Wonky veg box review

A while ago ASDA announced that they were introducing wonky veg boxes into their stores. My local was a listed store but despite checking regularly none were being stocked. When doing our shop this week we discovered that they actually had some in the store now so we though we would give it a go and let you guys know our thoughts on the box.

The concept is about encouraging people to buy 'imperfect food' that would otherwise go to waste. In a waste not, want not fashion. A bit like a broken biscuit tin there is no preset combination of veg in a box, but there is a label to say what the box contains on the outside so it is not a surprise.

I would always rather have fresh food thats 'ugly' than pretty frozen veg so we love the concept of a veg box on a budget. Plus because it is veg that would have otherwise gone to waste it is sold at a reduced price, the box was only £3.50 but have about £8 worth of vegetables in it. Being able to source low cost food is a great way to keep costs down so if like us your trying to stick to a budget wonky veg can help you with that.

Ours contained the following

• aubergine
• salad onions
• onions (white)
• orange peppers
• carrots
• cabbage
• lettuce 
• potatoes 

Check out the video below to see what the box contained and our thoughts on the concept.

Overall we are really happy with the box and think it is good value for money. My biggest gripe is that the lettuce was in a plastic bag as other than that it is pretty eco friendly packaging. The blemishes on the vegetables were all very minor (I would hardly consider blemishes) and the unusual shapes weren't that different. The carrots were probably the most 'deformed' but as most of the time we would be chopping them up, you wouldn't notice, plus I'm planning on using them in a soup anyway. 

What do you think of the idea of a wonky veg box, is it something you would buy?

Financial goals for 2016

As the new year is already is full swing it has been the time for us to think about our goals and aims for the new year. We have a lot going on in 2016 from our wedding (which is this weekend!!) to graduations and so everything happening this year impacts the financial goals we have. Today we will be sharing our goals of the year.

1. Continue saving for a house deposit. We started contributing to Help2Buy ISAs in 2015 and so we aim to max out those. In addition to that savings account we are aiming to contribute all additional unassigned savings money to our deposit savings.

2. Save £2000 towards car. In 3 years time we will have the option to purchase a car and so we are saving the money each year so that we can purchase the car with cash to do that we need to save £2000 each year. 

3. Have a post-graduation option that doesn't incur debt. I have applied for several options, including my Bar exam (including scholarships), financial sector jobs, and masters programmes. What ever option I end up taking up it is important that it doesn't involve taking on debt. This means if I choose take one further education that there needs to be a scholarship involved to make it a viable option. 

4. C to take up another part-time job. At the end of December C and I made the decision for him to leave his previous employer as it was not a good situation. However, this part time work was important part of our finances and so C is now applying for other part-time work. We are in a position where we can manage without any extra part time work during term time but it would make things much easier and allow us to be more intense in our savings efforts. 

5. Expand my Etsy store. Since I opened it in mid 2015, I have seen it grow much more than I expected. But I would love to expand it further and add new products to the site as well as add new design options for the products already listed. I have found it really enjoyable owning a store and developing products and we have signed our selves up to a build your own business course at our church. 

6. Perfect out budgeting. We are looking to being more rigorous with out budgeting and accountability. Updating spreadsheet and cash envelopes more frequently. As we set up joint banking after the wedding, this should ease some of the logistical issues we have had previously. 

What are your financial goals for the next year?

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If you are new to our blog, we are all about finding new ways for students and millennials to make and save money. Here are some of our favourite sites and products to help you out:

• Start a blog. Blogging is our side-hustle just over a year ago we didn't think I would bring us any income . You can create your own blog here with my easy-to-use tutorial. You can start your blog for as low as $3.49 per month plus you get a free domain if you sign-up through my tutorial.
• Save money with gift cards Whether its for buying clothes, your weekly shop or dining out use Zeek to buy discounted gift cards to get more bang for your buck. 
• Use Swagbucks for your online searches. Swagbucks is a passive way to earn gift cards. Over the course of a year you could earn $500.  Swagbucks is just like using Google to do your online searches, except you get rewarded “points called SB” for the things you do through their website. Then, when you have enough Swagbucks, you can redeem them for cash, gift cards, and more. Receive $5 for signing up today.
• Try matched betting. Matched betting is a great way to may easy money online. Despite the name it is not gambling and could see you earn £500-£1000 a month for only a couple of hours work a day see here and here. For your free trial head to profit accumulator or join the Facebook 'getting started' group.  
• Sign up for a cashback site like Quidco. where you can earn CASH BACK for just spending like how you normally would online. The service is free too! Plus, when you sign up through my link, you also receive a free £10 bonus!

