May Kasahara
take me to the feeling
I only like green ones in certain specific contexts, whereas red, yellow and orange peppers go with pretty much anything.
'Value' products - what's good?
- Thread starter trashpony
- Start date
jontz01
taking refuge in the loft
Yup.
Tinned stuff to use as a base for other stuff is usually alright...
Tomatos, chickpeas, kidney beans, mixed bean salads, custard, dried stuff like pasta isn't too bad if you're going to cover it in sauce, not great if you're using pasta to taste the pasta though....
9p noodles (use your own stock, chilli oil etc), Digestives and custard creams (proably many others) are just the same as own brand but in different packaging.
Tinned stuff to use as a base for other stuff is usually alright...
Tomatos, chickpeas, kidney beans, mixed bean salads, custard, dried stuff like pasta isn't too bad if you're going to cover it in sauce, not great if you're using pasta to taste the pasta though....
9p noodles (use your own stock, chilli oil etc), Digestives and custard creams (proably many others) are just the same as own brand but in different packaging.
toblerone3
Grrrrr
I think this is a really useful thread because some value products are absolutely not value because they are disgusting while others are real value because they are "its-a-not-so-bad" !
toblerone3
Grrrrr
Has anybody mentioned toilet paper?
Cribynkle
squawk
Sainsbury's cheapo bacon is nice too, its just chunky and rougher cuts - nice and tasty as it goes.
QUOTE]
but it definitely won't be free range
oryx
Sitting on the bok of the day
Got these last weekend - I think they are cheaper because they are irregular in shape, and supermarkets always make a big thing about veg & fruit being aesthetically pleasing. They tasted just as nice, even the green ones!
I find just about any tea bags are OK if you make tea properly - i.e. let it brew for a good five minutes with freshly bolied water.
I was going to mention bottled water but Trashpony already did - mind you, if it was upto me I'd never buy the stuff, just use the cold tap!
aqua
made of cheese and gin
Funky_monks
Neo-Rustic
Lidls FTW for everything except meat.
I had some lush tins of vine-leaf-y things form there the other week.
Under no circumstances be tempted to purchase 'corny' bars though!
I miss living in Swansea - Lidls for basics and then the market on the way back through town for fish, veg and meat. Used to get some gurt lush cheap cuts of local lamb - neck with foreribs, the best for your cawl.
I had some lush tins of vine-leaf-y things form there the other week.
Under no circumstances be tempted to purchase 'corny' bars though!
I miss living in Swansea - Lidls for basics and then the market on the way back through town for fish, veg and meat. Used to get some gurt lush cheap cuts of local lamb - neck with foreribs, the best for your cawl.
With toggle on this one. When I moved in with Herself and The Teenager, I realised I had a hearts and minds campaign on my hands, persuading them that the little bags of tasteless dust that went by the name of Tesco Value teabags were Just Not On.
no way, ever. i've never had value teabags that make even a drinkable cuppa, let alone a good one.
oh yeah, I've just picked up a load of the really cheap sanitary towels because they are better for post birth than expensive ones imo.
I tend to have a "buy the second cheapest" policy on stuff, so Value cheese is out, as is pasta, most of the tinned stuff
What I will buy is:
Sparkling mineral water (they insist, even though our still tap water is one of the nicest in the country)
Tinned tomatoes (because the price jump to the nice ones is SOOO vast)
Tinned red kidney beans (because you're not exactly buying for flavour, there)
Tissues
Bog roll (although the Lidl value stuff is way nicer, so we rarely get the Tesco stuff now)
Baby wipes (but not for babies, because we don't has dem)
errrr, no, that's about it. I did once buy a pair of £3 jeans: they were a horrible cut, didn't look very nice, and tore a great hole when I snagged them on something insubstantial.
dynamicbaddog
run for your life
I bought a Tescos value vacuum cleaner for £15 last year, total false economy it fell apart after a few months and it was a mission to get the spare bags(all the Tesco stores in the area hadn't got them in stock and I had to order them on-line in the end but even then I was told I'd have to wait 6 weeks for them to arrive - most frustrating
)
I see Argos has now started a value range, I bought some value hair clippers in there today for a fiver - dunno if they are any good as I haven't used them yet..
As for groceries instead of buying value stuff I prefer to go to the supermarkets at the end of the day and save money by buying the reduced stuff, I only get the boring essentials like toothpaste, bog rolls, soap etc from the basics range. I certainly would'nt recommend the value ground coffee - it was only a few pence cheaper than the normal coffee but tasted like Bisto
)I see Argos has now started a value range, I bought some value hair clippers in there today for a fiver - dunno if they are any good as I haven't used them yet..
As for groceries instead of buying value stuff I prefer to go to the supermarkets at the end of the day and save money by buying the reduced stuff, I only get the boring essentials like toothpaste, bog rolls, soap etc from the basics range. I certainly would'nt recommend the value ground coffee - it was only a few pence cheaper than the normal coffee but tasted like Bisto
Hmmm. I'm suspicious of Value flour, but I am not sure why. It may just be prejudice. But most of the flour I buy is strong bread flour, anyway, and I don't think they do a Value one of those. I get mine from Lidl, which is sort of Value without the branding.
rogue_lettuce
Well-Known Member
I've never had a problem with value food. Value other stuff (eg toilet paper) may be something to stear clear of.
