How Special Are The Special Offers?

Just how special are the special offers we see highlighted at supermarkets? It's easy to compare the prices of products that the supermarkets so conveniently make very obvious for us by using coloured labels with the 'usual priced' goods. The obvious thing to do then is to buy the better value product, isn't it? Well, yes, if that's the only place you can reasonably buy that product, you may as well stock up there and then if that's possible. But before you do that take a look around at the alternative products on the shelves. The special offers are very often on big brand names, the ones we are so used to seeing and the ones that often have a premium price tag. Is what you are buying that unique?

If you haven't tried other brands or a supermarket's own brand then now might be the time to start, you may well spend even less than what's on the special offers. If, at the end of the day you simply don't like the other brands then at least you have tried and saved some money in the process. But try and think about it rationally and work out whether you like the other product just because it's a big brand - there is so in the mind going on here and the supermarkets and brands thrive on this. Supermarkets will have special offers and savings on their own branded products from time to time as well. If these are on what you buy and offer you value for money then it is most definitely worth buying in bulk if you are able to and if t makes sense. 

Of course if you have some time to compare prices either on the internet or by visiting different shops on the high street you are likely to save even more but how much time do you really want to spend shopping?

The Vicious Cycle of Debt

The UK loses its AAA rating but no-one is really surprised other than by the timing. The pound has started to fall already which is no surprise but it will start to raise the cost of the fuel we put in our cars (and for those who use oil to heat their homes) as oil is traded in US dollars. The government will also start to see a change as there will be an increase in the cost of borrowing the government has to make to keep the country going (the bonds we keep hearing about). The changes may not be huge but given the numbers we are talking about they will ultimately make a difference. Given that the UK's debt is currently running at 68% of GDP the interest payments alone are eye-watering and will only get bigger (it wasn't that long ago that a figure of 42% was considered high but the norm!).

More debt to pay back, increased costs of getting loans and the cost of energy rising. These are just three direct impacts of the downgrading from AAA status. Unless drastic measures are taken this won't be the only downgrade. Government debt needs not only to be cut it needs to be got rid of completely - now there's a vision we don't hear politicians talking about much. The power is currently with the financial institutions who the country owes so much money. Think of the situation in China or the Middle East where it's the other way round, where countries are cash rich. 

Cut public spending, slash bureaucracy on businesses and encourage exports - it's the only way ahead.

Living Without Supermarkets

Is it possible to avoid using supermarkets completely? I was pondering this question the other day after discovering a blog about a family who are trying just this. In theory of course it should be straightforward but it does take a switch in shopping habits. The whole point of supermarkets was that they had everything in the same place so less time would be spent going from shop to shop. Difficult to argue against especially with the busy lives people lead these days. On-line shopping for food is also growing which reduces time spent food shopping even more.

But are we missing out and does it cost us? I'm a firm believer in shopping around to make sure you get the best deal but equally the convenience of supermarkets is something that attracts. Perhaps the current food scares over what is actually in our foods as opposed to what is on the labels will encourage more and more to cook from scratch. Let's hope so as that will encourage all of us to look further afield for where we buy our fresh meat and veg. I find grocers and butchers almost always provide better quality produce at the same price or less than supermarkets. It will be interesting to see how the family get on avoiding shopping in a supermarket and whether they can do it for the year.

Make Charity Shops Your First Port of Call

The terrible state of the economy has had major impacts on many people and the enormous debt that the UK as a country has now got itself into will only mean further reductions in government spending for many years to come on services we have become accustomed to. Of course the same is to be said for most of the so called developed world but that doesn't make things seem any better. Market economies are built on the buying and selling of goods and services but if the money in people's pockets is drastically reduced to the extent that they struggle to pay for food and shelter (Abraham Maslow was right all along) then the ability to 'consume' our way to economic growth is much reduced.

