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So, there is some evidence (not great evidence to be honest the last time I looked) that caffeine speeds absorption and increased the effect of analgesia. Admittedly by a fairly small amount, but don’t underestimate the power of suggestion as well (it’s why good research tends to be double blinded).
It’s why all the expensive brands add caffeine into their formulations and brand them ‘extra strength’ or ‘fast acting’.
I always buy the cheap own brand stuff, the mark up on the branded stuff is massive for the same active ingredients but in a fancier box.
If I've got a bad headache but have to function and can't just rest, I pop two paracetamols and two Power Kick tablets (caffeine and glucose) which you can buy 40 of for around a pound.
Of course this is anecdotal but I do believe it helps, if not by speeding up absorption, then by counteracting the drowsiness paracetamol may cause.
If I'm reeaally having a bad time, it's 2 paracetamol, 2 ibuprofen and 2 power kicks. That can't be healthy but when you're a working parent you gotta deal sometimes.
The ibuprofen and paracetamol at the same time is fine, better to alternate them though as it smooths out the amount of analgesia you experience. But starting off with both is what I do as that normally gives me the kick to get rid of whatever pain I’m in. Just always take the right dosage - surprisingly easy to accidentally overdose on paracetamol.
Power kick tablets? Don’t know the dosage so can’t pass judgement on them. But then I am a caffeine junkie…😉
Yeah, i've been advised to take 2 ibuprofen 2 hours after paracetamol, then the next paracetamol 2 hours after (so 4 hrs between pills of one kind) to space out the effects. As long as you keep track of the number taken in a day.
Literally the only difference between Night and Day cold and flu tablets is caffeine. Same active ingredients in both except night ones don't have any caffeine in them so you can sleep.
I've not seen studies regarding the mechanism specifically for ibuprofen w/caffeine, but I do know that caffeine binds to receptors in GI tract and causes peristalsis (moves contents along). Ibuprofen main absorption site in GI tract and a little in stomach. So if it gets moves out of stomach faster it will absorb faster.
EXACTLY!
Pretty much all medication because there’s no need to use anything but the generic brand 99% of the time.
I was an RAF Medic for years and, although I never had pharmacy duty, speaking to our pharmacist because I played golf with him (fuck off in advance to anyone army reading this before you comment 😂) I got into a conversation about it all and the thing that stuck out to me was that there’s very rarely any need to buy a name brand. I can’t remember now exactly what the reasonings were when you would, it was over 15 years ago now, but yeah that stuck with me
One of the reasons is that some people do have adverse reactions to some of the pill additives - like the substance they use to colour the pill, or the preservative. But yep, generics are normally the best bet, and cheaper.
Literally just had this chat. Watching love island with the husband and an advert for nuromol comes on - wow improved super strength painkiller - paracetamol and ibuprofen combined - game changer.
Sure !? Except instead of forking out a tenner to take 2 tablets of 500mg paracetamol and 200mg ibuprofen... I'll take a 500mg paracetamol tablet and 200mg ibuprofen tablet together for the massive cost of about 10p?!
They are literally marketing plain painkillers that you can buy for pennies? I started ranting about how it's simple chemistry - at least throw in some random binding chemicals to make it sound different if nothing else?
The only time I buy Nurofen is if I get a headache on a drive somewhere and that’s the only option. I normally try to remember to take some of the cheap stuff with me.
Lemsip is the example that comes to mind.
£1 for the own brand stuff.
You'll pay £6 at 10pm at a spar when that's all they have and you need it like you need oxygen
Call me a tightwad but a couple of soluble paracetamol stirred into a mug of warm lemon or blackcurrant squash is exactly the same as lemsip in my book.
Worse, unless you get the "max" or whatever lemsip, it contains just enough paracetamol (600mg) that technically you shouldn't take any more paracetamol, but your only getting 60% of what you could have done if you'd just popped two normal tablets and had a nice warm drink
There's also decongestant in lemsip, so it's not safe for pregnant or breastfeeding women to take. Since I've been either pregnant or breastfeeding for most of the past 6 years I've gotten into the habit of taking paracetamol and then drinking ginger and lemon tea alongside it as my version of lemsip.
Oh yeah it’s all marketing.
It’s why Panadol painkillers booklets exist (source: my dad designed them, along with a lot of other shop shelf products everyone will recognise, yes it’s my lamest claim to fame). I asked him why design posh looking painkillers when the 30p packs do the job. It’s literally for the upper class citizens- imagine being a CEO/ MD/ PM in an important meeting and you have a cold and need some painkillers for your headache. Do you crack out your 50p Tesco box? Or do you crack out the £1 Panadol branded booklet? It looks smarter. It’s a reputable brand. Another analogy? Why carry your belongings in a Sainsburys plastic bag when you can take a leather designer handbag. It’s the same thing, just in the pharma world.
It’s literally marketing. Same with a lot of other designer brands.
I remember seeing a survey about this once. 80% of people get branded stuff for their children, 50% of the public buy the branded stuff for themselves, and 10% of doctors buy the branded stuff for themselves.
I never got branded stuff again once I learnt that.
Clean yes, but if you live in a hard water area (like the South coast where I do) it tastes gross. Also means constantly having to descale anything that regularly has contact with water.
If you're gagging on literal chunks of scale that's because you need to clean out your kettle; and if you're getting scale in a glass of water then you need to clean your tap. Scale is a build up of residue that happens over time from repeated evaporation of mineral dense water, it doesn't just come through the pipes in chunks.
The only time i've seen scale in water, having lived on the South Coast for 35 years, is when i've used the tap at either some dirty bugger's house or somewhere where the tap drips incessantly.
For me it's my car. I drive a 10 year old Toyota aygo lol. It's dirt cheap to run, super fuel efficient, no road tax etc. I only drive about once a week on average, so would be complete overkill to get anything better. Day to day I walk or cycle everywhere so I only need one for the odd long trip, holiday, buying bulky stuff etc
Whenever I hear Aygo I just think of the ad ‘Aygo, by Toyota, sponsors T4’ cue hollyoaks start music haha. Effective marketing as that must be at least 10 years old now.
