d-day, nearly here.

[plasticdaft]

Hahaha,we tried our 11 year old on own brand beans and he could smell the difference before we even put them on his plate,so now we stock up on heinz when they are on offer and if they arent on offer we dont have beans.

[Skippy]

I won't buy own brand breakfast cereal, ketchup or toilet roll - you can definitely tell the difference.

[trina]

good luck for wednesday c.j hope everything goes well.

Only just starting this rollercoaster ride and it was shopping day today, and we tried out aldi instead of asda, i must admit it did come in cheaper than normal but we havn't eaten any of it yet!!. I did get a sense of satisfaction though walking round and looking at prices which Ive never done before, hope i can keep it up.

trina xx

[michael.t47]

hi cj we too struggling to budget but knowing i will have to once i in iva. so using this period to learn and learn from others on here. good luck for wed

[kallis3]

I buy Asda's breakfast cereal all the time - much cheaper than Kellogs. twice the size and I think it tastes ok.

As for beans, we buy Branston. Won't buy Heinz or HP since they shut the factory in Birmingham and moved production to Holland.

I still have my principles even if I am budgeting!

[michael.t47]

good on you jan, i used to love my hp sauce but will not buy it now out of principle i miss it too

[kallis3]

Glad I'm not the only one Michael!

[Soulgrowth]

I'm like that with coffee ... nothing worse than cheap coffee!

Debbie

[Kazzy E]

Hi there CJ, best of luck for Wednesday.

If you like branded products, but still want to save money, why not give Netto a try. They do non-branded products also, and you have a bit of choice as to whether to go for those or the branded ones, but they are still cheaper than the stores. Before budgeting, I wouldn't been seen in Netto (foody snob) but now I am not bothered. All I am interested in, is the bill at the end of they day. We have a shop-in-shop butcher in our Netto store also, so I tend to get my meat from him. Hope that helps! Kazzy x

[angela18]

I'm the same with shampoo and toiletries.. only can use branded (not that my hairs like Jennifer Aniston), generally wait until they're on special in asda or wilkos and stock up..

i buy own brand beans etc.. nobody notices. haven't reverted to smartprice etc as yet..

[Moneystinks]

I think we all have items that we would rather not do without. I really like fresh fruit and vegetables. I now go shopping for these items evry few days so they are not going off. I used to throw loads away [:I]

Hopefully this strategy will work although I have to go on my own with just a few quid so I don't get anything else.