Posts Tagged ‘bargains’
BOGOFs and Bargains
Thursday, April 9th, 2009
Ever heard the term bogof and wondered what it meant? Well it’s a term meaning Buy One, Get One Free. It’s a concept that has spread across the shops in recent years to try and tempt us to buy one brand over another, and seduce us away from our normal brand.
Is it a good idea? Well… this is something that varies quite a lot. If it’s an item that you were going to buy anyway, and you can store the extra one then it’s most definitely worth going for. After all you’re getting something for nothing. If it’s not something you normally buy then you have to stop and ask yourself a few questions – Do I really need this? Am I buying it to replace something else and if so does it work out cheaper this way? Can I store the spare one for long enough to stop it going off? If you don’t need the item and are just being seduced by the label telling you that you’re getting something extra for free, then you’re not going to save money and it’s not a bargain. If you are buying it to replace something else – exchanging one type of beef burger for another for example – then does it work out cheaper this way?
Look at the weight on each box as well as the price and number of items in the box like this:
Brand A Burgers – 8 in a box and the total weight is 800g. The price is £1.00
Brand B Burgers – 8 in a box and the total weight is 600g. The price is £1.50
Brand B are on bogof, Brand A are not.
Which is really cheaper?
What you are actually paying for brand B is £1.50 for 1200g of burgers which is equal to 12.5p per 100g (the calculation is 1.50 ÷ 12). Brand A which isn’t on bogof works out to 12.5p per 100g as well (the calculation is 1.00 ÷ 8), so really you are not getting anything extra for your money by buying the bogof item!
As you can see from this, it’s important to do the calculations to check because sometimes it’s actually a false economy to buy the item that’s on bogof.
Something else you can do if you don’t think you will use all the extra before the item goes off, or you don’t really have the space to store it, is to shop with a friend. By doing this, you end up each just with one item, but you pay half price for it.
Tags: bargains, BOGOF, discounts, Savings, shopping
Posted in General, Savings | Comments Off
Branded or Unbranded?
Wednesday, April 1st, 2009
Most of us go shopping each week and shove the same things in our basket each time with little variation, but what if we stop and think about what we’re buying in terms of the brand name on it. Is it reeeeally worth paying more for an item just because it has a popular name written on it, or says that it’s extra special?
Most supermarkets have at least three different levels of their own brand products, as well as selling items made by the big brand names like birdseye, nestle, etc. So unless all you’re buying is the cheapest value items there’s usually an alternative that’s cheaper. Sometimes we can try these things and find them perfectly acceptable, and other times we’ll think hmm maybe not, and what works for me won’t necessarily work for you, so it’s no good me telling you which items I like that are cheap. However, most people don’t notice the difference on some items as they’re not generally used alone. By this I mean things like Vinegar where you don’t often use it on it’s own, so any difference in flavour is less noticeable.
Will the food taste as nice? Will the shower gel last as long? The only way really to find this out is to try the item and test it for yourself. For me personally, some things I’ve tried with trepidation and been very pleasantly surprised, others I think no way will I notice the difference, and yet when I try it, I do notice a difference and decide not to buy the cheaper version again.
One way to find out is to try one lower priced lower branded item each week. Some you may stick to, some not, but I bet you’ll find a few that you don’t mind. Another thing you can do is look online at forums, and discuss it with others who are thinking along similar lines. Sometimes it’s easier to talk to a total stranger this way than to our friends after all if you’re just user123 then no one knows YOU so it’s not so embarrassing.
Keep a note of what you think, maybe keep a few shopping lists or receipts too so you can look back after 3 months and see how much you’re saving on average by changing down. The saving can be quite surprising. A Branded pack of sausages can cost you around £2, but some supermarkets have sausages that taste almost as good for less than half that value.
Tags: bargains, brands, Savings, shop smart, shopping
Posted in General, Savings | Comments Off