If you want to save on your weekly shop, switching branded products for cheaper versions could save you around £1,000 a year.
While you may assume that supermarket own-brand items are poorer quality than their branded equivalents, some are just as good or even better. To save you shopping around, we’ve done the hard work for you and found the best cheaper alternatives to your everyday favourites.
Put these bargains in your basket and you could save around £20 off a £55 weekly shop – over a year that adds up to an incredible £1,040. Check out our savvy shopping list below for 15 items to swap now:
Yoghurt
You don’t have to buy a branded yoghurt to get that delicious creamy taste. Aldi’s Brooklea range is understood to be made at Muller’s British dairy to a different recipe but a similar standard to Muller yoghurts. And at 30p, they’re less than half the price.
Swap: Muller Light Vanilla Yoghurt, 175g – 68p
For: Aldi Brooklea Light Fat-Free Vanilla Yoghurt, 175g – 30p
Saving: 38p per yoghurt
Cheese
As a nation of cheese lovers, Brits can be very discerning about cheddar but you don’t have to sacrifice taste for cheaper cheese. You could save a third by buying yours from the deli counter instead of opting for a pre-packed or branded version.
Swap: Cathedral City Mature Cheddar, 350g – £3.50 (£10/kg)
For: Morrison’s Deli Mature Coloured Cheddar, 350g – £2.45 (£7/kg)
Saving: £1.05 per 350g
Olive oil
Don’t assume branded versions are always better. Filippo Berio Gran Cru Toscano olive oil recently scored lower in an expert taste test carried out by Which? than Tesco’s Finest Tuscan Extra Virgin Olive Oil, despite the supermarket product being nearly a third cheaper.
Swap: Filippo Berio Gran Cru Toscano, 500ml – £10.80
For: Tesco’s Finest Tuscan Extra Virgin Olive Oil, 500ml – £6.50
Saving: £4.30 per 500ml bottle
Butter
When it comes to everyday items, the cheapest supermarket ranges are often just as good as the pricier ones. Tasting expert Martin Isark gave Asda SmartPrice Salted Butter 10 out of 10 in his Supermarket Own Brand Guide. Why pay more for anything else?
Swap: Lurpak Slightly Salted Butter, 250g – £1.65 (£6.60/kg)
For: Asda SmartPrice Salted Butter, 250g – £1.08 (£4.32/kg)
Saving: 57p per 250g pack
Related: Best Ways To Control Your Weekly Shopping Budget
Bread
Aldi has won the prestigious The Grocer Gold Award for its sliced bread, which is often much cheaper than branded versions. Try out its Farmhouse Multigrain Batch for just 79p.
Swap: Hovis Seed Sensations, 800g – £1.35
For: Aldi Farmhouse Multigrain Batch, 800g – 79p
Saving: 56p per loaf
Cereal
The fear with buying cheaper muesli is that manufacturers might skimp on the good bits and bulk it out with oats. This is definitely not the case with Lidl’s Simply Sumptuous Luxury Fruit and Nut muesli. Packed with nuts and soft tropical fruit, it arguably tastes even better than premium brands.
Swap: Jordan’s Fruit & Nut Muesli, 620g – £2.79 (£4.50/kg)
For: Lidl Simply Sumptuous Luxury Fruit & Nut Muesli, 750g – £1.69 (£2.25/kg)
Saving: £1.13 per 500g
Juice
When a product has just one ingredient – like fresh orange juice – there is very little difference between one brand and another. Swap premium Tropicana for supermarket own fresh orange juice to get the same zing for half the price.
Swap: Tropicana Orange Juice Original, 1.6litres – £3.50 (22p/100ml)
For: Tesco 100% Pure Squeezed OJ Not From Concentrate, 1.75litres – £1.99 (11p/100ml)
Saving: £1.10 per litre
Coffee pods
Nespresso machines are everywhere these days but at 31p each, the cost of the pods soon adds up. You can save up to 30% by buying cheaper alternatives – but make sure they fit your machine first or you could end up with an expensive-to-fix blockage. Try Aldi’s Alcafe Ristretto pods – they cost just 18p each and were highly recommended by coffee experts in a blind test carried out by Which? Magazine.
