DH and Brands

redmel1621

Hi
I am starting the Grocery Challenge for sept. and want to try and cut back a little on the cost of our shopping even by a few pounds a week...
One main problem I have is DH is quite fussy when it comes to food and we MUST buy branded food (mostly) food he will definately not neg. on are

Bread - must be Kingsmill/Hovis - Wholemeal usually around £1-£1.30 a loaf
Cereal - Must have Kelloggs bran flakes etc. I don't mind some tescos own
Tea bags - Must be PG (although i agree with this one really)
Crisp - must be branded quavers/watsits whatever - won't buy stores own

there are other things too ie.... Washing up liquid, Nutrigrains...the list goes on.....
Does anyone know of any tesco own brands that are very close to these brands in taste as i don't really see the point in paing this much for things that are barely any different to the cheaper version. How can I persuade him to cut back?
Mel x

pigpen

I'd buy the cheap bran flakes and put them in the old box and see if he notices.. when he has eaten them all them tell him.. bran flakes are pretty basic.. litle value weetabix are exactly the same as 'posh' ones because they haven't any ingredients they can alter.. they are the same.. most cheaper stuff is made exactlly the same at the same factories and just labelled differently.

I actually hate Heinz tinned stuff it all has way too much salt in it and tastes salty..

Buy a breadmaker and bake your own bread??? That's cheaper!! flour is flour.. so you'd save a lot.. we were paying 70p a loaf now we pay about 17p because we make our own (3 a day sometimes!!!)

I prefer the tesco cheesy puffs.. they are the same as wotsits but not bright orange, don't stain the clothes or fingers and don't leave a nasty aftertaste in your mouth. Walkers are just so salty.. I'll have their C+O but that's it.. There 'select' range are really nice as well..

W-up liquid I wouldn't buy the value one.. you need half a bottle per wash.. so I'd stick to a 'brand' on that one.. the though the tesco own brand (not value range) is ok if you don't wash a huge mountain of pots.

I get the tesco own teabags.. in the red box.. I actually prefer the decaff ones but they are so much more expensive.

I get the tesco cereal bar things for DD as well.. the healthy living ones are really nice.. hubby said so.. lol

I'd just ignore him.. I do our shopping so what I buy is what they eat.. if they want to argue about it.. tough!! They get used to the different stuff really quickly.

Mind you both hubby and I were brought up on half a bootlace.. (less than a shoestring!!).. so we were used to either the cheapest money could buy or do without so we are both pretty sensible when it comes to what we can and can't afford.

I don't think I could justify in my head paying 'brand' name prices, I'd not sleep at night lol..

I'm sure you could just change one thing at a time and wean him onto more sensible options

Kittikins

Why don't you be really sneaky and start buying the own-brand/Value stuff but decanting it into the branded label containers.....see if he notices the difference? For lots of things, especially washing up liquid, doubt he would....Then after a trial period, tell him what you've done and make him realise how silly he's being!

My ex used to be the same - but I've noticed that now he's got his own flat, when I take DD over to stay with him and nip to the kitchen for a drink, a lot of the stuff he buys is supermarket own brand...odd that?!? Lol...

Seakay

How deceptive are you preared to be?
Would you be willing to transfer cheaper brands to the packets etc which DH prefers? Obviously this wouldn't work for crisps etc.
Do you think that the bran flakes etc taste the same? If so, then do you think that DH really taste a difference, or is he influenced by the packaging?
Would you fancy making bread? Home made has to score points over bought, and if your Tesco has a bakery then you can get free yeast.
My OH swore that all the cheap baked beans I bought weren't as good as Heinz, but then we found Lidl and he's happy with those.

Do you have a specific aim in cutting down on your grocery spends? Perhaps the money approach is the one to take - not having usual little treats and luxuries available because all your shopping money has gone on these name brands.

odds-n-sods

Deception was my suggestion, too. Great minds think alike??

redmel1621

HEHEHE Deception.....

