What premium stuff is worth the extra

nodwah

I think cheap tea and coffee are just pointless.

I only buy good sauseges - with a high proportion of meat, in fact my kids now will only eat good ones and will return home hungry from friends houses!

Good quality cheese too, can't stand the blocks of dyed orange plasticy stuff that exudes gallons of oily stuff when you make toasted cheese ( truly the food of the gods)

milkydrink

Stephen_Leak wrote: »

I like premium stuff, but I always try to pay less for it. At the other extreme, I get 200g jars of Nescafe coffee for £1.99 from InStore.

Exactly, I like to get the best I can, for the least I can.
Thats why I like this site:D

lil_me

Stephen_Leak wrote: »

I like premium stuff, but I always try to pay less for it. For example, I always like to carry a pen (I'm just old-fashioned like that). IMHO, the best pen in the world has to be the Fisher AG7 Space Pen. If it's good enough to use in space, it should cope with pretty well anything on Earth. In the UK, they cost £49.95. However, you can buy them online from the USA for $48.75 + $10.00 postage. At the other extreme, I get 200g jars of Nescafe coffee for £1.99 from InStore.

That reminds me of something someone said, American spent a fortune developing a space pen, Russians just use a pencil :rotfl: but I like those, my Dad always had them.

Agree with cheese tea and coffee. If you buy decent cheese for cooking you can use less of it and it tastes the same. Haven't go on well with the imported coffee Home Bargains do, don't think it tastes the same but I rarely use granules now anyway, organic beans in the caffetiere, yummy, nothing smells quite like it

Poppy9

Vegetables I like to be organic and not pre wrapped in cling film.
Fruit - strawberries and raspberries are usually organic if bought from supermarket. Apples and pears from local market.

Meat. I only buy chicken. When I can bring myself to get over the awful sights and smells in the local butcher I'm going to go there!:o

Ketchup - OH and DD insist on Heinz
Tomato soup - I insist on Heinz
Mayo - Hellmans xtra light is the best.

Tescos own brand washing powder and fabric softener unless brand names are on offer and cheaper.

Kitchen & bathroom spray - It has to be Flash. Like the smell and a little goes a long way.

Tea - Tesco's own make
Coffee - I don't drink so I don't care:D but OH and DD like Kenco

Milk has to be skimmed

Butter not marge and no value stuff

If I buy cans of coke - it has to be Coca Cola.

Love smoothies but buy which ever is on offer.

Irish mature Cheddar - never value packs.

McCains homeroast oven chips.

Billingtons unrefined sugar. I don't take sugar in my tea but OH says it has less of an after taste.

Weetabix

Organic bread preferably or Warbutons on Kingsmill gold- never value stuff.

Free range eggs

ti1980

I work at M&S so I often get things that are classed as premium by other people. Some things I get because they work out cheaper after my discount, other things I would get anyway as like Quasar said, it is down to personal taste.
Customers are always costing me money as they are always recommending things to me so I just HAVE to try them and I get hooked so have to continue buying them!:o
I'm always on the lookout to see if I can get things cheaper elsewhere for the same quality, especially my treat things.
At the moment I'm hooked on the chocolate buttons from the kids range, they are not particularly cheap, 59p for 70g but they are lovely and they are organic too. I love my chocolate but I don't love hydrogenated fats. I used to be hooked on Maltesers until I found out about them containing hydrogenated fat so I have cut them right down (not cut them out completely I might add:o )

I have had the book 'Supermarket Own Brand Guide' by Martin Isark from the library for the last couple of months, I keep on renewing it as I'm not going to buy it!
I've used the recommendations in which it says whether the brand is better or the own label (stores own as opposed to value) and it hasn't let me down yet. One thing about it though is it doesn't have any of Lidl's products in it. Also it doesn't have a lot of the things I get from M&S in it but for a lot of the general things it is ok.

My list of things will be quite long I think.

