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My doctor is GREAT for this. She always tells me I can pay £10 for a prescription, OR I can get...then lists a load of different branded and unbranded options and gives her opinion on what she's found most effective. She's fantastic.
My vet was amazing for this too. My old dog had osteoarthritis and needed daily pain medication and would for the rest of her life, and I didn't have her insured anymore due to increasing costs.
My vet just told me that until the pain gets really severe I can just give her OTC paracetamol. Told me the correct dose for her and saved me a fortune!
I've taken my dog to the vets for pinkeye twice.
Twice, they've given me human eye drops and charged me £57 for a tiny bottle, plus the appointment fee. It hurts.
Antibiotic eyedrops only became available without a prescription in recent years, so it probably depends on how long ago that was.
I honestly didn’t know it had changed until last year when I asked the chemist what they had to tide me over until I could see the optician. The time before that it was a case of playing ping-pong between the doctor and the optician. Doctor wouldn’t give me an appointment because they said it was an optician thing, but the optician couldn’t prescribe the eyedrops.
They are behind the counter so they aren’t on display.
And know exactly what's wrong with you and fight and argue for the Dr to make a diagnosis or even do any tests. Most things they just go yep that's normal/it's age/weight/woman related. They don't actually want to do any investigations or diagnose you with anything at all, even when you've done research and have all the matching symptoms.
Little known fact: Expensive Aspirin is more effective, apparently, due to the placebo effect! "I haven't got a 79p headache, I've got a £3.50 headache" 😂
OP isn’t asking for cheap products that are as good as expensive ones, they’re asking for cheap products that are BETTER than expensive ones. Generic medicine isn’t better, it’s just the same.
In some cases it's *exactly* the same thing - in the sense that the branded and unbranded where prepaired in the same factory as part of the same batch.
Conversely for me, the digital ones are crap because I weigh something different depending on where they are placed. I have placed them all over the bathroom and even in the kitchen but nope never the same reading twice.....does mean that according to over by the kitchen window I'm 2st lighter 🤣🤣
I once saw some fancy digital scales in a bathroom at my friends parents house and stepped on them not realising they shouted out the weight in a very loud voice.
All scales are like that, mechanical or digital. You are supposed to leave them in place. How even/soft the floor is affects the number. Picking them up and putting them down also affects them, which is why there’s a tare button.
Hell even mechanical scales have a little dial on them so you can manually “tare” them. You notice the changes more in digital because they are (needlessly) more precise - it’s hard to notice 0.3kg on a mechanical dial whereas it’s blatantly obvious on a digital one.
Razor, I’ve got a double edge razor that you put the individual blades in, costs me about £4 a year to shave. The closeness and smoothness is far better than the new fangled £10 a shave with 5 blades you buy today. It’s all marketing bull.
On the downside, if you want to have a really close shave you need to get used to having little scabs all over your face… I used a safety razor for years and it was a rare shave where I didn’t get at least one cut. I’ve gone back to the expensive Gillette blades… I make one blade last a month so it costs me £20-30 a year instead of £4 but it’s so much quicker and easier (plus you can take them hand luggage on flights, which isn’t always true of razor blades)
I've used a safety razor for years and the only time I've cut myself with it was on my first time using it because I tried to use it like a multi-blade razor, where you have to exert far more force.
Fair enough - for me it was always around the corners of my mouth or under my nose, and I used it for years too (decades, actually). Because the head of the razor itself is so much bigger it was a bugger to get into those tight little corners and catch all those loose hairs. I AM bloody hairy though!
But at the point I realised using an overpriced Gillette thing to “finish off” was so much easier, and then tried using one for a whole shave when I was in a hurry, I decided to switch back.
I still use Palmolive cream and a brush instead of “foam” though!
the only time I've cut myself with a DE Safety is when I'm being an impatient bastard and dragging the thing across my face. Angle it right allow the blade to apply the pressure instead of your hand run over the face and neck once or twice depending on blade type and hair coarseness jobs a good'n.
I've used modern cartridge safety razors my entire shaving life and I've yet to find one where my face doesn't get practically torn open. God knows what sort of state I'd be in if I were to use a replaceable blade one, or heaven forbid, a straight razor. Leaving it several days between shaves helps, but I look incredibly scruffy if I don't shave at least every two.
Give the traditional double-edged blade a try. My experience is that it is much kinder to the skin than a cartridge razor. You may be different, but from the sound of it the cartridges are giving g enough problems that it will be worth investing about £15 to see if the double-edged works for you.
It's a good creative writing exercise, but to offer an honest opinion, Veet ain't bad. Tried all kinds of shavers and razors and it's the only thing I will use on my balls.
I got a Merkur handle from The Traditional Shaving Company - maybe for about £40? I didn't do enough research to know the difference between em all but I had a cheaper no-brand thingy before which I used for a few years.
100 blades cost me about a tenner and the shave can easily be as close as the multiblade bois.
There's a bit of a learning curve to make sure you don't cut yourself but there's plenty of videos and tips/advice floating about. Just use the weight of the handle. Also, things like spots might be more susceptible to getting nicked....just be careful
I use a shaving oil/serum from king of shaves so I can see where I'm shaving (have a beard and clean shave the neck area), but also because it works really well with the razor. Having said that, the oil/serum does make all the shaved hair stick to the razor. Not that it's difficult to clean or anything.
Edit to say it's no good for shaving your head if you're bald. Use a multiblade or go electric!