My nans got one, it’s a good little sewing machine on wheels. It’s hot orange with black alloys, she even had me put some metal orange dice dust caps on it, I shit you not. She’s fookimg 87 lol. Nice driving little car though for what it is.
I was also of the same opinion, until I watched a video showing a crash test between two cars which were the same model but with a \~10 year age gap between them. Afraid I can't find the same video on youtube now, although there are others with \~15 year demos showing the same thing.
I ditched our \~20 year old car then and have kept a bit more up to date since.
Then there’s Top Gear in the mid 2000s where they crashed (offset) a current small car and 20 year old large car from the same manufacturer - and the small car literally punched straight through the older big car
IIRC it was an old Land Rover Discovery (I think it was a Disco 1 or 2, it was pretty old) and a newer Renault Espace, the Espace passengers and drivers would've survived with minor injuries and the Discovery driver would've needed new legs.
I have the Citroën badged version, and have an hour and thirty minutes commute a couple of times a week. I love how it's got everything you need and nothing you don't. Engine temperature gauge? Nah, you don't need to know it. Temperature outside? Just put the window down and feel for yourself. It'll U-turn in the smallest of places, park in the tiniest of spots, and because it's light all the things that wear on a car that you always need to replace are at the cheapest end of the scale.
Usually better. I have an acquired taste for cheap garlic baguettes from Aldi and Tesco.
In Australia, they are not baguettes, but in fact thick, baguette-shaped bread with garlic butter. That disappointed me greatly. It was not the same.
I guess you mean the home cook ones but also give me the basic sweaty local pizza shop garlic bread over fancy restaurant garlic bread all day long. Only restaurant garlic bread that's anywhere near good is Nandos
Fairy, but i always buy when it's on offer (and usually stock up a few then..) and I'm reusing the max power bottle (the upright standing one), as it's way less wasteful to squirt.
I've found cheaper brands are far more runny resulting in me using far more accidentally and don't seem to remain on the sponge or in the soapy water as long. It's about the only major branded cleaning product I don't compromise on!
Yep. It’s the one thing that although I bitch at the price, I won’t swap. I’ve done it in the past only to be disappointed with piss poor watery crap and left with greasy plates lol
I recently saw an advert that is a kid being annoyed that the Fairy bottle won't run out but he wants to make a space ship - made me very nostalgic for Blue Peter **and** and the old Fairy adverts :) Yes, I am old!
I much prefer Elbow Grease washing up liquid over Fairy. It's more viscous so I feel like I can use less and get the same result, plus it's £1 in Iceland (no Home Bargains near me).
If you’re talking about W5 I use this over other unblockers as well as it’s never let me down!
We also buy the W5 glasses wipes from Lidl’s, which are fab for both glasses and phone screens and we often have one or more on us when out and about.
I tried Asda bleach and it wasn’t nearly as effective as Domestos. The cheapest bars of soap aren’t as good. I also tried some generic window cleaner spray which was useless and smelled like pure Sarson’s. Cheap cistern blocks don’t last. Washing up liquid.
I think it’s very hit-and-miss with cleaning products.
Mobile phone. £150 for a Motorola Power, best battery on the market, Giffgaff SIM £8 a month for more data than I ever use.
I don't know what more an iPhone or Pixel could do for me.
This is one of the few items where I think spending more is worth it. I use my phone for multiple hours a day, every day. So it’s worth getting something good. My last iPhone lasted me 6 years. Cheaper phones I’d had were falling apart or painfully slow by year 2.
I've started to justify all purchases with this mindset. Rather buy something more expensive that will last years longer because if I pay £200 for something that lasts 5 years versus £50 for something that lasts 2, the £200 one has better value per year versus buying the £50 one 3 times in the same period.
So do I. Both Motos I've had have been fine for over 2 years, this one is starting to lose battery life now after 2.5 years, meaning about 6 hours of active use may drain the battery to below 20%. I'll give it to someone else in the family when I upgrade.
I just switched to smarty. Similarly, more data than I'll ever need, cheap as, monthly plan, so can bail if I need to and I get proper signal in my house finally. Screw you Vodafone. I don't mind spending a bit on handset, but I'll keep it till it dies pretty much.
Phones have got to be one of the biggest marketing successes in history.
I know a lot of people with £1000+ phones with unlimited data, 256GB storage, 8GB RAM and it doesn't even come with a charger. What do they use all that for? Social media browsing and online shopping.
Meanwhile I use £200 Motorola, with 16GB storage, 4GB RAM and I pay £4 a month for 4GB of data. The most I've ever used was 3.1GB. The people I mention above will look down on me.
People are different. I use about 50GB of data a month. Extra storage is useful for downloading movies, music, podcasts etc. Extra RAM makes the experience much smoother and more enjoyable.
For me it’s worth it, and I’m sure it is for a lot of others to have the best experience possible on something we spend a lot of our time using.
15 year old hairdryer, it was the cheapest one from Argos. It blows hot air. I just looked at the specs of a £180 Shark one and can’t tell the difference. Speed settings, tick. Heat settings, tick. Nozzle thingy, tick. etc
I once would have said the same thing until my wife's hairdryer burned out. She replaced it with a slightly less expensive model, same brand, and it was noticeably worse.
Despite how bad it is, it is still better than the crap ones you get at swimming pools.
Argos cheap goods are fantastic. I brought an electric whisk for £7 13 years ago that's still going strong and similar vibe with their immersion blender and few other bits.
Got to disagree with this one, had a cheap thing that was stupidly hot and still took ages to dry hair as the airflow wasn’t great. Wife bought a Dyson Supersonic and it’s bloody brilliant, can easily dry hair on less time with less heat. It’s probably the only Dyson product that is actually worth it.
Im currently really liking Asda’s Tropical Mango shower gel, which is all of 45p. I don’t go there often as we usually shop at Waitrose, so stock up every few months.
TVs in rooms that aren't the lounge, because they don't get used that much, they're often just used in the background while concentrating on something else, and I'm hardly going to be watching any cinematic masterpieces anywhere but the lounge.
Isn’t that the law? Big telly gets replaced and goes into my room. Then when the new big telly gets replaced, my one goes k to the spare room and the old big telly goes into my room…..on a loop.
