To think there's nothing wrong with own brand stuff?

[AverageGayLad]

Was in the supermarket earlier and a woman asked her friend to get her some butter - but "a brand, none of that cheap shite".

What is wrong with own brand? :( Sometimes/Mostly that's all I can afford! Isn't it all the same food anyway?

I used to live off own brand, then got to be a bit of a brand snob when I was earning more, but then quickly realised how much I saved and how much things didn't even taste differently.

Only things I MUST buy branded are:
Tomato Sauce and Mayo
Cereals
Butter (Lurpack)
Crisps

Jess and Portia Depends on the season, of course. Should courgettes prove to be unavailable, there are always carrots, parsnips and cucumbers to consider.

Mybreadiseggy I get mine for £7.99 a sack of 600 in B & M. I so wish we had an Aldi round here (I like the gin)

Grumpy I love B&M too!! We don't have one where I live (although we do have a home bargains which is on par with B&M) - I always go to B&M when I visit my mum just to buy a shit ton of biscuits

cornishfoodmarket.co.uk/shop/product/P-RVEG239
My ogasm market

I buy nearly all own brand stuff and some Basics ranges.

The only brands I buy are:

Green Giant sweetcorn
De Cecco pasta
Nescafe Alta Rica
Hellman's mayonnaise
HP sauce
Heinz ketchup
Fairy Liquid
Carrs biscuits for cheese
Cheese from the cheesemongers but only on special occasions. Otherwise I just eat Sainsbury's cheddar.

I've recently switched to Sainsbury's own baked beans which I find the same as Branston and prefer to Heinz. When I next buy ketchup I'm going to try Sainsbury's own.

Yanbu.

I buy organic dairy products (sometimes not available in own brand)

Branded ketchup (but NOT Heinz)

Some branded toiletries and cleaning products (eco brand)

And a few other branded things where there simply isn't an own brand alternative eg low salt stock cubes, fair trade decaf tea

Everything else is supermarket brand unless the brand is cheaper - although we do buy quite a bit of Finest / Taste the Difference / Extra Special.

Some of the supermarket premium wine especially Waitrose and Saintsbury's, is excellent.

Has anyone found a decent extra light mayo? Tried the Lidl one and it was too watery. I like the Hellmann's lighter than light but always looking for a bargain.

I'm not fussed about brands to be honest, although baked beans is always Heinz. Not that we eat them that often anyway.

I do buy brands of ethnic foods because I can get them cheaper and better if I stock up in ethnic supermarkets. But I can't tell you the brand names. Often I can't read the label and someone has to help.

My favourite was reaching for a brand of nam pla that Delia Smith had recommended and the boy next to me said: 'I don't mean to be rude, but all the white people buy that. My mum buys this one. It's cheaper and better. and you get loads more.'

One half the label is in Thai and has a picture of a squid and the other one has the same squid with Squid Brand Fish Sauce. This is it

My DF used to work at a large Scottish drinking water company. Got in big trouble one day for putting Tesco labels on their 'own' bottles.....same water in every bottle though!!!

Doggity Tescos do a really good one apparently :)

I buy own brand a lot, particularly if it's organic dairy.

My own brand list is:

Loo roll
Laundry liquid
Organic stuff (diary, eggs, whole foods (quinoa, flour etc)

I always buy:

Fairy washing up liquid as it lasts longer
Jackson's bread - cos it's epic
Branded liquid soap because it lasts longer
Ben & Jerrys icecream because I don't like anything else
Proper Nutella, whole earth peanut butter /almond butter
Yorkshire Tea
Taylor's of Harrogate coffee

Everything else: usually one brand from waitrose ,Tesco, Morrison's and Aldi. I don't really ship in Adds or Lidle.

Oh, hellmans. It has to be Hellmans.

Cheers Average. :) I shall try their light mayonnaise and report back. The full fat supermarket branded ones are fine but I eat a lot of mayonnaise and my metabolism ain't what it used to be.

Branded liquid soap because it lasts longer

The most absolutely gorgeous liquid soap I have come across is Waitrose Essentials ginger and clementine fragrance. It is just as lovely as expensive stuff from places like Molton Brown.

www.waitrose.com/shop/DisplayProductFlyout?productId=498467

I mean Palmolive etc..I stock up on it when it's £1. Wouldn't waste my money on the aspirational stuff. It's my birthday next week and I know DH is going to "surprise" me with Molton Brown bath stuff. I've still got his Christmas stash left over because it dries my skin.

I'm off to do a very low budget food shop

If you find any gems not mentioned ^AverageGayLad* do come back and let us know

Yanbu, i buy 99% unbranded. The only things i buy branded are coke, green giant sweetcorn tins and heinz tomato soup. Everything else is own brand and tbh i don't notice any difference.

If i found things that tasted the same why would i pay more?!

My mum and dad are the same, so they probably influenced me in that respect. i was once in the shop with my dad and bought a share bag of buttons WHEN THEY WEREN'T ON OFFER, so maybe £1.70 instead of £1. My dad was like 'who do ya think yer are girl? Bloody rockerfeller?!'

Everything I buy is own brand expect coke. I love saving money

Same as me TwentyCups. I really like my food, but I also love saving money. I am addicted to buying reduced food and I won't pay £8 for a fillet steak when I can get it for £5.

The brands that I do buy are the ones that taste better to me after I've tried the own brand or the Basics version.

I fritter money away on other things though

I buy ham and salami from the deli because it's nicer than pre-sliced supermarket stuff or reven the stuff from their deli counter. The shop sells a brand of tinned beans - flageolet, cannellini etc - called Daucy and it is better than Sainsbury's. But not enough for me. Same with Cirio tomatoes. They are better but I still buy Sainsbury's standard ones. I won't buy Napolina because they're not as good as Cirio and I can't tell the difference from Sainsbury's, even though they cost more.

Birdseye chicken melts reduced to £1.40 each from £3.50!

Bag of boneless, skinless salmon fillets (How I like them ) for £2.50!

Two huge packs of tortellini, so four meals, £2.50!

For me it's all about why pay more in a supermarket.
Occasionally offers mean that a branded item is less, but after the offer is over I have never been tempted to buy it again, which must say something. I'm vegetarian so no worries about quality of cheap meat.

My favourite aisle for a good laugh is the tinned tomatoes. Hmm nepolitina? Or 30p a tin for smart price? It's all the same
should get out more realky

Twenty I did that with the tinned spaghetti! £1.50 or 17p?