So should any of us be surprised or shocked when we see Charity Shops on the high street full of people trying to make ends meet? Should any of us be ashamed of buying essentials in Charity Shops? There doesn't need to be any stigma attached whatsoever to buying from Charity Shops, indeed, why not buy perfectly good but already used, goods at a fraction of the price that you would buy new - the quality can often be far higher than new products. 

Go on - check out your local Charity Shops next time you need something for the home, you may just be surprised by what you find, and how much you save.

You might also be interested in The Benefits Of Charity Shops On Our High Streets

Beat The Increases In Energy Costs

The UK is going to see an ever increasing reliance on imported energy in the coming years which means it will become more susceptible to world prices for gas and oil. The knock-on effect for consumers is an overall increase in prices for heating and electricity and even more volatility than has been seen in recent years (or are most of the price changes upwards?). The reason for increased reliance on imports is a reduction in current generating capacity with the closure of old nuclear and coal power stations, a reduction in gas reserves in the North Sea and an insatiable appetite for power from an increasing population. 

So how can consumers minimise the increases? 

Green Deal

We could look at the Green Deal and take out a loan on our property and hope that it will pay for itself, hope, because there is no guarantee. I wrote about The Green Deal Joke when it was announced as there is so much that makes it to be extremely wary of. If you need a loan to make energy efficiency improvements it's probably cheaper to go to a bank.

Switch Suppliers

All suppliers are doing their best to tempt us with offers so check around and if you can take the risk of the switch not going wrong then it might be worth it. At the end of the day though all suppliers have to go to the same market to buy their energy, they are just the middle-men.

Use Less Energy

Look around your home and switch off at the sockets electrical devices that aren't in use. Never leave phone chargers plugged in. Turn TVs off and not on standby. Turn your heating down a degree or two. Put an extra layer of clothing when it is cold. If you can't do these 5 simple things you have no right to complain about increased energy costs.

Energy costs will be going up in the coming years, it's been on the cards for ages, but we don't have to sit back and take it. We can all be more proactive about how we deal with it.

Are We Seeing A Backlash Against Beef?

It seems during the last few weeks there has been a never ending avalanche of stories about horse-meat being found in various processed meals that supposedly contained beef. Initially the news was about "DNA traces" of horse-meat which sounds pretty innocuous, similar to the "may contain nuts" labels found on some foods because they are produced in the same factories that produce foods with nuts. Pretty soon though the DNA traces turned into 60-100% horse-meat and it wasn't only confined to the UK and Ireland, the whole sordid tale stretches out across Europe. 

So are people starting to turn their backs on beef? While in a supermarket the other day I noticed large piles of beef mince in the refrigerators. Noticeably, most of it was labelled as "Irish Beef" although there was British Beef there too. Maybe I had arrived just as new stock had been put out - or maybe not. Local butchers have signs up with special offers on beef which is great for shoppers but is a worrying indication on what has quickly happened to the market. 

Where am I going with this? Well, the problems that have been so widely broadcast in the media are all about meat that we can't really recognise in the foods we buy and importantly, have no control over. When we buy meat, and in this case beef, in its raw state the chances of it not being what it purports to be are negligible. Don't give up on beef - when you buy it raw it is what it's supposed to be. 

Cash Is King

With new technical ideas to be make it easy for us to spend our money without using cash we get further and further away from understanding the real value of money. Tweeting to pay for something, come on, just where is this going to end? With the world's richest countries owing trillions in debt (are they really that rich and developed if they owe so much?) it's little wonder that such an acceptance of debt as a way of life is becoming the norm for so many. But it doesn't have to be that way.

You know how much you spend on food and other items each week so just take out that amount of cash and stick to it! Once you start using cash you very quickly start to realise how much different goods really cost. And remember too that if you are starting to use your local shops more (10% of your weekly shop makes sense) using cash in those shops means the owners don't have to pay a percentage admin charge for each card transaction, keeping the real money in the local community. All this, and it doesn't cost you a penny more.