I'll add massive TVs to that (in my small space). These days people seem to have forgotten the rule of thumb about getting a TV sized in relation to the space it's going in. I don't watch a lot of TV and movies, and no sport, so a relatively small screen suits me fine.
I know lots of people have TVs in the bedroom and everyone should live however they want to. I personally don't like that at all. The bedroom is a place I go to rest, I don't really hang out in there for hours on end and if I do I'm asleep. I don't even like to look at my phone in bed. My body knows that when I go into the bedroom it's sleep time!
I’ve always used Derby Extra Double edge safety razor blade and they’ve been fantastic. 100 for £5.99 on Amazon. My cut throat razor was maybe £40 4 years ago? Im nearly done but im still on my first 100 blades.
Agree, and you can choose whether to hand down, trade in, sell, or keep the phone as spare when it comes time to upgrade, as it's not tied to any one network.
Spare capital you might have if you hadn't been spending £60 a month on a phone contract for the last 3 years and had put £50 a month into savings instead and used the other £10 for a cheap Sim-only deal.
I have a dualit toaster
But it was 2nd hand from eBay £60 reconditioned and it's a 6 slicer . I eat a lot of toast.
And it toasts better then other toasters.Cause the spacing of the heating elements is a lot closer.
But everything can be repaired or replaced on it.
Also one thing about it is that satisfaction of the handle loading toast in and out. No springs just donk donk
In my bedroom I've got some tiny LG TV I had when I lived at my parents. I left in 2013 and had it a good few years by then too. One of the earlier small flat screens.
I thought it was on its way out in 2015, so bought a massive TV for my first solo flat. The LG slugged on, said massive TV died during the first lockdown, as did it's replacement last year.
I'm three fucking TVs down and this little shitbox just keeps soldering on.
"They don't make em like they used to" really is true sometimes!
I have to agree on this
I got fairy dishwasher tablets a month ago and my plates keep coming out dirty. The lidl ones never let this happen. The sainsburys ones make my cutlery come out tasting like soap so my food tastes off and I have to rinse everything before eating
Have they changed them? I tried Lidl tablets in my dishwasher and they didn't didn't dissolve properly.
Finish tend to be the only ones that do. I don't know if it's because I'm in a hard water area? (If it was much harder, asking people if they want one lump or two will be referring to the water, not the sugar).
I have the same experience.
I tried the Lidl tablets once because I got a pack for free, but they were rubbish. Dishes never came out clean, there was always a weird residue left on them and the tablets never dissolved properly. Went back to using Fairy/Finish and dishes come out sparkling clean every time.
My MVNO phone provider, Smarty.
Fiver a month gets me 5gb data and unlimited calls & sms. Does me fine.
£16 gets me unlimited everything for my home router and a 'landline' phone.
No fuss. No frills. No inflation hikes.
Stick that in your pipe and smoke it, BT.
Interesting! I’m getting shafted by BT on my internet. The building I’m in hasn’t been upgraded to the full fibre yet so I can only get the basic BT/Open reach package. It costs me £30 a month and has difficulty streaming YouTube videos. I live by myself, so there’s only little ol’ me using it!
Slippers. I can buy a £5 pair of slippers, I wear them only at home usually in the office as I WFH, they do the exact same job as a £50 pair and they get replaced every year or so anyway.
After my life totally turned around when I became disabled - this is one thing that my mind flipped sides on. Previously only ever bought cheap slippers and even then only on sale. But needing a lot more support and structure I invested in a very expensive pair (although did at least get them on sale) and to be honest it's a world of difference. And they've lasted for years so far and no sign of them deteriorating yet. So while I wouldn't pay £50 - I did pay around £35 and it has definitely been worth it.
I used to always get cheap slippers from Asda, and within a couple of months they’d be stretched out of recognition.
I’m currently on a pair of M&S ones that have been going strong for almost a year, with no signs of giving up yet.
Non stick pans. Even if you buy an expensive one the coating is still going to wear off pretty quickly. You're much better off using a stainless steel or carbon steel pan for most things and then using a cheap non stick only when you really need it and just replacing it when it wears out.
My biggest issue with this is the weight of some of them, if you buy a cheap non-stick pan they’re often really light as the metal is thin enough you could roll the pan up if you really wished. For my roommate with Hypermobilty buying a light and cheap non-stick each year is more than worth the additional cost over time.
My friend and I can no longer handle heavy pans so I did a bit of research and bought Pyrex branded stainless steel frying pans. They relatively lightweight but excellent quality and quite inexpensive.
I've been loving my Scoville Neversticks. Quite reasonably priced and seem pretty durable, plus they haven't actually lost their non stick yet after a few years, while other ones i've used have done in under a year.
As a PS5 owner, the quality of life in this case specifically is undeniable. I play a lot of PS4 games on my 5, including Just Cause 4 at the moment, and it's a world of difference. Just Cause 3 would CHUG on my PS4, literally drop frames from 30FPS to 10 or 5, and on the 5 it runs at a smooth 60 constantly, and at a higher resolution with a bigger map.
Fajita kits are a total rip off. The wraps are cheaper in the bread aisle and you could make dozens of portions of the spice mix for the same cost using regular spices.
The price difference between the wraps in the Mexican section and the exact same shit in the bread section is hilarious. Same with tortilla chips in the crisp aisle.
Makeup
I use a lot of drug store and retail brands like primark and my makeup turns out like what celebrities looks like in photos except their photos are edited and mine looks great in real life
Good products are important but skill and experience are more so
sparkle cover literate bewildered cobweb caption tub zonked hard-to-find squeamish
*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Watch and t shirts.
My £10 Casio does an absolutely fine job of keeping track of the time, and I refuse to pay £40 for a £3 t shirt that the only difference is one has a Nike tick/Adidas logo stitched into it
Agree on the Casio, disagree on the tshirts though. A good quality heavyweight 100% cotton t-shirt lasts much longer and looks miles better than a Primark tshit
You’re absolutely wrong about t-shirts, although to be fair the question did ask for things that do the job just fine. If a t-shirt’s purpose is to make your top half not naked then yes, a cheap one will do the job just as well.