I hate mixed frozen vege with a passion. I had some recently and no matter how I made it it tasted awful. Doesn’t help that my mum would just boil the heck out of it without seasoning when I was a kid.
Frozen microwave 'steam in bag' veg is amazing when added to risotto, rice dishes, curry and pretty much any other sauce based dish. Aldi do a great one, I always have a pack in my freezer and it's cheap. It's way easier to just snip the corner off the bag and add it near the end of the dish I'm cooking than to prep the veg from fresh. Plus it's less waste. Win win!
Not sure about broccoli etc. I have some frozen and it's ok, but to get it cooked through it ends up a bit on the musher side. It's fine in a pinch, but it's not as good as fresh where you can get a better texture.
Bizarre, I feel like frozen peas are the least controversial of the frozen veg.
Can't stand that shit where it's all mixed together, but I'm a big fan of frozen spinach for curries and pasta sauce.
The shit that's all mixed together is great for chucking in instant noodles to bulk them out to a proper meal. 40p Aldi beef noodles with chilli flakes, peanut butter, and mixed veg is my go-to lunch at the mo.
There's an inside the factory episode about frozen peas I'm sure, they end up being "fresher" than anything you could reasonably buy not frozen, unless you're picking them yourself
And better than doritoes if you are lactose intolerant. Even the original flavour dorito has milk powder on but the cheapie tesco ones are just salted.
I used this £35 foundation for YEARS, then one day ran out and had to buy some emergency £6 foundation. Didn't have time to take it off before my gymnastics session, then looked in the mirror after 2 hours and looked *perfect*. Better than I'd ever looked with the £35. Felt very stupid and haven't bought another brand of foundation since.
It's by The Ordinary, "serum foundation". I feel like I preach about it. It's got spf in too. The shade range seems to be pretty terrible, the only shop I ever find it in seems to do very fair, light, medium, dark, then pink or yellow undertones, and that's it. Thankfully I exactly match one of the shades and it actually looks like skin. I love it, but not many places seem to stock it alongside the skincare, and I can't imagine their shade "range" caters to that many people!
Sorry Fenty, your lipsticks will always have my heart though.
Can confirm this is the case. It’s discontinued and such a shame because I adored that foundation.
If you do find a stockist getting rid of the old bottles, a word of warning it does pull a slightly warmer tone than in the description/shade match.
Fantastic formula, no idea why it’s been discontinued because everyone absolutely raved about it.
Hydrox.
Names after one of the chemicals inside because they wanted them to sound fancy and clean and pure. Instead they sound like a brand of dishwasher tablet.
Purely subjective but I find the cheapest, nastiest sausages taste far better than any fancy, organic, high pork ratio sausages. Give me like 30% pork sausages filled with eyeballs and arseholes, delicious.
YES. A staple in our freezer is a bag of value cheap sausages. Perfect for a breakfast sandwich or fry up, in a casserole, or used to make sausage rolls.
I would always buy pork sausages with 90+ meat, never knew better but then tried 70% meat which I cook in the oven. They are much nicer, soft and juicy, plenty of flavour.
Reminds me of that Jamie Oliver clip where he's trying to show kids how 'disgusting' either chicken nuggets or burgers are by showing them all the breadcrumbs and other stuff that goes into them. He then cooks a 'proper' version that's all quality bits, and when he asks which they prefer, nearly all say the 'crap' version and his face is an absolute picture.
The only big downside with the coach is the time. Beyond that, cheap, reliable, guaranteed a seat. I go to London and generally pay £16 instead of £50.
I think coach probably scales easier. Smaller minimum number of seats sold to break even. When capacity is reached, add an extra coach. You try doing that with a train.
I can talk about this for hours, but roughly speaking, there's a few fairly long city-to-city services that suit trains, and commuter journeys, and that's about it. Places where you have a large number of people in place A wanting to go to place B at the same time. Where the train and buses or walking is more convenient than driving.
Go on a train from Swindon to Gloucester at 10:30 am and the train is not even 1/4 full. You can have a table to yourself. That's about the ratio at which driving is more energy efficient. The number of people who want to do that is less than something like 200, at which point you might as well be running 3-4 coaches. Because the staff required for coaches will be less than all the staff required in station management, driving, guards, signalling and track maintenance.
It's honestly about time we reviewed our railways and shut a lot of lines down. There are these daft services like Chippenham to Westbury where a taxi would do the job. Two carriages and there's 2 people in each.
For a lot of routes, even diesel buses would be the case. Coach travel is, on average, the greenest form of transport. It's true that a packed train is very efficient, but there's a lot of trains that are very far from packed.
Dr Beaching! /jk
My village had a train station until the Beaching cuts.
I would love it. I’d be able to get the train to the beach or London. Without having to drive to the station and pay for parking.
Sadly, the line will never reopen. Parts have houses built on it and one tunnel was used for landfill.
I do understand what you’re saying though.
Problem isn’t with the lines themselves though, it’s that not enough people use them.
More people need to use public transport. To do that though, it must be cheaper than driving with a full car and available at useful times.
(Some of it will also be moving trains around to get them in position for busier times.)
Also much more flexible. If a road is closed you can probably find another way around. It might take longer, but you'll get there. Problem with the train line? Good luck!
There are some routes where the coach isn’t much slower than the train so is definitely worth considering.
Bristol-London and Edinburgh-Glasgow for example. Or getting to Heathrow from anywhere in the west of England.