You'll be interested to know that, for instance, Sainsburys bourbons and Sainsburys "value" bourbons (I can't remember what their name is for it) are the exact same thing in different packaging. Don't believe me? Check the back of the packet. Same ingredients. In the same order (thus, in the same proportion). Same allergy warnings. Same nutritional information. Hmmmmm. Suspicious.
You'll be interested to know that, for instance, Sainsburys bourbons and Sainsburys "value" bourbons (I can't remember what their name is for it) are the exact same thing in different packaging. Don't believe me? Check the back of the packet. Same ingredients. In the same order (thus, in the same proportion). Same allergy warnings. Same nutritional information. Hmmmmm. Suspicious.
ViolentPanda
Hardly getting over it.
I'm getting a bit pissed off with Heinz.
Every time I open a tin of beans there seems to be more sauce and fewer beans in the tin.
lidl potato salad - £1.49 for a frankly imposing quantity of seriously yumsy wumsy stuff.
Aye. I get the low fat one and it's still seriously tasty. When my scooter was off the road for a time and I had to get everything from the local Asda (which unlike Lidl is within walking distance) I really missed that stuff - it's better than the Asda premium/luxury/whatever it's called stuff.
Do all my shopping between Lidl, Aldi, Asda, and two Chinese cash and carrys. Aldi do seriously tasty large bags of hand cooked crisps - they're better than Marks' and the expensive ones at Asda yet they're only about 80p for a 150g bag.
Mostly get my meat, fish and seafood from one of the Chinese places - steak, tuna, cod, salmon, king prawns etc are about half to two thirds the price to the supermarkets. About the only meat/fish I get from Asda are promo stuff ie. the luxury sangers which are £2 a pack each of £5 for three - the Aberdeen Angus ones are lush.
Buying, cooking and eating really good food for not much is one of my fave things. When I really can't be arsed cooking I'll get one of the Lidl/Asda lasagnas; big 1kg one - plenty enough for two - for just over £2. Tis seriously nice with a bit of parmesan on top.
Mrs Magpie
On a bit of break...
My children don't know the difference because I have never had anything other than Tesco Value beans in the house. The Tesco Value Bran Flakes were always preferred by the kids to any other brand. The value cornflakes were hated, so I just never bought cornflakes again!
Clearly the best things are tinned. Some fruit and veg can be good too, as they are usually just the odd shaped ones.
Agree with someone else about the less quantity thing though, I recall the value chocolate digestives were pretty good - but the biscuit diameter was about a third smaller than a McVities one! The packet probably didnt contain as many as McVities either. They'll be cheaper than McVities weight for weight but remember your not getting the same amount. Value foil seems much smaller than the regular brand too.
Value drinks and booze are pretty hairy, I don't bother with them at all anymore. I remember the juices came in those old milk cartons where you have to chop off the corner to pour it out, and although the spout is clearly a superior pouring device, it just means you cant close it after its been used once - so you'll end up chucking it anyway.
Other things are generally shit. Foil, bin bags, sponges are all smaller and thinner than the proper stuff, so it just doesnt last as long and pisses you off in the process.
Agree with someone else about the less quantity thing though, I recall the value chocolate digestives were pretty good - but the biscuit diameter was about a third smaller than a McVities one! The packet probably didnt contain as many as McVities either. They'll be cheaper than McVities weight for weight but remember your not getting the same amount. Value foil seems much smaller than the regular brand too.
Value drinks and booze are pretty hairy, I don't bother with them at all anymore. I remember the juices came in those old milk cartons where you have to chop off the corner to pour it out, and although the spout is clearly a superior pouring device, it just means you cant close it after its been used once - so you'll end up chucking it anyway.
Other things are generally shit. Foil, bin bags, sponges are all smaller and thinner than the proper stuff, so it just doesnt last as long and pisses you off in the process.
Stobart Stopper
Well-Known Member
We only buy Crosse and Blackwell beans now, Heinz sre shit IMO, too hard for the beans are the sauce is watery shite.
PacificOcean
Unhinged User
why do they have to make value packaging look so cheerless though?
Geri
wasn't born to follow
No way would I buy value toilet paper.
toblerone3
Grrrrr
Value toilet paper is more or less the same as normal toilet paper. Its not as if its radically different in the way that the sort of shiny toilet paper you used to get in schools. One question though is is it actually value because although you get more rolls for your money the paper is wound so loosely that you get through them much quicker.
Orang Utan
Maybe I like the misery
I was in the Sainsbury's in Leeds a couple of days ago and it was like being an Eastern European in the 70s visiting a US supermarket - the amount of stuff they had was amazing compared to the Tesco in Brixton - there were products you can't even get in a deli in London - I was shocked!What do you actually buy at sainsburys??Tbh I've always thought it was overpriced and not always that good on the few occasions I've been there. But then I've pretty much always had to watch what I spend and now I'm so used to it I can't not do it iykwim
Maybe it's just the Dundee one that's not that great??
Anyway, for me Lidl is good quality for some things, but there is not one Tesco Value product I would use at all. They're all shite.
Orang Utan
Maybe I like the misery
Hmm, I have found that once you've used Maldon Sea Salt, you can't use owt else - chemical salt tastes disgusting, thought I didn't notice til I'd tried the sea salt.
So if you want to save money, don't ever buy sea salt!
PacificOcean
Unhinged User
rubbish! its like 1 ply sandpaper.
fractionMan
Custom Title
I don't understand this. It's paper for wiping your arse. What more do you need?
toblerone3
Grrrrr
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