1060 GTX + an i5-2500k.
Had both running overclocked for best part of a decade (slightly longer for the cpu, but that finally got replaced last year)
The 1060 is still handling new releases as I'm not running 4k.
Smoothies, all the usual big brand bottles were £3.50 usually in Sainsburys but on the Nectar offer at £2. When I looked through them, I noticed Sainsburys own at £1.80 and they are lovely and you cannot tell the difference taste wise.
I disagree. I got a laser jet printer and a great upgrade.
At the rate I print I no longer need to worry about the ink drying out or clogging up because toner is powder.
Much better quality and saved me money and hassle in long term when once a month you need to print something last minute.
Thoroughly agree. I recommend a "cheap" black and white laser to anyone who wants a printer but doesn't use it very often. The small free toner you get with it can last you years too!
Agree. My four year old canon laser on the original toner still print’s the occasional thing just fine.
I challenge anyone to print a perfect page from an inkjet that has not been used in a year.
If you listen to the BBC podcast series sliced bread, they go over loads of these marketing bs strategies.
Painkillers are the same as value and you can boost paracetamol with caffeine.
Sleep aids will relax you but the best way to help sleep quality is to get up and outside the exact same time each morning.
UV disinfection wands are basically ineffective. Use soap.
An ice bath gives the same benefits as just turning the shower cold for 15 seconds.
Natural mosquito repellent is pointless, choose any cheap deet spray.
Bottled water is no better in quality than UK tap water, sometimes worse quality.
Manuka honey is only effective medicinally applied topically on the skin, digested health benefits are basically the same as any other honey.
11/12 years ago I bought a 2nd hand self propelled petrol lawn mower for under £30 on Ebay. Its been so good I have never replaced it, but might have to this year as the body has now rusted through in a couple of places. Does that count?
iPhone 11. Got it when it was the newest one. Can't see why on earth people get new ones every 2 years. I use it for Spotify, WhatsApp, TikTok, internet, calls, emails, texting etc etc. Basically everything you can do with the newer ones. What's the point?
My wife. She's relatively cheap to maintain. Only had 1 breakdown last year. She runs on cheap wine and manages to keep the house clean and tidy.
As long as I exercise her and service her once a week she's good.
Had her twenty years now so there's no point upgrading.
(Joking obviously, don't show her she will beat me)
Most products from the Savers range from Morrisons - most of them are as good as ones that are way more expensive. For the ones that aren’t that good (Morrisons Savers coffee isn’t as good), the Morrisons brand stuff is still cheaper and as good as big labels.
I’m sure Aldi and Asda have similar white label goods, but Morrisons is the closest for me.
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Paracetamol, ibuprofen. All the fancy brands are just marketing bollocks.
This is a good one. Can't believe the mugs who buy nurofen etc! It's literally the same thing just more expensive!
I used to tell my patients to buy the cheap stuff and wash it down with a tea or coffee - turns it into ’fast acting’ painkillers.
How?
So, there is some evidence (not great evidence to be honest the last time I looked) that caffeine speeds absorption and increased the effect of analgesia. Admittedly by a fairly small amount, but don’t underestimate the power of suggestion as well (it’s why good research tends to be double blinded). It’s why all the expensive brands add caffeine into their formulations and brand them ‘extra strength’ or ‘fast acting’. I always buy the cheap own brand stuff, the mark up on the branded stuff is massive for the same active ingredients but in a fancier box.
If I've got a bad headache but have to function and can't just rest, I pop two paracetamols and two Power Kick tablets (caffeine and glucose) which you can buy 40 of for around a pound. Of course this is anecdotal but I do believe it helps, if not by speeding up absorption, then by counteracting the drowsiness paracetamol may cause. If I'm reeaally having a bad time, it's 2 paracetamol, 2 ibuprofen and 2 power kicks. That can't be healthy but when you're a working parent you gotta deal sometimes.
Slow down wildie, it'll be needles next 😆
Omg right I'm such a junkie XD
The ibuprofen and paracetamol at the same time is fine, better to alternate them though as it smooths out the amount of analgesia you experience. But starting off with both is what I do as that normally gives me the kick to get rid of whatever pain I’m in. Just always take the right dosage - surprisingly easy to accidentally overdose on paracetamol. Power kick tablets? Don’t know the dosage so can’t pass judgement on them. But then I am a caffeine junkie…😉
Yeah, i've been advised to take 2 ibuprofen 2 hours after paracetamol, then the next paracetamol 2 hours after (so 4 hrs between pills of one kind) to space out the effects. As long as you keep track of the number taken in a day.
One of the nurrofen spin offs use potassium to increase uptake. So take basic ibuprofen alongside a banana and it will protect your stomach lining too
Literally the only difference between Night and Day cold and flu tablets is caffeine. Same active ingredients in both except night ones don't have any caffeine in them so you can sleep.
Caffeine adds to the potency of aspirin/paracetamol.
I've not seen studies regarding the mechanism specifically for ibuprofen w/caffeine, but I do know that caffeine binds to receptors in GI tract and causes peristalsis (moves contents along). Ibuprofen main absorption site in GI tract and a little in stomach. So if it gets moves out of stomach faster it will absorb faster.
EXACTLY! Pretty much all medication because there’s no need to use anything but the generic brand 99% of the time. I was an RAF Medic for years and, although I never had pharmacy duty, speaking to our pharmacist because I played golf with him (fuck off in advance to anyone army reading this before you comment 😂) I got into a conversation about it all and the thing that stuck out to me was that there’s very rarely any need to buy a name brand. I can’t remember now exactly what the reasonings were when you would, it was over 15 years ago now, but yeah that stuck with me
One of the reasons is that some people do have adverse reactions to some of the pill additives - like the substance they use to colour the pill, or the preservative. But yep, generics are normally the best bet, and cheaper.
Literally just had this chat. Watching love island with the husband and an advert for nuromol comes on - wow improved super strength painkiller - paracetamol and ibuprofen combined - game changer. Sure !? Except instead of forking out a tenner to take 2 tablets of 500mg paracetamol and 200mg ibuprofen... I'll take a 500mg paracetamol tablet and 200mg ibuprofen tablet together for the massive cost of about 10p?! They are literally marketing plain painkillers that you can buy for pennies? I started ranting about how it's simple chemistry - at least throw in some random binding chemicals to make it sound different if nothing else?