Ben and Jerrys and Haagen Daz is often on offer at 2 for £5 in one of the supermarkets at any one time. I only get it when its on offer and it lasts me until the next time its on offer. At the moment though I have to get an M&S clotted fudge ice cream which is 2 for £4 at the moment so is cheaper than either of the other 2 I mentioned. It is gorgeous.
I tend to buy either M&S Cola or Sainsburys Classic Cola, I like them just as much as 'the real thing' and they are both much cheaper. I only use them as a mixer anyway. In the Own Brand Guide they have Sainsburys 1st, Waitrose 2nd and M&S 3rd with Coca Cola coming in at 4th. Wish I had a Waitrose near me to try it. I buy Coca Cola from Home Bargains sometimes too but it doesn't taste the same. Its all fine as a mixer though.

I don't buy Ribena unless its on a very good offer which isn't often. I do love Vimto though. I buy either M&S Blackcurrant High Juice or Aldi Hyberry Blackcurrant Squash, both are lovely.

Washing powder/liquid and conditioner we buy as a group and buy whatever brand is on offer so it is usually Bold, Ariel or Surf. Most of them are made by the same two companies anyway aren't they?

The butcher scares me too so I get them from either Sainsburys or M&S, which ever is on offer. The M&S ones that I like have 93% meat in which will do me.

It has to be Lidl passata and chopped tomatoes. I've never seen Napolina or an equivalent cheap enough when I want to buy it.

Loo roll, whichever brand is on offer. Again we buy that as a group.

Free range eggs.

Heinz ketchup usually.

Think thats all for now, I have gone on for ages, what can I say I just love my food and eating!:o

impy78

Cornflakes. Own brand cornflakes are vulgar.

Coca Cola or Pepsi max - I was brought up on the dreaded Rola Cola (and vogue lemonade!), and it cause untold damage to me!!!
Deodorant - has to be mitchum when you do 3 hours of dance every day.
Lightbulbs - must be energy saving ones (although I have had a load of free ones of late!!!)
Bread. i can't eat economy bread - it makes me heave!!!

Softstuff

I guess for us dove shampoo would have to be our "premium" stuff. Though when you buy it on clearance and wind up with a years worth at the same price the value stuff would have been, I'm not sure that's much of a special.

Here in Aus, some things that are value and crappy in England are pretty good here, but some things that are value and good in England just don't exist.

Toilet roll is an example... bought the "super duper deluxe named brand" when it was on offer, and my fingers went straight through it :rotfl: The value paper is great, seems softer too. The same seems to be true of the kitchen roll

Value sausages I've never seen, but the variety of regular ones beggars belief. We got a couple of "chicken, spinach and pine nut" sausages from the butchers the other day, cost about 60p, but made 4 good sandwiches. With meats and things like that we just tend to make them stretch further... that way we can buy whichever we like.

For everything else I just buy whatever's cheapest. I find it doesn't much matter having value stuff if you're intending to cook with it. I always cook right from scratch, and I fail to see what could vary between value plain flour costing about 40p and a named brand plain flour costing $2.

lynzpower

Ben and Jerry's icecream for my DS mainly is probably the least value for money but he only has a little and loves it. £3.99 a tub but if I am just buying it for him he has to make the tub last at least a month because if it runs out tough!

ben & jerrys is a quid a tub at farmfoods again, this deal has been going on for ages- get down there!

Ketchup- we did try to own brand, but went back to heinz- for the 20p difference its worth spending.

Value bin bags are a false economy, lidls own are good tho at value prices - almost.

We only ever buy finest sausages. Weve tried to downgrade- not worth doing.

Hovis yeast- tried the other cheaper ones, now only use this.

Bambywamby

I love Gold Blend, I find that if you mix a jar of Gold Blend with cheap coffee...the cheap coffee takes on the flavour of the more expensive coffee.

Don't like cheap chocolate...It has to be Cadburys.

Didn't like cheap teabags until I tried Asda teabags, they are quite strong and full of flavour. (Very favourite teabags being Yorkshire Tea.)

Heinz soups are top in the tinned soup department but I much prefer homemade soup.

Shampoo and conditioner can't be cheap as I have long hair and it needs lots of good quality products to be kept in good condition.

And good quality meat of course, but I tend to prefer pulses anyway.

seraphina

Coffee has to be the best I can afford I'm afraid.

I also tend to spend a bit more on skincare - I had to go to the doctor's for some cream for my acne. I also changed to an expensive cleanser at the same time - and my skin is now clearing up! I'm hoping it's the cheap cream from the doctor's rather than the expensive face cream that's doing the job:rotfl: