Posted on 18 Apr, 2008 -
The Supermarket Bargains List is here!
Cut your weekly shop by £20 - £40 with this list of the best bargains around as recommended by other Life is a Bag of Revels readers
First of all, a big thank you to everyone who wrote in with recommendations for great own-brand and cheaper supermarket products. It’s always great to get reader feedback and comments and you all excelled yourselves this time.
Perhaps my favourite of all the tips came from Mike who recommended the great website http://www.madaboutbargains.co.uk . If you go to the ‘Off Your Trolley’ button, it gives you a list of all the best offers currently available at each of the supermarkets.
I also liked the comment from another reader who said that “so many people are snobs about shopping at the likes of Aldi and Lidl”. I couldn’t agree more. Our sense of worth should come from more than which supermarket we shop at!
So, put down your pride and pick up your pens… Here is a list of favourite product tips for Lidl, Aldi, Tesco, Sainsbury and more. Plus - there’s some great cleaning tips at the end as well…
First of all, to Lidl’s, which I have to say definitely seems to have the largest number of fans
* “Their frozen meat and fish are AMAZING!” says Maria. “It is terrific what a huge trolley load of groceries you can get for £40-50 and their quality is second to none for all products. No brand names we know - but who cares.”
* Sue has been shopping at Lidls for 12 years and rates pretty much everything apart from the tea bags. She especially recommends the cheeses, smoked salmon, dog biscuits, piccalilli and cleaning products.
* Carla says the fresh non-concentrate orange juice is brilliant for £1.10.
* I also had lots of recommendations for Lidls vegetables come in - especially during the week when you get the best super-cheap bargains such as avocados for 15p or a bag of onions for 18p!
* “Many of the best bargains at Lidl are imported varieties or produced for the German market - cooked meats, sausages and cheese are infinitely better than the British made.” said another reader. “Their brands of chocolate are just as good too”
* The peanut butter at Lidl is apparently better than anywhere else.
* And Ron says you can’t beat their battered fish which is “flaked fish - proper fish and not some reconstituted gloop like BIRDS EYE (which is also grey worryingly)”
* Lyn says that Lidls do “the best tasting Jaffa’s ever and cheaper. The jelly goes to the edge of the sponge and they have different flavours too. Mmmm.”
* Alison is another Lidl fan saying that “Their stain remover powder is great and much cheaper than Vanish. Their lime scale remover tablets for the washing machine are just as good as Calgon.”
* And finally “At just over 1 pound,” says another reader “200gms of MONTE SANTOS Arabica instant coffee from LIDL is great tasting and marvellous value”!
Just Two Tasty bargains from Tesco
* Gini says that “Tesco Saver’s range scones are much nicer than their “normal” scones, although you do need to eat them quite quickly as they seem to go stale more easily.” (A good sign perhaps?)
* Sandy says “Try Tesco’s cheap baked beans with a teaspoon of tomato puree (delicious) and as good as Heinz”
And some superbly cheap luxury items from Aldi
* Kat had some great product recommendations at Aldi’s saying that “their yoghurts are half the price and much nicer - not one particular brand all of them. Also the parmesan cheese is half the price as well known supermarket brands and very good quality. Beef burgers - I am not normally a fan of the things but their burgers with stilton are delicious and very cheap.”
* Another reader (I’m sorry, the name seems to have gone missing) says “I cut dish washer tablets in half and they wash just as clean as a full one.” She also recommends shopping for fruit and veg at Aldi because they always have 6 different kinds of fruit and veg on for 49p for good sized packs.
* Peggy says that Aldi Washing Powder, Stain remover [similar to Vanish] and Dish Wash Tablets are all great. Apart from M&S, Aldi’s dry and sachet cat foods are the only brand her cat will eat. And… her son who used to run a pub frequently got complemented on his mashed potatoes which were Asda’s dried!
Sainsbury’s Basics range has a lot of ardent fans too - but only on selected products
* Reader ‘A’ had some great tips about the Sainsbury’s basic range foods saying that “their frozen Yorkshire puddings, tinned rice pudding, trout fillets(cheaper because they are different shapes & sizes),fresh peppers, baby/salad potatoes, bananas, tinned beans, tinned tomatoes,1 L fruit juices in cartons (the breakfast juice is lovely)” are all lovely, but to avoid others such as their boxes of tissues & their own brand washing powder”
* Also at Sainsbury’s, Chris says “I find the Basics baked beans, chopped tomatoes and
tomato soup good (pernickety husband can’t tell the difference if he doesn’t see the label!) Their own Label London Gin is very good, too....”
* Stephen says that Sainsbury’s Basics Sweet Pickle at £0.26 is just as good as Bramston’s.
And finally on the foods, Vince recommends discount stores like Home Bargain, B&M Bargains, Poundland or 99p Stores if you have one in your area. They buy up a lot of manufacturer’s clearance stock so “you can buy food, toiletries and household lines at heavily discounted prices.”
Great cleaning tips - at a fraction of the price
I was delighted to find that Mike shares my enthusiasm for baby wipes for fast cleaning of all surfaces when you’re up against the clock. He also says that they work as a great pre-wash stain remover on collars. Just give them a rub and throw them in the machine.
One reader recommended doing a DIY intensive oven clean using some regular cheap oven cleaner from Poundland or somewhere and some old plastic shopping bags or bin liners. “Open your shopping bags or black sacks and place inside your oven shelves or baking trays and spray with oven cleaner. Tie top of the bag and leave for a couple of hours or over night depending on how baked up. After the appropriate time has passed, rinse the cleaning solution off.”
Another reader, Micheline, said “When I need to clean my oven shelves I soak them overnight in biological power preferably Ariel. The next day I rinse them and occasionally gently rub the debris off. Saves on the horrible spray oven cleaners.”
Jane says that to clean away scale, try buying a “a small tub of Citric Acid from Health food shop or Home Brewing shop for under one pound. A couple of teaspoons in a boiled kettle full of water and left to stand overnight. The element looks like new after this treatment.”
Are the new washing balls as good as washing powder?
I was also pleased to read Jean’s recommendation for washing balls as an alternative to powders because I had been wondering whether they actually worked. Here’s what she said: “My husband suffers from eczema so I have to be careful about washing powders. Now instead of non-biological powder I use soap nuts http://www.inasoapnutshell.com/?gclid=CILNm_GKnpICFQyfHgodRxHafA they are fantastic used with a few drops of lavender oil to make the washing smell really fresh. Lakeland now sells them and so do many ‘green’ places. I have tried eco or laundry balls but didn’t like them so much - also now available from Lakeland.
And finally, here are two great cleaning tips form Evelyn: “Here is a trick I use to keep my toilet bowl clean without using harsh abrasives. A tube of Boots basic dental cleaning tablets costs
just 38p and lasts me a month. I pop a tablet last thing at night into the toilet and let it fizz away.
I also use a little powder laundry detergent instead of expensive cleaners for basins, baths and showers and find that they do the job just as well and a little goes a long way. Also a lot less clutter as you need less cleaning products.”
Once again, thank you to everyone who sent in their tips and a big thank you to ALL of you who keep reading my letter!