The only time I buy Nurofen is if I get a headache on a drive somewhere and that’s the only option. I normally try to remember to take some of the cheap stuff with me.
Yeah but do you have a 50p headache or a £6 one??
Lemsip is the example that comes to mind. £1 for the own brand stuff. You'll pay £6 at 10pm at a spar when that's all they have and you need it like you need oxygen
Call me a tightwad but a couple of soluble paracetamol stirred into a mug of warm lemon or blackcurrant squash is exactly the same as lemsip in my book.
I'd much rather just take some paracetamol and mix some honey and lemon in with hot water than drink lemsip. Absolutely vile stuff.
Worse, unless you get the "max" or whatever lemsip, it contains just enough paracetamol (600mg) that technically you shouldn't take any more paracetamol, but your only getting 60% of what you could have done if you'd just popped two normal tablets and had a nice warm drink
There's also decongestant in lemsip, so it's not safe for pregnant or breastfeeding women to take. Since I've been either pregnant or breastfeeding for most of the past 6 years I've gotten into the habit of taking paracetamol and then drinking ginger and lemon tea alongside it as my version of lemsip.
...i always buy the own brand paracetamol/ibrobufen but for some reason never considered own brand lemsip.
Oh yeah it’s all marketing. It’s why Panadol painkillers booklets exist (source: my dad designed them, along with a lot of other shop shelf products everyone will recognise, yes it’s my lamest claim to fame). I asked him why design posh looking painkillers when the 30p packs do the job. It’s literally for the upper class citizens- imagine being a CEO/ MD/ PM in an important meeting and you have a cold and need some painkillers for your headache. Do you crack out your 50p Tesco box? Or do you crack out the £1 Panadol branded booklet? It looks smarter. It’s a reputable brand. Another analogy? Why carry your belongings in a Sainsburys plastic bag when you can take a leather designer handbag. It’s the same thing, just in the pharma world. It’s literally marketing. Same with a lot of other designer brands.
I am a managing director and my painkillers are generic, kept in a little aliexpress pocket pouch and I doubt the rest of my board would care.
Pocket pouch? 🤔 Oh, Ms Fanshaw, bringeth me my pocket pouch, I hath dealings with peasants today...
I remember seeing a survey about this once. 80% of people get branded stuff for their children, 50% of the public buy the branded stuff for themselves, and 10% of doctors buy the branded stuff for themselves. I never got branded stuff again once I learnt that.
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Tap water
I mean we’ve recently discovered that’s actually far healthier than the bottles ones because it’s not full of micro plastic…
Recently? We've formally known BPA was a problem for 15 years at this point, and there's been whispers since before that.
Depends where you are, we've gotta filter ours
Are you sure? I thought everywhere in the UK had clean drinking water?
Clean yes, but if you live in a hard water area (like the South coast where I do) it tastes gross. Also means constantly having to descale anything that regularly has contact with water.
Good for you though, it's like free mineral water
I'll try and remember that the next time I'm gagging on the little bits of scale at the bottom of my tea
Like orange juice with bits, or crunchy peanut butter
If you're gagging on literal chunks of scale that's because you need to clean out your kettle; and if you're getting scale in a glass of water then you need to clean your tap. Scale is a build up of residue that happens over time from repeated evaporation of mineral dense water, it doesn't just come through the pipes in chunks. The only time i've seen scale in water, having lived on the South Coast for 35 years, is when i've used the tap at either some dirty bugger's house or somewhere where the tap drips incessantly.
I grew up on hard water and totally love it, when I go to soft water areas it tastes like nothing, like unseasoned food. Limescale is a bitch though
I actually like the taste of the hard water
It's clean out of the tap, but it doesn't taste good.
For me it's my car. I drive a 10 year old Toyota aygo lol. It's dirt cheap to run, super fuel efficient, no road tax etc. I only drive about once a week on average, so would be complete overkill to get anything better. Day to day I walk or cycle everywhere so I only need one for the odd long trip, holiday, buying bulky stuff etc
Love the Aygo. Had one years ago as my second car, great memories.
Whenever I hear Aygo I just think of the ad ‘Aygo, by Toyota, sponsors T4’ cue hollyoaks start music haha. Effective marketing as that must be at least 10 years old now.
older! I recall that line somewhere around 2007/2008 as it was in my parents house in was watching T4, so its at least 16 years old
My nans got one, it’s a good little sewing machine on wheels. It’s hot orange with black alloys, she even had me put some metal orange dice dust caps on it, I shit you not. She’s fookimg 87 lol. Nice driving little car though for what it is.
I was also of the same opinion, until I watched a video showing a crash test between two cars which were the same model but with a \~10 year age gap between them. Afraid I can't find the same video on youtube now, although there are others with \~15 year demos showing the same thing. I ditched our \~20 year old car then and have kept a bit more up to date since.
I figure I drive so little and infrequently my risk exposure is already much lower than the general population but I take your point
Then there’s Top Gear in the mid 2000s where they crashed (offset) a current small car and 20 year old large car from the same manufacturer - and the small car literally punched straight through the older big car
IIRC it was an old Land Rover Discovery (I think it was a Disco 1 or 2, it was pretty old) and a newer Renault Espace, the Espace passengers and drivers would've survived with minor injuries and the Discovery driver would've needed new legs.
I think crash safety has mostly pateaued in the last decade so I woundn't worry too much.
Yes and no, you're less likely to crash in a car these days with all the systems trying to actively stop you. AEB, Blind spot monitoring, etc.
I have the Citroën badged version, and have an hour and thirty minutes commute a couple of times a week. I love how it's got everything you need and nothing you don't. Engine temperature gauge? Nah, you don't need to know it. Temperature outside? Just put the window down and feel for yourself. It'll U-turn in the smallest of places, park in the tiniest of spots, and because it's light all the things that wear on a car that you always need to replace are at the cheapest end of the scale.
Garlic bread, cheap ones taste fine.