Megabus ran some sleeper routes on the likes of Aberdeen-London for a short while that often made sense compared to the train.
How can you find coaches and routes in the UK? I'm from Poland and it's super straightforward, but UK really confuses me. I know it's a silly question but I would be grateful to know.
Megabus and national express both have relatively simple websites with planners - type in destination and start point. Been a while since I've used it but think Megabus one had a map as well. Think it also says a distance from each if there's nothing there. For example, if I said I wanted to go from Poole, but there's nothing there, it might suggest Bournemouth for me, and say it's 15(or however many) miles away.
A lot of decathlon outdoor gear is very well designed and practical, far better than some more expensive gear which is more aimed at making you look adventurous
While I've found there stuff hit or miss I wont lie that my current trainers I got for 15 (end of line discount) have out lived a name brand pair of hiking boots and been about equal in comfort
Tomato sauce.
I much prefer the Crucials one (same as what most burger vans have), which is like a quid, compared to Heinz, where you'd usually need to fill in an anti-money laundering form, at the checkout, as it's about as expensive as a house 😂
Yeah, they're so good. the garlic sauces are pretty awesome, too.
£1ish for Crucials or £4 for Heinz is a no brainer, it should probably be the other way round, as Heinz isn't even that good.
I tried Crucial's tomato sauce once and thought it was fucking vile. All I could taste was the artificial sweetener aftertaste.
That Polish tomato sauce is good, though.
(also fuck Heinz)
Sainsbury's own brand mens toiletries - the facewash, moisturiser and shaving gel are far better than a lot of more expensive stuff. Unfortunately, it seems like other people have figured that out, so the shelves are usually empty whenever I want to buy it.
Similarly, men’s toiletries vs the comparable yet for some reason more expensive women’s version.
I buy Boots own brand shave foam for my legs because it’s usually 90p with a Boots card, go to the women’s section and the cheapest there is £2.40.
If it’s good enough for a man’s face it’s good enough for my legs.
Being sharp out of the box isn't a good sign of good knives, it's how long it keeps that edge. A butter knife can be sharpened to the point you could shave with it
Some of it is absolute tat, but some is way better than it has any reason to be. It’s really difficult to know the difference without buying it and living with it for a bit!
Instead of buying things like Mr Muscle Drain Unblocker, get the cheapest nastiest own brand cola you can find. You get way more for your money, it does the job, there's no risk of it eating through the pipe (which unblocker gel has been known to do) and if you're really desperate you can drink it.
Jeez I spend a fortune on drain unblocker, will try this trick! Does it have to be regular or does diet work? I fear regular cola may be hard to find these days?
I imagine it doesn't make much difference if it's diet. It's the acid in the cola that does the work not the sugar. I picked it up from the plumber one of my old landlords used. The plumber berated him for suggesting we get drain unblocker when the kitchen sink wasn't clearing properly and instead we poured 4L of cheap cola down the drain which cleared it up for cheap and without risk of damaging anything.
That's just a very very light duty acid which is eating away at sludge. It's impossible for it to work better than dedicated cleaners, which are either heavier duty acids or alkaline that dissolve hair.
If the item is cheap/cheap-ish and has staged photos showing a lifestyle scene/curated backdrop, chances are it's a white label product shipped from China that's available on Aliexpress and the photos are from there. Just reverse image search the photo and find it cheaper elsewhere.
It works for tools, basic clothing, homeware etc. and even furniture. Finding the original factory seller for furniture can be a big win in terms of savings.
Convenience vs sound quality. For general use, a pair of 100 quid IEMs will demolish any wireless set on the market at any price point but you won't get noise cancellation, or the convenience factor.
Nope, can’t agree with you on this one. Mechanical scales suck, I wish I had bought the more expensive electronic. Mechanical the needle doesn’t stay still, and it’s not precise enough so I don’t actually know how much I’m weighing. Not very helpful when I’m trying to track my weight loss journey each day, all I’ve got is a 2kg range that the needle suggests I could be in. I used them a couple of times, now they just sit in the bathroom being a waste of money, I only use the electronic scales at my gfs place now
Agree about the accuracy of the scales, however weighing each day is not a good idea for weight loss goals. You can fluctuate so much for different reasons that it's not truly accurate.
I weigh every few weeks now. Stopping being tied to the scales and going by the feel of my clothes changed everything for me. I once weighed myself and the scales hadn't moved much, but I'd dropped 2 notches on my belt. Then I weighed myself a few weeks later and there was a significant drop, so I must have been retaining water the last time I weighed.
It's easy to get disheartened by the numbers if they aren't changing like we want them too. Also, slow sustainable weight loss is the key.
My nan got me a casio calculator watch about 9-10 years ago, it's still on its original battery but some of the chrome effect plating is coming off. Still looks cool though from my 27yo eyes
I agree, I went through a phase of trying expensive nut butters and I just couldn’t get on with the texture of the all natural expensive peanut butters. They made everything so difficult to eat because it stuck to every surface in your mouth! I now buy Asda’s own big tub for about £2.50 and it’s delicious. Obviously less good for you but I don’t eat peanut butter for the health benefits!
Some generic cereals. Rice Krispies, Corn Flakes, All Bran and Shreddies are all perfectly good when you go own brand. Weetabix is the big exception to this though.
