Wilkinson Stores

AH9999

I've always loved Wilkinson Stores albeit only ever used them on an ad hoc basis.

So I thought I'd try a little experiment.....

Typically we do one big shop every 3 months for the items which are bulky, don't have date expiry issues - things like toilet rolls, washing tablets, dishwasher tablets, you get the idea - the default has always been Tesco delivered or Waitrose delivered.

Well this time I drove to my local Wilkinson (about 4 miles with free parking) and bought it all.......total cost £72.

On the way home I decided to compare prices doing a dummy online shop at Waitrose and Tesco - 99% of what I purchased was branded so it should be easy.

I also decided that if I saved over £10 then I'd do it again.......

.....OMG, the numbers shocked me - it would have cost me an additional £40+ to have gone to Tesco or Waitrose!?!?

Well done Wilkinson, you just changed my buying habits

Tiglath

I can easily believe it - I like Wilcos. Let's hear it for savvy shopping

missladyannie

I love Wilko's but don't go their often enough, I went the other day though when I was in town and bought 90p Flash sprays and £2 Ariel liquid detergent so that was a bargain!

Ilona

Whatever you do don't buy food from Wilko's, that is not cheap. Neither is pet food unless it's on special offer. Don't know about toiletries and home cleaning products, I find B & B or Home Bargains best for them.
Ilona

theGrinch

Im a fan of Wilko. An an identicial stationary book cost 500% more in WH Smith in the same centre.

Miss_Havisham

theGrinch wrote: »

Im of Wilko. An an identicial stationary book cost 500% more in WH Smith in the same centre.

I've not bought anything in WHS for a couple of years, I've found them much more expensive for many things than in supermarkets/other high street shops.

Miss H

Edwardia

I have used Wilkinson for garden bits and pieces and small DIY stuff, I got a couple of vases in there too and once got 8 dusters for 80p. None of the food looks like food to me frankly, it's not fresh or organic .I get 6 rolls of kitchen roll in 99p stores for 99p The staff are friendly and it's good for deals on toiletries. I got an olive bush for 4.99 that is till going years later

meg72

I love Wilkinsons, have been getting 20p reduced loaves for ages now.

Middy

There is a Wilkinsons 3 min walk from work and often pop in to buy a few bits - mainly toiletries, laundry and cleaning stuff during my lunch hour. Colleagues are always curious what I buy and show them the receipt. I once bought 3 items and if I bought the same items at work (Sainsburys) - it would cost me £4.50-£5 more.

If you go to the larger Wilkinsons that sell bedding, curtains, ornaments etc, they are good value. In my lounge, I have a pack of 3 small wall arts for £10 and the larger (4 times as big) for £8 each.

Middy

Wilkinsons - a shop that should be discussed more on this board.

It has saved me lots of money, time and effort.

Though I wish customers at the Wilkinsons 3 mins from my work stop asking me where things are in the shop! I don't have magic powers that allows me to locate every product at every shop!

Lugh_Chronain

Someone else on another thread mentioned that Wilko sell Nicky toilet paper if you're after some. £1.99 for nine I believe.

I do like Wilko though don't shop there very often. I'm a big fan of Aldi and Lidl and tend to buy a lot of Lidl's W5 products (Lidl's equivalent of Scale Away, Oust, Cif, Domestos, etc.), can be a lot cheaper than the stuff you get in the supermarkets as well. I can't remember the last time I bought a brand name other than Persil and Ariel. They all appear to do the job as well as the branded stuff as well.

Normally though I'll check the prices online before heading off to do a shop at places like mySupermarket and also do a search of HotUKDeals as sometimes you can find things cheaper elsewhere.

Do make sure to compare prices at home before heading off to do a shop, and be careful not to do this in store as people have got in to trouble for doing this in the past, believe it or not.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/blog/2011/sep/16/tesco-shopping-supermarket-prices-check-writing

By the way, mySupermarket has a nifty Sort by Relevance tab, click this then click Price Per Unit (Low to High). Should make it a little easier.

Incidentally, if you have an issue with use by dates and best before dates, the following should be helpful.

Use by dates are for foods that go off quickly, such as smoked fish, meat and ready-prepared salads. Such items shouldn't be eaten after the date even if they look and smell fine.

Best before dates signify when the item is no longer in optimum quality. Except in the case of eggs, they do not signify when food has gone off but can usually still be eaten with no ill-effects afterwards.

Martin Lewis says: "Best before labels usually have nothing to do with whether food is safe to eat, it's just a manufacturer's view of optimum quality. Plus it's an easy way to keep us buying more food.

"Unlike use by dates there's no rule saying you can't eat food after the best before date. In fact, you're still allowed to sell it for consumption and many people can buy perfectly healthy food at heavy discounts this way.

"We should only have use by dates on food when appropriate which ARE for health reasons and 'sell by' dates on food for manufacturers. For everything else we should use our eyes and nose."

Hope this helps.