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Original poster

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

150 replies

Miladymilord · 19/09/2018 20:44

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.

OP posts:
0hCrepe · 20/09/2018 07:54

Yes! Have 2 electric toothbrush bases and 4 heads- what so throw 2 away then?
Did like he head holders that stick to the wall though- ordered some- whoops!

0hCrepe · 20/09/2018 07:55

And Steph seems to only wear clothes with lips on! First it was a black sweatshirt with lips on, then a black shirt with lips on with a red jumper over the top, with lips on!

grumiosmum · 20/09/2018 07:59

I watched about 5 minutes of this last night where they were touting around hideous orange velvet cushions. The cheap one from Matalan won. Even I could see (without touching it) that it was nasty looking & synthetic, but they went to a naff shopping centre & people with no taste said they liked it the best. Including a security guard who I am sure is a lovely guy but has never given a moment's thought to fucking cushions.

Thelastredwinegum · 20/09/2018 08:00

I lîked the Dad who did the nails last week 😂

mateysmum · 20/09/2018 08:05

This show give me the rage. I realise they are just trying to make these families alter their future spending habits, but seriously..... These supposedly educated couples want everything. They want the designer goods and a house and expensive holidays all from some magic money tree.
I could help them in a very short programme called "Don't buy it - you can't afford it". They say they are desperate for their own home, but oh no, we couldn''t possibly give up the £5k a year we spend on holidays.
All this bollocks about how their kids are their world, but they won't provide them with one of the most fundamental things - financial security and a guaranteed roof over their heads. That trip to Disney World was so much more important.
Will the last brain sell to leave please switch off the light.

PiperPublickOccurrences · 20/09/2018 08:12

it's about choices though, isn't it? They chose not to save when they were paying a mortgage and had two incomes, so when the shit hit the fan they had to sell their house.

Now they are choosing the holidays, cars and expensive coffee machine over saving a deposit for a house. That's a valid choice to make, but you can't then complain about not being able to do both.

I was also shocked how totally unrealistic they were about what a mortgage actually cost. Although that was based on a £400k house which seems very steep - although they clearly weren't prepared to compromise on that either.

BasicUsername · 20/09/2018 08:25

Totally agree, it's nonsense.

Showing them the cheaper things that they could have bought on items they already own is daft.

I think it would be a better program if they didn't have such stupid people on them.

Why not work with a normal family buying mainly mid range items, and show them how to make savings. It's too easy when people are buying 20k kitchens and expensive brands on credit cards.

HSMMaCM · 20/09/2018 08:26

I love it when they say "how many pairs of shoes do you have?" And she says "5" and then looks surprised when it's actually 32 or something. Seriously. How can you not know you have more than 10?

lalaloopyhead · 20/09/2018 08:31

I can see what they are trying to do with it but it just really work because of the swap thing - I suppose the idea is that it makes us the viewer think about cheaper alternatives.

What gets my goat is that a, these people don't think to themselves that one of the reasons they can't afford their own home is because they have been on 11 holidays in the last 4 years, and b, when this is pointed out to them they say 'But I love my holidays I don't want to give them up' - well there you go, that's fine but you can't have it all love!

LeftRightCentre · 20/09/2018 08:33

And then you get the presenter saying, 'Wow, I had no idea mortgages cost so much these days.' FFS. It's a stupid programme.

Meckity1 · 20/09/2018 08:40

I didn't realise that this was on again. I usually watch it with my son (coming up 12) so that he has the chance to make informed choices. Sometimes cheaper isn't always better, but sometimes you have got to stop and think.

I always think that eg the kettle isn't going to help the family shown that week, but it may help those about to buy a kettle. It's a useful show for those who are about to start setting budgets, not those who have already made the mistakes.

And there is an element of 'car crash tv' as those without a shopping habit can feel a little smugness as the obligatory 300 pairs of shoes is trotted out. (I have a shopping habit, so I can't feel too smug)

SoupDragon · 20/09/2018 08:44

but i think they are on about making smarter choices in the future

Exactly this. It’s at proving to them that they don’t need to buy expensive items all the time.

Did they even mention that they shouldn't go on 3 holidays a year??

Yes, several times.

MyRelationshipIsWeird · 20/09/2018 08:48

The airbed test was utterly pointless. Trying a poorly inflated expensive mattress and saying "ooh no, not this one" and then an overinflated mid price one that is 'too hard' - lo and behold, the Goldilocks one was somewhere in between!

IME every air bed I've ever bought has ended up with a puncture. A better test would be to get reviews on how the beds fared after a year or two of regular use.