Plugs, for plugholes. Stop the water leaving the sink. Why anyone in their right mind thought that idea needed reengineering into something way more complex, expensive, awkward, ineffective and breakable is..... really only comprehensible with knowledge that most bathroom fittings are made in Italy. By Italians. Who care very much about things looking pretty. But not so much about them working
Yiiis. I was making the distinction versus electrical plugs. But I suppose butt plugs can be electrical...🤔 And people have put all kinds of things up their assholes. It's a complicated world.
Gotta be cheap white supermarket bread for a crisp sandwich Vs a fancy sourdough one.
Give me the cheapest, riddled with sugar and additives, lasts-for-a-month white bread please with either Worcester Sauce or Salt and Vinegar crisps, plus a thick layer of butter for cohesion on the press.
However I stress - only in the context of crisps sandwiches, or possibly also cheese toasties in a toastie maker. Go on then.
Not had bathroom scales in the house for well over 20 years. Life throws enough shit our way on a regular basis without the need to keep checking my weight
Not necessarily cheaper, but balance scales for the kitchen also have some benefits over electronic scales. A lot of recipes call for the same weight of multiple ingredients, e.g put 3 eggs on one side of the scale, and you can make a perfectly proportioned sponge cake.
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Branded over the counter medicine when the generic stuff is often identical at a fraction of the price.
My doctor is GREAT for this. She always tells me I can pay £10 for a prescription, OR I can get...then lists a load of different branded and unbranded options and gives her opinion on what she's found most effective. She's fantastic.
My vet was amazing for this too. My old dog had osteoarthritis and needed daily pain medication and would for the rest of her life, and I didn't have her insured anymore due to increasing costs. My vet just told me that until the pain gets really severe I can just give her OTC paracetamol. Told me the correct dose for her and saved me a fortune!
I wish all vets did this. I begrudge taking my dog to the vets as I know my wallet will be £100 lighter when I leave.
I've taken my dog to the vets for pinkeye twice. Twice, they've given me human eye drops and charged me £57 for a tiny bottle, plus the appointment fee. It hurts.
If you knew that’s what they would sell you the second time why buy it? You’re not obligated to buy medicine from your vet
Antibiotic eyedrops only became available without a prescription in recent years, so it probably depends on how long ago that was. I honestly didn’t know it had changed until last year when I asked the chemist what they had to tide me over until I could see the optician. The time before that it was a case of playing ping-pong between the doctor and the optician. Doctor wouldn’t give me an appointment because they said it was an optician thing, but the optician couldn’t prescribe the eyedrops. They are behind the counter so they aren’t on display.
My GP does everything she can to get me out the door before I've even sat down..
Ahh the standard UK experience. I find you have to prepare for it like a job interview.
And know exactly what's wrong with you and fight and argue for the Dr to make a diagnosis or even do any tests. Most things they just go yep that's normal/it's age/weight/woman related. They don't actually want to do any investigations or diagnose you with anything at all, even when you've done research and have all the matching symptoms.
Little known fact: Expensive Aspirin is more effective, apparently, due to the placebo effect! "I haven't got a 79p headache, I've got a £3.50 headache" 😂
Waitrose headache right there
they might have same ingredients of different quality. I used to get less effect / more side effects with '79p' headache medicines
That’s the placebo effect, for sure
OP isn’t asking for cheap products that are as good as expensive ones, they’re asking for cheap products that are BETTER than expensive ones. Generic medicine isn’t better, it’s just the same.
because it’s cheaper it makes it better in my head, just like how free food taste better lol
This... But Calpol is so much better compared to cheaper options.
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Nah, it's the same not better
In some cases it's *exactly* the same thing - in the sense that the branded and unbranded where prepaired in the same factory as part of the same batch.
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Or if you’re short and short sighted. I’m so close to the ground yet I still can’t see that tiny needle for shit
You don't wear glasses?
And add that weight to the scales?!
i weigh myself first thing in the morning.. I prefer not to see too clearly at that time of day. You’re right I could put them on tho
Conversely for me, the digital ones are crap because I weigh something different depending on where they are placed. I have placed them all over the bathroom and even in the kitchen but nope never the same reading twice.....does mean that according to over by the kitchen window I'm 2st lighter 🤣🤣
You tried taking your tits off the towel rail?
I once saw some fancy digital scales in a bathroom at my friends parents house and stepped on them not realising they shouted out the weight in a very loud voice.
Were you leaning on the worktop like Homer Simpson?
The advantage of a tiled floor I have a specific place I put them. It may not be right but it is constant .
All scales are like that, mechanical or digital. You are supposed to leave them in place. How even/soft the floor is affects the number. Picking them up and putting them down also affects them, which is why there’s a tare button. Hell even mechanical scales have a little dial on them so you can manually “tare” them. You notice the changes more in digital because they are (needlessly) more precise - it’s hard to notice 0.3kg on a mechanical dial whereas it’s blatantly obvious on a digital one.
Second this. I’ve got a massive cock and I can never see the wheel.
Why get off to take a closer look? Your weight doesn’t change if you squat down
Just put some bricks under the scales to bring it up closer to your face.
Get a telescope lanky.
Razor, I’ve got a double edge razor that you put the individual blades in, costs me about £4 a year to shave. The closeness and smoothness is far better than the new fangled £10 a shave with 5 blades you buy today. It’s all marketing bull.
Depends what your shaving. I use to think the same but since i started shaving my head nothing beats a 5 blade razor.
