Real-life MMD: Should I secretly switch my husband's Shreddies to save cash?

Cloudane

Well, I suppose it's not the most divorce-inducing of deceptions. Though I have to wonder if it's a good sign to be asking the internet if it's ok to decieve your husband :P

beautiful_ravens

I like this moral question. I do this sort of thing with loads of my food and soaps etc - sometimes its to do with some packaging looks more interesting than others.
In my house sauce, washing up liquid, liquid soap, flour, cereal etc. could or could not be what the packet says. If anyone asks me "is this value sauce in this here heinz bottle?" I just say yeah or no. If they dont ask, then it must not matter!
Also a lot of my stuff - like cereal, flour, tea, biscuits whatever - gets decanted into other containers, so no one knows what that is either. I dont fib if anyone asks, I just dont come out and tell them all either.
Also I dont think its trickery, I think its housekeeping.

beautiful_ravens

kirkwisebeard wrote: »

My ex wife worked in the factory where Shreddies are made... three days a week, it was Shreddies... four days a week, it was own brands... same ingredients, same factory, same staff, slightly different moulds etc... just like digestive biscuits and Jaffa cakes... an awful lot of the own brands are made in the McVities' factory in Ashby de la Zouch....

Exactly. Ive heard this time and time again.

HKitten

tgroom57 wrote: »

Not good. Grasping at straws comes to mind. If this is the last thing you can save money on there really is no hope for you.

This might be one of many things that the OP has downgraded in an attempt to save money in her food shop - I've done the same, going from branded cereal to own-brand, and it might only be a small difference but all those small differences on every product that you buy add up to a big saving overall.


It's just cereal - I would keep swapping it over and not mention it, it's not like it's hurting anyone. Or even better OP, get one of those plastic airtight cereal containers, so you don't even have to worry about keeping the fake boxes!

Mojisola

double_mummy wrote: »

ask him to do a blind test and pick the one he likes better stick the brand on the bottom of each one and then go with the one he likes the better in the blind test

if he picks the expensive ones just switch them anyway

I would do the first bit but not the second.

What's the difference in price between the two brands? Is it enough to worry about? Can't that saving be made somewhere else?

Is this issue really that you feel you're cutting back on things that affect you but that he isn't?

ollybass

I was involved in retailing / sales. Some major companies also pack their main brand product inside other own-label boxes. So it is quite possible that you could be eating the same product from both Shreddies and the other shop-brand.
I too buy the cheaper malt-type cereal and can't tell the difference from Shreddies.
This is allowed because the brand-name is a name only. They can change the shape / content / recipe any time they want because they OWN the name. No-one else can use the name (even though they know it is the same product in the box)

ruthb2008

I can completely relate to this MMD. My partner is a brad snob, and insists he can tell the difference between branded and non-branded items!

Not so long ago, I started filling up his empty original source shower gel bottles with Tesco's own mint shower gel, and he didn't seem to notice! So I popped a bag of own brand coco pops into the branded box, and again, he didn't notice. Finally, I started buying the majority of our food shop from Lidl (He hates Lidl so much he refuses to carry the bags into the house incase ayone sees him!) I took with me my own tescos carriers, came home with all he Lidl food in tescos carriers and he din't even notice that the items themselves didn't say Tesco anywhere on the packet! Great stuff! I was saving a fortune and he was happy as larry!

But then I made the terrible mistake of telling him he had been using own brands all along! He insisted that he knew there was something different about his shower gel and thought they had changed the ingredients. He said he much preferred the original source. He argued that the food had been of a much less quality recently and he couldn't understand why, but it all made sense would I revealed I'd been shoping at Lidl. We must start shopping at tesco agan straight away! The only positive was that he decided he liked the own brand coco pops better than the branded ones, so we still get those now.

I seriously wish I had never said anything. We were saving about £30 a week on groceries, and I dont believe for a second that he could actually tell the difference!

If I were you I would carry on, it's only one item, and it proves the point that brand snobbery is completely unjustified in most cases!!

Cimscate

Not sure how this classes as a money moral dilemma, if you want to treat your husband like a child just get on with it!!

Prothet_of_Doom

lauh88 wrote: »

Is it really worth saving the extra pound or so for the arguments it could cause? I think it's a bit unfair to deny him this if it's something he enjoys.

Are there areas in your life you could save the same amount? Maybe show him what you're willing to scrimp on yourself so he knows you're making sacrifices too!

I think the point is that, he can't tell the difference, so he's still enjoying it now, because he's clearly a brand freak. And the enjoyment is all in the mind.

I'm usually the only one who eats cereals, and I always buy the cheaper version. But the other day, my wife had some of my Asda Smart Price Cornflakes, and declared them to be unfit for human consumption. She went and bought some Kellogs, but to be honest I actually prefer the cheaper version. I think your taste buds have expectations, and overtime you start to prefer what you are used to.

My wife doesn't like expensive jam. She'll only buy the cheap stuff.

iAMaLONDONER

scotsbob wrote: »

Seems very strange to deliberately give your loved one something he said he doesn't like.
Also seems strange to deliberately deceive a loved one.

No wonder the divorce rate is so high.

Lool trust is important!

However this is swapping cereal rather than a torrid affair!