In these straitened times in which we are all now living, trying to get as much for your pound as possible is part of everyday life. But with inflation rocketing, it's getting harder and harder to get very much for our pennies it seems.
The nation's pound shops used to be a sure fire way to get a load of bargains for £1 or less, but do they still represent a good place for a bargain amid spiralling costs and inflation across the UK?
With this in mind, I headed down to Greater Manchester's pound shop hotspot of Wythenshawe to see exactly what I could get for a pound. Here, you'll find a whole load of different shops with "pound" in their name - around a Pound, Pound Express Plus, Poundstretcher, Poundland and Pound Bakery - yep, Wythenshawe has got them all.
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But do they all live up to their pound billing? Well, my quest here was simple - to see what items I could buy, priced for either £1 or less in each of the stores.
As a mum-of-two I am always on the lookout for cheap food and drink options that will help to feed the family through the week. Although I'm not averse to picking up a £1 home, beauty or utility bargain when out on my shop as well if one presents itself. Here's how I got on...
Around a Pound
I've whizzed past the brilliantly-named Around a Pound shop on the tram many a time and wondered what it was like inside. Well, I need not wonder anymore as I headed inside the shop on Hollyhedge Road.
While this shop boasts a number of items ready-branded up with £1 on the packaging, any massive discounts appeared to be few and far between on my visit. In reality, it was more like a convenience store, with prices to match.
For instance, I took a two pint of milk to the till to get it price checked and to my horror was told it was £1.79. The shop assistant grimaced and said: "Yeah I know. But it's going up to £2 next week". Blimey.
And I struggled to find much in the way of meal options for £1 or under - Warburtons bread was £1.69, Pot Noodles were £1.19 each, even the small shelf with fresh fruit and veg on everything was priced at £1.29 - like for a four pack of tomatoes or a bag of onions. Although there were some cheaper bargains to be found at the back of the shop with a sort of bits-and-bobs section with random things for £1 like, erm, correction tape and a hole punch.
So in terms of my food shop I ended up with a lot of the items ready-branded for £1, like a pack of Utterly Butterly, some Pampers Baby Wipes, a Golden Syrup cake, pack of popcorn and a 40-bag of Ty-Phoo tea (which I ended up finding a LOT cheaper for MORE tea bags at some of the other pound stores, so I was kicking myself for buying it here). I also picked up a bargain £1 can of cider, and in an attempt to buy something healthy, I broke the £1 rule and invested in the £1.29 tomatoes.
In fairness, the shop IS called "Around a Pound", not "Under a Pound" so it's not like it didn't warn me. Gah.
Pound Express Plus
Heading over the road, here's where I really struck gold at Pound Express Plus. I absolutely loved this place.
One of those proper old-fashioned treasure-trovey bric-a-brac places packed with a little bit of everything, some you need, and some really don't, but you buy anyway because it's £1 (or even better two for £1!). The shelves here were near creaking at the seams with offers.
I was really impressed at the array of six packs of crisps for £1 or under, as this is one of the items that really seem to have shot up in price at supermarkets in the past year. I got myself a six pack of Chipsticks for £1 and couldn't resist the offer of TWO for £1 on some of those retro "fish and chip" salt and vinegar chippy things.
There were also cans of pop, two for £1 which I snaffled, and loads of £1 offers in the health and beauty aisles including a large Johnsons shower gel which I also picked up for £1. Alas, there was not a great deal in the healthy food department - I admit I also got tempted by a very bargainous 2 for £1 deal on large Galaxy chocolate bars as well.
There was an entire wall groaning with all manner of oddities, I could have picked myself up some fake eyelashes or a massage roller for £1 but I tried to resist the urge for beautifying myself. But I did get excited about loads of rolls of tape for £1 so I bought that, and also £1 toothpastes and bin bags.
There was no fridge or fresh food here though, so this would be one for picking up all those store cupboard essentials and household goods. Also top marks for friendly staff and customers here who were all having a laugh and a joke and also put up with me when I started screaming when a fly landed on my arm by the door.
Poundstretcher
Next I headed into Wythenshawe town centre proper, where you'll find the pound shop "big boys" of Poundstretcher and Poundland within a stone's throw of each other in the shopping precinct. First up I headed to Poundstretcher, where the subtitle reads: "every penny counts" - and it most certainly does these days.
