What’s something you buy which is cheap/basic that is really good?

[Earbogeys]

Mine is bars of unscented soap from (predictably) Aldi, and also Waitrose own salt and vinegar crisps.

What gems are in your life?

Loving all the rice comments lol

My money savers:
Aldi baby wipes 100%
Agree with IKEA High Chair By Far Best Buy
Tesco custard creams YES over any other brand
Asda toilet roll just as good Andrex

When I am caught out and run out of dish washer tabs a sprinkle or salt and a squirt of washing up liquid works well

I have made a list of some stuff I am going to try out with all the great recommendations from this thread

Confession I am not a bar of soap users BUT… This will be my first purchase and hopefully I will convert

Bar soap. Astral moisturiser.

We've always used bar soap in the shower as shower gel seems so wasteful. Our favourites are Wright's coal tar and Shield - they last a long time and smell healthily clean. We use bubbles in the bath with bar soap for the important bits at the end.

Bar soap is just better at make you feel clean. Imperial leather is still great. Dove also nice. Defo use a magnet soap bar holder to avoid soggy soap.

Waitrose grapefruit scented bar soap. Less plastic and lasts for ages as well as being better for the environment.
White vinegar as fabric softener as well as half and half with water for general cleaning.
Never buy unstoppable they are really bad for the environment.

The woman on the checkout at Tesco said their own brand lemon bar soap was lovely and also warded off mozzies on holiday!

@ollobololo

hi all, tagging onto the detergent ideas, I also use Lidl formil, but have realised that I only need a very small scoop of it to get a decent wash (I use a coffee scoop). I usually use 1 scoop but 2 for extra dirty. This works fine and a box lasts months and months. I probably spend about £15 per year on detergent!! Try using a lot less, you might be surprised how little you can get away with. I guess having a decent machine helps too.

I haven't been able to get their non bio for ages. So annoying as DH has allergies and Persil non bio used to be the only one I could use, then had a sample of formil and accidentally used it for him and he was fine. Saved a fortune but now I can't get it.

Is it just my store?

I've also had trouble getting their fizzy orange, went out of stock for a couple of months, it was 38p for 2 ltrs but they had some in this week but it is now 45p. Still cheap compared to Fanta and just as good I think.

@Twattergy

Ikea has some fab chunky glass highballs, £2 each, really solid and stylish. I realised a while back that expensive face balms that you wash off with a muslin cloth - the majority of the benefit is from using the cloth. So now I use any cleanser (currently using deodorised coconut oil in a refillable tin for eco reasons) with cheap muslin cloths. Hot cloth cleaning on the cheap! I find super drug own brand moisturisers to be pretty good too.

Exactly. It's a rip-off using expensive ones. A flannel works just as well as muslin too.

@GameofPhones

Seconding cheap white vinegar for cleaning. I use it in a spray bottle, buy in bulk from Ebay or Amazon. Makes window cleaning especially easy.

Distilled white vinegar 39p in Lidl or Aldi for cleaning. Just decant into previously rinsed spray bottles.... over and over. Also, just a 5p blob of car metal polish cleans a ceramic hob a treat. And a light spray of WD40 to clean finger marks off stainless steel fridge.

Just don't use WD40 to clean the cooker fascia. You know, where the markings are for the controls. DH found out the hard way on our old cooker

Kerrygold butter, it’s from grass fed cows 🤤

@BeanyBops

I love threads like this, this is the spirit of Mumsnet isn't it

My contribution- asdas own whole bean coffee. My husband recently bought a super fancy coffee machine and we've enjoyed trying out lots of fancy artisan brands (one was £14 for a bag! But we don't drink alcohol or go out much so this is our treat) and actually I think the Asda two for £5 bags are just as good.

Tbh Asda in general amazes me. I've just switched from Sainsbury's and I'm saving £30-40 on food a week buying the same stuff.

Asda Extra Special coffee, most of the time on offer 2 packs for £5 is made by Taylor's of Harrogate, which is usually£4 a bag!

@Phormiumjester

The woman on the checkout at Tesco said their own brand lemon bar soap was lovely and also warded off mozzies on holiday!

This one? www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/resources

@harrystylestaylorswift

Home Bargains Indi Grand curry sauce pouches !!

Yes !!! These are amazing ! The Balti and butter chicken are our favourites.

Yes but that doesn't affect the vinegar's ability to clean again and again and again

Eventually there will be no acetic acid left in the vinegar to react with the limescale, so it doesn’t last that long. Also, no need to boil the kettle. The reaction happens anyway.