Tesco Healthy Living via Tesco Orchard

so this year i have been on my mission to lose weight, to really stick at it even if it slowly, i have joined the gym and i am eating better, I joined the Tesco campaign on eating healthy meals at Tesco, i was given a voucher for fruit as well as a money off voucher giving me a free tesco healthy living meal, i choose the sweet chilli one and it was delicious and i would definitely purchase again however i wasn't too keen on the waster chestnuts, the price was good and the size of the meal was fantastic, i love tesco fruit as it is so fresh and lots of availability so i was again happy, i would recommend to anyone to give it a try

The tesco healthy living range has a lot of different products in their range such as sauces, sausages, microwave meals frozen or chilled plus lots and lots more, hey are all at affordable prices, with lots to choose from, great tasting, low in fat, less calories, they make great products to make lots of different healthy foods for breakfast, dinner and lunch, what a great way to start a healthy new lifestyle with foods that fill you up and make you feel great about yourself.

With eating healthy i have managed to lose a pound in weight this week, not much but it is a start in the right direction.

These opinions are of my own, i was not paid to write this, yes i was given vouchers for a free product but it was for my honest opinion and i will not be penalized if i leave a negative or positive review.

This weeks freebies well I actually made 39p profit to take it all away

This weeks Freebies

37 x pick up biscuits - £1 each at morrisons, i used a 50p coupon on each and then 50p each on checkoutsmart RRP £37 total paid £0.00

2 x boxes of taylors tea - £2.23 each at morrisons, i used 2 coupons which made them free however i was given £2.27 off one of them so i made 4p RRP £4.46 total paid £0.00 profit £0.04

2 x popcorn - £0.80 each at boots, free on o2 priority (my daughter stole one before i took the picture) RRP £1.60 total paid £0.00

2 x chocolate bunnies - £3.50 at thorntons - free on o2 priority RRP £7.00 total paid £0.00

7 x sugar - £0.95 at co op, I claimed £1 back on checkoutsmart so i made 5p off each bag, totalling 35p RRP £6.65 total paid £0.00 profit made £0.35

Total RRP £56.71 total paid £0.00 however i made £0.39 from all this shop, how fab is that!

How to add rhinestones to your trainers

I bought a cheap set of trainers from sports direct, they cost me all of £4. I wanted them cheap as my daughter would not wear them often, only for her dance competitions. She wore them for street, team street and rock and roll.

They were easy and cheap to make, I already had the rhinestones and the e6000 glue, I then ordered a set of silver laces just to add the finishing touches. I didn't want them to OTT just a bit blingy.

I first added some e6000 glue into a syringe, I then put the glue onto the trainer in the half circle using the syringe and then one by one adding the rhinestones with a rhinestone picker upper putting them onto the glue. It didn't take long to do approximately half an hour to do both, this includes changing the laces from white to silver. I then left them to dry over night and checked them in the morning, they were fully dry and ready to wear.

My daughter wore these a few times at a couple of dance competitions and never lost any of the rhinestones. They still looked as good as when i first made them. It was great fun and my daughter felt great in them.

It's a cheap way to up cycle your shoes/trainers and really doesn't take much time, you do not have to be a great crafter to create these, all you need is some glue and some rhinestones and your away. Save yourself some money, instead of paying someone else to create these, give it a go yourself and save yourself some money.

My shopping haul, RRP £138.48 total paid £19.71 with coupons

My family have had a pretty tough time this last few months and money has been tight. I was wanting to go out shopping and was a little bored, so I took a look at what I could get for free/cheap. I looked on a few sites and had a few ideas.

My haul consisted of:

72 Blue Diamond Almond Breeze £1 each, I had a £1 off coupon for Tesco which made all of them completely FREE RRP £72.00 total paid £0.00

3 x Screen Washes from Halfords, they were completely FREE from using the o2 priority moments, 1 was mine, 1 was hubbies and 1 was my mothers RRP £8.97 total paid £0.00

4 x Iron Bru from Superdrug at £0.80 each, we put 2 on each Checkoutsmart (mine and hubbies) and received £0.80 each x 2 on each account so made them again FREE RRP £3.20 total paid £0.00

12 x Bloo foamaroma were £2 each, we had a £1 off coupon at Tesco which made all of them £1 each, RRP £24 total paid £12

2 x hand cream from superdrug at £1.29 each, this was on a deal where you buy 2 items and you get a free item, Total paid £2.58

2 x cocoa butter from superdrug was on an offer of buy 1 get 1 half price, this was also part of the deal where you buy 2 items and you get a free item, Total paid £2.03

2 x Free Sets from superdrug RRP £20.00 Total Paid £0.00

2 x Flash gel were £1.25 each at Tesco, I put 1 on my shopitize account and 1 on my mothers and we saved 30p each. RRP £2.50 Total Paid £1.90

My haul total was RRP £138.48 total paid £19.71 x also had the kung fu panda dvd come through but my daughter stole it lol 

Couponing is fun and helps out with saving money on items you were already going to purchase. The money you save you can put towards other items you need or towards a much needed day out, something fun or just a treat.