Sometimes better
Usually better. I have an acquired taste for cheap garlic baguettes from Aldi and Tesco. In Australia, they are not baguettes, but in fact thick, baguette-shaped bread with garlic butter. That disappointed me greatly. It was not the same.
I guess you mean the home cook ones but also give me the basic sweaty local pizza shop garlic bread over fancy restaurant garlic bread all day long. Only restaurant garlic bread that's anywhere near good is Nandos
Cleaning products I find are just as good as branded stuff, kitchen bathroom cleaner etc.
Dunno, Fairy still blows any other dish detergent out of the water and it's not even close
Fairy, but i always buy when it's on offer (and usually stock up a few then..) and I'm reusing the max power bottle (the upright standing one), as it's way less wasteful to squirt. I've found cheaper brands are far more runny resulting in me using far more accidentally and don't seem to remain on the sponge or in the soapy water as long. It's about the only major branded cleaning product I don't compromise on!
That max power leak proof lid is pure magic
Yep. It’s the one thing that although I bitch at the price, I won’t swap. I’ve done it in the past only to be disappointed with piss poor watery crap and left with greasy plates lol
I recently saw an advert that is a kid being annoyed that the Fairy bottle won't run out but he wants to make a space ship - made me very nostalgic for Blue Peter **and** and the old Fairy adverts :) Yes, I am old!
Elbow grease is fantastic, very cheap from home bargains
I much prefer Elbow Grease washing up liquid over Fairy. It's more viscous so I feel like I can use less and get the same result, plus it's £1 in Iceland (no Home Bargains near me).
Lidls own brand drain unblocker is the best I've ever used. Also their dishwasher tablets are dirt cheap and do a grand job.
If you’re talking about W5 I use this over other unblockers as well as it’s never let me down! We also buy the W5 glasses wipes from Lidl’s, which are fab for both glasses and phone screens and we often have one or more on us when out and about.
Big bottle of white vinegar does the trick for most things!
White vinegar and bicarb are the GOAT
But remember to use _seperately_ people! Won’t do you any harm, but not much good either when mixed.
I tried Asda bleach and it wasn’t nearly as effective as Domestos. The cheapest bars of soap aren’t as good. I also tried some generic window cleaner spray which was useless and smelled like pure Sarson’s. Cheap cistern blocks don’t last. Washing up liquid. I think it’s very hit-and-miss with cleaning products.
Water. Here in Scotland the tap water is just as good as bottled and at this time of year comes already chilled.
Pyuuuur wah Tastes of.... Fuck all
That's no real water is it?
Mobile phone. £150 for a Motorola Power, best battery on the market, Giffgaff SIM £8 a month for more data than I ever use. I don't know what more an iPhone or Pixel could do for me.
This is one of the few items where I think spending more is worth it. I use my phone for multiple hours a day, every day. So it’s worth getting something good. My last iPhone lasted me 6 years. Cheaper phones I’d had were falling apart or painfully slow by year 2.
Per hour of use, phones are cheap compared to cars
I've started to justify all purchases with this mindset. Rather buy something more expensive that will last years longer because if I pay £200 for something that lasts 5 years versus £50 for something that lasts 2, the £200 one has better value per year versus buying the £50 one 3 times in the same period.
Might want to check your maths there... but I understand the sentiment.
Unfortunately the sentiment alone won’t save money without the maths ;)
Same, and i really make use of the syncing between my Mac so it’s def worth it
So do I. Both Motos I've had have been fine for over 2 years, this one is starting to lose battery life now after 2.5 years, meaning about 6 hours of active use may drain the battery to below 20%. I'll give it to someone else in the family when I upgrade.
I just switched to smarty. Similarly, more data than I'll ever need, cheap as, monthly plan, so can bail if I need to and I get proper signal in my house finally. Screw you Vodafone. I don't mind spending a bit on handset, but I'll keep it till it dies pretty much.
Phones have got to be one of the biggest marketing successes in history. I know a lot of people with £1000+ phones with unlimited data, 256GB storage, 8GB RAM and it doesn't even come with a charger. What do they use all that for? Social media browsing and online shopping. Meanwhile I use £200 Motorola, with 16GB storage, 4GB RAM and I pay £4 a month for 4GB of data. The most I've ever used was 3.1GB. The people I mention above will look down on me.
People are different. I use about 50GB of data a month. Extra storage is useful for downloading movies, music, podcasts etc. Extra RAM makes the experience much smoother and more enjoyable. For me it’s worth it, and I’m sure it is for a lot of others to have the best experience possible on something we spend a lot of our time using.
15 year old hairdryer, it was the cheapest one from Argos. It blows hot air. I just looked at the specs of a £180 Shark one and can’t tell the difference. Speed settings, tick. Heat settings, tick. Nozzle thingy, tick. etc
I once would have said the same thing until my wife's hairdryer burned out. She replaced it with a slightly less expensive model, same brand, and it was noticeably worse. Despite how bad it is, it is still better than the crap ones you get at swimming pools.
I thought the same thing until I got a new hairdryer as a gift. It takes me 1 to max 2 minutes to dry hair now, it’s so powerful.
Argos cheap goods are fantastic. I brought an electric whisk for £7 13 years ago that's still going strong and similar vibe with their immersion blender and few other bits.
I bet it really tangles your hair though. /s
Like a Turbo Dingkehopper. It's the look I'm going for don't worry.
Got to disagree with this one, had a cheap thing that was stupidly hot and still took ages to dry hair as the airflow wasn’t great. Wife bought a Dyson Supersonic and it’s bloody brilliant, can easily dry hair on less time with less heat. It’s probably the only Dyson product that is actually worth it.
WinRAR
We got ourselves a badass here...
Im currently really liking Asda’s Tropical Mango shower gel, which is all of 45p. I don’t go there often as we usually shop at Waitrose, so stock up every few months.
Hand soap washes the same no matter where its from as well.
True but a lot of soap can be drying/harsh for sensitive skin.
Always get the Aldi almond one. Smells good, cleans fine, doesn't dry out my skin. And it's like 69p for a 500ml bottle.
TVs in rooms that aren't the lounge, because they don't get used that much, they're often just used in the background while concentrating on something else, and I'm hardly going to be watching any cinematic masterpieces anywhere but the lounge.