Why I'm loving the small house movement

In the past 40 years living space per person has doubled and 1000sq ft bigger in the USA. When it comes to houses the notion of 'bigger the better' is considered by society to be true. Many people have several spare bedrooms in their house and homes far beyond a size they need for their family size. 

It is this context that makes the tiny house movement so intriguing. Typical tiny houses are between 100-400sq foot (whilst the average USA house is 2500 SqFt). What is amazing about these tiny houses is how they manage to compact all the necessities into a small space without the cramped feeling. 

Though not everyone will want to take downsizing the this extreme, there is a lot that can be learned from living in a smaller home. As a college student I spend the last two years living in a very small space (a small single room + communal kitchen) and now C and I have a very small 1 bed flat. It made my living space simple and minimalistic as there was not space for clutter. 

                           Peachtree City Architects & Building Designers Our Town Plans



Here are some of the benefits of living in a smaller house:

- You learn to discern between needs and wants. Due to the lack of space for furniture you learn to furnish primarily with essentials. By having mostly essentials your house will look clean and uncluttered and I find having an uncluttered home is a real de-stressed. When I moved into the flat I realised how much of the things I had amounted at my parents house I had not used at all whilst being at college. It made me reflect on how much I had been hoarding over the years. 

- Bills are much cheaper. The less space you have to heat, the fewer appliances you have, the fewer numbers of bathrooms the less your household consumption will be and consequently you bills will be much less. 

-More ecofreindly. This goes along with bills being cheaper with less use of utilities your houses carbon footprint will be much less. In addition, it is easier to use green methods to heath your home. Plus a small garden means less spent on watering it. 

- Entertaining is funner (in my opinion). You make not have enough space to sit 10 people round a table for a meal but that doesn't mean you cannot entertain and have fun. We love having raclette and poker nights with our friends. We put the raclette grill on the table and we sit on the floor to eat and play cards. 

-Easier to decorate. Upkeep and decoration of a smaller house is inherently easier and less expensive. There are fewer rooms to think about co-orindating the wall colour to the cushions. 

- You spend a lot less time cleaning. Less rooms and sq ft means less rooms to clean, plus fewer pieces of furniture and less clutter means you can spend more of your time doing what you want.

- Less debt.  A smaller house means smaller monthly mortgage payments, freeing up money in your monthly budget. A smaller mortgage means there is less risk so the is less stress and worry about money in your life.

- Housing mobility. A less expensive house means more people will be able to afford to purchase your home, compared to a more expensive home which will become more niche in the market. This means you can get more value for money when you sell and may be able to move easier.   

- Change your mentality You start to think differently about your possessions. Stop over purchasing, pick smaller appliances, look for items with dual purpose and things that can easily be store. Bigger is not better when it comes to a small home. You become less tempted to accumulate items. 

Have you ever considered downsizing?

100 birthday freebies (UK and USA) : The BIG List

Birthdays are great and they are even better when its an excuse for freebies. Check out our mega list of freebies available all for just getting a year older !!


This list is split up into 50 UK and 50 USA freebies so everyone has the chance to get their birthday treats. Most of these offers mentioned are given by big chain companies but plenty of smaller independent companies also offer birthday freebies but just don't advertise it, so never be call up and ask if they offer birthday freebies.

Most of these freebies required to sign up to a newsletter or loyalty program, and a small number of them require a minimum spend to receive the freebie. 

Companies give out these freebies as a clever marketing strategy. They know that you are likely to go out with friends and family for your birthday and draw you into going to them by giving you a birthday freebie in return for bringing in paying customers. 

For the UK restaurant freebies why not save even more money and pay for money with a discounted gift card allowing you to save up to 10% on the food you do pay for. 