Real Beef Bolognese

The stories surrounding the horsemeat in processed meals that are supposed to contain beef are pretty scary to say the least. Not necessarily because it's horsemeat that's involved, but because of the apparent complete lack of control over or indeed interest in the ingredients that go into making these meals. Now we know that all supermarkets have in recent years done their best to cater for different segments of the market and the value ranges have been around for many years. The fact that there seems to have been next to no monitoring of what goes into these meals is incredibly worrying not just from a food safety standpoint, if that wasn't bad enough. Just what do these mega buying corporations actually do to source the products that most of us are forced to buy because there isn't that much choice? Precious little it seems.

So, if you want to make some Beef Bolognese that you know is horse-free and contains ingredients that you actually recognise just use the basic ingredients themselves and cook from scratch. This is all you need:

• beef mince - a real butcher ought to be able to tell what is beef and what isn't
• tomatoes 
• onions
• herbs such a oregano, thyme, basil or marjoram
• olive oil for frying the meat and onions to start with

Simple ingredients that are easily available and easy to turn into beef bolognese. You could even use it to make a proper beef lasagne too.

Beware Future Predictions

Each week we get bombarded with figures and indicators of business confidence and growth predictions. Some figures are looking at actual data and we try to make reasoned guesses as to what they mean for the future - 'past performance doesn't indicate future performance' is something the financial markets know about but often keep in their small print! Then there are the figures that are based entirely on what different groups think might happen. Different professions, different industries and different market sectors all seem to take great pleasure in announcing the best or the worst set of figures in so many years just so they can grab the headlines for themselves.

Just as no swallow ever makes a spring, no set of figures can be relied on to predict anything with any confidence. It could be said that the stock markets of the world are the ultimate arbiters of economic predictions since they build in assumptions on growth. But is this reasonable? Do the stock markets really represent the economic outlooks of the countries they reside in? Just how does the recent series of rises in stock markets around the world to levels not seen in years really tally with economic reality? The very real danger is that those involved in the world of buying and selling of stocks and shares are getting themselves into another groupthink situation and we could all be in for another reality check - after all, they do seem to happen every few years don't they.

Know What You Eat - Cook From Scratch

There have been some appalling news stories these past couple of weeks about horse-meat being used in processed meals and burgers that consumers thought contained beef. Whether it's down to criminality, fraud, ineffective quality management systems or anything else it brings into sharp focus that for many of us we don't actually know what's in our food.  Processed foods are everywhere. Even when we are out and buying meals in restaurants or cafes it could well be that the meal on our plate was not prepared from individual raw ingredients. 

Maybe this is a wake up call for many of us and a reminder that if we have cooking facilities at home we really should be using them. Look at what's in your cupboards and fridge and see what's processed and what isn't. Think things through and figure out what you can make from the fresh ingredients you already buy regularly. Someone once told me that when it comes to food more than anything else 'you get what you pay for in terms of quality'. Perhaps the latest scare stories will start to hit home. 

I wrote a post a few years ago on an earlier incarnation of this blog about how to make an Easy Pasta Sauce that is worth looking at again. It can be used on its own with pasta or as part of other meals such as beef lasagne - try it out and see for yourself.

The Debt Keeps Rising

The UK Chancellor of the Exchequer has admitted that the government over-estimated by some £64bn the amount of revenue it would take in when it put together its forecasts back in 2010. No-one has a crystal ball and no-one would expect really accurate figures but £64bn is an awful lot of money to have to find. Oh yes and we need to add that to the £375bn of Quantitative Easing, a.k.a. money printing, that has happened. Politicians are forever playing games and we all know that all they want to do is get re-elected so why would they come out and be realistic about what is owed - wouldn't it be good if some of them did once in a while?

