To ask your suggestions what it's ok to cheap out on?

[lettymoo]

I recently saw a thread about things it's worth spending more on to get better quality, but I was hoping to start a discussion about what things it makes absolutely no difference at all with and the lowest priced versions are just as good.

Some of the things I'll buy the cheapest/value version of include:
painkillers
medications
tortilla chips
cleaning products (although I'm starting to wonder about this)
printer paper
disposable razors
cotton wool pads

Would love to hear your suggestions!

Sorry I just can't cheap out on razors. Tried it once and never ever again. I do try buy the ones on special offer though. Things I will buy cheapest on are;

Tinned tomatoes
Rice (fine if I rinse with boiled water after cooking)
Bacon
Baked beans
Cereal (I only eat bran flakes anyway and they are the same all over)

There's probably a lot of things that I don't consider cheaping out that other people would? Like I only ever buy supermarket brand cleaning products, washing up liquid etc.

I find some cheaper products are better than more expensive. Astonish cleaning products are for example much better than cillit bang, flash and so on. So although they're cheaper I don't feel like I'm cheaping out.

I also buy some things in bulk so although they're good quality, the price per lb works out cheaper. For example basmati rice from the Asian food shop works out cheap if you buy a 5kg bag of it, but they have good quality brands, so again I suppose that's not really cheaping out. Ditto a sack of potatoes from the grocer. All locally grown and all that bollocks but cheaper than buying individual kilo bags from the supermarket.

Real dirt cheap things I'll get and don't feel like I'm missing out: dried pasta (I honestly think there isn't such a thing as 'high quality' dried pasta anyway so why pay more?); tinned chopped tomatoes (add a little puree and you get a rich enough taste); porridge (it's literally just oats and you cook it to a mush anyway); fizzy water (meh, it's carbonated water and doesn't really taste of anything); shit beige food like waffles, fish fingers, nuggets etc - again, nothing in this category is ever going to be high quality); frozen peas, spinach and sweetcorn (can't taste any difference, again hardly a gourmet foodstuff); tinned chickpeas and beans (these are literally all the same products, surely?).

Pasta
Tinned tomatoes
Wipes
I'm not really a brand snob but OH really sticks his nose up at it...doesnt really say anything but have noticed that he never really eats anything that I buy from Aldi. He prefers his brands. OH once brought cushell 18 pack loo roll for £10...i asked for the receipt and returned it and brought 3x 18 rolls from farmfoods

I disagree about kitchen roll. The cheaper stuff is thinner so you just have to use more.
Re. cheap cleaning products, same can be true if you need to use more, but it probably varies by brand.
Totally agree about cheap tablets and generic versions of medication. I have occasionally bought tablets that were too hard to swallow, but that's just a bit of trial and error.

Some of the value food in supermarkets can even be nicer, again it's just trial and error to find out what's acceptable for you. Start with the cheapest and see if you need to go up.
I personally like Heinz beans and find other types too chewy, but some people like the chewiness.

"Cereal"

Disagree. Supermarket own brand cereals are fine. The own brands don't exist for everything yet though.

"Basic veg, eg onions, carrots, peppers, courgettes, cabbage etc etc."

How can these be branded or not???

I’ve bought Gold Blend coffee for the last 25 years or more, but now they’ve changed the taste and I’m not prepared to pay what they want for it nowadays, even on offer.

This coffee from Home Bargains is only £2.29 for 190g and I quite like it - I’ve been stocking up!

With tinned tomatoes I can definitely tell the difference with the value ones - they seem to contain far more of the tomato cores, which I dislike. I stick up on the nice ones when they’re half price.

Disagree on pasta sauce - Sacla all the way for me!

I rarely buy anything branded, I do all my shopping at aldi including baby items like nappies, wipes and formula and I save a fortune! the only thing I buy branded is when I occasionally have a fizzy drink it has to be coca cola

@Gwenhwyfar

Just like anything else...!

Rooster potatoes, Florette salad leaves, and three tiers of supermarket own brand e.g. Sainsburys basics, Sainsburys, and Taste The Difference.

Buy wonky veg and fruit all the time and value flour, own brand cooking margarine, cheapest caster and icing sugar. Buy value biscuits apart from Mcvites jaffa cakes chocolate digestives. Can't taste the difference between Sainsbury's red label teabags and Tetleys but the price difference is huge. Buy cleaning stuff that is on offer or Astonish brand as that seems just as good. Buy own brand loo roll but buy Plenty kitchen towel only when on offer and keep a stock. Buy own brand frozen peas as well unless Birds Eye are on offer at a comparable price.
Buy Napolina tomatoes because value ones are nasty and Branston beans (both generally cheap in Iceland), always buy Fairy liquid because cheaper versions are a false economy and Heinz tomato soup because I've never found an alternative I like as much and Lenor fabric conditioner because the others clog the drawer in my machine. Everything else I'm happy to go with the best value really.