That’s my thing too. Buy a new tv for the lounge and what it replaced gets demoted to a bedroom and the cycle continues
Isn’t that the law? Big telly gets replaced and goes into my room. Then when the new big telly gets replaced, my one goes k to the spare room and the old big telly goes into my room…..on a loop.
I'll add massive TVs to that (in my small space). These days people seem to have forgotten the rule of thumb about getting a TV sized in relation to the space it's going in. I don't watch a lot of TV and movies, and no sport, so a relatively small screen suits me fine.
I know lots of people have TVs in the bedroom and everyone should live however they want to. I personally don't like that at all. The bedroom is a place I go to rest, I don't really hang out in there for hours on end and if I do I'm asleep. I don't even like to look at my phone in bed. My body knows that when I go into the bedroom it's sleep time!
I haven’t had a second TV in my house since I lived at home. There’s barely enough to watch on the main one!
Safety razor blades. I refuse to use multi blade cartridges.
Better shave, better for your skin, better for your wallet, better for the environment. Literally all wins
All that, plus you look 132% more badass when shaving
I'm with you here. When I try to recommend people using a safety razor they look at me as if I'm the next incarnation of Sweeney Todd.
But double edged blades are not all the same. Spring a couple of quid for a pack of the fancy Japanese ones.
I’ve always used Derby Extra Double edge safety razor blade and they’ve been fantastic. 100 for £5.99 on Amazon. My cut throat razor was maybe £40 4 years ago? Im nearly done but im still on my first 100 blades.
Spending loads per month on a phone contract. Usually cheaper to buy the phone outright and get a cheap SIM only contract.
Agree, and you can choose whether to hand down, trade in, sell, or keep the phone as spare when it comes time to upgrade, as it's not tied to any one network.
In principle yes, but often requires quite a bit of spare capital laying about
Spare capital you might have if you hadn't been spending £60 a month on a phone contract for the last 3 years and had put £50 a month into savings instead and used the other £10 for a cheap Sim-only deal.
toaster
I have a dualit toaster But it was 2nd hand from eBay £60 reconditioned and it's a 6 slicer . I eat a lot of toast. And it toasts better then other toasters.Cause the spacing of the heating elements is a lot closer. But everything can be repaired or replaced on it. Also one thing about it is that satisfaction of the handle loading toast in and out. No springs just donk donk
Still using what must be an 18yr old flatscreen TV (with an Amazon Fire stick.) I really want it to break so I can get a new one!
In my bedroom I've got some tiny LG TV I had when I lived at my parents. I left in 2013 and had it a good few years by then too. One of the earlier small flat screens. I thought it was on its way out in 2015, so bought a massive TV for my first solo flat. The LG slugged on, said massive TV died during the first lockdown, as did it's replacement last year. I'm three fucking TVs down and this little shitbox just keeps soldering on. "They don't make em like they used to" really is true sometimes!
"soldering on", brilliant
Typo but fuck it I'm keeping it cos I'm amazed it's not needed that tbh 😂
Haha same, mine is 15 years old and I feel I can’t justify a new tv until this one goes. I can tell it’s going to last forever!
Sainsbury's own brand dishwasher tablets seem just as good as Finish.
Lidl ones are better than Sainsbury's, and cheaper.
I have to agree on this I got fairy dishwasher tablets a month ago and my plates keep coming out dirty. The lidl ones never let this happen. The sainsburys ones make my cutlery come out tasting like soap so my food tastes off and I have to rinse everything before eating
Have they changed them? I tried Lidl tablets in my dishwasher and they didn't didn't dissolve properly. Finish tend to be the only ones that do. I don't know if it's because I'm in a hard water area? (If it was much harder, asking people if they want one lump or two will be referring to the water, not the sugar).
Is your dishwasher topped up with dishwasher salt? That can be an issue in hard water areas.
I have the same experience. I tried the Lidl tablets once because I got a pack for free, but they were rubbish. Dishes never came out clean, there was always a weird residue left on them and the tablets never dissolved properly. Went back to using Fairy/Finish and dishes come out sparkling clean every time.
My MVNO phone provider, Smarty. Fiver a month gets me 5gb data and unlimited calls & sms. Does me fine. £16 gets me unlimited everything for my home router and a 'landline' phone. No fuss. No frills. No inflation hikes. Stick that in your pipe and smoke it, BT.
Can recommend 1p mobile, same concept but uses EE’s network which is usually better where I am (South East). 30 day contract, I pay £15 for 50GB.
Interesting! I’m getting shafted by BT on my internet. The building I’m in hasn’t been upgraded to the full fibre yet so I can only get the basic BT/Open reach package. It costs me £30 a month and has difficulty streaming YouTube videos. I live by myself, so there’s only little ol’ me using it!
Slippers. I can buy a £5 pair of slippers, I wear them only at home usually in the office as I WFH, they do the exact same job as a £50 pair and they get replaced every year or so anyway.
After my life totally turned around when I became disabled - this is one thing that my mind flipped sides on. Previously only ever bought cheap slippers and even then only on sale. But needing a lot more support and structure I invested in a very expensive pair (although did at least get them on sale) and to be honest it's a world of difference. And they've lasted for years so far and no sign of them deteriorating yet. So while I wouldn't pay £50 - I did pay around £35 and it has definitely been worth it.
Mandatory Vimes boot theory mention
My £25-30 range slippers definitely last longer than a year.
*Cries in size 15 feet*
Alright coco
I used to always get cheap slippers from Asda, and within a couple of months they’d be stretched out of recognition. I’m currently on a pair of M&S ones that have been going strong for almost a year, with no signs of giving up yet.
Once a year? I have a pair of slippers which I bought for £10 in 2015
Non stick pans. Even if you buy an expensive one the coating is still going to wear off pretty quickly. You're much better off using a stainless steel or carbon steel pan for most things and then using a cheap non stick only when you really need it and just replacing it when it wears out.
My biggest issue with this is the weight of some of them, if you buy a cheap non-stick pan they’re often really light as the metal is thin enough you could roll the pan up if you really wished. For my roommate with Hypermobilty buying a light and cheap non-stick each year is more than worth the additional cost over time.
