To not have a clue what Shop Well For Less is on about?

[Miladymilord]

She's got a decent pair of curtains. Why would you buy another cheaper pair? How does that save money? The kids have a football goal. Why would you buy another, crappier, cheaper one when you've already got one? HOW IS THAT SAVING MONEY. This programme is giving me the rage.

They would probably need to save for the whole house as by the time they get around to actually saving they. will be too old for a .mortgage

I can’t take it seriously as Alex jones earns £450k a year and Steph McGovern is on a six figure salary. It’s just not credible. What do they know about shopping on a budget?

Last week they had a woman buying an outfit second hand online and her husband in an outfit from Asda. When was the last time either of them did that?

although - Tablets, yeah lets switch your high spec tablet for a Fire?

Haha - just had similar convo with DH. Bloody ridiculous!

I think this must have been the daft programme I caught a bit of last week. Is Alex Jones in it? I thought “why are they telling them to buy cheap household things when they’ve already got those things?” Granted, I wouldn’t pay £90 for a kettle but she’s got it now- so why do they need the supermarket one?
Same with the handbag - I’m sorry but I wouldn’t buy a dirt cheap handbag because the chances are it won’t last. That doesn’t mean I wouldn’t get a high street one, I always have done, but I have one that cost me £90 in a half price sale and the leather and workmanship is excellent- it will last years. Oh, and the suggestion that the husband takes a nail technician course to paint all their nails, really?! 🤣
Just don’t have your feckin nails done every week then- professionally painted nails are not a necessity in life 🤣🤣

I get where they're coming from, even if it's done clumsily.

However I've just cancelled my gym membership and Netflix and downgraded my sky deal and saved nearly £800 a year just while sitting on my sofa watching the programme!

So, point made and cash flow created for me £££

I did think last week that the lady would never buy second hand clothes again. The teen accepted that cheaper brands can be stylish, but that’s about it. In the food version, the mantra is to try one level down, ie. luxury to own brand, own brand to value etc, and they should accept a similar concept here. Luxury to second hand is too much of a leap.

Luxury to second hand is too much of a leap. but its the same thing, just pre-owned
if you must have brand names, then why not buy secondhand?

I love this programme for some reason - I like it when they suddenly realise that spending £££ in hundreds of pairs of designer jeans has (dum dum dum) cost them loads of money!

They do make the point on the programme that some stuff is worth spending more on. I’d like them to do a follow up and see if anyone actually saves money long term.

It's not hard to see how savings of £000s can be made when people are wasting up to £20,000 a year on designer shite. They should come to mine. I spend £30 every two years on one pair of trainers and shop for my clothes in charity shops. Can't remember the last time i had my hair done. Tell me how I can shop well for less.

Oh, and the suggestion that the husband takes a nail technician course to paint all their nails, really?!

That was his tongue in cheek idea and they took him at his word. I quite liked that bit.

I like it - it does seem a bit silly when you are talking about stuff they already own, but in fairness everything breaks eventually and you either automatically buy the same thing again or you shop around and look at cheaper options.

I do think a lot of this is aimed at people who never shop around. I'm not sure how many of these people exist.

I loved the eldest kid and the deodorant that hurts his armpit! I found the parents frustrating. Your kids will still have a great childhood with one holiday a year instead of 3. Or even one every other, with trips to Spain in between would still be a lot more than many children get!

I do think the adding up is a crock though, our house's contents RRP would be nothing like what we actually paid.

@Atlantea I understand that, but garden equipment, curtains and camping gear isn't really the sort of stuff you replace very often is it?

I think the programme would be better focusing on what practical things they can do now to save real money in a savings account.

They're trying to raise £40k for a deposit on a house that will probably cost £500k by the time they've saved up. And that's only a 10% deposit, it seems mad to think that they have no savings yet want to buy a house costing so much.

I think the programme format would work better by encouraging these families to sell their surplus trainers and designer clothes, reduce their weekly shop, stop taking 4 holidays a year and start cycling to work - at least they'd have some cold hard cash in their pocket at the end of it!

It's a real social commentary though isn't it? Some people are so wrapped up in a consumer lifestyle that even though they could afford to, they don't own the roof over their own heads.

I felt sorry for them. I think they thought steph was going to buy them a house! They looked so crestfallen when she said she'd found another rental round the corner! Clearly thats what they had to do, but no, let's go through this ridiculous charade about camp beds. And I felt sorry for that poor kid and his hair gel!

Fucking stupid.

I watched it last week and said exactly the same to my DH. Stupid pointless show.

The show is not expecting them to forgo what they already have, it is giving them the experience of using unbranded or cheaper items to try and change their thinking and future purchases.
The way they show potential savings is daft through!!!!
This must have been one of the more frustrating families they have worked with, there wasn't much commitment to buying a house! If they were really serious they would be in a smaller rental house, avoiding designer brands and not going on expensive holidays!!!!!

I think it's insulting to families who really are struggling. I could have sorted those finances in no time!

Also why not let them stay in a rental? What rental doesn't let you dig in the garden?? Honestly - they are going to struggle to buy anywhere so why not enjoy life while they can? They weren't badly off.

Eat Well For Less works much better as a concept, I think.

We turned it of. I just didn't get it???

I enjoy laughing (gently) at the fools taken in by all the 'branding' and the fact that no-one can tell the items apart in the street.

Agree that on the big things the money is spent, gone and there's no "saving" to be made. But on last night's when they took away the iPads and gave them each a much cheaper tablet, they specifically asked whether would consider the cheaper ones when they were next buying tablets. Things like cosmetics, shampoo and clothes you're buying a lot more often.

It's about changing mindset, lots of people default to the most expensive being the best and that's not always the case. I do wonder how much change there really is though, especially in the image obsessed people who are trying to preserve their youth.

On the plus side, a couple of weeks ago they swapped expensive aftershave for cheap Lidl stuff at £4 a bottle - got some for DH and he loves it!

I said exactly the same to my sister last night!!! Like yeah you already have a £100 kettle that works fine and has years of life left in it but here's a £20 kettle!! Why would you get someone to throw away perfectly good stuff to buy cheaper!! I can totally get on board with the food version Cos I'm gonna need bread next week and will buy a cheaper offering but this programme makes no sense at all.

I'd prefer a presenter who's been there and done it in terms of saving money not those two over paid over pampered presenters. Although I do quite like the blonde one.

That programme irritates me. I wonder how long some of the cheaper stuff lasts. For instance the clothes, do they bobble faster, how well do they wash, do they go mishapen. Also stuff like the cheap garden forks. I had a cheap one before and bent the metal when digging out something particularly tough. And the handle fell off. Next time I went for something a bit more expensive which is a lot more robust.
Also irritates me when they try products out. When you normally buy something you don't get to try different ones. You can't blow up all the inflatable air beds in the shop just to try them out.

@PiperPublickOccurrences either Lidl or Aldi (I never know which one) do a ladies perfume called Madame Glamour, it's about £4 and it smells gorgeous!