Help me get over my Finest habit

rubytwilight

It can take a bit to re-educate yourself and maybe a little change at a time works best, I started cutting back as i needed to make cutbacks financially and at first I felt a little sorry for myself getting shopping at budget stores farmfoods, poundland, discount chemists etc . Then when I started thinking of clearing off some overheads or money for little treats with what I didnt put in Mr T's till it stopped feeling like such a sacrifice .
I love coffee and I also like Douwe Egberts and have regularly found it in poundland or cheapo chemists along with branded toilet rolls, shower gel/ body spray etc. . Sometimes they are from overseas but who needs instructions on those things!
If you get time to cook its amazing with ideas on these boards what you can make from what's lurking in the freezer/ store cupboard and I always feel a little proud of my home cooked dinners and have tasted good, even if not beautiful looking like finest range!:A

Jolaaled

Stephen_Leak wrote: »

I agree about the "value" cling film - it's crap - it was one of my "value" product disasters too. However, at least we both tried.

I find it's the packaging that's so bad on the value clingfilm..the cutter thingy is useless. But i've found that, if I put my value clingfilm roll inside a non-value box from a previously purchased 'posh' clingfilm...all is good.

robpw2

ok reagarding the coffee and the cordial problem
do you have a whittards nearby ?
they do coffee and tea and fruit teas usually 3 large tubs for £10
and most of the fruit teas (powder) are suitable to drink cold and are really tasty
the coffee you can buy ground already ,as in the tubs or buy the beans ,

they last for ages .

1274

miserly_mum wrote: »

I agree with wigglebeena if your heart truly isn't in economising on Groceries then you'll always find some reason not to use own brands etc

Thanks all for your comments. It's not that my heart isn't committed to economising but, like Stephen says, supermarket shopping is a strange mix of head (am I getting enough nutrition to survive?) and heart (does it taste/smell nice / work well for me?). Sure, I could sort the head bit out on T's value, but the heart bit's proving more difficult. Like, is it worth me wasting at least 5 minutes trying to get cling film off a value roll (good tip about changing the box though - I might decant it into a proper box next time and give it another try). Doesn't sound too long but wrapping a sandwich shouldn't be that much work.

I think the bad Finest habits are especially with the "indulgence" things in life like filter coffee and tea. Part of me thinks it's OK to have these things in Finest or Waitrose, because they're the little things that make life more pleasurable, but part of me is beating myself up when I know I'm paying for the branding and not the product. Oh, and if any of you love coffee and are in London, have you tried the Monmouth chain (Covent Garden and Borough Market)? My favourite!

Sarahsaver

I drink dowe Egberts filter coffee, won't have instant in the house. I only ever pay £1 for it, either in poundland, wilkinsons or the last lot i got was from somerfield.
The 'premium' ranges from supermarkets have been tested and proven to have higher fat and salt contents in many cases. Also a lot of it is psychological, like black or dark purple packaging, fancy lettering, just by calling it 'finest' they have gotten into your head.
Buy a couple of finest readymeals, that is all they are, ready meals, take off the outer box, then see how you feel about them after a day.
Good example of this is that pork pies, from economy to 'premium' brand are largely made by the same few companies.
Re. the sandwiches I got my kids triangular boxes so I never need to wrap their sandwiches. Mine were from Dunelm, or try Lakeland for similar.

melli_2

gairlochgal wrote: »

I'm in London with no car and no garden too and there's loads of choice. All the supermarkets online, small ethnic shops with all kinds of interesting stuff, farmers market, LIDL. I just keep shopping around for the best deals - am doing ASDA online and a weekly fruit and veg box at the moment, and then a big bunch of herbs and cup of olives from the cypriot grocer when I'm passing, the bargains at Somerfield if it's handy on the way home from work. etc etc

I buy coffee beans and grind the amount I need as I go.

You don't happen to live in Hackney do you? It's all sounding rather familiar

Magentasue

I like good coffee - we're using Asda's own espresso at the moment and that's fine. Otherwise, I buy the Lavazza one that comes in about 85p for 100g. That's my benchmark - if a branded that I like comes in about the same, I stock up.

Don't like tea bags either. I buy Twinings or Finest (whichever's cheaper) 'stronger' and Earl Grey leaf tea and mix them. Not sure how it compares pricewise with teabags but I'm not prepared to compromise with tea and coffee.

Before we moved, we had a Lidl and an Aldi close and both were good for coffee, useless for tea.

Plum_Pie

1274, All the places mentioned above are great BUT it will take up more of your time than online shopping. If you want the convenience and speed of online shopping, maybe you could to look into making some more money in the time freed up by having your groceries delivered.

Gairlochgal and Melli, I used to live in Hackney! (Now I live in Haringey, don't hate! , I was actually drinking there last night.)

jo1972

Steve-o wrote: »

I agree, what the eye doesn't see the tastebuds often ignore.

Now, if only your family could switch the Dowe Egberts without you seeing.

It's not the family with the Dowe Egberts addiction, it's me! I will not drink anything but DE and so that's the one sacrifice I have to make. The rest of the family aren't really bothered, in fact we had a Mr T own jar in the cupboard (for emergencies!) and I put that in front of the DE jar and they just grab whatever comes first.

Although saying that, Mr T's regularly have offers on DE, either 2 small jars for £4 or the large jar for £2.99 or something like that, I bulk buy and that normally does me till they're on offer again!

phizzimum

Although I am well-known for being stingy when it comes to food I would never compromise on tea or coffee! I can't see the point of drinking the cheap stuff as I don't like the taste and would rather have water.

Having said that, I only drink a few cups a day so my consumption doesn't make a huge impact. I view a cup of tea or coffee as a treat and enjoy every drop. I'd rather have one decent coffee a day than 5 mediocre ones.

DH on the other hand drinks lots of coffee - but when we tried economising he ended up buying take out coffee from costa! He went out and bought a very expensive machine (I never asked how much it cost, and I'd rather not know) and every time he had a coffee he put a £ in a tin, until he'd saved enough to pay for it.

Have you worked out how much each cup of tea/coffee costs you? Maybe that will help you work out if it's an expense you can justify or not.

Also, have you thought of using leaf tea? you can use the exact amount you need for your required strength of tea - it's much easier to eake out than tea bags.