It seems the entire QOTW can be summed up with
Go for generic brand medicines, you're still getting the same dose of the active ingredient (which is what you're actually buying) rather than paying for a premium brand.

Make the effort to shop around. Most people are too lazy to bother and are thus are wasting a stack of cash. A couple I know never changed their utilities supplier since before the deregulation in 1997 and are too lazy and cynical to change. It seems 5 mins on uSwitch isn't worth the savings.

Discount stores such as Wilkinsons and Home Bargains (I don't know how nationwide they are though) sell cheap cleaning products that are just as good as Mr Muscle etc. Asda baked beans are good, I find Heinz beans too sweet.

Store brand dishwasher tablets are good, though if you see big boxes of Calgon/Fairy on offer then get them. The chances are by the time you've used 90 tablets, a similar offer will be on again.


However, there are some things you don't scrimp on. Cheap washing up liquid is a false economy. A sink full of pots needs just a few drops of Fairy compared to a hefty squeeze of cheapo brand. Get nice coffee and tea bags. Store brand tea is rough, get Tetley/PG Tips. Store brand coffee is dire too. Mind you, so is Nescafe. Get Douwe Egberts or better still Carte Noire. And toilet paper, your nipsy will thank you for it.
What you save on everything else, you can use to treat yourself to proper meat from a butcher rather than the pre-packed stuff in supermarkets.

The key is to make the effort
( sandettie light vessel automatic New Twitter - @bollocksreally, Mon 14 Nov 2011, 11:48, 2 replies)

Actually
Sainsbury's red label tea-bags make quite a decent cuppa. The trick is to use a tea-pot rather than a bag in a cup.
( P-MONKE We're all fucked, Mon 14 Nov 2011, 14:58, closed)

Washing up liquid
Stardrops. As good as fairy, more or less the same price, but also replaces pretty much every other household cleaner in the cupboard. It's literally the only household cleaner my kitchen sees these days.
(bblgoose, Mon 14 Nov 2011, 15:57, closed)