I hadn't even thought of doing that....What fun I'm going to have:D

Mel x

And thanks for the other tips too....

I will definately look into Breadmaker..

redsquirrel80

If it's only you that goes shopping, could you introduce one or two value things by coming home with whatever item and saying "they didn't have any X (usual brand) left so I thought I'd try these instead"? Or how about doing a 'mock' online shop with brands and one with value alternatives and showing him the price difference? Personally, I like Tesco's own washing-up liquid (not the value one) and they have some nice different fragrances so you could use that as an excuse for trying it out?

You could also try the likes of pound shops/ Home Bargains as they often have brand items like washing up liquid cheap (a lot seem to have foreign labels on, I don't know why it works out cheaper to buy stuff which is destined for somewhere else, but apparently it does!)

I'm with you on the tea bags, don't like Tesco's own, it's got to be Yorkshire/ PG Tips/ Tetleys... but practically everything else I buy is cheap so I guess one indulgence is allowed (and I do try to get money off vouchers wherever poss)!

paddy's_mum

I'd be going along on the deception path too! Why not try a bit of 'weaning' by mixing such things as the Kellogg's corn flakes with, say, one quarter of a packet of the own-brand. Given a good stir, so that they are well mixed together, and I'd put money that he won't even notice. I do sometimes feel that an abrupt change is a dead giveaway but a more subtle 'extending' simply doesn't get noticed.

You can follow exactly the same procedure with w/up liquid, shower gel, washing powder etc just very slowly and gradually upping the proportions of the (acceptable) cheaper product while, as others have rightly said, leaving the items in the expensive brand containers. Good luck - it's a worthy aim.

Olliebeak

My way around the more expensive bread problem is to go to Asda around 5.30 - 6.00 in the evening. They mark down the price of the bread and I usually fill up my freezer with 'good bread' - especially the granary loaves (Hovis, Allansons, Kingsmill etc) all for around 30p per loaf. I usually get some good crumpets, bagels, scotch pancakes as well.

I also look at the 'whoopsie' cabinet - you can usually get fresh fish and chinese/indian meals from the deli counter - all can be frozen as soon as you get back home.

I'm not sure how well this works with Tesco because I don't know what their reductions policy is!

But Good Luck with it.

dlb

We used to brand snobs to, but not for the last 2 years, i am now known as the `value mum` in our house, we buy value everything as i belive its what you do with it that matters.
Value mince and fish is just as nice when made into pies ect.
Iv found buying the value crisps and biscuits have cut down on the amount we eat, because the family dont prefer them over the branded items but if they really want a bag not just because they are there, they will eat them.
Value cereal is fine here too.
Dh found it hard at first but his and my point of view is now, live on the value stuff and have more to spend on the hoildays in the sun!!

MRSMCAWBER

Hi there

My hubby used to insist on heinze beans....eughhhh the tin is half sauce, which i drain off and what beans are left always seem sloppy to me...so i moved to morrisons and he loved em..... Now we are in germany there are sooo many brands of everything its enough to make you dizzy...... but we will try just about any.... i generally go for the cheapest and then if we dont like it we go up a level.... as yet hubby loves everything:T ...in fact if he picks anything up now he always looks at the £ per 100g :rotfl: its quite fun to watch.... and if he picks anything up on an aisle he potters off to the ends to check theres nothing better value, as i told him that this is where they put the offers

There are a few things that we have to stick with,,,,

Nescafe.... hubby can tell even if its nescafe fine blend, dec caf etc
teabags...tetley, pg
fairy washingup liquid.... so we have to get those from the naffi, but i refuse to pay for anything else in there..... 2.99 euro i saw someone pay the other week for a loaf of bread.....roughly £2.10:eek:

If i give hubby shop bread now, he looks at me like ive kicked him:p

Im sure if your hubby could see how much you can save, and what you could put the money toward he would be willing to make some sacrafices