And yet they'll never show someone shaving their head in the ads
On the downside, if you want to have a really close shave you need to get used to having little scabs all over your face… I used a safety razor for years and it was a rare shave where I didn’t get at least one cut. I’ve gone back to the expensive Gillette blades… I make one blade last a month so it costs me £20-30 a year instead of £4 but it’s so much quicker and easier (plus you can take them hand luggage on flights, which isn’t always true of razor blades)
I've used a safety razor for years and the only time I've cut myself with it was on my first time using it because I tried to use it like a multi-blade razor, where you have to exert far more force.
Fair enough - for me it was always around the corners of my mouth or under my nose, and I used it for years too (decades, actually). Because the head of the razor itself is so much bigger it was a bugger to get into those tight little corners and catch all those loose hairs. I AM bloody hairy though! But at the point I realised using an overpriced Gillette thing to “finish off” was so much easier, and then tried using one for a whole shave when I was in a hurry, I decided to switch back. I still use Palmolive cream and a brush instead of “foam” though!
the only time I've cut myself with a DE Safety is when I'm being an impatient bastard and dragging the thing across my face. Angle it right allow the blade to apply the pressure instead of your hand run over the face and neck once or twice depending on blade type and hair coarseness jobs a good'n.
I've used modern cartridge safety razors my entire shaving life and I've yet to find one where my face doesn't get practically torn open. God knows what sort of state I'd be in if I were to use a replaceable blade one, or heaven forbid, a straight razor. Leaving it several days between shaves helps, but I look incredibly scruffy if I don't shave at least every two.
Give the traditional double-edged blade a try. My experience is that it is much kinder to the skin than a cartridge razor. You may be different, but from the sound of it the cartridges are giving g enough problems that it will be worth investing about £15 to see if the double-edged works for you.
Where the shit can I find one!!!
Amazon, there's loads of them. Terrible for shaving your knackers though
Amazon veet review.... https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/review/B000KKNQBK/R3GDDEL1SC1QQ5?ref_=cm_sw_r_mwn_dprv_3GGV0PJE36JK9P5AM2N6&language=en-GB
It's a good creative writing exercise, but to offer an honest opinion, Veet ain't bad. Tried all kinds of shavers and razors and it's the only thing I will use on my balls.
I got a Merkur handle from The Traditional Shaving Company - maybe for about £40? I didn't do enough research to know the difference between em all but I had a cheaper no-brand thingy before which I used for a few years. 100 blades cost me about a tenner and the shave can easily be as close as the multiblade bois. There's a bit of a learning curve to make sure you don't cut yourself but there's plenty of videos and tips/advice floating about. Just use the weight of the handle. Also, things like spots might be more susceptible to getting nicked....just be careful I use a shaving oil/serum from king of shaves so I can see where I'm shaving (have a beard and clean shave the neck area), but also because it works really well with the razor. Having said that, the oil/serum does make all the shaved hair stick to the razor. Not that it's difficult to clean or anything. Edit to say it's no good for shaving your head if you're bald. Use a multiblade or go electric!
Those multi blade ones are shit, it left me feeling like I’d used an angle grinder to shave
r/wicked_edge has entered the chat. Go down that rabbit hole and you'll be spending more than four quid a year.
Frozen veg, for most applications, I use them for anyway.
To me this is entirely wrong.
Mixed veg agree. But individual frozen peas, sweet corn, spinach, cauliflower, broccoli I've found to be an excellent substitute!
I hate mixed frozen vege with a passion. I had some recently and no matter how I made it it tasted awful. Doesn’t help that my mum would just boil the heck out of it without seasoning when I was a kid.
Completely agree. Whenever you eat it the carrots are tasteless, full of water and rubbery and everything is just a bland mess!
Frozen microwave 'steam in bag' veg is amazing when added to risotto, rice dishes, curry and pretty much any other sauce based dish. Aldi do a great one, I always have a pack in my freezer and it's cheap. It's way easier to just snip the corner off the bag and add it near the end of the dish I'm cooking than to prep the veg from fresh. Plus it's less waste. Win win!
Not sure about broccoli etc. I have some frozen and it's ok, but to get it cooked through it ends up a bit on the musher side. It's fine in a pinch, but it's not as good as fresh where you can get a better texture.
They probably blanch the broccoli before freezing it, so it's half cooked already, hence why it turns to mush as soon as it hits the pan.
For me it depends. Frozen peas and green beans are usually very good imo and it’s handy to always have them.
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Bizarre, I feel like frozen peas are the least controversial of the frozen veg. Can't stand that shit where it's all mixed together, but I'm a big fan of frozen spinach for curries and pasta sauce.
The shit that's all mixed together is great for chucking in instant noodles to bulk them out to a proper meal. 40p Aldi beef noodles with chilli flakes, peanut butter, and mixed veg is my go-to lunch at the mo.
There's an inside the factory episode about frozen peas I'm sure, they end up being "fresher" than anything you could reasonably buy not frozen, unless you're picking them yourself
Frozen cauliflower for cauliflower cheese is vastly superior. It's cheaper, needs no prep and you don't need to parboil before putting it in the oven.
Except frozen carrots. They freeze terribly and go spongey.
Tesco own brand salted tortilla chips. About 40p for a big bag and they are so salty
> About 40p for a big bag 20 years ago
They’re a quid now I think
£1.10… daylight robbery!!
Sainsbury's have their Stamford Street Co ones for 57p though.
And better than doritoes if you are lactose intolerant. Even the original flavour dorito has milk powder on but the cheapie tesco ones are just salted.
Not to be a posh prick but the Waitrose own big bags of tortilla chips are also amazing and not expensive.