There are lots of ways you can get coupons, all you need to do is look and you would be surprised.

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Reality of christmas - bad customer service with online shopping

It's that time of year again where everything is about Christmas, Christmas music, Christmas "food" related products, Christmas presents, blah blah blah blah blah

It's also a time for where you get let down with your online shopping!

Imagine this...you sit down with your 6 year old daughter choosing some products, She had an operation on her hand about 2 weeks ago so has not been able to do much in case she hurts it or causes more damage, I wanted to make her feel a bit special and try to enjoy Christmas, she has had to give up so much gymnastics, trampolining, dance,dance competitions, swimming at school and private swimming lessons all because of her hand injury, she is slowly beginning some of her after school activities as she can such as dance and gymnastics but she cannot do swimming for quite a few months and she is very upset about, so I wanted her to start getting excited about Christmas again with what she can do rather than what she cannot do...she expresses interest in only one item, you spend over £60 for 8 items, you pay for the whole order, receive a confirmation and payment of your order and then wait to see when it will be delivered.

I hadn't heard anything for a few days so i logged into my account and notice my order has been dispatched...well all except one item! so I do what any normal person would do, I phoned the customer service line to find out what was going on as i hadn't had an email or phone call to state anything was out of stock, id purchased these items 3 days before, they had taken my money as it HAS come out of my bank account so obviously I wanted to know what the problem was. You guessed it the store had over sold on some items and one of mine was out of stock with no chance of it coming back into stock! oh that's ok because the lady thought it was acceptable to tell me she would look to see what stores had it in store and i could go collect it. How awesome with that, I've qualified for free delivery so its included with my order, the item is only worth £5.47 but that's ok you want me to pay £15 petrol, approx £5 parking to travel to my local store that is over 45 minutes away from where I live, when i don't drive so I would have to get someone to take me, that's if that store has it, if further obviously the petrol price will increase not sure on parking as depends on where it is depends on price of parking.

Of course i was annoyed by this and expressed that and the stupid cow laughed at me! never laugh at a customer who is annoyed and upset they have cocked up their order every time you order online and have no customer service skills, talks over you and thinks its funny that you have to be the one to make contact and find out what the hell is going on and not the other way round.

What am i paying for exactly, why do i have to chase up my items from a well known store who is supposed to have a "magical" customer service...that may of given a hint towards the well known-loved store without naming and shaming....well just yet!

Oh i can have a refund of the item that is not in stock, it just took me phoning and asking what is going on to actually get that offer, i should of been notified before me phoning, oh know one would inform me until I actually receive my order as it would be on the dispatch notice that said item was not dispatched and that I needed a refund, again why did I have to chase this, oh she then checks I've already been refunded, whilst on the phone i checked my Paypal nope no refund, don't lie to me it won't go down well, oh she meant it was with the relevant department, that is not what you said, she said i have received a dispatch notice about this item, i check my emails nope I've not even had a dispatch email been sent (funny after the phone call it miraculously gets sent, still does not inform about said item being out of stock and that I would not be receiving it).

So i asked to speak to a manager oh that's right I am not allowed to be passed over i have to wait up to 48 hours to receive a phone call, a bit more annoyed but nothing i can do, i accept this and give 2 alternative phone numbers. I also confirmed a phone number linked to the account when getting through security.

I messaged the Facebook team to see if there was anything else could be done, nope everything was re-iterated, that is not acceptable why should I accept THEIR mishap.

I receive an email from a manager stating he wishes to make contact however I would have to supply a phone number in order to do that....NOW I AM ANGRY...i gave it to your customer service representative on the phone when she put the request in. i gave it to your goons on the Facebook platform so that's twice and now your requesting it a 3rd time! really...what happened to customer service, why should I have to chase everything up, repeat myself hundreds of times to get such incompetent staff!

This was from a manager, the person who is supposed to resolve an issue when someone else cannot, instead he makes it worse, i can see the number linked to my account, i have confirmed this with the customer service representatives but yet I really have to give these details again, NOT HAPPY.

I have had no contact from this manager after a few hours of sending my phone number AGAIN!, getting annoyed with how bad this customer service has been when it should be a magical time with Christmas around the corner.

I'm fed up with companies taking full payment for items and not fulfilling their contract of sale. Why take full payment and accept the order if its not in stock.

The so called manager messaged me thanking me for my number but ignoring everything else and has now stated it will be another 24-48 hours for a manager to contact me...wait...what...I thought this person was the manager as that is how he has addressed himself, so if i went on 48 hours from original request that would take me up to friday evening, now with this add on it will take me until saturday evening.

