Compromises in grocery shopping

So I managed to spend $200 on a weeks worth of groceries yesterday, not including meat or most veg. This is for two adults and a baby who is breastfed and on homemade solids.
Admittedly, that did include a box of nappies and a couple of bottles of wine!

I always look for items on special, but there are some brands that I have to buy, and refuse to compromise on - eg loo paper, heinz beans, decent pasta (tried home brand and it was vile), good quality dog and cat food etc...

What subsitutes will you buy, and what is non negotiable in terms of compromising?

I'm happy to compromise on most things.  I bought a fortnight worth of groceries last week for just under $340 (this includes meat, fresh fruit and our fresh vege drawer is overflowing and I got a couple of pkts of baby wipes and pullups for sleep times).  There's enough to feed 2 adults and a growth spurting toddler.

I get lots of tinned fruits and pulses and am happy to go for HB or cheaper brands (oak, SPC etc).  I get HB cat biscuits, HB milk and cream, HB bread, HB instant coffee etc.

The things I don't compromise on are: 

• Flour and pasta (I have coeliacs disease so, as much as I hate the cost, I buy small 250g bags of gluten free pasta for $5 each and 1 kg of gluten free flour for $8).
• Baked beans (again due to my coeliacs I can only eat oak beans, but they're cheap anyway).
• Toilet paper, I look for the specials but I won't buy the thin stuff.
• Seasonings
• Sauces
• Shampoo & conditioner and soap (we only use Dove because otherwise DH's eczema flares up)
• Plunger coffee

 

I bought something HB that I've decided I didn't like but I can't for the life of me remember what it was.

Edited by MrsMojo

What we don't compromise on...

Toilet paper - has to be Kleenex Cottonelle cos I'm fussy and it's soft and nice, and I use it for tissues as well (no red nose here!!!)

DFs coffee - won't drink anything but Moccona, so we get the big jar and it lasts about 3 months or so.

My milk - I'm lactose intolerant, so it's not really something I can compromise on...

Raro - Sweet Navel Orange. Have tried the other ones and they're HORRIBLE!!! So Raro it stays.

Other than that, we're forever trying alternatives, cheaper brands. DF doesn't mind Homebrand milk, we don't eat cheese, we tend to go for the cheapest bacon etc.

Pasta Sauces (I refuse to buy HB or Pams coz they taste like crud)
Nappies (Huggies because Keziah gets a wicked bum rash in all the others we have tried)
Wipes (Again they have to be Huggies Sensitive because of Keziah's sensitive wee bot)
Formula (Either Nurture Gold or S26 Gold)
Toilet paper (Has to have more than 2ply)
Shampoo & Conditioner
Toothpaste (MUST be Colgate Triple Action)

LOL gosh.. look at how pedantic I am

ETA: We don't eat much cheese, and milk we just buy Dairy Dale...and Bread is River Mill (from the Mad Butcher next door)

Edited by Neeks

only thing i cant escape buys cheap is dhs razor blades, he has to have the mach 3 power blades, its about $20 for 4 blade heads.. Other thing is either VO5 or sunsilk shampoo/conditioner, but everything else is pams, HB... prefer not to buy budget stuff as sometimes pams stuff is the same price and tastes better...

Oh but do buy budget nappies for the boys

Neeks, I've just started making my own pasta sauces.  They're so easy, cheaper and taste so yummy!!

We won't compromise on Bacon, it has to Streaky Hellers and nothing else comes anywhere close to it IMHO. Also Watties BB's & Spag, can't eat the others.

Just an aside the Pams/HB milk and cheese is exactly the same milk as Anchor etc.. it's just cheaper packaging.. (only know this as DH's BF works for Fonterra).

That's pretty much it, buy Pams Tampons too, can't really see any difference between them and Carefree, in fact I find Carefree fluff alot more than the Pams ones...

Edited by .Mel

I'm a Homebrand/SR girl thru and thru, pretty much if they make it, I buy it. Only exceptions are baked beans and spaghetti. I'll buy SR toilet paper but not the budget stuff, otherwise it's Cotton Softs. Oh and Coke has to be Coke, I'm not so fussy on lemonade brands tho. Don't think I've ever bought HB bacon as we don't eat a lot of bacon and I tend to buy the rindless stuff when we do buy it.

We have a few things we wont compromise on.

Bacon has to be Kiwi
Spag & BB has to be Oak
Toilet Paper has to be Cotton Softs
Body wash not soap
Nappies is only ever Huggies

Neeks wrote: Jo, give me the recipes you use for your homemade pasta sauces and I'll give them a go.

 

It's not so much a recipe as an add a bit of this and a dash of that and taste test.  It usually involves an onion, some garlic, a tin or 2 of tomatos and some italian herbs.  Next time I make it I'll measure and write down the ingrediants as I go if you'd like.