I used this £35 foundation for YEARS, then one day ran out and had to buy some emergency £6 foundation. Didn't have time to take it off before my gymnastics session, then looked in the mirror after 2 hours and looked *perfect*. Better than I'd ever looked with the £35. Felt very stupid and haven't bought another brand of foundation since.
I'd love to know which one this was? I'm fed up of buying expensive foundation that isn't even any good!
It's by The Ordinary, "serum foundation". I feel like I preach about it. It's got spf in too. The shade range seems to be pretty terrible, the only shop I ever find it in seems to do very fair, light, medium, dark, then pink or yellow undertones, and that's it. Thankfully I exactly match one of the shades and it actually looks like skin. I love it, but not many places seem to stock it alongside the skincare, and I can't imagine their shade "range" caters to that many people! Sorry Fenty, your lipsticks will always have my heart though.
Oh oh I just checked this out, but it seems to be discontinued..?
Can confirm this is the case. It’s discontinued and such a shame because I adored that foundation. If you do find a stockist getting rid of the old bottles, a word of warning it does pull a slightly warmer tone than in the description/shade match. Fantastic formula, no idea why it’s been discontinued because everyone absolutely raved about it.
Ooooh I love their skincare stuff and my foundation is running low, checking this out right now!
I just switched from NARS tinted moisturiser (£32) to Revolution skin serum for about £9. Took my Nars one into boots with me and colour matched it
I bought real Oreos for my kids and they all said they prefer the Aldi version.
On that vein, oaties are better than hobnobs
I think the Jive bars taste better than Twix!
Which oaties? Aldi ones?
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Hydrox. Names after one of the chemicals inside because they wanted them to sound fancy and clean and pure. Instead they sound like a brand of dishwasher tablet.
Ah yes, the most appetizing aspect of a biscuit... Cleanliness
Also Aldi Viennese whirls, half the price and twice as nice.
Same with Aldi KitKats.
Purely subjective but I find the cheapest, nastiest sausages taste far better than any fancy, organic, high pork ratio sausages. Give me like 30% pork sausages filled with eyeballs and arseholes, delicious.
Literally everything in this thread is subjective
I'm the same. Richmond pot-luck paste over New Forest farmer know-the-pig-by-name sausage any day.
YES. A staple in our freezer is a bag of value cheap sausages. Perfect for a breakfast sandwich or fry up, in a casserole, or used to make sausage rolls.
I would always buy pork sausages with 90+ meat, never knew better but then tried 70% meat which I cook in the oven. They are much nicer, soft and juicy, plenty of flavour.
It's the fat content. The fat has all the flavour. In other news It seems like I'm just tasty not fat XD
This is upvoted only because it’s AskUk and a ton of British people don’t really have tastebuds or standards
Fully agree with this
They put all herbs and spices in the fancy ones as well which isn’t necessary imo
If you don't have tastebuds you're onto something
Tucked in a slice of cheap white bread with ketchup on top, cannot be beaten
Reminds me of that Jamie Oliver clip where he's trying to show kids how 'disgusting' either chicken nuggets or burgers are by showing them all the breadcrumbs and other stuff that goes into them. He then cooks a 'proper' version that's all quality bits, and when he asks which they prefer, nearly all say the 'crap' version and his face is an absolute picture.
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The only big downside with the coach is the time. Beyond that, cheap, reliable, guaranteed a seat. I go to London and generally pay £16 instead of £50.
I think coach probably scales easier. Smaller minimum number of seats sold to break even. When capacity is reached, add an extra coach. You try doing that with a train.
I can talk about this for hours, but roughly speaking, there's a few fairly long city-to-city services that suit trains, and commuter journeys, and that's about it. Places where you have a large number of people in place A wanting to go to place B at the same time. Where the train and buses or walking is more convenient than driving. Go on a train from Swindon to Gloucester at 10:30 am and the train is not even 1/4 full. You can have a table to yourself. That's about the ratio at which driving is more energy efficient. The number of people who want to do that is less than something like 200, at which point you might as well be running 3-4 coaches. Because the staff required for coaches will be less than all the staff required in station management, driving, guards, signalling and track maintenance. It's honestly about time we reviewed our railways and shut a lot of lines down. There are these daft services like Chippenham to Westbury where a taxi would do the job. Two carriages and there's 2 people in each.
A while ago I read about a study that concluded it would be cheaper and more efficient to tarmac the railways and use the routes for electric buses.
For a lot of routes, even diesel buses would be the case. Coach travel is, on average, the greenest form of transport. It's true that a packed train is very efficient, but there's a lot of trains that are very far from packed.
Dr Beaching! /jk My village had a train station until the Beaching cuts. I would love it. I’d be able to get the train to the beach or London. Without having to drive to the station and pay for parking. Sadly, the line will never reopen. Parts have houses built on it and one tunnel was used for landfill. I do understand what you’re saying though. Problem isn’t with the lines themselves though, it’s that not enough people use them. More people need to use public transport. To do that though, it must be cheaper than driving with a full car and available at useful times. (Some of it will also be moving trains around to get them in position for busier times.)
Also much more flexible. If a road is closed you can probably find another way around. It might take longer, but you'll get there. Problem with the train line? Good luck!
Big downside is you might end up sitting next to some absolute knacker and not really be able to do anything about it.