£64bn short in the coming years and only paying off the interest on the £375bn of QE isn't a healthy position to be in. No-one is ever advised to just pay off the interest on their credit cards and certainly not to take a cash advance on one card to pay off the interest on another so why is the government playing such a game with the country's finances? I guess the answer is because they can and the cynic in me thinks that by constantly pushing the problem out to the right it'll be someone else's problem to deal with and those responsible will be picking up 'nice little earners' advising some financial institution or other how to make money out of the government of the day.

January Sales Figures Are A Blip

Despite poor sales figures in December last year it isn't much of a surprise that there has been a rise in January. The British Retail Consortium (BRC) has announced sales up 1.9% year-on-year saying that the big sellers were tablet computers and smartphones. Big sellers in terms of price it would seem but given the prices of these products it doesn't take much in the way of volume to make an impact on the figures. Of course tablet computers, no-one actually says iPads but that's what most people mean, and smartphones have become Christmas presents for many over recent years. Given the straightened times we are living in I wonder just how many people received IOUs in their Christmas stockings with loved ones waiting to see if they could get a better deal in the January sales?

It's never possible to determine which way the economy is going based on one set of figures and this is no different. The retail industry should not be getting excited about his, February and March will be back to their poor standards of recent years. Maybe shopping at HMV, Blockbuster and Jessops ahead of their closures might help things pick up a little but it's hardly likely. Look at all the indicators as a whole and the outlook for the UK economy is far from rosy.

Small Shop Closures Are Progress - NOT!

Sir Terry Leahy the former boss of Tesco has described the closure of small shops and the dominance of supermarkets as 'part of progress'. No-one would deny that the continual closure of small shops who simply cannot compete with the buying power of the huge supermarket chains as a consequence, but 'part of progress', really? This comes after a month in the UK retail sector that has seen the death of Blockbuster, HMV and Jessops. Hardly small corner shops and maybe supermarkets creeping into their traditional markets wasn't entirely to blame for their demise but there will have been an element of that. After all, there is very little you cannot buy in supermarkets these days. If it isn't actually in the store itself you can probably order it on the supermarket's own website. Who's next to be killed off by the supermarkets I wonder?

The benefits of out of town supermarkets 'far outweigh the costs' was something else that Sir Terry said. Well, they do I guess if you have your own transport and don't want a High Street in your local town that resembles a High Street. Many supermarket chains have even opened their own stores back in High Streets, probably in premises they vacated 10 or 20 years ago, so they are recognising a public demand to some extent. Wouldn't it be good though if we were assured that the prices they charged in these 'local stores' were the same as in all their larger stores. Come on Tesco and others, give us a promise on price that means something.

How To Keep Your Hair Clean For Half The Price

How much do you spend on shampoo and conditioner? The costs of these products vary enormously depending on the brands you buy but over a week, a month and a year they can really add up to an eye-watering amount of money. Go on, quickly work out how much you spend on keeping your hair clean.

Most people buy shampoo and conditioner (if they use conditioner that is) at supermarkets and continue to buy what they are used to buying. That simple act of adding them into a basket with all your other goods masks just what you are spending on individual items, not just shampoo. Next time you walk down the aisle to pick up your regular shampoo take a look at the prices. Be careful, they all come in different sizes so check out the price per 100ml if that's shown or work it out for yourself. Yes, the 3 for 2 offers help but you can reduce your spend even more - even halving it.

Let your eyes drop down to the bottom shelf of the shampoos and conditioners and towards the end of that bottom shelf. Chances are that's where the supermarket's own brand value shampoos and conditioners are. They usually have a plain label and don't really stand out much. The reason for this is that supermarkets like to say they offer value products but because they don't make much on them they put them out of our direct eyesight. Don't be fooled by this. A 500ml of shampoo for 40 pence is good value, compare 8p per 100ml with all the big brands. Remember, it's shampoo so it will clean your hair perfectly well. Even if you only use it every other wash you have virtually halved the amount you pay out to keep your hair clean - and that's no bad thing is it?