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?

I think my best buy is Sainsbury's coffee and walnut cake. Cheap but so good. Also Sainsbury's Christmas cake slices.

Sistema microwave rice cooker from amazon absolute game changer never bought packet rice since.

Aldi Moser Roth chocolate, the milk one.

I always buy own brand/Aldi things like passata, tomato puree, cans of green lentils, chickpeas, kidney beans. Why would you pay 95p a can or something for Napolina kidney beans when the own brand is 45p or something?

Also a bar soap and bar shampoo convert. Currently using a bar shampoo from Poundland and it's pretty decent. Got some old fashioned Pears soap from Home Bargains at it's something like 60p a bar. We really don't need shower gel.

Aldi coffee is great.

@Lampzade

Astral moisturiser. I have extremely dry skin and used to pay a fortune for expensive ‘ hydrating’ lotions. Most were crap Started using astral and my skin looks great. May not work for everyone, but it worked for me.

Best moisturiser,but has it been discontinued?i have been looking out for it for ages but unable to find it.

@PurpleDaisies

Aldi coffee is great.

Husband likes the Nespresso aluminium compatible pods from Aldi, they are £1.50 - £2 for 10 compared with £3ish for the Starbucks ones.

@GastroNuisance

I really like the little chocolate bars that Aldi do. I have no self control so if I have a 100g bar of chocolate I just keep going.

The small bars are kept in the garage so there is 'friction' involved and I just can't keep grazing. They taste really good and are an excellent size.

I also really like bar soap from Waitrose. The rest of the family aren't keen. I also only buy cruelty free products so Aldi, Superdrug and Waitrose own brands tend to be my 'go to'.

Yes! I buy the 85% dark chocolate ones. They are fairly small, really satisfying - very smooth with a good 'snap', high in iron, 85% so very low in sugar: heck, practically good for me :)

I also vote for Aldi's facial range, hand creams, soap & candles.

Their own brand Scotch whisky is nice too. I put some in my tea on winter evenings. I bought some Glenlivet last month, & not as nice.

[quote LifeInAHamsterWheel]**@MadeleineMaxwell* sorry but can I just check what you mean by 2 parts rice to 3 parts cold water* ?! That would be 2 cups of rice and 6 cups of water? or one cup of rice and 1.5 cups of water? (I would never need more than 1 cup of rice)[/quote]
I cup of rice to 1.5 cups of water. I don't use cups, but I have a small bowl that works out perfectly as one portion, so I use that. A small mug or similar works too. It's just about proportions.

The traditional Chinese/Japanese/Asian way is to put your rice in the pan then stick your finger in. The level of the rice on your finger is the level the water needs to be on top of the rice.

I’ve heard those are good @RavenclawDiadem

I really like their espresso ground coffee.

@JudgeJ they do the hand creams too (garnier) in honey and it's SO good

I bought bar soap during the first lockdown as I couldn’t buy shower gel etc.

I swapped back to bar soap, its much nicer than shower gel, I find shower gel very chemically in smell in comparison. bars of soap are also a fraction of the price

I prefer lidl chocolate to aldi, it has a smoother texture and is 79p a bar

@BlueFlavour

Buying a bag of frozen broccoli and some Stilton.makes lots of soup very cheaply. Just fry and onion, and whatever and add a stock cube.

@BlueFlavour - after eating a posh one of these I’ll try this. Can you freeze it?

@JackieWeaversZoomAc

Soda crystals - put a spoonful in with every load of washing in hard water areas.

@JackieWeaversZoomAc How big is the spoon? Does this replace the cheepo own brand Calgon? TIA

@Earbogeys
Co Op sea salt and Chardonnay vinegar are amazing too !

The fruit and veg stall in my local market. So cheap, great quality and incredibly friendly. So much better than plastic wrapped tasteless offerings at the supermarket

@Lampzade

Astral moisturiser. I have extremely dry skin and used to pay a fortune for expensive ‘ hydrating’ lotions. Most were crap Started using astral and my skin looks great. May not work for everyone, but it worked for me.

My friends mum in her late 30's used to swear by this in the early 1980's.

As a teenager I thought she looked ancient until I caught a picture of her years later and realised her skin looked amazing for her age!

Iceland own brand frozen veg and potatoey things. Fills the freezer for a few quid.

Aldi's salmon Wellington is about £4, we had it at Christmas.

Also Aldi pesto sauce, less than a quid compared to £2+ for brands.

Glade scented candles £4 for a big one in a really nice glass dish - well washed out they are great for cold puddings, so reusable.

Next perfumes - loads of different ones, all different sizes, about £5 for travel size. And they tell you exactly what the scent notes are on the box.

Co-op own brand decaf cafetiere coffee, about £2.85 and nicer than £4+ branded versions.

Waitrose essentials hand wash. The chamomile one is really lovely (I only use liquid soap in the kitchen, I have always used bar soap in the bathrooms and shower)

A basil plant, I use loads of it and if I water it every day, it grows for ages

£1 bunches of daffodils. So cheerful

Garnier banana hair mask in a tub from
Savers. Cheap as chips, brilliant product and loads of it in the tub

I cannot cook rice to save my life - and yes, I've tried all the different "foolproof" methods and they may foolproof but they're not Greebo-proof - so I might give the microwave rice cooker a go.

My effective bargains are:

• Collection brow mascara
• Nivea sensitive skin cleanser
• Aldi Lacura moisturiser, the 30spf one
• Aldi own brand conditioner, the one in the blue bottle. It's curly girl method approved, loaded with protein and cheap as chips.
• Sainsbury's apple conditioner - I alternate this with the Aldi one to avoid too much protein

All mine seem to be hair and beauty related!

I think most supermarket own brand versions of Jaffa Cakes are actually better than than the real ones by McVitie's these days. I don't know why, they just are! Especially Tesco's version.

Tesco Baked Beans
Tesco Homestyle oven chips.

Both as good as/better than branded equivalents.

Oh, and Tesco Laundry tablets.

Mine is Tesco's own "Fred&Flo's" baby top-to-toe wash. I read top-to-toe babywash was the best thing to wash your face with when you have inflamed, sore eyeballs like I did recently. You can even wash your eyelashes with it, which helps kill germs in the eyelash line and it won't irritate your poor eyes any further. It can also be used as shampoo and shower gel, though you do need to condition your hair afterwards if you're not a baby! It costs less than 1 Euro here in Ireland for a decent -sized bottle.

Oh, and I think the best dark chocolate is the Co-OP's own brand 85% one. Always grab one if I see a Co-op.

Bar soap! It works better than body wash and is plastic free.
Just basic dishwashing liquid (do they call it fairy liquid in the UK?) for washing floors, windows, reading glasses, cars... You don't need thousands of different cleaners.
Nivea cream. Really good and very cheap compared to other face creams.