Sainsburys basic. Any recommendations?

[fudgelover]

I need to cut my food shopping bill. Each week I seem to spend more and more. I shop at sainsburys,just because that is the one nearest to me. Can anyone recommend any of the sainsburys basic range.

We use the teabags, the yoghurt and the butter(baking).

I would have said bitter and lager, both £1 for 4 cans. The lager is insipid but quite OK if you add a dash of lime. The bitter is not bad - again I might add a dash of something a bit more interesting such as Picon.

I wouldn't drink the Value Cider but do use it to cook gammon in.

But I went into my local Sainsbury's yesterday and there was neither basic bitter nor lager. One of the staff told me they had been discontinued.

Can this really be true? A pity if so.

Custard creams are lovely
Rice pudding - fractionally more rice than their regular brand, and no salt
Fromage frais/yoghurts
Bourbon biscuits
Milk chocolate digestives
I like the weetabix but dh doesn't, ditto the tea bags
Fish fingers
Sanitary towels (with wings)
Soap
Tissues - doubt would cope with a full blown snotty cold but perfectly good for wiping noses/paws of dcs

The only things i haven't liked were the cornflakes and rice crispies.

We really like the tea bags. Well, I do. Dh doesn't know where they come from.

And I'm not telling.

Wow. Thank you for all the suggestions. I don't think I'm brave enough to do a whole weeks worth of basic shopping, so this week I'm going to go for baked beans, biscuits, fish fingers and all fruit and veg. Looking forward to cheaper shopping bills.

The tortilla chips, hummous, fromage frais, mozzarella, flour, butter, fizzy water, tinned toms, tinned sweetcken, fruit and veg, weetabix, chocolate. , ketchup, Most stuff, not tea and coffee though.

I think the cheap larger and bitter may have gone because of minimum alcohol pricing?

Nacho chips
ready salted crisps
bananas
tinned tomato
grated mozzarella
the peppers

The tortilla chips, hummous, fromage frais, mozzarella, flour, butter, fizzy water, tinned toms, tinned sweetcken, fruit and veg, weetabix, chocolate. , ketchup, Most stuff, not tea and coffee though.

I think the cheap larger and bitter may have gone because of minimum alcohol pricing?

I buy the basics fromage frais because dd prefers them to the branded ones, I buy the yoghurts at times too and they are nice. Soap is nice and we buy the baby bath because it doesn't upset dh's skin. Ds likes the pickle which is just like branston pickle but not as chunky and the pickled beetroot and onions are good too.

We've tried most of the basics stuff and the only things we haven't liked are the teabags (I simply cannot understand why so many people seem to, they are revolting!), and the 'parmesan' and 'brie' (both had an oily texture and eggy taste). Cheddar was fine though. The chocolate was okay but again is oily (not surprising seeing as it has polyglycerol and polyricinoleate in - not things that should come within 100miles of a decent bar). The basics meat is okay if your budget is very pressed, but it does have significantly more water pumped into it than their other own brand or premium ranges - you can tell by the nasty white scum that comes out when you grill or sear it. However the basics salmon trimmings make a brilliant salmon pasta dish in 15mins flat, straight from the freezer.

the kids fromage frais,the bubble bath, brown sauce v vinegary

The chocolate is fine, so is the mozzarella, the trout fillets are wonderful and we always have the jumbo loo rolls.

I tend to go for the simple stuff - i.e. one or two ingredients. The more processed ones tend to be packed full of cheap fillers.

• The big pots of natural yogurt are great - I buy it even when we aren't on a tight budget that week.
• Cartons of tomatoes and kidney beans also a staple in this house.
• Teabags seem to be a bit love-or-hate on MN! I'm not a tea drinker but dh loves them. He likes it strong and pretty rough, though (as it were).
• Fish fingers aren't bad.
• Dishwasher tabs also fine.
• Pittas are fine, just a bit small.
• Tomatoes and strawberries also OK, but quality varies widely according to season. Sometimes you get a lovely punnet full of cherry or plum tomatoes, or tiny, sweet strawberries. Other times it's a bit meh.
• Peppers fine but come in bags where you can't choose colour combination. Sometimes nearly all green, the ones I got today were 3 red, 1 yellow.
• Honey is also fine.
• Hoummus does the job.
• Mozzarella fine.
• Loo roll ain't the softest but it depends how tender of an arse you have.
• Dh reports the muesli is also OK.
• Ground cafetiere coffee is rough but you can save money by mixing it with a better quality ground coffee.
• Digestive biscuits taste OK.
• We buy the bags of white frozen fish fillets. They are lush when deep-fried in my dh's home made beer batter :)

Stuff I don't like - anything with loads of ingredients as it's full of crap. E.g. the ketchup, jam, beans, etc. full of glucose-fructose syrup rather than sugar. Ditto with the ready-made desserts, and any of the ready meals I've tried have been FOUL. We've never tried the meat. Not keen on the apples. Didn't like the nacho chips as found them very salty.

Yoghurts, chocolate mousse, tortilla chips, tin toms and beans, mozzarella, bubble bath, sparkling water, fresh orange and apple juice, hummus, sweet corn, bananas, custard creams, butter.

All the fruit and veg is fine. Butter, flour etc absolutely fine.

I don't like the tinned tomatoes - very watery. And the cleaning products are a bit shit - agree the Aldi or Lidl cost equivalents are better quality.

the tinned tomatoes are okay if you blitz them with a blender though (for a sauce)

but yes - can't beat aldi for cleaning stuff

I have to say, since I've needed to watch what I spend, I haven't set foot in a sainsburys store. Even their basic range is overpriced compared to tesco or morrisons. I now shop in tesco and get twice the amount of shopping!

BikeRunSki

Maybe it is something to do with that - but I wasn't aware that the legislation had been enacted yet?

Astonish cleaning products are very good too, they are made in the Uk and also not tested on animals.

The orange multi surface cleaner smells like Cointreau.

Only a £1 each too (dishwasher tabs are £3 for 42)

I just tried the basics diced pork for casseroles. It was very tasty

I picked up some Astonish mould / mildew remover in the poundshop and it's unbelievable. Interested to read made in Uk and not tested on animals fluffy shall be investing in some more of their products me thinks!

The cream crackers were rank. Every other basics were good. (I prefer Tescos t bags as Sainsburys were a bit perfumed for me)

I buy the crumpets, pancakes, pittas, garlic bread and dd isn't fussy with the biscuits or fromage frais.

I tested out the 'little ones' nappies- which were awful, left dd with a horrible rash.

And the Icecream is just dodgy, tasteless and bitty… ew!

Best basics we get from Sainsbury are:

wholemeal sliced bread (really nicer than the more expensive one) at 50p for 800g loaf
chopped tomatoes
lasagne sheets
dark chocolate 30p
rice
flour