extra can pay more than £800 extra a year with the likes of Kipling Bakewell slices costing 28% more at the smaller stores.  At Sainsbury Local the extra cost can be £400 a year.   Heinz Cream of Tomato Soup was 19% more at the Local stores.  

So, they are definitely too expensive for a big shop.   Too often we call in for a bag of pasta and are tempted by other items and end up buying a full basket at the expensive store.   

There is also less choice with big branded groceries taking up lots of space on the shelves.   The loyalty prices offered to Nectar and Clubcard holders may also not be available. 

The most essential thing is to allow time wherever you shop.   Rushing in to a store on the way home is likely to cost you more than you can afford.

Please send ideas questions, tips and warnings about rip-offs to Mrs Mean through the contact page on her website: mrsmeanmoneyshow.co.uk or to infomrsmean@gmail.com