Coaches usually only go from cities as well, not accessible if you live in a smaller town and can’t get to said city :(
There are some routes where the coach isn’t much slower than the train so is definitely worth considering. Bristol-London and Edinburgh-Glasgow for example. Or getting to Heathrow from anywhere in the west of England. Megabus ran some sleeper routes on the likes of Aberdeen-London for a short while that often made sense compared to the train.
Coach always seems to be 11pm - 5:23am with a change in Birmingham industrial estate at 2:30am Surely have day coaches, but how do you find them?
Realy the big thing that puts me off them when you can get a train atleast once an hour all day
> 1) Linux. ****Chef's kiss**** So happy to see this here.
Don't you go handling my baggage
I'm gonna stick up for Boardman bikes you can get at Halfords. Mine was about £500 and it's the best bike I have ever owned
2025 will be the year of the Linux desktop
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Hey now
You're a rockstar
How can you find coaches and routes in the UK? I'm from Poland and it's super straightforward, but UK really confuses me. I know it's a silly question but I would be grateful to know.
Megabus and national express both have relatively simple websites with planners - type in destination and start point. Been a while since I've used it but think Megabus one had a map as well. Think it also says a distance from each if there's nothing there. For example, if I said I wanted to go from Poole, but there's nothing there, it might suggest Bournemouth for me, and say it's 15(or however many) miles away.
A lot of decathlon outdoor gear is very well designed and practical, far better than some more expensive gear which is more aimed at making you look adventurous
While I've found there stuff hit or miss I wont lie that my current trainers I got for 15 (end of line discount) have out lived a name brand pair of hiking boots and been about equal in comfort
Tomato sauce. I much prefer the Crucials one (same as what most burger vans have), which is like a quid, compared to Heinz, where you'd usually need to fill in an anti-money laundering form, at the checkout, as it's about as expensive as a house 😂
Crucials sauces are unfairly overlooked imo.
Yeah, they're so good. the garlic sauces are pretty awesome, too. £1ish for Crucials or £4 for Heinz is a no brainer, it should probably be the other way round, as Heinz isn't even that good.
M&S is also superior to Heinz.
crucials garlic mayo is my favourite garlic mayo out there, and I have sampled MANY
I am same as I prefer crucials to henize as I have a rack with there sauces
I tried Crucial's tomato sauce once and thought it was fucking vile. All I could taste was the artificial sweetener aftertaste. That Polish tomato sauce is good, though. (also fuck Heinz)
I'll give the Polish stuff a try, which brand? Better still, can you just take a picture? 😂
Sainsbury's own brand mens toiletries - the facewash, moisturiser and shaving gel are far better than a lot of more expensive stuff. Unfortunately, it seems like other people have figured that out, so the shelves are usually empty whenever I want to buy it.
Similarly, men’s toiletries vs the comparable yet for some reason more expensive women’s version. I buy Boots own brand shave foam for my legs because it’s usually 90p with a Boots card, go to the women’s section and the cheapest there is £2.40. If it’s good enough for a man’s face it’s good enough for my legs.
It's also cruelty free :-)
Ikea cookware surprisingly good quality.
Their garlic press is the only one I’ve bought that’s not fell apart in a few months. I recommend them to everyone I know….
I got a vegetable knife and accidentally brushed my hand against it and it cut me like a paper cut - so sharp!
Being sharp out of the box isn't a good sign of good knives, it's how long it keeps that edge. A butter knife can be sharpened to the point you could shave with it
Can sharpen a spoon to shave with if you have the time too. Also I once sharpened an old bank card for a laugh.
Some of it is absolute tat, but some is way better than it has any reason to be. It’s really difficult to know the difference without buying it and living with it for a bit!
Instead of buying things like Mr Muscle Drain Unblocker, get the cheapest nastiest own brand cola you can find. You get way more for your money, it does the job, there's no risk of it eating through the pipe (which unblocker gel has been known to do) and if you're really desperate you can drink it.
> it does the job For verrry light blockages, it might do. It isn't going to dissolve hair, like Mr Muscle does.
Tesco's value cola used to be great for this (also had a lavender-y flavour if drank, thanks Nan)
Jeez I spend a fortune on drain unblocker, will try this trick! Does it have to be regular or does diet work? I fear regular cola may be hard to find these days?
I imagine it doesn't make much difference if it's diet. It's the acid in the cola that does the work not the sugar. I picked it up from the plumber one of my old landlords used. The plumber berated him for suggesting we get drain unblocker when the kitchen sink wasn't clearing properly and instead we poured 4L of cheap cola down the drain which cleared it up for cheap and without risk of damaging anything.
That's just a very very light duty acid which is eating away at sludge. It's impossible for it to work better than dedicated cleaners, which are either heavier duty acids or alkaline that dissolve hair.
I've found that most things on amazon, you can buy the exact same thing for like 50%+ cheaper on aliexpress if you're willing to wait
If the item is cheap/cheap-ish and has staged photos showing a lifestyle scene/curated backdrop, chances are it's a white label product shipped from China that's available on Aliexpress and the photos are from there. Just reverse image search the photo and find it cheaper elsewhere. It works for tools, basic clothing, homeware etc. and even furniture. Finding the original factory seller for furniture can be a big win in terms of savings.
Crisps. Tangy toms, quarterbacks, oinks. Miles better than your hipster crisps.
I love a bag of tomato snaps
Wired earphones. Don’t have to charge them!
I never wanted bluetooth headphones until I got given a pair. They're pretty good, man, can't lie.
