Like many others I am totally skint and wondered if anyone would like to...

[mamadiva]

join me in a kindof downgrade challenge with food, household cleaners, toiletries etc.

Random idea I know but I fancied trying it and this way we can find out whats good and whats not.

So anyone up for it?

I need nappies so I'm going to try Sainsbury's own brand nappies. Will also try their wipes next time also as ds doesn't have any skin problems.

We use the wipes - I like them.

I suppose it's all about buying habbits. I don't look past what I normally buy...

Yes, and time to look - which can be difficult if half your trolley is filled with lo's!

Sainsburys own brand nappy wipes are buy one get one free at present. DS2 with sensitive skin has had them for the first time and is okay. They seam tough and do the job.

Oh and for cleaning windows try a cap of vinegar in warm water its as good as many commercial cleaners and if you've got some in free to try.

Sainsburies own tissues (29p) are fine for general use, but I upgrade to Kleenex if we have serious colds.
My DS didn't like the Sainsbury weetabix either, and I decanted them before he saw the box.

DP opened our big cupboard we use to store spare stuff and noticed that there was own brand (tesco) toilet paper in there. he moaned and asked why i'd bought it because its rough etc. I replied "ooh, i wished you mentioned it 4mths ago when we started using it!" He went off with his tail between his legs!

not sure if its because the washing machine is breaking or it was the powder but we used tesco's own non-bio tablets and half of them stay as a gungy mess in the drawer. I'll report back when i've tried a different brand

forgot to say, tesco baby wipes (on special offer atm) are really good

A friend (who works for a research & marketing company looking into the differences between brands) recently told me to buy the value or own brand biscuits, squash etc. as the supermarkets don't add so many ingredients and additives - so you are getting a healthier product.

Don't know how true this is - haven't compared

I decant our cereals into large plastic containers so ds 1 wouldn't know if they weren't the 'real' thing. Toilet roll gets put into the cupboard ie taken out of packaging so no one would know there.

If you like febreeze but not the price (I have 5 smelly kids ,a windy dp and a dog) the asda own version is lovely and its 99p.

asda washing powder is just as good too .

Hero dog food my fussy dog hasn't turned his nose up at it and used to have Butchers.,

Smartprice soft cheese just as nice as philly.

Smartprice pittas are good too.

I buy one bottle of anti bac for kitchen and bathroom and I second using old clothes for cloths and cleaning loos with.

Never bought porridge for my kids before, but I bought a huge box on sale a few weeks ago and they love it! With milk and honey, it works out to about 20p per breakfast for 3 kids! Not bad at all. It is really healthy too!

Porridge oats instaed of r only about readybrek they are only about 50p for a massive bag and its only 10 mins to make in a morning .
Plus you can make flapjacks and oaty biscuits with aswell .

I also love huggies wipes. They are always BOGOF, but if they aren't, you can get 4 packs (72 pack) for £5. They are really thick and durable and don't fall apart like so many other wipes do.

Tablets are expensive. I have used Asda non-bio liquid (but less than stated as we have soft water) for ages quite successfully.

Also smartprice dishwasher tabs are miles cheaper than most other brands. Sometimes I cut them in half.

Our dishwasher broke in jan this year and we've never got it fixed so we just wash up as we go with washing up liquid (there are 4, will be 5 next year, of us)

I'm up for this, am struggeling at the minute!

Although I'll admit, money kind of falls out of my hands at times. I think I'm going to have to start leaving my wallet at home, I'm terrible for going out for 1 thing and coming back with 20.

Have been buying Tescos own 3kg box of washing powder, costs all of about £1.30 and lasts ages, together with their own 42 wash fabric softner for about £1.40 and it has really surprised me! Clothes are sparkling and smell lovely. Was really shocked, I thought it'd be crap! Have a 17 mo dd and it hasn't irritated her skin at all, so all good.

A lot of the things I buy are stores own brands anyway. I try not to waste ANYTHING, I freeze it all instead. Have just done my monthly shop for £50.00 in tescos, should last roughly 4-5 weeks for me and dd.

Something else I do instaed of using polish I fill a bowl of warm water and put in a bit of fabric conditioner ,and wipe everything that you would nomally polish down with a cloth dipped in the water.
Brings stuff up really nice ,you are not spraying aerosols and it smells lovely especially if you wipe radiators down with it then when you have them on your room smells nice .

Have always bought tinned veg (beans, toms, sweetcorn etc) smart price (or whatever) tried cornflakes a while ago, cant remember whihc shop and they werent nice. However I love shopping late at night and buying the stuff reduced as has reached sell by date, asda good for this. Bread and meat all goes in freezer. Asda put yellow stickers on their reduced stuff that say 'whoops' (indicating they've stocked too much i think). We were at grans the other day and ds (7) was in fridge loking for something and said her fridg 'looked different as her stuff doesnt have whoops stickers on like ours does'!!

WOW this has kicked off to a good start

Lots of fab tips, I try to steer clear of most cleaning products and just use washing up lizuid/a big bottle of all purpose cleaner (tescos own is good) for floors.

I dont use fabric conditioner as me and DS have bad eczema and am still struglling to find a good soap powder/liquid/tablets that we can cope with but gets stains out anyone reccommend?

Re the room smell thing if you buy tumble drier sheets and put one over a radiator before or after youve used it it smells lovely and one lasts about 2-3 days.

LOL Theresa,

I buy frozen veg as TBH fresh gets wasted in our house alot of the time because only me who eats it, DP refuses to try veg and DS is very very fussy eater

Asdas own frozen sausages and their own frozen mince too if it's for bolognaise or chilli etc but if having just mince and potatoes or something better to use fresh obviously.

I am making a stew from reduced food so it'll be random but covered in gravey so no one will know! Anything left over gets put into pie and frozen for next week. I too freeze all left overs and every so often I get a 'free' week for food as we just eat from the freezer and it's all homemade.