Snuffalo I do not know how your hands cope with washing up liquid as soap! I can't even wash up without gloves and even some liquid hand soap dries me out! What about if you have guests with eczema or sensitive skin?
I buy all shops own brand products except chocolate powder for hot chocolate. I don't buy the basics unless is flour or something equally boring.

Most stuff I buy is cheaper own brand, I use butter because I refuse to pay for Lurpack these days, but only found one own brand I didn't like. I used to not compromise on San pro, only always but had to buy some co-op own brand in an emergency and although not the cheapest own brand, I really couldn't tell the difference. I've bought some Aldi ones to try, the ones packaged similar to always but about a 3rd of the price. I don't know if they'll be any good but worth a try.
My dad was a huge brand snob, regardless of funds, and refused to eat anything but Heinz beans. Mum bought a few tins of Heinz and then loads of own brand and a bottle of Heinz ketchup. She used cheap beans and added ketchup, and kept the Heinz tins, and hid the empty own brand ones, so he thought they were Heinz, then fished them out the bin and did it all over again. He never knew, or never complained anyway.
I think it's down to personal preference, I've tried a lot of things and converted.

With pasta, i read years ago that it's essential to always buy pasta with durum wheat. So I buy the cheapo ones if they are using durum wheat and do find they are fine.

Have largely stopped buying cheap toilet paper. Quality is ok but it gets used up way too quickly. So keep eye for specials.

Will never go back to branded dishwasher tabs from the lidl ones. They are better and cheaper.

My ds gets through so much ketchup that I switched from Heinz to supermarket own brand. Its fine.

I've started doing our full weekly shop in Lidl after Ocado-gate and to be honest the only thing that any of us could tell the difference with that their fresh chicken thighs are very small, the fish is a bit mushy, and their own-brand ketchup is too sharp. Almost everything else of their own brand is indistinguishable or better (the pastel de nata are amazing, sourdough boule excellent, big tubs of own-brand greek yoghurt are the best you can get anywhere IMO).

I tried out some of their cleaning stuff, Formil, W5 and the like all seem great and I can't tell the difference except for Viakal, nothing seems to work as well as Viakal. Any suggestions welcome.

I'm particular about pasta and I must admit I wasn't convinced about swapping a good brand dried pasta for supermarket's own. But then my on-line delivery replaced my branded pasta with its own make owing to "shortages" and we honestly couldn't tell the difference between them; to our surprise it was just as good! I assume they replace things from time to time just to get you to try new stuff. It's probably all made in the same factory anyway and it's just the packaging you are paying extra for!

I loathe to say it because I can't stand Greg Wallace and his sidekick/love-child, but That Eat Well For Less programme (known in our household as More Money Than Sense) does make the good point that we all get very lazy shopping and buy the same brands year after year just because... .

With cleaning materials though, rather than swapping brands, I think it's more just a case of just buying a very few of them. I manage with shed-loads of industrial vinegar, bicarb and the odd bottle of all purpose Ajax!

Yes, was going to say, agree with pp that I think you get what you pay for wrt tinned tomatoes though!

Waitrose's version of Nutella is nicer than the real thing!

Cheap
Flour
Painkillers
Cotton wool pads
Weetabix
Tea bags (Sainsbury's Basics. Other cheap tea bags are too weak)
Soap powder
Loo roll (the expensive stuff blocks up the loos; and the kids waste it)
Scent(Perfume Parlour dupes)
Scented candles (bulk from Aldi)
Tinned cat food (I do draw the line at Wiskas)

Non-compromises
Bin bags
Dry cat food (Madam will only eat Royal Canin for Bengals)
Tonic water
Lemons (cheap ones have too many pips. Natoora ones from Ocado taste amazing in a G&T)
Naan bread
Tinned tomatoes
Crunchy Nut Cornflakes
Pasta (bronze cut varieties hold the sauce better)

WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll

Er, given the amount of research you've done, sparkling water must be very important to you!

Agree re pasta - except Waitrose own brand pasta which isn't very good.
Can only drink full fat real Coke but can drink any brand (or non brand) of other fizzy drinks.
Absolutely not re razors - and even the branded ones aren't consistent. The last two packs of Gillette Blue II I've bought have been very sub-standard.

I miss the days of our quarterly fag run booze cruise to France as I would stock up on Carrefour own brand eye make up remover which was one Euro a bottle and its performance was second to none.

Ha I got told I was ‘posh’ today when I said I make my own cleaning spray from white vinegar, bicarbonate and lemon grass. Er, no, I use it because it’s really cheap, lasts ages and is a really effective cleaner!

Ha I got told I was ‘posh’ today when I said I make my own cleaning spray from white vinegar, bicarbonate and lemon grass

What proportions do you add if you don’t mind me asking?

Do you just sprinkle some bicarbonate of soda into the bottle?

@Gwenhwyfar

I’m not sure about branded veg, but pre prepared veg is more expensive than packet veg, and both are more expensive than loose veg!

I buy loose where I can, it’s cheaper and less wasteful. In fact I pretty much cheap out on most things except loo roll and tinned beans because Branston beans are awesome.

I do buy branded bread/bagels because I want the added seeds and protein!