Can you live of basic/value/smartprice food for a month?

lucy7509

Hello Everyone

The fact is the basic ranges are normally from other well named brands but they are packaged at the end of the batch.

Having worked in a production factory, I know that when they are processing the food, they simply stop the machines when they get to the last 1/4 of the batch and simply change the label to the generic brand.

After working there, I have always been fascinated by the pull of advertising, and the way that people will simply pay more for the tinned goods, based on the pretty or brand label.

Basic brands are just as good, and I see no reason why anyone should be embarrassed to have them in their trolley!

Once whilst in a supermarket, my kids questioned me about which brand I was buying, I simply told them, why should I pay .23p more for the pretty label, the plain one will suit me fine.

Funny thing the next two people in the isle did the same thing and bought the basic brand!

Hey and if recession hits, which one do you think will be selling well!

Lucy7509

ZTD

bathgatebuyer wrote: »

No shame at all attached in using the basics! If anything it proves to everyone else in the supermarket that you know how to cook your food properly. A former colleague of mine (Grrrrrrr, calm down, calm down..........you don't work with her anymore) is about 36 and lives of Marks and Spencers stuff, took 6 months in her new house before she realised that her cooker was not wired up, and had to ask us, "When you do scrambled eggs, do you actually have to take them out the shell?"

Next time someone looks down on you for having loads of basics in the trolley, pity them, they probably don't even know how to do some scrambled eggs or whether their own cooker is wired up.

And I thought *I* was bad...

At least I can faithfully say the cooker is wired up. Otherwise it wouldn't flash 00:00...

chocolatechipcookies

We buy value products all the time. Bread for example. Value bread and your £1.10 Warburton's bread have the same ingredients, except for one. Now, why would I spend over £1 for something that has the exact same ingredients as the 31p loaf? Tinned things, all the same I cannot tell the difference. Things like beans, chopped tomatoes are used for chilis and lasagnes and such. A bean is a bean is a bean. Some things I won't buy, I can tell the difference between Heinz and Tesco ketchup. We get the value TP, same stuff that goes in the same place. The only difference between cheap brands and brand names is a label.

chocolatechipcookies

JCD_Capulet wrote: »

I'm half tempted to print off the Bundle lists and go shopping in ASDA. Looking at the £10 bundle, I'm more than sure I could buy all that for about £8. I'm going to look into this some more. Thanks for the link, Carlih! x

I'm going to print off the freezer bundle. :money:

chocolatechipcookies

fc123 wrote: »

Loo rolls, tinned toms, shampoo, bleach, brown rice etc....all do the job just as well....but don't go near ANY smart price meat, white bread" or processed things in tins or in freezer.
Find a good butcher if poss...we are almost veggie (by accident) now as I refuse to buy battery meat...and can't afford organic/"from the farm" meat regularly....but i've learnt how to cook great stuff from kidney beans etc (13p tin).in fact our diet could rival Madonnas macrobiotic regime...even the fussy 13yr old eats it all up now (and her skin is really clear now)
I even learnt how to make hoummus....this is from someone who threw all the "extra specials" into the trolley thinking they were better once upon a time.

Accidentally lost a stone too and my skin has definately improved 100 fold (and i even use smart price cream after years of using expensive Aveda type stuff)......i guess it's what goes IN the body, not what goes ON it.

Book worth reading is "Not on the label" by Felicity Laurence..........makes one feel even better about changing things......Asda get the absolute minimum margin from my Smart price shopping trolley, then i head off to my local farm shop to buy the fresh stuff.

I agree! My husband went to the grocery store with a friend and came back with value meat, I think over 50% was fat/water and didn't taste nice. We go to the indoor market and get heaps of very very good meat for a very good price! Same with fruit/veg(mostly). I get most veg/fruit at the indoor market, but I do get some things from grocery store, but I won't buy the value veg/fruit.

lynzpower

JCD_Capulet wrote: »

I'm half tempted to print off the Bundle lists and go shopping in ASDA. Looking at the £10 bundle, I'm more than sure I could buy all that for about £8. I'm going to look into this some more. Thanks for the link, Carlih! x

Also, do asda still do that deal where if they overcharge you - even by a penny- they give you a £2 gift card??

lynzpower

painted_lady wrote: »

We just done our monthly shop at asda,for 2 adults and a baby, £138, included
- 2 large washing powders(the 50 wash ones, one non bio, one bio)
- 3 cartons baby milk (over £20)
- fridge and freezer probably most fulll they been in years
- few bottles of beer
- loads and loads of veg (went in evening, was reduced, some items to 10p, I will freeze some and make some into soups, pies, quiches etc and freeze portions)
- except a few pizzas, didnt buy anything already made, such as quiches, pies, fancy sauces, I do enjoy cooking though and will spend a day cooking these fancy things at a fraction of the cost
- some smart price curry sauce at 6p a tin (hope this is nice, it was regular price)
-Used £7 of voucher I had

If its anything like the sainsburys basic one which I got a few jars of for 9p youll be impressed! I only bought it for the jar- as I was going to do some jam making, and we love it, tastes really like the one you get from a chinese and NO NASTIES when you read the label :T

jo1972

Just took me ages to find this thread!

Right I'm up for the challenge (if there is one ), I shall fill my basket with 75% of value stuff, afraid I can not eat value meat unless I'm slow cooking it, even then will not buy value mince as I don't like the texture. Oh and one other thing is toilet rolls as I've tried the 50p value ones from Tesco before and all 4 got used up in the time it'd take 1 Andrex one, have to be kind to my bum

Apart from that I think (oh and nappies), I shall be value/basic/smartprice. I shall be doing a big shop this evening as it's payday so a couple of days early but I'll be ready for October 1st, I shall see what a difference it makes to my budget and if my family notice the difference (they rarely go in the kitchen anyway so I can probably get away with it!)

Jo.

lindsaygalaxy

This month im combining the October Grocery challenge to this oneto try get my shopping budget to £160 for the month for me and my 3 year old daughter.


Ihave tried to buy more value products, and just done my shoppping online. it came to £61 inc £5.99 delivery( thanks to the £7 off code posted on the discount thread) and this will hopefully cover me for a lot of the month.

From this shopping, 40% was value items, 47% Tesco brand, and 13% branded. Some of the items I couldnt get value, and the branded ones were mostly because they were on offer and it worked out cheaper. I also prefer not to buy value meat or value yoghurts etc for my daughter.

jo1972, let me know how you get on!

jo1972

lindsaygalaxy wrote: »

jo1972, let me know how you get on!

I didn't manage to do a big shop all weekend like I'd intended so today's the day, got the day off work so going to meal plan and then shop.

Good luck to you too!