UK Freebies

1. Krispy Kreme- Free donought 
2. Pizza express- Free prosecco
3. Las Igaunas- free main course
4. Shepheard Neane- free main course - sign up here 
5. Harvester- Free sundae
6. Beefeater Grill- Free main course
7. Frankie and Bennies- Free main course
8. Hungry Horse- Free drink
9. TGI Fridays- Various freebies
10. Fayre and Square- Free bottle of wine
11. Marston's - Free drink
12. Ed's Easy Diner- Free milkshake
13. Brother's cider- Free cider
14. Barburrito- Free main dish
15. Subway- Free cookie
16. Moshi Moshi- complimentary Kyoto course menu
17. Jimmy's World Bar and Grill- Free meal and cocktail
18. Hello Fresh- £20 discount
19. Damons hotel and restaurants- free main and birthday cake
20. TableTable- Free main
21. Drake and Morgan- Free brownie dessert
22. Grosvenor Casino- Free main meal and £10 bet
23. Cafe Rouge- free bottle of bubbly
24. Hummus Bros Club- Free birthday meal
25. Boost Juice bars- Free boost juice
26. La Tasca- Free Cava- Need to book in advance in birthday person's name (meal for 2 weeks either side of birthday)
27. Chimichanga- Free bottle of house wine 
28. Loch Fyne- Free Joeseph Perrier Champagne
29. Pitcher and Piano- Free cocktail or beer
30. Jamies Italian - Free gift
31. Bingtang Birthday Club- £10 voucher and 1/2 for birthday boy/girl
32. Jongleurs- Free ticket on birthday 
33. Strada- Free bottle of proseco
34. Etsy- Free birthday discount
35. Paperchase - free £10 discount
36. Bobbi Brown- Free birthday kit
37. Debenhams- Free Benefit Brow Wax
38. Boots- Free advantage points
39. Nectar- Free Nectar car points
40. Pixifoto- baby photo on childs 1st birthday 
41. Lego club- Free birthday card and treat
42. Playmobil- Birthday card and badge
43. Toys r us- Geoffrey's birthday club- Free £5 voucher
44. Mothercare- 20% off toys on child's birthday
45. Spur steak and grill - Kids eat free
46. Ebuyer- Free next day delivery (worth £9.99)
47. Dove- various freebies
48. Joy the store- 10% Joy Club members on their birthday
49. Liverpool Philharmonic kids club- Free tickets
50. N.dulge members- birthday treat

USA Freebies

1. Denny's - Free grand slam - present valid ID
2. Krispy Kreme- free doughnut
3. IHOP- Free meal on birthday- join Pancakerevolution
4. Baskin Robbins- Free ice cream 
5. Ben and Jerry's- Free Scoop of ice cream
6. Starbuck- Free coffee 
7. Black angus steakhouse- Free Steak meal (with purchase of a second entree)
8. Applebees- Free dessert
9. A&W- Free Float
10. Pizza Hut- Birthday Surprise
11. Old Chicago- Free pizza
12. Olive garden- Free birthday surprise
13. Tucanos Brazilian Grill - Free birthday meal 
14. Sticky Fingers Club- Free entrée 
15. Pappa Murphy's - Free cookie dough
16. La Madeline French Cafe- Free pastry
17. Jersey Mike- Free sub and drink 
18. Fuddrukers- Free burger
19. Dunkin Donuts- Free coffee
20. Culver's - Free sundae
21. Cinabon- Free mochalatta chill
22. Jack in the box- free dessert 
23. AMF bowling- Free bowling
24. Aveda- Free gift up to $24 in value
25. Wendy's- $1 of any premium combo
26. Red Robin- free gourmet burger (with loyalty card)
27. La Madline- Free pastry
28. Maggie Moos' - Free ice cream cone
29. Glory days grill- Free dessert
30. Del Taco- Free premium milkshake
31. Black angus steakhouse- BOGOF steak dinner
32. Au bon pain- a free sandwich or salad
33. Carrows- free dessert
34. Fox and hound- BOGOF entree 
35. Anthropologie- 15% off
36. Benefit- free birthday brow arch
37. Chuck E Cheese- kids vouchers
38. DSW shoes club- $5 voucher
39. Firehouse sub- free sub
40. HuHot mongolian grill- free meal
41. Jersey Mike's- free sub and drink
42. Maggino's- free $10 vouchers
43. Menchie's frozen yoghurt- birthday surprise 
44. Orange julius- free drink
45. Pretzel Maker- Birthday surprise
46. Sephora- Birthday surprise
47. Smashburger- Birthday surprise
48. Yoghurt mountain- free yoghurt
49. Weinerschnitzel- free hotdog
50. Zaxby's- free kids meal

