2018 Frugal Living Challenge

DawnW

indigowarrior wrote: »

Does anyone struggle to get the consistancy of porridge right? I bought a large bag of smart price porridge (75p) and twice in row I have struggled to eat it.

I struggle to eat smart price porridge too, unfortunately. I buy the ones with larger grains, which make a more chunky porridge. Sainsburys TTD oats are usually cheaper than the branded ones. More expensive than smart price I know , but I hate the gluey texture of the cheap stuff :eek:

And even with more expensive oats, porridge makes a pretty cheap breakfast to be honest.

I am not fussy about many things, and hardly ever buy 'brands'. In fact the only specific branded item I insist on is a certain brand of instant coffee, can't think of anything else. I do most of my shopping in Lidls or local markets, and if I go into other supermarkets I am generally happy with own brands/ basics, as I mainly buy ingredients as opposed to ready made stuff, and one flour or whatever works pretty much the same as another

Are there particular favourite branded items/ supermarket own premium items that others would struggle to substitute?

patentgirl

Doing ok here still squirrelling around every spare penny I can for retirement fund both DH and I hate our jobs both managers and get all the flack both probably put in double the hours we paid for ! Few unexpected spends including a Chinese takeaway we shouldn't have had but on the whole cooking everything else from scratch. Off to Aldis and lidls tomorrow Frugaldom so will report back.

cw18

DawnW wrote: »

Are there particular favourite branded items/ supermarket own premium items that others would struggle to substitute?

I only use one big name brand of toilet rolls, but stock up when Costc0 have them on offer (work out at just over 25p/roll when they are), one big name brand of instant gravy granules and prefer their premium range (stock up when on offer in supermarkets or discount stores- never pay rrp), and one brand of brown sauce (again stock up when on offer in Costc0, but don't use a great deal of it these days due to changes in my diet). And coffee. I had moved from one which comes in lovely glass jars (bought on offer from Costc0) to one which comes in a tin (bought the same way), but the tinned one has recently changed their blend so I'll be back on the glass jars once I finish the two large tins I have in the house (which won't be for a while as I don't use daily, and rarely have more than one a day when I do).

Off the top of my head I can't think of anything else that I won't drop to store own label, but there's very little I will use the value version of. A!di wholemeal bread and porridge oats are probably the two execptions, though I rarely buy the value bread and don't often eat porridge anyway.

System

Thinking of what I can buy in bulk to save money. Has anybody got any recommendations of good bargains maybe from Am**on or Fleab*y or anywhere? . My daughter uses a website for OOD products but can't remember the name. Has anybody tried any of those?

indigowarrior

There is only one thing I am not really willing to skimp on and that is coca cola or at least the diet variety. I spend £8 for 24 which last me a week. I am aware its bad for you but, I dont drink tea or coffee so it is my one "fix" if you like.

alice-mary

indigowarrior wrote: »

There is only one thing I am not really willing to skimp on and that is coca cola or at least the diet variety. I spend £8 for 24 which last me a week. I am aware its bad for you but, I dont drink tea or coffee so it is my one "fix" if you like.

I'm the same! I don't drink any hot drinks and my D-C is my only source of caffeine. I buy the big bottles when they are on offer as I realised ages ago that for me, the cans are NOT economical.

I can't think of anything else where the brand is important...it used to be the milk chocolate in the purple wrapping but I don't eat much of it anymore.

Alice
xx

System

Can't think of anything that has to be brand name, other than washing powder/softener. I like F**ry due to allergies and have so far found cheaper supermarket own brands not so good.
Other than that, if its cheap but OK, then that's fine.

spudsmum

DawnW wrote: »

Are there particular favourite branded items/ supermarket own premium items that others would struggle to substitute?

I can't think of any brands I'm attached to really food wise - we tend to use whichever is cheapest. We even use the value coffee and value 27p teabags and find them ok though I know a lot of people would Bauk at that. It's not for frugality reasons but more because we can't really tell much difference a lot of the time so don't see the point in wasting the money. DH was a complete label snob when we got together so I put all the value stuff in the fancy packaging and he honestly couldn't tell the difference.

I do spend a little more for unperfumed shower gel and shampoo though as the really cheap stuff makes me itch.

cw18

spudsmum wrote: »

and value 27p teabags and find them ok

I tried those once, but to get the tea strong enough for me to drink (builders brew with only a tiny hint of milk - but no sugar) I was having to use 2 or 3 bags in a single mug. That counteracted the saving per bag, so I went back to normal store own

spudsmum

cw18 wrote: »

I tried those once, but to get the tea strong enough for me to drink (builders brew with only a tiny hint of milk - but no sugar) I was having to use 2 or 3 bags in a single mug. That counteracted the saving per bag, so I went back to normal store own

I agree if you like it very strong it might be false economy but I don't like my tea too strong so it's perfect for me. Even FIL who is a total Ringtons tea snob said "this is a good cup of tea love" didn't have the heart to tell him :rotfl: