To ask you about your brand swaps?

[LiteraryDevil1]

Single mum here looking to save money on my food and household shop. What big brands have you successfully swapped for store own ones?

(We are veggie and shop at Tesco for the main shop and the local Asda for bits inbetween or good offers. I don't drive so shop with someone else so I can get a lift and they shop at Tesco. I buy a lot of Tesco own brand stuff already. )

I found a good swap this morning: strawberry jelly in the chilled section of Asda. It was 80p for 4 pots which is much better than the £1.29 from the health shop which you have to make yourself. Admittedly it's not something we have often and it's not as nice as the health shop one but it will be a good alternative for the kids.
I usually buy Vimto but only on offer however it doesn't last long so will revert back to concentrated juice from the supermarket which lasts a couple of weeks.

Last time I looked Aldi didn't have the range of Quorn and vegetarian frozen products that we buy, no tofu, no maple syrup, no gluten free, dairy free products and fruit used to go off very quickly. Also had off milk even though in date so it put me off. We don't like their cereals or fromage frais either. I don't buy ready made cooking sauces as I make them from scratch but when I did I bought Tesco or Asda versions.

My main branded things are cereals, tea, juice, laundry detergent and fabric softener, shampoo, conditioner, loo roll, shower gel, and most toiletries.

jelly costs about 40p and some boiling water, and that way you waste less plastic. real veg cheaper than fakey veg meat crap.

if you have dairy and gluten allergies then aldi not the place even if you could get there.

I bought Asda own brand crab sticks yesterday and they weren't very nice, but then Young's once aren't great either, as they're very sweet.

The best ones are from Costco - can you use Costco at all OP? Not everything is cheaper than supermarkets so you have to work out what is, but most things they sell are excellent quality. Toilet roll is very cheap for branded.

When sticking to Asda and Tesco, get as much as possible on offer, even if it's not your usual brand and stock up if you have the money/space. If you do it right, you'll never pay full price, as there's always a shampoo etc on offer.

Tesco:
Teabags
Cheeses
Bacon (but it isn’t as good as Denny)
Washing powder
Actually everything except mayo.

We are vegetarian so don't eat regular jelly. Also real veg is not better than "fake meat crap" as isn't a protein source.

Don't eat fish either. Costco is about 10 miles away down the motorway so no, can't get there.

Our also sells tofu, maple syrup (2x versions) and has a whole gluten free section.
And I’m sure the millions of people buying milk each week from Aldi don’t have it go off. You’ve just been unlucky. This could happen with Waitrose milk!!
Great, you make sauces from scratch- Aldi sell tomatoes, purée, spices, passatta. Herbs...
Maybe you should take antother trip there if you’re serious about saving money

I think pp are being harsh on the op about her being limited to Asda and Tesco. I am also limited to those 2.... unless I want to drive 30mins at the weekend with the kids in tow to get to Morrisons, Costco, farmfoods, aldi, Lidl, Iceland. Maybe the OP is one of my neighbours?!

OP, how many days do you use meat substitute/veg alternatives and how many days other protein sources (pulses, nuts, eggs)? Would that lower your bill?

fair point, didnt realise that jelly still had animal products, assumed it was all lab made like most sweets.

no jelly then if you can only get it in planet poluting pots.

and you can get protein from vegetable sources.

Thank you special but I didn't ask for anyone to criticise the packaging of my food
I'm on a low FODMAP and vegan diet so is quite difficult to shop without worrying about packaging.

stuff the planet and pay more.

very mn. Good luck. may everyone's kids forgive them for the mess.

I buy Asda's own cereal (chocolate pillows and Weetabix), microwavable rice, yoghurts, farmhouse bread, juice, tinned sweetcorn (and most tinned veg to be honest) and frozen mash. I'm not a fan of Tesco so can't advise on theirs I'm afraid.

I’ve swapped to smol mail order detergent and love it

Special wind your neck in ffs. One pack of 4 veggie jellies once a month or less

The Indian section does pulses and spices much cheaper than the standard veg and spices aisle.

I find asda cheaper than Tesco. Defo switch to own brand cereal and loo rolls (shades).

I'm not a fan of aldi either, all shops would be cheap if they only had one choice of items and restricted that to an obscure brand. I do like browsing their Special Buys though! (Lidl is bit better due to bakery).

There are some things I always prefer to buy brand names for: heinz baked beans, kleenex boxed tissues, blitz kitchen roll, chocolate, Yorkshire tea.

This is just going to be a thread full of people banging on about Aldi and maybe Lidl.
Have you thought about online shopping?

Don't actually find Aldi cheaper than any other own brand. Only cheaper than brands.

special, most jelly based things have animal gelatine in, some have beef gelatine, only a few have vegetarian/vegan setting agents (probably fruit pectin) such as M&S veggie Percy Pigs and Colin Caterpillars. Finding non animal based jelly things is difficult.

Toad Asda, M&S, and Tesco do a good range of veggie jelly sweets now. I'm a sugar fiend 😁

I sometimes shop online but my shopping trip is a social thing with the person I go with and we both enjoy it.

I bought Tesco own brand tampons last week so will see how they compare to Tampax (but only when at home as not risking going out until I'm happy there's no risk of leaks ). They were something like 80p instead of over £2.

I haven't ever looked at the Asda sweets, Literary, usually just get the M&S ones although the Colins have a weird aftertaste, and now you have reminded me I have bought vegan ones from Tesco but not for me, I don't like our local Tesco so tend not to go there much. I prefer Sainsburys these days but not looked at theirs either. I do like wine gums, if there are any veggie ones about, but no sweeteners.

As for the OPs question, I buy own brand unperfumed panty liners, not bought Tesco ones but Morrisons and Sainsburys are OK, not the softest but they are useful for wearing with trousers that have awkward seams. Very cheap compared to branded ones.

Own brand beans, pasta and sliced value bread or Tesco do a kind of longer lasting one which keeps for longer than the cheapie one. Value oats. Fake Nobbly Bobblies.

You buy fabric softener?

What's wrong with fabric softener..?