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If you are new to our blog, we are all about finding new ways for students and millennials to make and save money. Here are some of our favourite sites and products to help you out:

• Start a blog. Blogging is our side-hustle just over a year ago we didn't think I would bring us any income . You can create your own blog here with my easy-to-use tutorial. You can start your blog for as low as $3.49 per month plus you get a free domain if you sign-up through my tutorial.
• Save money with gift cards Whether its for buying clothes, your weekly shop or dining out use Zeek to buy discounted gift cards to get more bang for your buck. 
• Use Swagbucks for your online searches. Swagbucks is a passive way to earn gift cards. Over the course of a year you could earn $500.  Swagbucks is just like using Google to do your online searches, except you get rewarded “points called SB” for the things you do through their website. Then, when you have enough Swagbucks, you can redeem them for cash, gift cards, and more. Receive $5 for signing up today.
• Try matched betting. Matched betting is a great way to may easy money online. Despite the name it is not gambling and could see you earn £500-£1000 a month for only a couple of hours work a day see here and here. For your free trial head to profit accumulator or join the Facebook 'getting started' group.  
• Sign up for a cashback site like Quidco. where you can earn CASH BACK for just spending like how you normally would online. The service is free too! Plus, when you sign up through my link, you also receive a free £10 bonus!

How meal planning can cut your grocery costs + FREE PRINTABLE

Meal planning is one of the best ways to save money on your food shop. It allows you to only buy what you need and avoid waste. Discover how we incorporate meal planning into our food shops. At the end of the post are the printables we use to help with our planning, and we are sharing them with your today. 

When we do the weekly shop there are a number of stages to the process. 

1. Update inventories of cupboard, fridge and freezer. We keep a list of everything in them and when it comes to the time to prep for the shop we update the list.
2. Create a meal plan based on inventories. Breakfasts and C's lunches reaming the same week to week. Dinners will be based on what we have already. Often if we have purchased food in the reduced aisle in bulk then we will plan the meals around these purchases. I will look out for sales on meats and may buy these at a different time. But whilst I'm buying meat on clearance I am constantly thinking of how to incorporate it into meals. If we are short of food in the inventories then this is where I turn to my recipe book and plan out a meals to cover the gap.
3. Write a list of what needs to be purchased. Though we may have meat or the carbs (potato/pasta) in the store cupboard we need to buy fruit and veg weekly. In addition other common items include milk and yoghurt. 
4. Shop be it online or in store. I prefer shopping inshore because I can pick up better deals and choose sell buy dates. However, there is more of a temptation to be drawn of track and buy items I don't need. Though I find that if I'm going with a set list I'm less likely to go off track anyway. 

To access the free printable with todays post click the image below where it will take you to google drive. From there you can print it as many times as you like. 

Creating a wedding budget

It is super easy to allow wedding spending to get out of control. So it is important early on to get a hold of your wedding spending and keep it reigned in. One of the best ways to do this is to create a budget that allows you to track all your spending as well as all the contributions to the wedding fund. Today we will be sharing with our readers a FREE PRINTABLE wedding budget. 

If you click on the image below it will take you to a google docs from there you can download the spreadsheet. Print it off and start the budgeting process. 

Here are some handy tips to get the most out of the printable.

First, make a note of all the contributions. This will give you the total you have to work with and will guide the rest of the process. 

Decide what expences you will have. For example if you have a combined ceremony and reception package then amend to reflect that. At first you wont be entirely sure how much of your budget you will spend on each area and although there are percentage guides don't worry if they are not exactly how you plan to spend. Talk to friends and family who are recently married to see which areas they found their budget went mostly too. Also try to decide on what you plan on having (the budget sheet will have categories that not everyone will use), identify what areas are of highest priority and other which are less important. For example for us photography was super important to us and we attributed a high percentage of our budget to this area, whereas my dress was only £150. We found the best way to start to figure these amounts out by collecting a number of quotes and combining these with guide percentages to see how much is sensible to spend in our area. This will be your budgeted amount.

Once you have contacted a number of vendors and narrowed it down you will have a better idea of how much it is likely to cost. We recommend contacting 3-5 vendors for quotes to give you the best idea of prices. This is your vendor quote.

