Skinflint OH

[Traci66]

My husband has said that he wants me to cut the shopping bill down and has suggested I start buying supermarket own brands. However there are some things that I refuse to compromise on, coffee and washing up liquid for example. What three things would you not buy from the supermarkets own brand range. Shampoo is my last one.

[danchip]

an old school friends dad was really high up at Proctor and Gamble and he once told me that there is no point buying branded washing up liquid and fabric softner because they make it and then put it in different bottles, so a bottle of morning fresh is exactly the same as a bottle of fairy!

I often find supermarket brands or just cheaper brands are nicer and better for you than the top brands

[China Doll]

Actually Eric is fond of felix but he does like the sainsburys own lamb and heart very much at the moment. I'm annoyed because he only likes food covered in 'gravy' rather than 'jelly' but he's not overly keen on chicken and all the sainsburys own packs (tinned) are bloody chicken and something in gravy.

[ChuckFickens]

Coffee (gold blend or carte noire)
Beer (stella)
Tomato sauce (heinz)
Mayonnaise (Helmans)
Mustard (colemans)

(I'm starting to sound like a snob)

[danchip]

ASDA pork sausages have more meat in them than Walls or Richmonds!

Tesco dishwasher tablets have the exact same ingrediants and quantities that Finish dishwasher tablets has and are over £5 cheaper!

A lot of the time you are paying for a name and the fancy packaging not a superior product!

[mccfluff]

ah yes, cat food and beer

[Brinjal]

Coffee tonic water cereal. Most tinned fruits and vets in home brand range are generally over runs from brand names anyway.

[mickrog]

coffee......must be kenco
tea.......must be yorkshire gold
cerial

wont buy any of their basic range.....economy range ...value range or whatyever they call it

[joko]

its all just a metter of personal taste of each item - there are many own brand items that i actually prefer to name brands, just because of subtle differences in taste, or ratio of ingredients etc - its worth trying them just in case - its only a few quid and could save you a lot of money...

for instance i hate coffee and the only one i have ever tasted and found drinkable was a nicaraguan one from oxfam...

own brands are not crap - otherwise supermarkets wouldnt bother selling them...they are generally very decent

its kind of snobby not to at least try...if then you still like your old brand then fair enough, but to dismiss them outright as though they are beneath you does not make you appear classy, but rather snooty...

[joko]

i know a guy who used to work in a peanut packing factory and he told me that they had one massive container full of nuts, which would fall down a shute into the bags... they would fill the cheap no frills packets, then literally push the shute across to the more expensive bags, such as name brands and fill them...

same nuts, different prices...

[China Doll]

joko - someone on here once said the same thing about shampoo or shower gel... apparently they had bottles for shop own brand and one named brand all coming out the same machine.

[NOX]

I can't think of anything I would absolutely refuse to buy that own brand as I buy most things own brand- but the things I do tend to buy because I like that are 'named' are decent filter coffees ( usually Douwe Egberts), Lindt chocolate ( although Aldi's chocolate range is pretty fantastic) and I'm fussy about aftershaves and deo ( always these days it's Jean-Paul Gaultier) but as for beans and bread and tea and loo roll - own brands seem as good to me.

[carrust]

Once bought some Lidl own brand sausage when I was camping in Wales...truly disgusting

[Eve]

I can't think of anything save I usually buy a brand shampoo though then I rarely pay full price for ones, get them on offer or in bargain stores.

China, Tesco do a pack of gravy cat food for about £2.60ish (price seems to vary a lot). My two love it. I'm sure Wilkos do as well. Mine tend to go on and off Felix/Whiskars etc...as cats do! They don't have brands often unless on offer or I don't have the energy/enthusiam to walk to big Tesco.

[thelord]

Is this all a joke I'm not getting. A man should give all for his woman.

[DaisyNonna]

Send him shopping. Do your cooking etc as normal. Get him to wash up. Compare reactions, prepare to compromise. If he complains, tough. If you complain? Does he check your receipts? If so, dump him.

[sherrardk]

My children prefer some own brands - biggest surprise to me was boy #2 who loves tomato sauce but prefers the Aldi one (it's too tomatoey for me). Has to be Heinz tomato soup, Heinz salad cream and Haribo sweets (even prefer Aldi's ciders to Strongbow).

[owdhamer]

beer ,lager, cider.

[EDDIE51]

I have no brand loyalty at all , whatever is currently on special offer and the cheapest is what we get.Supermarket own brands are great get them all the time unless there is a branded item cheaper.