Glad it wasn't just me that found it irritating. DP and I are talking about moving in together and he is much higher earner than I am. I thought that watching this might make a few subtle points, but I ended up just exasperated that they were too dim to see where their money went and were too stubborn to give up anything to try and save money! The one thing he took from it is that his spending on books is £0 per year so he's doing well! (he does buy himself audio books, but I don't think there is a single actual book in his house at least I won't have to find him space on the bookshelf Grin )

The clothing/bedding etc, a wash and wear test would've been better - his cheap polo shirt looked a bit shit because it was too tight, but if they could have shown how they both looked after a few washed it would have been a better test and probably shown that the more expensive ones last better. DP has bought me some designer tops from an outlet store in the US when he's away on business and they are so much better quality than my usual Primark/Tesco stuff. No way I could justify the money, but I can see why people do.

SoupDragon · 20/09/2018 08:51

With the air beds, they blew them and the left them with weights on over night didn’t they? So, the one that was “poorly inflated” had actually lost air.

BackInTime · 20/09/2018 08:54

Also gives me the rage. You do not need to go on a TV show to be told that there are cheaper kettles available. I think the show would do better to focus on budgeting, saving and not falling into the trap of buying so much stuff. Also the psychology and reasons behind spoiling kids and giving them everything they ask for to make them happy.

The food one is better but it annoys me that they show a range of alternatives from lots of different supermarkets. Who the hell has time to is go to 5 different supermarkets for their weekly shop?

Original poster
Miladymilord · 20/09/2018 08:55

Those cheap trainers were minging. His horrible hoodie was minging. The cheap garden fork is a false economy. The Outwell airbed was clearly the best but they just blew it up too much otherwise it would have made a mockery of the concept.

Contrived, stupid, dangerous bollocks. Yes dangerous, becuae it just encourages people to spend! Look at this thread! Its basically advertising under the guise of a TV show.

I've probably got books in my house which, if you added up the cost price, would have cost thousands. They are worth fuck all now though so what's the point of pointing that out?

OP posts:
Original poster
Miladymilord · 20/09/2018 08:55

Oh and the goal!! Wtaf. It was too small! They had a perfectly good one!

OP posts:
Zampa · 20/09/2018 08:59

I think it's mostly instructive for the viewer. I wouldn't have thought that the cheapest electric toothbrush would have the best plaque removal for example.

And there is an element of 'car crash tv' as those without a shopping habit can feel a little smugness as the obligatory 300 pairs of shoes is trotted out I always felt like this about Eat Well for Less until I totted up what we spent over 3 months (between DH and I we'd been to a supermarket 85 times in that period). We're now far more careful!

SoupDragon · 20/09/2018 09:00

so what's the point of pointing that out?

Because they could have read most of them free of charge and not spent the money in the first place.

Original poster
Miladymilord · 20/09/2018 09:01

I think it's mostly instructive for the viewer. I wouldn't have thought that the cheapest electric toothbrush would have the best plaque removal for example

And a manual toothbrush is even cheaper and just as good if you know how to use it properly.

Instructive??!! It's so contrived!!

OP posts:
JaneJeffer · 20/09/2018 09:02

I just watched the beginning and had to switch it off because if you can't understand that going off on extensive holidays will use up your money then you don't deserve help!

Original poster
Miladymilord · 20/09/2018 09:04

Because they could have read most of them free of charge and not spent the money in the first place

But as they have, and I think we'd all agree books are a lovely addition to a house, then what's the point? If steph had found somewhere where they could have sold them and converted them to cash then fine.

Lots of my books are 30 years old +!

OP posts:
MyRelationshipIsWeird · 20/09/2018 09:06

With the air beds, they blew them and the left them with weights on over night didn’t they? So, the one that was “poorly inflated” had actually lost air. Yes, but if the end stopper thing wasn't in properly, if that particular one had a leak etc it would have been a problem. I'm pretty sure that they wouldn't be able to keep selling them at that price if every one had lost air overnight. My cheapo Argos ones would have held up the first/second time they were used, but every single one has ended up in the bin at a campsite somewhere!

raisedbyguineapigs · 20/09/2018 09:07

They did say last week, don't buy new stuff, but this is just to show you that the most expensive isn't the best! i think to the woman who had 3 hoovers! To be fair, I have 2 Dysons. One I bought with John Lewis vouchers from my wedding 13 years ago and one my neighbour was throwing out Hmm
Also, some of the people in previous programmes were still buying stuff, so there might have been no point buying cheaper trainers, but they were buying designer trainers every month, sometimes when they hadnt even taken the 'old' pair out of the box! I think a load of their stuff got sold nearly new on ebay! I think most of the families shown were lost causes anyway. They are there as a prop to show other people that designer doesn't necessarily mean best. There were at least 2 families this year that will never change and weren't taking it seriously at all, despite their sob stories for the telly as to why they need to save money!

mumofmunchkin · 20/09/2018 09:11

Yes! So glad I'm not the only one who gets the rage watching this. I enjoy eat well for less (even if their changes would involve going to 24681351 different shops to do your weekly shop), but this one drives me up the wall. Why go for these tactics, why not sit down with the family and explore expenditure, ways to lessen it and improve budgeting overall, and make the best use of what they have rather than buying more, rather than going for the shock tactics.