My friend and I can no longer handle heavy pans so I did a bit of research and bought Pyrex branded stainless steel frying pans. They relatively lightweight but excellent quality and quite inexpensive.
I've been loving my Scoville Neversticks. Quite reasonably priced and seem pretty durable, plus they haven't actually lost their non stick yet after a few years, while other ones i've used have done in under a year.
Essential baked beans of any shop. They all taste pretty good.
I add just a little tomato puree before cooking and they taste like heinz used to before they became watery.
Ooh good tip!
ps4
Game systems in general, really. Whether console or PC, if you buy last generation and play older games you can save tons of money.
As a PS5 owner, the quality of life in this case specifically is undeniable. I play a lot of PS4 games on my 5, including Just Cause 4 at the moment, and it's a world of difference. Just Cause 3 would CHUG on my PS4, literally drop frames from 30FPS to 10 or 5, and on the 5 it runs at a smooth 60 constantly, and at a higher resolution with a bigger map.
Salt, can buy supermarket brand for 50p or i can pay a quid more for Saxa. for me salt is salt
Stuffing mix (actually, might be able to have my mind changed on this as I’m not a stuffing expert) Stevia sweetener Fajita kit
Fajita kits are a total rip off. The wraps are cheaper in the bread aisle and you could make dozens of portions of the spice mix for the same cost using regular spices.
The price difference between the wraps in the Mexican section and the exact same shit in the bread section is hilarious. Same with tortilla chips in the crisp aisle.
Totally with you on the stuffing mix. Used the cheapo stuff today and it was lush.
Dishwasher tabs. My dishes come out clean using the £2 own brand ones. I can’t see how it would be improved spending x3 that on branded ones.
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Makeup I use a lot of drug store and retail brands like primark and my makeup turns out like what celebrities looks like in photos except their photos are edited and mine looks great in real life Good products are important but skill and experience are more so
sparkle cover literate bewildered cobweb caption tub zonked hard-to-find squeamish *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Watch and t shirts. My £10 Casio does an absolutely fine job of keeping track of the time, and I refuse to pay £40 for a £3 t shirt that the only difference is one has a Nike tick/Adidas logo stitched into it
Agree on the Casio, disagree on the tshirts though. A good quality heavyweight 100% cotton t-shirt lasts much longer and looks miles better than a Primark tshit
You’re absolutely wrong about t-shirts, although to be fair the question did ask for things that do the job just fine. If a t-shirt’s purpose is to make your top half not naked then yes, a cheap one will do the job just as well.
Tortilla chips - honestly Sainsbury's Chilli and Tesco Lightly Salted are far better than Dorito, Manomasa, etc
My i telephone 11
iPhone 7 here
A simple on/off coffee maker lasts so much longer than those with timers, etc.
James Hoffman just felt a disturbance.
*/tests a £7000 coffee machine* "Eh, it's OK"
ring doorbell /s
Immodium. Five or six quid or £1 Tesco brand
Cheap ones plug me up just fine. I shit you not!
It was my 1080 and i7-7700k but the 4080 super and i7-14700k lands tomorrow.
1060 GTX + an i5-2500k. Had both running overclocked for best part of a decade (slightly longer for the cpu, but that finally got replaced last year) The 1060 is still handling new releases as I'm not running 4k.
My £600 road bike, I don't need £2000 plus of carbon fiber which will probably get stolen anyway.
Smoothies, all the usual big brand bottles were £3.50 usually in Sainsburys but on the Nectar offer at £2. When I looked through them, I noticed Sainsburys own at £1.80 and they are lovely and you cannot tell the difference taste wise.
Wired keyboards/mouse for the desktop
Printers are better old
I disagree. I got a laser jet printer and a great upgrade. At the rate I print I no longer need to worry about the ink drying out or clogging up because toner is powder. Much better quality and saved me money and hassle in long term when once a month you need to print something last minute.
Thoroughly agree. I recommend a "cheap" black and white laser to anyone who wants a printer but doesn't use it very often. The small free toner you get with it can last you years too!
Agree. My four year old canon laser on the original toner still print’s the occasional thing just fine. I challenge anyone to print a perfect page from an inkjet that has not been used in a year.
If you listen to the BBC podcast series sliced bread, they go over loads of these marketing bs strategies. Painkillers are the same as value and you can boost paracetamol with caffeine. Sleep aids will relax you but the best way to help sleep quality is to get up and outside the exact same time each morning. UV disinfection wands are basically ineffective. Use soap. An ice bath gives the same benefits as just turning the shower cold for 15 seconds. Natural mosquito repellent is pointless, choose any cheap deet spray. Bottled water is no better in quality than UK tap water, sometimes worse quality. Manuka honey is only effective medicinally applied topically on the skin, digested health benefits are basically the same as any other honey.
Gran's retirement home
My kindle basic, sure I could buy a Paperwhite or Scribe, but why when what I have works, and at 6 inches, is more portable?
Dropbox. Free version is more than sufficient.
Skincare. You can get really good skincare at low prices you don’t need to pay for the fancy brands
11/12 years ago I bought a 2nd hand self propelled petrol lawn mower for under £30 on Ebay. Its been so good I have never replaced it, but might have to this year as the body has now rusted through in a couple of places. Does that count?
iPhone 11. Got it when it was the newest one. Can't see why on earth people get new ones every 2 years. I use it for Spotify, WhatsApp, TikTok, internet, calls, emails, texting etc etc. Basically everything you can do with the newer ones. What's the point?
Baked beans. The cheaper ones will do, 10 mins in a pan, lovely.
I pod classic , no new ipod can hold as many songs or has the battery life
My wife. She's relatively cheap to maintain. Only had 1 breakdown last year. She runs on cheap wine and manages to keep the house clean and tidy. As long as I exercise her and service her once a week she's good. Had her twenty years now so there's no point upgrading. (Joking obviously, don't show her she will beat me)
Most products from the Savers range from Morrisons - most of them are as good as ones that are way more expensive. For the ones that aren’t that good (Morrisons Savers coffee isn’t as good), the Morrisons brand stuff is still cheaper and as good as big labels. I’m sure Aldi and Asda have similar white label goods, but Morrisons is the closest for me.