It's good news if you're looking to stock up on your pandemic PPE here, as there were absolute shelves and shelves groaning with face masks and sanitisers dominating the entrance section, and 20p hand wipes. But not such good news if you were just wanting some cheap scran like me.
Maybe I picked a bad day but the food bits seemed quite low on stock on the day I visited.
I did however manage to get a box of 100 Ty-Phoo teabags for just 75p, a massive saving from Around a Pound, and I also got a bottle of Vimto for 75p as well. I stumped up £1 for a single kitchen roll, as well as some Bisto gravy granules for a 75p win, as well as some biscuits and treats for £1 again.
But there were no fridge goods in this store, so it was difficult to put together meal ideas for the family. They had a decent range of tinned beans, including haricot beans for 25p.
I spotted that Chipsticks were more expensive here at £1.25 (which I managed to buy for a pound at Pound Express and later at Poundland). But there was a decent selection and variety of branded teas, coffees and cold drinks and squash/pop.
This particular store had a large homewear section with larger home furnishings and bedding and such like, and I struggled to find anything for a pound in those sections at all.
And I was left a-gog at the cost of Halloween fancy dress that has already made it's way into store. I mean, they're charging £7 for a plastic severed arm would you believe.
SEVEN POUNDS! Talk about costing an arm and a leg...
Poundland
Next I was off to the pound shop giant of Poundland, which offered the biggest range of products of all the stores I visited in Wythenshawe, and some real bargains too. I mean, as soon as I walked in I was presented with a display of £1 umbrellas - and yes, one of those went straight in my basket.
There were some decent food offers, with Pot Noodles priced at 2 for £1 catching my eye. I was also able to pick up a pack of porridge oats for £1, a small pot of Lotus Biscoff spread for £1 and some burger buns for £1.
I finally got my hands on something vaguely healthy - with a whole raft of dried fruit and nuts on offer here for £1, so I picked up some apricots.
There was also a small fridge offering fresh items here too, with cooked ham and chicken I could find for a £1 and also a five rasher pack of bacon which I bought for £1. There were also things like blocks of cheese and even a steak but alas over my £1 per item budget.
Milk seemed very fairly priced here if you're after a larger bottle - a 2litre (4 pints) of whole milk was just £1.50. But a block of butter I took to the till for a price check had to go straight back as it was priced at £2.
Poundbakery
A quick pitstop at the Poundbakery while I was in the town centre, although I was pretty alarmed to find there was hardly anything for sale here for a pound - or at least left on the shelves when I visited. I know other people have been a bit peeved about this as well with outrage over price increases hitting the headlines last month. Amusingly, some suggesting it should be called "PoundishBakery" instead.
I noticed a fair few empty spaces with £1 marked on them but none left (like the sandwich section), so I assume they are pretty popular here. It wasn't closing time - the lady behind the counter said there was another good three hours of trading when I visited.
So I guess I maybe hit them up at the wrong time. I had a little moan to her that there wasn't much left for £1 and she apologised saying they'd "just been waiting for a fresh delivery in".
For the hallowed £1 figure, I found a pack of three teacakes, four bread rolls, a pack of three flapjacks and two gingerbread men. In the hot cabinets most things were priced over £1 though - jumbo pasties and pies all priced at £1.20, while you can buy full on "hot dinners" here right up to 7.30pm, but they're priced from £4.
However, I spied a tempting, and large, looking pasty at the bottom of the hot counter and the lady confirmed it was £1 so that was what I went for. It was apparently chicken and mushroom (although with a strange hint of apple I thought) and was really quite delicious.
And also properly massive. It was big enough to serve two people really, but alas it was so tasty I scoffed it all in the car on the way home. Whoops.
Charity shop with everything for £1
Finally, a special mention goes to the Sue Ryder charity shop in the precinct in Wythenshawe. It's a very special charity shop because EVERYTHING is priced here at £1.
It's right next to the Poundland store as well. Sadly, it had just closed up for the day when I visited so I was left peeping through the windows instead dreaming of a bargain find.
But it looks like a brilliant initiative, with loads of adult and children's clothes lined up on well-stocked rails, while at the back of the store I spotted loads of books and bric-a-brac too. They also sell electrical goods, although they note on the window they are the only items NOT priced at £1, but at "competitive prices" all the same.
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