Are we getting short changed.....

savvy

I've noticed the diminishing products for a number of years now, the crips packets are the obvious ones!! :rolleyes:

emilyt wrote:

Think we should go back to the old days where we could take our own container and buy how much we want by the weight of the item. Not only would we know exactly how much we were getting but it would bring the cost down as we wouldn't have to pay for pacckaging.Thats the problem with packaging as it always look like we are getting a lot more than we are.

I've had this thought for a while too as it would REALLY help the environment as well!!

savvy

twink wrote:

heinz beans 450g 420g

Uh oh 415g on the ones I bought yesterday! Bit of a bind in respect of some recipes now that might ask for a 450g can of something!! :rolleyes:

Bogof_Babe

What bugs me is that it is so hard to compare different brands, or even different sizes within brands, because some packs are marked in grams and some in centilitres, so it is impossible to calculate the value per item.

Had a funny find in Tesco the other day though - a small tin of petit pois was 32p, and a large one, twice the size, was 31p .

bulchy

This is interesting, I hadnt noticed these tricks before, thank you for starting this thread. I usually just check the unit price of everything, thinking I'm safe doing this, I never thought to check the actual weight on packaging. I'll be taking a bit more time next time I go shopping to check weights and amounts.
Good point about the cat food, our local Asda has a very poor selection of tinned cat food, with more choice in pouches and trays, especially singles :eek: With 2 cats to feed, I'm pleased they eat mostly dry, it would cost me a fortune to keep them fed with pouches.
Sue

Jo4

twink wrote:

i have noticed the same with cat food in asda, less space for tins

this was in the mail today

pringles was 200g now 170g
ovaltine 400g 300g
heinz beans 450g 420g
yorkie bar 7 chunks 6 chunks
rolo 11 10
bowyers sausages 475g 400g
foxs glacier mints 226g 200g
palmolive naturals soap 125g 100g

When I worked in a grocery shop washing powder makers were constantly changing the weight of the boxes. When I was talking to the office manager she said it was going on for over 10 years and it wasn't just washing powder makers!! :eek:

Quasar

Also please bear in mind that another trick is to vary the proportion of ingredients.

For instance take a can of tuna in brine. It can say 200g and you will find 200g grams of contents in it. But they can put less tuna and more brine and still be within the law.

You get the idea...

Ticklemouse

I've noticed another one of Mr Tesco's tricks recently too.

I used to buy their half-fat butchers choice sasuages - 8 sausages per pack. However, recently they have changed the size of the sausage and the packet - it's now in a plastic tray instead of paper wrapped. The price has gone up and although you get the same weight of sausage (can't remember how much) you only get 6 sausages. Now, most people serve up so many sausages per person, so you have to buy more packs to get the same number of sausages, but everyone gets a little bit more. :mad:

BTW - I used to compare not only the number of sheets on the loo rolls, but the size too, cos I wanted to know what square-meterage I was getting. Daft in a way cos you still end up using, say 3 sheets, even if they are slightly bigger

kethry

What i have noticed is things getting more and more expensive; we went onto benefits 2 years ago this christmas, we get just under 500 quid a month income between us, and that has to pay for food/leccy/gas/water/phones/TV licence/House insurance/internet/dog/anyextras. the only thing we don't pay is rent/council tax, and i don't pay for bus fares (as i'm disabled). when we first went on the benefits 2 years ago it seemed fairly easy to cope; these days i'm using every trick i know in the book (even before someone told me about this board) and then some, and am STILL struggling. Part of that is undoubtedly having to buy more to make things stretch further.

tuna i've found is one big rip off. Aldi's own is 35p a tin, and you get a fairly full tin once the water is drained out. I've tried other brands, even the really expensive ones, often, by the time you've drained the water you've less than half a tin left! that makes me really angry, :mad: so i won't buy tuna from anywhere but aldi now, cos at least i know what i'll get when i open the tin.

does anyone else find this?

keth
xx

kiwichick

emilyt wrote:

Think we should go back to the old days where we could take our own container and buy how much we want by the weight of the item. Not only would we know exactly how much we were getting but it would bring the cost down as we wouldn't have to pay for pacckaging.Thats the problem with packaging as it always look like we are getting a lot more than we are.

We have places like this in NZ called Bin Inn. Everything from flour/cereal/laundry powder/cat or dog food/coffee/dried fruit/milk powder/all baking requirements even liquid bits like golden syrup are in drums with taps as is shampoo/conditioner/washing up liquid. We ALWAYS shopped there when I was a kid.

mossstar

I LOVE bin inn! We get tons of stuff there........ especially beer making supplies! :beer: (haven't quite found the courgage for the gin & vodka yet!)

x