What are the biggest false economies?

[toptramp]

So I can stop being a mug and start saving.

Agree re toilet roll.

We get through about one "economy" toilet roll a day!

Then I got - I think by mistake - some ASDA's own thick quilted stuff. You only needed a couple of sheets at a time and it smelled lovely (before use I mean).

DH once bought two giant bags of frozen cauliflower because they were "buy one get one free." I am the only person in the house that likes cauliflower, and even then, in strict moderation. They must have used up more money in electricity keeping them frozen for the xx months before I finally binned then than they ever saved DH.

There's nothing as expensive as a cheap pair of shoes (per my Nan)

Oh yes ggirl re cheap bras. You've got to think long term!

Is it really so much more expensive to fix a boiler than a car?

No, but you won't get anything for £156 a year that will promise to fix your car if it breaks. The AA etc will fix very tiny easy things but mostly just take you to a garage. You have to pay for the car to be fixed.

Well that is true, but there are loads of things that the homecare people won't fix either, also you can be left hanging for weeks while you wait for parts.

What I'm saying is it would be better to save that money and then you are control.

But I appreciate that the 2 examples are not exactly comparable.

Cheap shoes, and cheap winter coats.

cheap cling film, it does not cling except to itself and it tears in all the wrong places.

Cheap kitchen roll, i find the Plenty stuff goes on forever.

Cheap dog food, well my dogs won't eat it anyway!

Those cheap broken packs of biscuits with foreign names, always tasteless and even the kids won't eat them.

Basic coffee granules, always end up using twice as much.

Cheap scent. It BROADCASTS skinflint. If not loose morals.

Baking your own treats.
Healthier, tastier, sure, just not cheaper by the time you've totted up the real butter and eggs and the electricity.

Air freshener - it broadcasts "I'm too lazy to clean properly or open a window" and smells disgusting

Getting your brother to do your garden for you! It is not cheap when you have to pay a professional to come round and sort out the mess!

to corygal

second the vote for not buying cheap shoes. bought some cheap boots last year and the 'leather' wore off the toes within a couple of months, what a waste of money. grrrr.... cost per wear far higher than the Duo ones I bought 4 years ago and look better now than they did when they were new!

I was going to start a thread on this

Have dived into total skinflintedness recently, and My God I have noticed the difference. Cheap loo paper and kitchen roll are shite and yes, you use three times as much. And whoever said it makes you miserable - it fucking does.

I'm also never, ever buying cheap dishwasher tablets again. They are shit and nothing comes out clean - what's the fucking point? Bought Fairy supercharged Terminator-stylee ones recently because they were on special offer. Everything sparkles and I'm never going back.

I agree with cheap dishwasher tablets. I only use the Fairy ones now because nothing cleans as well as they do. I have tried those 99p boxes you can get from Savers/Superdrug but the dishes came out looking and feeling greasy with bits of food still attached!

Exactly, durham

It's so hard to resist the cheapies sometimes, though ... But once I couldn't tell if I'd actually run the dishwasher .

actually lidl ones are as good s fairy dishwsher tabs, ime and in a proper scientific survey too.

I use finish powder it works out much cheaper and works better too I think.

yeah I use the lidl ones and they do a good job, But I do only have a half size table top dishwasher so they are effectivly being doubl concentrated IYSWIM

"Things like british gas homecare £156 a year! "

I totally disagree with that one I'm afraid. We have certainly had our money's worth from them. The boiler in our last house broke down one freezing Easter Sunday, and they came out the same day to fix it.

Last winter when we had 15 inches of snow the lovely British Gas men parked at the bottom of the hill and walked half a mile up the steep hill in deep snow to our house to fix the boiler.

I agree about cheap washing up liquid, kitchen roll and dishwasher tablets. I tend to avoid the value brands in supermarkets and wonder what they have had to use or what corners they have cut to make a product so cheap.

I avoid cheap meat, but that is more from an ethical point of view. Pork products from outside the UK especially, as other countries don't have as high animal welfare standards as we do.

I don't buy fizzy drinks, clothes conditioner, ironing water

Lidl washing gel come out top in a which report and is 2.50ish for a tub

I used washing powder in the dishwasher once by mistake - wow, where my dishes clean and soft worked far better than anything else I used

supermarket clothes - they are like market clothes cheap cheerful and fall apart and don't hang or fit correctly so look crap

Cheap kiddy clothes often false economy-there was recently a thread extolling the virtues of primark kids pj's for £5 a pair, which sound reasonable until you consider the relative value compared to better quality stuff. I used to buy primark/supermarket clothes for my eldest, until I realised next 3 pack pj's are only £1 more at £16 and last easily through 2 children; the cheap stuff has to be thrown once it's outgrown (and sometimes before due to fading etc). Likewise, supermarket sleepsuits at £9 for 3, which bobble and don't wash well, whereas m&s and other good stores often do much nicer, longer lasting ones for £10/11.

I'm in the process of sorting clothes from the loft for baby no. 3, and there is a large amount of sleepsuits etc which have already gone through my 2 boys and are still in excellent condition. None of the 'cheaper' stuff though, it's all next/M&S/boots/mothercare etc, so if buying for a first and hoping for more kids, take my advice. The clothes I can recycle for this imminent baby are a lifesaver and mean I can indulge in a little pink guilt-free (who cares if she's sleeping in a blue babygro?!).

"the cheap stuff has to be thrown once it's outgrown"

I only have one child so that isn't a concern for me.

cheap leggings - for adults or kids - the adult ones go bobbly and saggy, the kids' ones get holes in too easily and bag at the knees.

Supermarket clothes - depends, I have some Asda t-shirts that have gone through 2 DDs and look fine, but you need to be picky. Primark PJs go really bobbly, or really hard and inflexible. Likewise their cheap kids' tights look manky after a few washes - M&S tights are the best I've used (though they come up short in the legs). I had M&S sleepsuits for DD1 that I used for DD3 - that was a 15 year gap and they were still fine!

Cheap tissues - rip your nose skin if you have a cold, and if they are soft it's because one blow and they have a hole in.

Cheap envelopes - you spend as much on sellotape sealing them shut because the self-adhesive isn't, or the gummed strip just doesn't stick.

Cheap jigsaw puzzles for the kids - flimsy pieces that are hard to put in place. Better to buy a decent quality (eg Ravensburger) secondhand one from a charity shop or Nearly New Sale.