FatherJack wrote:This is partially true, the drugs thing almost wholly, but I'll post some stuff about the foods when I'm more lucid which is not tonight. (In short, the crisps are rubbish, you eat twice or more as many)
Yeah, you have to be a bit more careful when it comes to food. On the one end of the spectrum you have things like juice: I used to work as a summer job in a factory that put juice into litre cartons for most of the major supermarkets. I know for a fact that the cheap Tescos own and the expensive Tescos own are the exact same juice, as it comes out of the same pipe into two different packing machines. The difference there comes from the more expensive packaging*, and the fact people dont realise, so they can charge more.
On the other end of the spectrum, you have things like cornflakes. I'm sure some cheap cornflakes are fine, but I bought ASDA smartprice once. I'm confident that you are not making a saving if you throw away the packet almost untouched because it is inedible.
*Fun Fact: Red and Blue are the cheapest colours to print, which is why all super cheap stuff is in red, blue and white packaging. Things like orange and green cost a fortune.
When it comes to Tesco value stuff we go for juice and tend to get ingredients rather than final products (other than biscuits and things) as the fruit and veg (I'm pretty sure) are just the ones that either weren't big enough or pretty enough to go into the main bags. Stuff like flour I would expect you to be fairly safe with.
Their mixed veg and things are pretty good too I've found but I'm with Mr Bits about co-op being shit for veg and things
Also, if you have a local market. USE IT. I find the prices are generally about 25% less, and those that aren't. say cucumbers. same price as everywhere, only about twice the size.
On the fuel front my tip is chill out while driving. At the moment I'm forced to drive a 1 litre car, it can't go fast but I've learnt to enjoy not going much past 55mph. I've also realised that if you go fast you won't get anywhere much faster due to inevitable hold ups. In line with this change up gear at low revs.
Once you're in the chilled out mentality you take pleasure in sticking rigidly to speed limits holding up the twats who want to drive 1 metre behind your bumper.
All companies are obliged if asked to offer you energy efficiency advice.
You can get savings on bulbs, insulation, appliance usage etc.
If you can a 2 rate meter and setting timers for washing machines etc then the off peak rates are far cheaper.
Sign up for everything on direct debit, nearly all companies offer discounts for doing so. Look at their offers on tariffs, plans etc and pick because everyone puts you on standard whatever because their greatest margins are there.
Also - do you really need all those texts or call minutes? Do you need all that internet speed?
Last edited by HereComesPete on February 10th, 2011, 17:29, edited 1 time in total.
WereRabbit wrote:Once you're in the chilled out mentality you take pleasure in sticking rigidly to speed limits holding up the twats who want to drive 1 metre behind your bumper.
I know you are right, going fast saves no time, and is fuel heavy. I still hate you slowcoaches spoiling my fun though.
Some good tips in this thread. Will have to try a few.
Joose wrote:
Somewhat surprisingly, this is extra true for drugs. Don't go for named brand things, get the generic equivalent. There isn't *always* a supermarket own version of *everything*, but most of you will only be bothered about headache pills tablets and the like. With these, its not just that the 30p version is just as good as the £3 version, its exactly the same. I mean chemically identical. Don't get suckered in by advertising or stupid people who insist that Anadin is better than Tescos own. It isn't. Its the same.
Same goes for other things, like hayfever pills. Claritin, for example, is just Loratadine with a fancy name. Get some generic Loratadine, and you get a shitload more pills for a shitload less money.
actually alot of the named brands of things quite often contain extra's in them beside what you want, such as various opiods, amphetamines and sedatives depending on what your getting. partly some of these will help stop your runny nose a little bit for an hour but mostly its for the feel good effect they give you so you think that its working more than the generic versions. but when it comes down to the main active ingredient yeah your right, its exactly the same. your mainly paying for their advertising narf
shot2bits wrote:
actually alot of the named brands of things quite often contain extra's in them beside what you want, such as various opiods, amphetamines and sedatives depending on what your getting.
Not a lot, but some. When they do, they have to include it on the ingredients. Most of the time its actually a good idea to avoid stuff with "extras" in, they often do more harm than good, such as making you feel slightly better for a bit and then much worse than you would have done after.
yeah thats what i was getting at, your better off with the cheaper stuff that doesnt contain extras to make you feel good rather than help you get better. you are quite right though, not every brand name over the counter drugs are loaded with crap you dont need, paracetamols are usually going to be just that, paracetamol, but its best to check the list of ingredients and pay attention especially to whats in the active ingrediants. you could be paying a couple quid extra for flavourings and sugar or stimulants that you dont need. its worth looking up your favoured brands, checking to see what the active ingredients are and compare them to the cheaper version to see the differences, you can be suprised with what they put things like streroids in to make you feel good like your fine for a day (this is not to say these things arent in there for a reason but if you just have a nasty cold munching down stimulants so you can get up and do stuff without noticing your ill for a day is probably just gonna make you worse in the long run)
My tips would be, don't pay for TV if you can. Download shit if you miss it, or try and get Virgin TV (the M package, not M+) for free. You get most of the decent channels plus it offers the catch up service, should you miss your weekly viewing of Gypsy Brides or Come House-Evaluate With Me.
There are subtle differences in TV packages between Sky and Virgin, in terms of what you have to pay for. Check them out and only pay for what you actually want.
For example Sky charge extra for access to most of the HD channels, even if you have an HD box, though they do have the largest selection of HD channels. Bear in mind of course, that a lot of "HD" isn't really HD, but upscaled normal programming - ITV and C4 are particularly guilty of this, BBC's HD generally is proper hi-def.
Virgin don't charge at all for HD content, but they do charge a fee for their V+ service. The box, like a Sky HD one doubles as a digital video recorder, so this means without the V+ subscription you can't do the pausing and rewinding of live TV.
Both of these seem to me as money-grubbing tactics, given the box already sitting in your living room is capable of both these tasks, but they just want a few more quid off you for the priviledge.
Weigh up which feature is most important to you when deciding on a supplier, but also factor in associated deals for broadband and telephone. Sky's broadband just sits on top of a BT ADSL connection, while Virgin use their own proprietary network for both which while offering potentially much faster broadband speeds doesn't allow you to opt out of the telephone supply charges.
FatherJack wrote:Sign up for a web-based paperless account and send them your meter readings. I got £200 back last month as they'd overcharged me massively.
I've just gone through this process and this months bill has come up £280.75 credit. They have more of my money, but for now I'll put this down to them not having enough meter readings. I'll continue giving them myself and see how it plays out.
