What is good value in M and S?

belfastgirl23

It's worth watching in the food hall for what they have on offer. I got a load of quiches at half price last summer (I think about 99p each) so cheaper than other supermarket equivalent and nicer as well. But that's if you have the iron will to resist other buys.

The other thing is that sometimes their value t shirts and jeans etc can be good. I think they have trousers for about a tenner at the minute. Too low on the waist for my tastes but if they fit your figure properly they're good value

Curious_Moose

They usually have some special offers on. I got a free carving knife set when I bought a gammon joint (which I'd buy anyway). Of course, you run the risk of a 4 year prison sentence for carrying an offensive weapon if stopped by PC Plod on the way back to the car, but with remission and good behaviour, you'd be out in 2 years.

seraphina

The Marks and Spencer Preserves and Chutneys are second to none in my opinion. I only very occasionally make marmalade (and then it's usually as presents) and we don't go through a huge amount of it here, so a jar of their Medium Cut Seville Orange marmalade is lovely. Their caramelised red onion chutney is also gorgeous - lovely in sandwiches or with cheddar. Both are around the £1 mark so you'll get quite a bit for £50:rotfl:

Their homeware section is very good indeed - maybe more expensive than other high street shops but very good quality. I have a large pasta saucepan from there which is used serveral times a week without complaint.

They also sell electrical stuff now - you could put your £50 towards an iPod or a digital radio?

Stephen_Leak

Check for any pre-Christmas special offers, and/or tough it out until the January sale. The run up to Christmas can actually be a lean time for some retailers these days, and then all hell breaks loose in January. At the time of writing and according to MS Excel, 1 January 2008 is only 22 days away.

I (finally) got my Barclaycard Platinum £50 freebie M&S vouchers over the weekend and also discovered that I had £30-worth left over from my birthday present from my daughter!

JoeyEmma

I don't think certain things in M&S are what they used to be. I always used to get their 5 packs of knickers, which were a bit more expensive than other places, but good quality. Now they are cutting prices to try and complete with places like Primark and George at Asda and the quality isn't what it used to be. The new packs of knickers are cheaper but the elastic is rubbish and they don't give such a smooth line under clothes. I've noticed similar things with other basics like vest tops and plain t-shirts. They used to be the ONLY place for bras, but now they are overpriced, poor quality and the staff that fit them aren't as good, especially if you have big boobs. Ok they have a new range for DD+, but they aren't that supportive. I prefer to pay a couple of quid extra and go to Bravissimo where they look at you and know straight away what styles will fit you.

maypole

Joeyemma

I would agree about the quality of the underwear, since they started having things made abroad, it just doesn't last like it used to. Some of the clothes too, years ago if I bought an item, it would go out of fashion before it wore out. However I still find myself wandering around the store because it's what I am familiar with.
I Only buy food occasionally when on a shopping trip, my M&S is 30 miles from us.

Uniscots97

The 'sunday dinner joints' of meat are really good (beef, ham, etc) but again pricey. I love their chicken and mushroom pasties (sorry but the supermarkets ones don't compare) and their sushi. I won vouchers recently for M&S and treated the family to the items above as well as chocolate profiteroles (don't even look at the price just put them in the basket) and mini sausage rolls (almost as good as Greggs the bakers).

organic_wanabe

M&S chickens are currently on offer "half price" and they are superb. I usually fill my freezer when this offer is on. Also in a recent tasting their turkeys came out top when compared to other supermarkets including Waitrose. I usually buy their tinned peaches for my son's lunchbox. They are 79p per tin (which does 3 days) but far superior to other tinned peaches, and usually better than most fresh peaches.

competitionscafe

Far too many (overpriced) ready meals in M&S but if you want to treat yourself to something from the food hall, then their Ventresca tuna (in tins) is very nice, yes it's £2.50 a tin (!) but that's because of the type of tuna not because it's M&S. Also their mixed nuts are good quality and recently saw a big bag of mixed nuts in Sainsburys 'on offer' and the Sainsburys ones were still more expensive per kg than M&S and nowhere near as nice. Their (M&S) walnuts in particular are good quality, not bitter like most other ones I have tried. Speaking of walnuts their in store bakery walnut bread is very good, yummy eaten with some goats cheese. Their houmous is probably the nicest supermarket one I have tried too. Not tried their (Xmas) mince pies, but as M&S have no trans fats in any of their products they are one of the few supermarket mince pies without hydrogenated oil in them...

Not much else I can think of, their Stollen slices (£2.99 a box) are nice if you want a treat, some of their wine is decent too - Saint Mont (French White) (£5.99?) and the Australian Shiraz (Yalumba) £4.99 both spring to mind. The Edinburgh (Princes street) one is giving £5 off when you spend over £25 on food & drink, until Sunday - so basically a 20% discount if you can spend exactly £25 - however I went in yesterday and the only way I could get to a £25 spend was by buying mostly wine, so not much in the food department tempted me apart from the items above which were mostly out of stock.

I got a 3-tier stainless steel steamer from M&S (base can be used as a saucepan) for I think £9.99 about a year ago and I use that all the time for steaming veg, good value and quality for the price, their saucepans are probably similar.

the_cat

Hi all

Thanks for all the fantastic tips. I have decided to be sensible and will try to get the following

Saucepan set £9.50
Socks/underwear for OH and DS1/DS2 from outlet store
umbrella (mine broke last week!) from outlet store
Possibly a couple of polo neck t-shirts for me if in sale (hopefully also in outlet store!!!) which I will need once spring arrives

Anything left over (well, I can hope, can't I?) I will keep and add to the summer vouchers to buy school uniform stuff

That's the trouble with OS - makes you sooooo sensible!