COL - what is the one thing you haven't found a replacement for?

[TheMindfulMum]

I have made countless changes to our weekly shop to try and reduce our outgoings. I've always been quite a savvy shopper since having children and switched from branded to own brand for quite a few items to try and make our money go further. Since COL though other items have had to be substituted. Weetabix and cheddar cheese are now supermarket own brand and we've got used to this. There are a few things though that I just cannot find a good substitute for and adjust to...

Beef OXO cubes - I like being able to crumble it over joints of meat before roasting as well as mince meat for bolognese. I can't find anything that crumbles and tastes as good as OXO does.

Frosties. Need I say any more? Own brand doesn't taste as good. Most are soft and taste stale from the day you open the box.

What can't you find a good alternative for? Or what have you managed to find that's great and costs less?

Heinz ketchup and HP sauce. Criminal price. But nothing comes close.

Heinz ketchup and HP sauce. Criminal price. But nothing comes close.

diet Coke and Pepsi max
Heinz salad cream
Weetabix - all own brands are horrible.
Crunchy nut

Yorkshire Tea

Totally agree re: cheap bin bags. Absolutely friggin useless.

Green giant sweetcorn

Nutella. It's so expensive. But the cheaper ones are not nearly so nice

Dove or sure deo, the cream one that's usually about a fiver and you put on at night
I buy in bulk off Amazon when it's on offer

Thanks for this, I have not tried Aldo's Norpack as I didn't want to be disappointed, but will now give it a go!

*Aldi, obvs!

Takeaways. I'm working on it though. There's hardly anything branded now that I'm loyal too. I still have pg tips tea but tbh sains red label tastes exactly the same

Diet Coke, Evian and Sacla pesto. Aldi pesto is disgusting, I don’t understand how it can taste so bad!

Ooh another one for when I am passing a Lidl! (None local, we have an Aldi)

Heinz salad cream and hellmans mayo!

Diet Coke is pretty much my last brand.

Aldi Norpack is almost as good as lurpack. Almost. Close enough to take the price saving!

M&S beans are rather nice ( I'm a bean snob too )

I’ve found m&s beans the best and they are only 50p per tin. They do a nice reduced sugar and salt version too.

I don't eat beans very often but yesterday I really fancied beans on toast & found the sauce really watery so given the current £1.40 cost for a tin of Heinz I'll be looking for an alternative!

For me it's tea bags I like green tea with a flavour & the twinnings are the only ones that I feel have any real flavour although any except lemon seem to be in scarce supply at the minute so I may need to shift my position.

I can’t compromise on coffee beans and chocolate, everything else is supermarket brands now.

I'm puzzled. How can one brand of butter have less butter than another brand of butter ?
Or are they contaminated with additives ?

Mitchum deodorant. I've never found anything that works as well. But it's bloody £3 a stick.

DH gets cheaper instant coffee now, but I haven't found a decaf for me any cheaper than Kenco, and that was a step down for me from L'or.

Fairy liquid, although Tesco always seems to have deals thankfully. Fairy dishwasher tabs as well. We went though a period of buying the cheap Tesco blocks but shortly after, the dishwasher went tits up and DH is sure that's what did it.

Mayo! I hate paying £4 for hellmans but the own brands are vile

We are still a Sure deodorant family, none of us will go for anything else. Had to wean the boys off Lynx and use that purely for fragrance as the price is ridiculous. Usually best price for it is Superdrug, it’s almost always on offer.

Heinz tomato ketchup, nothing else will do apparently. I’ve tried to fool them by decanting cheap into a Heinz bottle, no go.

And for me, Fairy liquid. I’ve tried all the others and while it is more expensive (unless on offer), it’s cheaper in the long run as a little goes such a long way.

Own brand coke is so gross. It is flat and funny tasting like cheap ice pops. Always have to have Pepsi max or coca cola zero.

Kids actually prefer asdas own wheat bisks to Weetabix.

But they prefer frosties to asdas own frosted flakes which taste stale . . . .

100% agree - much nicer than Lurpak and I loved Lurpak before