The Ultimate Guide to Penny Pinching

11 November 2011

The Ultimate Guide to Penny Pinching. Thu 1 Dec, 8pm, Channel 4

Cash strapped Britain is in the grip of a bargain hunting boom. Every week a staggering 40 million of us now use money off deals and voucher sites to buy everything from holidays, to clothes, to car insurance - even dental care.  And it's saving us over £50 billion a year.

But for some this is child's play, as this Cutting Edge film shows, taking an entertaining and revealing look at the lives of some of the country's thriftiest people. From frugal families obsessed by discount vouchers and competitions to a penny-pinching bride who's determined that her wedding day will cost less than the price of the average wedding dress The Ultimate Guide to Penny Pinching offers warm insight into the lives of people who take watching the pennies to new extremes.

Thirty-eight-year-old Judith is a voucher-loving midwife who can slash her supermarket bill from £50 to less than £5. By the age of 15, Judith had opened 170 bank and building society accounts to get the free gifts they were offering to children. Her family also live by Judith's cost-effective ways - using solar panels to heat their hot water and missing showers when the weather is bad, or eating the same meals for weeks because it was bought on offer. For Judith getting a discount or using coupons is a way of life. If she can get something for free, she'll happily buy it, in bulk, and is more than glad to tell others so they can take advantage.

Betrothed bargain hunters Rebekah and Steven believe you don't have to spend thousands to have your dream wedding, but neither does it have to look cheap. Rebekah is having her dress made by mum, she'll arrive at the ceremony in a minicab, and the flowers are bought at the local supermarket. And by having their ceremony on a weekday, the castle reception comes at a fraction of the normal cost. Together with their finger buffet and alcohol-free reception, and plenty of other shrewd saving ideas, the couple's overall wedding spend is less than the average cost of a photographer.

Cost-cutting carnivore Jonathan reckons he saves £1500 a year by replacing meat from the butcher with freshly collected road-kill. When friends come over for dinner, their barbeque could be anything from squirrel to pheasant, and it can often be a guessing game around the table.

IT worker Jalaj uses the latest technology to ensure he pays rock bottom prices for everything on his shopping list - from scanning bar-codes in the supermarket to compare deals, to seeking out the best offers online before embarking on a shopping trip. His biggest challenge is teaching his wife, an ex-shopaholic, to follow in his frugal footsteps.

The Ultimate Guide to Penny Pinching shows the incredible savings dedicated bargain hunters can make in modern day Britain. With the cost of living rising and the world economy faltering, perhaps these penny wise people have valuable lessons for us all.

CREDITS

Prod Co: Raw TV

Prod/Dir: Jon Connerty

Exec Prod: Lucy Willis

Comm Ed: Aysha Rafaele