One of my favourite ways to save money on the weekly family supermarket shop is to brand switch.
This means trading down from well-known branded goods to the supermarket own brand alternatives.
But its not always an easy switch, trying to convince my family that the own brand products are as good as the famous brands can be a challenge!
I have persevered with certain family favourites, winning them over and they are happy with the switches.
But there are a few items where my children have asked, mummy next time you go shopping can you please get what we used to have.
I got away with those switches for at least a year, saving lots.
In the latest of our Cost of Living: We're Here to Help series, are my favourite brand switches with the tick of approval from my family.
Chocolate spread
When do children grow out of loving chocolate spread in sandwiches/on toast?
We go through a lot and I have successfully moved them over from the branded version of Nutella over to Nutoka the Aldi alternative.
Nutella 630g is £3.65 whilst Nutoka is £1.09 for 400g so the saving is huge.
Gravy granules
A Sunday roast and sausages and mash are staple meals in my house and gravy is an essential with both.
I have very successfully switched over to the Quixo Aldi own brand version instead of Bisto gravy.
The taste is so similar, and you can make the gravy even better using the meat juices.
The Aldi Quixo Gravy granules are 79p for 300g whilst the Bisto alternative is currently £2 in Asda for 350g.
Coffee pods
This is one of my favourite switches where I save a lot and love the supermarket alternative.
The Aldi coffee pods taste amazing and work perfectly with my coffee machine at home. There are several different supermarket own brand blends too.
The Aldi Ristretto pods are £1.45 for ten pods, compared to the Starbucks pods at £2.50 (current price in Asda, Sainsbury’s) for 10 pods.
Cat food
Okay not strictly for the humans here, but cats can be fussy with their food. Not mine!
Trev loves the Aldi own brand cat food, and this really does save us a lot on the weekly shop.
He goes through 28 pouches of food per week, costing 18.9p per 100g packet (buy it in boxes of 12 packets) so £5.29 per week.
Compare this to Whiskas, best price currently £3.29 for 12 packets or 27p per packet. Or £7.68 for the week.
Candles
I know it’s a luxury, but the Aldi candles are amazing value for money - they smell great and last for a long time.
The Jo Malone style candles are prices at £3.49 in Aldi compared to £50 on the Jo Malone website.
What brand switches have you had success with? Let us know in the comments section below
Worst brand swaps we tried
These are the brands that my family refuse to give up.
Heinz Ketchup and beans
Heinz brand is the winner here with the boys specifically asking me to only buy Heinz branded tomato ketchup and bakes beans.
They say the taste is hugely different, especially the ketchup.
Toilet rolls
An interesting one that we have been trialling recently. We had been using Aldi toilet roll but have recently switched to recycled delivery Bazoo toilet roll.
The quality is much better and there are many more sheet per roll. Twenty-four rolls cost £21.
This is more than double the Aldi toilet roll cost, but we think its worth the price for softer than soft and bamboo recycled toilet roll.
Crisps
Another product where the boys prefer the branded version is with crisps. And we have tried them all.
They much prefer Walkers and Sunbites for their packed lunches. Their flavour is much better.
Frosties
A recent experiment that has failed. The boys are really not keen on the Aldi version of Kellogg’s Frosties.
They report that the supermarket version tastes more processed and sugary. Back to Kellogg’s I go for this favourite cereal.
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