You may also want to assign certain expences to money given my particular individuals. For example it may be the bride and grooms responsibility to pay for the groom's ring. You may want to use a colour coding method for this. 

Finally once you have bought all that is needed for a expense area then give it a tick next to it at the end. Do this to remind yourself to stop spending from this category and to control the budget. Its also a good idea to keep a copy of all the receipts as you go along so that you can verify the total when writing it in the budget. 

If you use the spreadsheet be sure to let us know how it helps you with wedding budgeting :)

How to vacation on a budget

It is that time of year where summer vacations are nearly there. Chris and I are off to USA for three weeks on a road trip from California to Colorado and back very soon (we are both super excited for this). But holidays are expensive, for us this is the last big holiday for several years as Chris is starting college in September, and I'm in law school. Despite being a big holiday, we have worked hard to find the best deals and keep the cost as low as possible when booking. Today we will be sharing our tips on having an amazing vacation on a budget.

Make an itinerary. Know when you want to fly out. When you need accommodation for what locations and what you plan on doing during your days, this especially important for day trip planning. Though having some flexibility on your dates is helpful and will help you to be able to pick dates which offer the best value for money. 

Flights- Book early. We booked in January for a June/July holiday, but the prices were even cheaper when we looked in November/December. We found SkySkanner a really helpful site for comparing flight prices. Also think realistically about how many of the 'add-ons' you need. For us we knew that where we would be staying would have laundry facilities so we decided that we would share one 'hold' luggage and them both have our carry-ons (Chris has promised me that he will be able to fit all his stuff in his carry on; though we will see how that pans out). A lot of the cheaper airline make up their profits with add-ons. Food on the flights worked out as a £50 pp add-on. There is no way the food is worth that, and so we will be taking our own pack ups (and buy drinks in duty-free as we have to work around the liquids limit). We are flying with Norweigan who worked out £150 cheaper than everywhere else (plus I got cashback through Quidco)

Car Hire- At the end of the day all you need is a car to get you from A to B. It doesn't have to be a fancy model just ensure it can fit the number of passengers and the right amount of luggage. Big names such as Hertz and Avis often don't work out the best price. Plus never wait until you arrive in the country to pick up the car you sometimes pay  double what you would if you book online in advance. Also don't forget to compare the cost of the drivers if there are several of you travelling. If any of the drivers are young or have points/penalties on their license then the costs will increase. Consider whether someone else could opt to drive. 

Accommodation- I personally really love hotels.com for booking accommodation. Firstly they offer some of the best prices out there. They have a really good cancellation policy. Plus for every ten nights you book you get one free. For our road trip, we have been super blessed and are able to stay with family and friends along our journey (we have only had to book eight nights out of the 20). Hotels.com also works through several cashback sites so you can save even more on your holiday. By being able to pay in advance you avoid paying debit-card international transaction fees. 

Foreign exchange- Monsey Saving Expert has a super useful tool for comparing exchange rates which are what we used when determining who to go with for our travel money. Never use a debit card abroad as the charges are extortionate. Though the site is correct in that there are a select number of credit cards that do provide slightly cheaper travel money. At the end of the day, they are still credit cards and so there is the temptation to spend much more than your budget as you can go into debt. However, if you have the financial diligence, then this may be the best option. If you want the security of having money on a card without the issue of debt or card fees, then a travel cashcard/passport works well. We opted to convert some of our money onto Travelex cash passports and the other in cash (in case we cant get to an ATM).

Theme parks- Booking in advance rather than on the day can save huge amounts. They are often 2/3x as expensive on the door also look for multi-day savings passes. Food at theme parks is also super expensive so bringing a packed lunch is often a good idea (though check how much a locker will cost). Another good thing to do is look online at what food places that are within your budget. Disney allows you to search their food outlets online based on cost p/p.

How do you save money on your vacation?

10 things I've bought that saved me money

Inspired by BudgetGirl's video tag I decided to embark upon the "Things I've bought that saved me money" tag.

