What do you not buy anymore because you’ve found a cheaper/better alternative?

[fateisdestined2025]

Cakes for me. Homemade cakes taste better.

Ooo what's a reverse image search?

Aldi's lash primer/mascara for 4.99, ditched my go to Lancome Hypnose for this as it is superb.

Home made jam and curd all the way, just made a batch of mango curd from some over ripe reduced ones and damson jam from a kilo of allotment fruit.

I make my own butter from double cream, doesn't last as long as shop bought but it is so much nicer.

That's great for mashed avocado but it's not guacamole. You forgot the chilli, lime, tomato and coriander!

I have too. I slice mine up and freeze it and just take out what I need (as there’s only me here now). It doesn’t have any preservatives in - it’s just flour, water and a bit of salt! - so I don’t think it would keep otherwise. It’s lovely, much nicer than shop bought.

When you see the google taskbar, to the right is a little camera image where you can drag an item/photo and it will show all internet searches with the same or similar picture. You can then see if you can buy it cheaper elsewhere. On my phone (Samsung) I can do it by clicking the eye symbol at the top of a photo -which I only discovered the other day! - of anything at any time (helped me discover what random plant was growing in my garden)!

My old hairdresser.

I don’t buy expensive perfume anymore. I’ve found so many alternatives that last longer - mainly Arab brands that offer oil based fragrances at a quarter of the price of my mainstream previous favourites.

Sorry I didn’t mean to quote you.

Seems absolutely sumptuous & so good for you
Thank you immensely for recommending 💚🤗💚

Make my own pizza sauce and pizza dough. Do a large batch and then freeze individual portions. Much nicer. Same with jar sauces like bolognese or chili con carne and fajita spice mixes etc can be easily made by mixing basic spices.
Aldi Rye sourdough is fab and as others have said aldi yeast Extract instead of marmite. In fact I think the only thing I buy that's branded is Maggi bake in oven spice mixes (but only when on offer) and marmite crisps for my fussy teen (again only when on offer)
Lidl cola is just as good as cocacola
Its definitely worth trying own brands if you usually buy branded. There's usually little difference

I will try to explain it - use what bread flour you want, if you use whole meal or rye add a little more water to allow it to absorb. I use 1 kg strong bread flour, usually a mix of whole meal and white, but any is fine. 2.5 tsp dried yeast, 2.5 tsp sugar, 2.5 tsp salt. 650 ml warm water. Put dry ingredients in a bowl and mix. Add water and stir with a spatula until incorporated. You need to add enough water so that the mix is firm but sticky and not really kneadable. Cover and leave in a warm place for 3-4 hours, every hour turn your mixture with your spatula about 6 times. It will rise well. After 3 or 4 hours, grease a bread tin, cake tin or tray and split your dough with a knife. Your dough will still be sticky, but if you wet your hands you can pick it up and shape it quickly and put in your tin ( or put bread rolls on a tray). Allow to rise , uncovered , in a warm place whilst you preheat your oven to 200. Then bake for 30- 40 minutes for loaves - 15-20 mins for rolls.

Aldi cleansing balm, it’s so good and as good as expensive brands like Elemis,

Also as a poster said above home made cakes, scones, hummus and guacamole. All taste better too!

Loads!
Moving to bags of popcorn kernels to pop ourselves in a saucepan. Sooo much nicer and loads cheaper. Easy once you get the knack and you can make smaller quantities.
Lidl for loads! I've gone to their toilet roll (I like the coconut oil one but not everyone's taste), their big bottle of Formil washing liquid is excellent and tonnes cheaper, skip fabric softener, love their jaffa cakes.
Lidl dupe face creams, shampoo, candles. Also a convert to their bar soap.
Their Nespresso compatible tabs are excellent! And I think £2.69 for 20 as opposed to £4+ per pack of 10. Their fake Azera instant coffee is very good as well.

I make my own granola. It’s cheaper, healthier and tastier. A batch lasts us about three weeks.

Pretty sure it's just called Amoretto!

I know! And the cumin and cayenne pepper too!

Thank you ! I will be giving this a go

I do this too. Much prefer it!!!

I do this too. Much prefer it!!!

It’s probably not quite what you were after, but I’ve recently had my gel nails removed. I did my own new set, with the light and gels I already have, and DM said you couldn’t tell the difference! So, I’m not paying for slightly shit ‘professional’ gel nails anymore.

Instead of £35 a month on that, I shall spend £7 or so on a new colour every month. I can do them more regularly too, so they won’t look rubbish and grown out half the time!

How do you remove them? That’s always been my problem

Large bags of raisins instead of little individual boxes. put them into a little lunch box for DS - I have small round ones I used for weaning that are perfect.

Throw a few rich tea biscuits in a zip lock, a peeled apple, brioche roll. Then his water bottle and babies smaller water bottle. Saves a fortune on snack when out.

I have a small cooler bag which I then also put a can of something for myself into as well and away we go.

Homemade bread, pizza, jam, granola. Also any pastry, sauces. I guess I try and minimise supermarket mark-up whilst buying the best quality (organic, but not necessarily branded) ingredients I can.

Grow and freeze as much fruit and veg as I can and buy seasonally from honesty stalls.

Meat in bulk from local organic and ethical farmers/hunters (for family, I'm veggie)

Tins, beans etc - own brand organic so the cheapest but I do sometimes go to a foreign foods stores to bulk buy herbs, spices, rice, tahini, coconut oil etc which usully works out better and much cheaper.

I made a decision a few years ago never to buy shop-bought desserts (ok, very rarely); either make my own (eg fruit crumble, meringue, sponge etc) or it's fruit/honey/yoghurt or fruit plain.

Waitrose oat biscuits - no palm oil and cheaper/better than branded. I am actually addicted and don't eat any other sorts of biscuits!

Honey from DHs bees (all supermarket honey tested independently contains sugar syrup so honey from beekeepers is the only sort worth the name)

Books 2nd hand or library. Clothes charity store, home-made or adapted.

A lot of the items mentioned could just not be bought, thereby saving money if that is the impetus. Like takeaways - we might get an excellent Indian once yearly.

Most UPFs to be honest. Cheaper to make your own food from scratch and you know what has gone in it. Own-brand recycled bog roll: I don’t care how luxurious my arsewipe is! Own brand bleach, generic paracetamol and ibuprofen, Boots version of antihistamines . . . The list of cheap stuff I buy is endless. Have just restarted sourdough as sick of spending a fortune on decent bread.

Just about to make this. No UPFs. I slice and freeze it after the first day or it’s still good for toast after two days.
www.joskitchenlarder.com/easy-wholemeal-bread-recipe/