Martin Lewis says to go down a quality stage in your shopping... I urge you, do NOT try out the value range of.........

[Flamesparrow]

tea bags!

It is NOT a good saving. Tastes like hell in a bag.

oh agree about eggs! free range all the way here!

Basics tinned tomatoes
sainsbury basics biscuits especially the caramel wafer ones
Sainsbury's Revive toilet roll because basics just doesn't last as long
basics crisps yay
Frozen prawns-good in stir fries and with pasta
Pitta bread
Cheddar
butter for cooking
frozen yorkshires

Do not go near tescos value rice crispies which are not!

i use tesco value tin foil in oven-what is going to happen?
Got sainsbury's red label t-bags last time cheaper and ok
Oh and basics cat litter

Whats this about 'wrapping foil'? I use asda smart price tin foil and put it in the oven - works just fine.

Yes smart price rice krispies and bran flakes are fine.

We use the baked beans and spagehetti as well so maybe our taste buds are not as refined as yours .

...disagree about 'Smart Price' cereal.

The cornflakes could easily be mistaken for polystyrene packing. Except they don't taste as good. I am currently trying to get the urchins to finish a box of Smart Price 'breakfast wheat biscuits' (as delicious as they sound).

Unfortunately, they are a similar size, shape and taste to sticklebricks, so the urchins are proving difficult to fool. This morning I sculpted the corners, in order to mimic the curved edges of the proprietary brand...

...the (rather convincing I felt) results were duly served to eager, fresh faced urchins. The illusion lasted only as long as the first mouthful however.

...and as for the teabags.

...they are manufactured from the floor sweepings I am sure. In fact, I believe what flavour they have is derived more from the mouse droppings...

Cheapo tinned tomatoes and kidney beans are fine, though...

There are some things I will not stoop to flame. Value tea and coffee are two. Meat also. Bread, baked stuff generally. Value fruit is quite good sometimes - eg apples very cheap but funny shapes or very small. No problem with that.

Sainsburys Basics Fruit'n'Fibre is fine.

I use all value brands flour, tinned toms, carton orange juice, chocolate digestives, 'Philly'-type cheese.

...and anyway, judging from the picture on his website, Martin Lewis has chosen to purchase a Smart Price shirt....

Oh yes smart price cornflakes are just cardboard cut into small pieces!

We do Value fruit, and tinned stuff, but own brand on most other stuff.

I found we got more for our money if we split our shop - I do as much as I can in Lidl and the rest in Asda. We spend around £160 on a monthly shop (fills freezer and larder, and fridge) and then just have to top up with bread, milk and fresh fruit'n'veg as needed.

I do cheap biscuits/tinned toms/sweetcorn/butter/soya milk/apple & orange juice/scotch pancakes/loo and kitchen roll/yoghurts/cheese/choc spread....

real deal stuff is all cereal/coffee/tea bags/bread/washing powder and softener/cleaning products/peanut butter/sauce & salad cream/flour/wine/olives....

own brand is ok for squash/crisps/jam/meat/eggs/fish/fruit and veg....

value brands of coffee/sauce/tuna etc are vile. Tuna especially is like cat food.

Oh yes forgot about tuna- bought a value tuna flake tin once - urggh it came out as a sloppy brown mush (I don't eat tuna but dh refused to eat it so it must have been bad!)

Ivykaty, I use passata rather than spag bol sauce for pizzas - 44p rather than 99p.
Fruit and veg - value is generally just as good.
I swapped to value ketchup last month and no one has complained yet - Heinz was four times the price
Value unsalted butter in Tesco is fine, I have had some vile value butter though.
I always buy value baked beans so the children don't know any better.
Garlic bread - I now make my own with part baked baguettes which are £1 for four in Tesco atm - so works out about 30p per stick.

psychomum5 - Did you mistake the comma key for the / key I cant even read your post, it hurts my eyes!

Lady - thank you for that tip.

I have been using sainsbury tomato's in a box thingy with olives and garlic as a pizza base aswell - it is a little sloppier but very tasty - I think that one is around 59p and is great as a quick pasta sauce aswell as the olives and garlic are already in it.

I make american pancakes as it is far cheaper and you can make a batch up and it will keep in the fridge.

I use sainsbury own brand museli - I did use lidl, and it was really good - but every time I have been back they dont have any museli at all So I stopped bothering to go as half the stuff I had tryed and liked they didn't have after the first 4 weeks of the store opening.

has anyone mentioned jam yet? own brand stuff is fine. ditto marmalade and honey.

I do my pizza base sauce with tinned toms - fry onions, carrot, celery, chuck in the toms, cook till nicely reduced and whizz with a mouli. makes stack loads and you can freeze it in portions.

Value flour is great. I also use value butter for baking if nothing else is on offer. I can't notice a difference.

Value porridge oats are great fo flapjacks.

I buy value honey too. And I've gone to own brand washing powder and dishwasher tablets which are fine.

Lidl and Aldi both do really good fairly cheap chocolate bars which i use for baking.

I won't buy value coffee or cereal.

Meat and eggs I buy organic.

value toothpaste is a very bad plan. Tastes like soap

no no no to value jam

or maramlade

and splurge on fairtrade honey as we don;t use much

[ponce emoticon]

Sainsbury's basics fruit and veg v good - we get peppers, baking potatoes, carrots, bananas (and they're still fair trade), gallia melons etc. Have only been disappointed with the basics cherries (in season but mouldy between buying one evening and wanting to eat next day lunch). Given that it's all fresh I don't see it as trading down at all, more common sense.

Ooh no, I like proper jam and marmalade.

I am now sat here with a decent cup of tea.

Cereal is very hit and miss. I am fine with asda own for some things, others is just ok, others you need a proper brand. The cornflakes are fine if you eat them quickly, but left for a couple of seconds too long and they turn to mush.

I just worked out that my Asda Non-Bio washing tabs cost me 7p a wash! Can't understand why anyone would spend on the branded stuff. Our washing always comes out clean.

I am a washing powder ponce.

I just buy the big loose powder boxes and save that way

I bet your isn't cleaner than mine though!

The colours are probably brighter

I likes a good bit of biological stuff