1. Annual bus pass. At £365 a year rather than over £4 a day this has definitely saved me a lot this past academic year. 

2. Water bottle and travel squash. I take these to uni everyday and it saves me so much as I don't end up buying drinks on campus. All I've gotta do is find a water source and add the squash and voila the perfect refreshing drink

3.  Slow cooker. Chris and I received this as a gift for our engagement (so not technically a purchase). There are so many recipes I can make with my slow cooker, and they are perfect for my busy schedule. It means that if there is a meal all ready for me when I get home 

4. NUS card. This is a student saver card that gets you student discount at so many stores and restaurants. It is only £12 a year but I have definitely saved more than that from the card. My tastecard also falls under this category (though I have never actually bought one, having won them in competitions). Tastecard's get you 2for1 in many restaurants.

5. My DIY 'savvy cents' wallet. I found a super cute French Connections purse at TK Maxx about 2 years ago and recently started using it again as it has so many compartments making it easy for me to use a cash only system. This has helped me save money by not using my card and also sticking more stringently to the budget.

6. Hair scissors. I have been cutting my own hair for the past three years and this has saved me so much money. I find that with curly hair it doesn't need to be super perfect. 

7. Tupperware. I recently invested in some better quality Tupperware and love using it. I am keen on cooking in bulk and freezing. I also like to purchase items in clearance aisle and freeze them. In addition, I've been striving to take lunches with me to uni much more (as the canteen is expensive). 

8. Falling under a similar category my drinks flask (thermos flask). I bought a super cute Kate Spade one on eBay before starting college and love it. In the winter I will take soup into uni for lunch, or hot chocolate. 

9. 'Bag for life' I have a couple of the 10/50p bags that I reuse, this saves me money when shopping at the shops on campus which charges for every bag that I use. This is not only great for my budget but also for the planet. Plus when it wears out take it to the supermarket and they will change it for free hence the bag for life. 

10. Staples better binder. I bought 5 during my high school years and they are still going strong and I intend to use them for the whole of law school (as I've only got one year left). I also use one for my household binder. This has saved me money as lower quality binders I have used in the past have 'died' really quickly and meant more cost for buying replacements.

Be sure to check out the other videos on this tag

Budget Girl 

Jessica Ashley 

GazelleInTents 

TheNotSoOrdinaryWife 

Slow Steady Win 

Sustainable135 

Our Family of Four

Our Debt Free Life 

Living on an irregular income in college

This past week was Student loan/grant payment time for those studying in England. For many it was long over due.  Often students find themselves really struggling to budget with such an irregular income resulting in them going overdrawn or having to borrow from another source. However, there are a number of simple but effective ways to deal with an irregular income. 

1. When your student loan/grant comes in divide it up into the number of months that it needs to last you (usually 3 or 4) and put everything but this months money in a easy access savings account. This way you can pay your self a monthly pay cheque making it much easier to budget as you know how much you have to spend over shorter periods of time as well as long term. This essentially provides you with a regular income through an artificial means. Though it requires self-control to do this is really pays off and aids budgeting.
2. Try to have all bills frequent and rent infrequent. If you are fortunate like I am my landlord lets me pay my rent when student finance comes in, allowing me to pay 3 times a year. If you let your landlord know this before you sign the contract they are usually fine with it. For bills try to have them monthly. Quarterly/biannual bills are awful because it is so easy to forget about them, they are hard to budget for and it is hard to change your usage habits if you don't know how much you are using. 
3. Try to have fixed bills. For example at the moment my internet bill is a fixed monthly amount. This allows me to budget this easily as I know exactly what it will cost each month. Whereas my electricity bill is not fixed and so it is much more difficult to budget. If you don't have a fixed bill try to produce an average and allow a little more (about 10%) so as to give you some flexibility.
4. Splurge at the end of term, not the beginning. So your bank account is fuller than it has been in months. Stop, and think about much more rewarding it would be to have a treat at the end of term. Try to budget to leave your self an 'emergency fund' but if your are lucky and there are no emergencies this term you should have a nice pot of money to treat yourself or invest.
5. Stay out of your overdraft. Yes they are often charge free and interest free in student accounts but this is a habit to build for life. At the end of the day it is not your money and therefore do not consider it part of your student 'income'. This may be difficult but with careful budgeting (and potentially increasing income through part-time work) it is possible
6. Try to add a regular income into your budget. The best way to do this is to take up part time work. Adding some routine into your budget will make things easier and more manageable plus you'll have extra money to work with. You could use your part time work income specifically for bills to aid in the creation of a financial routine. 

Happy saving :)