False economy (merged threads)

Eenymeeny

Great thread! I've just recently returned to buying frozen vegetables after finding that a lot of the contents of 'stew packs' go soft within a few days. I was making home-made soup in the slow cooker but realised that it was probably costing me a lot in time and energy to prepare something similar to Baxters soup which was selling in Home Bargains & B&M for 69p. (I always only buy the 'decent brands) I'm aware that you know what's in home-made and I was getting the peelings for my compost but is it really money saving? (and it was starting to taste pretty 'samey' no matter what I put in as it was basically the same vegetables.)
I've also realised that cooking bargain joints of meat in portions and stock piling it meant that I didn't have room for the everyday things (like vegetables!) that I needed. So in future, I'm going to have enough to feed us for a couple of weeks instead of paying for electricity to keep stuff for months!
Oh, and talking about clothes, I look for decent makes like Marks and Spencers while shopping in charity shops. I know that they'll wash and wear well and get them at a good price

lily_the_pink

cheap instant coffee (I bought some from an unknown brand in farmfoods one day to save £1 and wasted the cost of the jar as it was undrinkable)

cheap, bland cheese - would rather eat less but have taste (and less calories too)

good olive oil for salads, good balsamic vinegar, good real coffee, good quality herbs and spices (though I never buy oregano as I have in the garden)

Cornflakes and ricecrispies, on the few occaisions we buy have to be kellogs (but the value weetabix are just fine)

Errata

Humphrey10 wrote: »

Clothing, furniture, and crockery. All three will last almost forever if you get good quality stuff. and it is very possible to get cheap examples of all three on the high street that won't last 5 minutes because it is so poorly made.

With furniture and crockery in particular you can get some great stuff second hand that will be much better quality than new stuff of the equivalent price.

I have to agree with this. I have an M&S nightshirt that I'm wearing for the 27th winter, it wasn't cheap at the time but the label didn't say it was indestructable! My Ercol coffee table is 40 years old, has been in every room in the house including the loft and excluding the bathroom and goes in and out of fashion. My Denby dinner and tea service is the same age both are a couple of pieces short now but what has lasted has no chips whatsoever.
I'm convinced all that lot will see me out!

theesel1994

Well this thread has just saved me 47p. I have an online order for Asda waiting to be processed (in the New Year). I had a jar of their coffee in my order which has now been deleted. I'll just keep my order of a 300g refill bag of Nescaf! Gold Blend for £6.00.

System

Cheap handwash. The cheapest handwash squirts all over the sink rather than falls into the hands. I find it too watery.

chanie

Cheap loo-roll - remember using this at Uni. Never again.

Washing up liquid - I bought some from Iceland and even OH commented that you needed to use much more to get the same result.

Shoes- I bought a cheap pair from Tescos to wear to walk (its about a mile walk) and they lasted about 3 months

Clothes - I don't bother with Primark etc anymore as the stuff doesn't last long. I have PJ's from LaRedoute which I bought at Uni (left 10 years ago) and they are still going strong.

Batteries - got them from the ££ shop and they barely lasted. I tried getting a huge pack from Costco and have really noticed the difference.

THIRZAH

My Denby dinner service is 35 years old and is used every day. We have only broken one tea plate since we got it.

Cheap instant coffee is horrible so I stock up on Kenco Rich Roast when it's on offer.

I've bought a couple of cardigans from Pri***k but found that they didn't wash well so no tend to stick to M&S.

Cheap clingfilm drives me mad as it tears so easily so I only buy it from Lakeland. I use it for DHs sandwiches-I make up a weeks supply in advance and freeze them.

valk_scot

The one that always makes me laugh is the Growing Your Own Is Cheaper myth. Yes, if you've got a big garden or allotment, build all your hard landscaping out of skip finds, make your own compost, save your own seeds and propogate your own plants etc then yes, it can be cheaper...untill you look at what a bag of Value carrots or spuds cost in the supermarket. Of course you can concentrate on growing the luxury products. But how many people start off their home growing by going to B&Q, buying raised bed kits, filling them with shop compost and then using bought in plug plants? It's a fact...you'd take years to recoup your outlay costs, no matter what posh stuff you grow.

And don't forget your time btw. These six hours you spend on the allotment each week might actually save you far more money if you spent them doing something else, like shopping around for bargains or doing some batch cooking. Time is money too, if you don't have lots of it spare.

seabright

But not paying for 6 hours in the gym every week and doing the allotment instead might be a money saver!

ALIBOBSY

I can see where valk is coming from re GYO, but some items are cheaper and so easy to grow. Salad leaves can be dirt cheap-99p grow bag from aldi plus a 35p pack of mixed leaf seeds and if you have 3 sections of the bag and keep sowing can mean lovely salads all through the summer for a fraction of what those supermarket bags cost you. Some things you can grow that you will NEVER see in supermarkets such as Kohl rabi, and you can use the bits of plants that normally get wasted by the SM's ie brussel tops, pea and bean tops beetroot leaves etc etc. Some food is simply not comparable to the taste of home grown (I am thinking runner beans and broad beans-yummy when young and fresh, yuck when old and massive a la most supermarket counters. Toms ripened on the plant and eaten warm from the sun are unbeatable as well as the pleasures of freshly picked peas/corn and strawberries.
TBH you can't compare value brands to GYO, price wise you would have to look to the best quality freshest, organic versions and you still wouldn't be as good.
Even in a small garden herbs and lettuce leaves take little space and are cheap and MSE, soft fruit can be a real money saver.

You can spend as little or as much as you want, but for me the pleasure of seeing seeds you planted finally pop up from the soil/compost is still amazing lol. I can close my eyes now and picture a warm summer day picking various bits from the garden and hearing the chucks cluckking around as the kids dash past with a strawberry in one hand and a pea pod in the other (their friends are so amazed by pea pods and being able to eat stuff from the garden rofl.

BUT you need to enjoy the actual growing itself otherwise it becomes a chore, you get bored and end up spending loads to get a small amount out.

Its about planning, and some items I rarely grow-I have a fab farm shop down the lane so can get locally produced potatos for alot less than the supermarket "value" brands and ask they take up so much space I usually just do a few new potatos in buckets for the taste.
I rarely grow full sized onions-spring onions are quick and easy and take up little space. I grow some carrots as the kids like the little ones to eat raw, but this time of year am buying ones to chop into stews.

I suppose its like anything, you can spend a little or alot. We knocked up our own raised beds, have compost bins-and chicken muck from our chickens and mostly use cheapy seeds from aldi/lidl/online/or saved. TBH plug plants are a waste of time and money for the most part.
Plus I am a SAHM so the one thing I do have is time (although there still never seems to be enough rofl).

I agree about detergents though. I finally found a cheaper one I can use which doesn't irritate the kids and my skin and thats aldis own non bio or I get persil/fairy non bio if a good offer comes up. Washing up liquid I always used to get fairy on offers and the Aldi version when that ran out, but recently after seeing the which review where the aldi (green version) beat all the liquids including fairy, unless I see an offer where fairy beats the 69p a bottle I will stick to Aldi's version.

Anyone who has certain items they really want the branded version of should try your local pound shop type stores eg pringles have been 85p a tub for ages in our local store, and those marco piere white stock pots were 2 packs for £1.50 etc etc. The supermarkets are not doing deals and pushing down prices its all a big con all they do is push down quality and up their profits. Watch the web and spot the best buys/coupons and raid the big stores for those only, payback time .

Ali x