Swap: Nespresso Roma coffee capsules – 31p each
For: Aldi Alcafe Ristretto coffee pods – £1.69 for 10 (17p each)
Saving: £1.30 for every 10 pods
Sausages
You don’t need to pay a fortune for good-quality family favourites. Iceland’s Luxury pork sausages, which cost £2 for six, recently came a close second behind M&S’s posh Olde English Farmhouse Sausages in a Good Housekeeping Institute blind taste test of eight different brands.
Swap: M&S Olde English Farmhouse Sausages x6, 400g – £3.20
For: Iceland Luxury British Outdoor Bred Premium Pork Sausages x6, 400g – £2
Saving: £1.20 per pack of six
Pizza
It’s a little-known fact that many of the UK’s supermarket pizzas are made by the same manufacturer. And while all are slightly different, some appear incredibly similar. Keep an eye out for pizzas which seem to be nearly identical – except for the price.
Swap: Morrison’s The Best Ham, Mushroom & Mascarpone Pizza, 525g – £5 (95p/100g)
For: Asda Extra Special Smoked Ham, Mushroom & Mascarpone Pizza, 392g – £3.50 (89p/100g)
Saving: 24p per 400g of pizza
Chocolate
Save on snacks by opting for supermarket copies of popular brands, like Morrison’s version of Nestle’s KitKats. Not only are they nearly half the price, customer reviewers described them as “like KitKat only better, with more chocolate and less biscuit”.
Swap: Nestle KitKat Original x8 – £1.60 (20p per bar)
For: Morrison’s Milk Chocolate Break x8 – 87p (11p per bar)
Saving: 73p per pack of eight
Crisps
Supermarket own-brand crisps are often just as good as premium brands – and might even be the same. A packaging mix-up earlier this year meant shoppers found packets of Aldi Snackrite Hoops in multipacks of KP Hula Hoops, leading the supermarket to admit its crisps and Hula Hoops are made by the same manufacturer.
Swap: KP Hula Hoops Original, 6x24g – £1.75 (29p per bag)
For: Aldi Snackrite Hoops, 10x25g – 99p (10p per bag)
Saving: £1.14 per six bags
Washing-up Liquid
Cheap, watery washing up liquid is no good to anyone, but there are some great own-brand products out there that are just as good as household names. Customers rate Waitrose’s Essential Citrus washing-up liquid highly, describing it as “thick and smells lovely” and “every bit as effective as Fairy” in reviews. It is also half the price.
Swap: Fairy Original Lemon, 433ml – £1.31 (£3.03/litre)
For: Waitrose Essential Citrus washing-up liquid, 500ml – 68p (£1.36/litre)
Saving: 84p per 500ml
Related: Spring Cleaning On A Budget: 5 Alternative Cleaning Products That Are Already In Your Cupboard
Toilet roll
When it comes to toilet roll, you don’t want cheap to mean…er… scratchy. But softness is guaranteed with Asda’s Shades Quilted toilet roll. It’s made by the manufacturer which produces the Velvet and Cushelle brands – and it’s difficult to feel the difference despite the cheaper price tag.
Swap: Velvet Quilted Toilet Roll x4 – £2.25 (56p each)
For: Asda Shades Quilted Toilet Roll x4 – £1.90 (48p each)
Saving: 35p per pack of four
Booze
Discount supermarkets Aldi and Lidl regularly win awards for their own-brand alcohol. Sip a bargain G&T this summer made from Lidl’s Castelgy London Dry Gin. Not only is it a third cheaper than Gordon’s Special Dry London Gin, it scored much higher in a Which? blind taste test too.
Swap: Gordon’s Special Dry London Gin, 700ml – £14.50
For: Lidl’s Castelgy London Dry Gin, 700ml – £9.97
Saving: £4.53
Do you have any additional products that could save us all money? Tell us your savvy shopping tips in the comments below!