This store is really starting to grate me...on the plus side I have just received my order and it is stunning

Tesco finest vintage English cheddar cheese

I was accepted onto the Tesco orchards finest cheese campaign. I received a £3 coupon for £3 off any tesco finest cheese and some pass along coupons to give to friends and family. I went to my local tesco and found the tesco finest cheese selection easily on the shelf once i was in the cheese section, there was a big selection to choose from and we seen the Tesco finest vintage English cheddar cheese on offer for £2.50 so we picked up two packs as we thought this would be the best fit for our family as we are big cheddar cheese fans but not so keen on other cheeses. I had no problem using my coupon at the till but I did ask where I received my coupon to which I replied Tesco orchard.

I took my cheese home and wanted to try it straight away...I'm a bit impatient like that so we decided to go for enchiladas, we grated the cheese and it grated nicely, it didn't stick together like some cheese can and it gave nice even slices and not breaking a part or crumbling, it was really nice cheese to work with. We sprinkled it on top of the enchiladas and put it in the oven for a few minutes and as you can see above it came out beautifully. We don't like our cheese overcooked or burnt, we like it when it goes all stringy like. When it came to eating it, it was really nice, it has a slightly different taste from our normal cheese but it was nice, the texture of the cheese was good too.

I tried it on a few dishes such as cheese on toast and we made cheesy pasta and again all nice.

We hadn't tried it just on its own yet so we cut off a few slices and tried one bit on its own and it was absolutely delicious, it melted in your mouth with a creamy texture. So we had some crackers with it and my daughter just ate the cheese, she is a big cheese fan and could eat it all day if you let her.

The packaging was nice, it was just a basic white packaging with a black label telling you what it was, you could easily see this is a premium cheese but does the packaging really matter...not really it's more about the product on the inside but sometimes we can be swayed just by the packaging on the outside.

I got this for free buy joining the Tesco Orchard, i have had quite a few campaigns now and they get better and better, you have nothing to lose by joining up and you could be trialing products too just by leaving some reviews, facebook posts, twitter posts and whatever else it asks you to do on the campaign.

The reviews i leave are my own personal experiences, you may have a slightly different experience as we are all different, the reviews I write are honest, I would never leave a good review on a bad product as what is the point and I personally hate it when people do that as if someone goes out and purchases it on their recommendation, they have then just wasted their money.

My reviews are my own personal feelings and I have not been paid, bribed etc to leave a positive review and I do not have to leave a positive review just because I have joined the Tesco Orchard as negative reviews are accepted too.

Thank you all for reading and hope you grab a bargain, trial a new product and have a great day much love Tasha xx

Where and how to get cashback and freebies

How to get Started!

  

The Main websites to get you started with and you can check regularly are:

Grocery Coupons:

http://www.supersavvyme.co.uk/tag/coupon

http://www.mysupermarket.co.uk/

http://beforeishop.co.uk/offers/grocery/

http://www.caringeveryday.co.uk/offers-coupons

http://newtocode.com/list-all-coupons.php

Freebies - sometimes there are coupons on here otherwise the latest freebies

http://www.magicfreebiesuk.co.uk/?srcn=news

http://www.latestfreestuff.co.uk/

http://www.freebiesiteuk.co.uk/

Paid Surveys & Product Testing:

BzzAgent: https://www.bzzagent.co.uk/ - you answer the questions and wait for an invite, you will then if chosen receive either a product to test, coupons or both 

Viewsbank: http://www.viewsbank.com/referral/777b132a you fill in surveys, mystery shopping and answer questions

Savvy Circle: http://www.supersavvyme.co.uk/ - you apply to test the product

Tesco Orchard: https://orchard.tesco.com/ - you answer the questions and wait for an invite, you will then if chosen receive either a product to test, coupons or both 

 Cashback Apps by uploading your Receipt:

These apps are available on the App Store and Marketplace, you can earn some extra money by doing your normal shopping

Top Cashback 

Clicksnap (quidco)

Checkout Smart

Shopitize

 How to use them:

1. Download the apps

2. Check what products are available for Cash back

3. Have a look online or in store for the best deal on the item (could be FREE at Asda but cost you 50p at Sainsburys)

4. Buy the exact item from your chosen store (will tell you what supermarkets are valid on the item)

5. Keep your receipt! Then open up the app when you have finished your shop and follow the on screen instructions

6. Once you've scanned the item (Shopitize) and receipt they will approve it and credit your account with them

7. Shopitize has a minimum £5 withdrawl (Paypal, BACS) and you scan your product and then upload your receipt

8. Click Snap is a monthly deposit (Paypal, BACS). 

If you are using checkoutsmart do not use clicksnap unless it is for items not on the other app as they are the same company and you will end up losing one or both. It happened to us when we first started out.

Cashback sites when shopping

Topcashback - http://www.topcashback.co.uk/ref/danta123?source=ps1

Quidco - http://www.quidco.com/user/624939/1823248/

Take advantage of using all you can to get a little back, that way you can get yourself or someone special a little treat, you won't get much but if your buying something anyway and you can get a little cashback for it why not?

I hope you all find this useful and that I have explained it well enough, thanks for reading much love tasha xx