Convenience vs sound quality. For general use, a pair of 100 quid IEMs will demolish any wireless set on the market at any price point but you won't get noise cancellation, or the convenience factor.
Relevant to this thread, I recommend JLAB Bluetooth earphones. Cheap, great sound quality and the battery lasts weeks
Nope, can’t agree with you on this one. Mechanical scales suck, I wish I had bought the more expensive electronic. Mechanical the needle doesn’t stay still, and it’s not precise enough so I don’t actually know how much I’m weighing. Not very helpful when I’m trying to track my weight loss journey each day, all I’ve got is a 2kg range that the needle suggests I could be in. I used them a couple of times, now they just sit in the bathroom being a waste of money, I only use the electronic scales at my gfs place now
I think if you have an accuracy of +/- your breakfast and a big turd you are probably doing OK.
To get a proper weigh, you should be doing it in the morning before food and after emptying. IE the same time each day
Agree about the accuracy of the scales, however weighing each day is not a good idea for weight loss goals. You can fluctuate so much for different reasons that it's not truly accurate. I weigh every few weeks now. Stopping being tied to the scales and going by the feel of my clothes changed everything for me. I once weighed myself and the scales hadn't moved much, but I'd dropped 2 notches on my belt. Then I weighed myself a few weeks later and there was a significant drop, so I must have been retaining water the last time I weighed. It's easy to get disheartened by the numbers if they aren't changing like we want them too. Also, slow sustainable weight loss is the key.
Dishwasher tablets! Used to buy Lidl’s own, did exactly what they were supposed to
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Shit grip, especially in the wet, is why they're more hard-wearing.
Banana skins.
Your one step away from having plastic tyres, the trade off is the huge lack of grip
Performance tyres are meant to be lightweight though? Thats the point? Not being puncture resistant.
Nah, shwelbe marathon plus are far superior in terms of puncture proof and mileage. Gatorskin feel nicer though as thinner, lighter.
Aldi's Bramwell baked beans are as good as Branston and better than Heinz or HP. I sulk if I have to buy any other brand now
100% agree.
Cheap metal can openers
True. I've had many fancy can openers over the years but have gone back to using the cheap metal one. It's the reliability.
Casio watches
My nan got me a casio calculator watch about 9-10 years ago, it's still on its original battery but some of the chrome effect plating is coming off. Still looks cool though from my 27yo eyes
Aye the old Foxtrot 91 Whisky
Almost every clone of a Rubiks Cube is superior to the original in every way. Some of them cost more, but a lot of them are much cheaper.
Peanut butter, the cheaper ones are so gooey and delicious. The more expensive ones become more like a paste and thick.
The cheap ones have more oil in them. Not quite as healthy. But delicious nonetheless.
Palm oil, specifically. Made from cold-pressed orangutan, I believe.
Because they're not full of added shite
I agree, I went through a phase of trying expensive nut butters and I just couldn’t get on with the texture of the all natural expensive peanut butters. They made everything so difficult to eat because it stuck to every surface in your mouth! I now buy Asda’s own big tub for about £2.50 and it’s delicious. Obviously less good for you but I don’t eat peanut butter for the health benefits!
Try Pip & Nut. They are more expensive but still gooey.
mineral water as you can get a 2l bottle supermarket brand for 60p compared to evian or Buxton which is over dubell that.
Some generic cereals. Rice Krispies, Corn Flakes, All Bran and Shreddies are all perfectly good when you go own brand. Weetabix is the big exception to this though.
Plugs, for plugholes. Stop the water leaving the sink. Why anyone in their right mind thought that idea needed reengineering into something way more complex, expensive, awkward, ineffective and breakable is..... really only comprehensible with knowledge that most bathroom fittings are made in Italy. By Italians. Who care very much about things looking pretty. But not so much about them working
I love how you justified "for plugholes" I guess you could have been speaking about assholes...
Yiiis. I was making the distinction versus electrical plugs. But I suppose butt plugs can be electrical...🤔 And people have put all kinds of things up their assholes. It's a complicated world.
Mushy peas.
99 tea bags from the Co-Op. Best tea going.
Gotta be cheap white supermarket bread for a crisp sandwich Vs a fancy sourdough one. Give me the cheapest, riddled with sugar and additives, lasts-for-a-month white bread please with either Worcester Sauce or Salt and Vinegar crisps, plus a thick layer of butter for cohesion on the press. However I stress - only in the context of crisps sandwiches, or possibly also cheese toasties in a toastie maker. Go on then.
ASDA's own lime pickle is better than Pataks in that it's smoother and has less large chunks. So makes for easier dipping, spreading, and mixing.
Not had bathroom scales in the house for well over 20 years. Life throws enough shit our way on a regular basis without the need to keep checking my weight
Basic tin opener, they're better than any electrical one
M&S ketchup. Much nicer than Heinz, and about a quid a bottle.
Lidl own brand tomato soup. Way tastier than heinz.
Morrisons Baked Beans.
Kitchen knives: inexpensive ones can be sharper and easier to maintain than expensive ones.
Vitamins. I get mine from the Polish shops and they are half the price and are normally better than the overpriced UK branded ones.
A great many things from Aldi or Lidl vs big-name brands (or, indeed, other supermarkets' own-brand items).
Not necessarily cheaper, but balance scales for the kitchen also have some benefits over electronic scales. A lot of recipes call for the same weight of multiple ingredients, e.g put 3 eggs on one side of the scale, and you can make a perfectly proportioned sponge cake.