Are Supermarket Basics as good as brand named products?

Well, what a couple of weeks it's been. The markets have remained in turmoil - one day up dramatically and the next day crashing back down again.

People are starting to get worried about the implications and fall out of what's been happening this year. Unemployment is up and we are all more concerned about the future.

Supermarkets are changing their focus - When Britain is booming they bring out their expensive, high quality products such as Tescos "The Finest Range", or Morrison's "The Best" and charge a premium!

Look at any supermarket today and you will see the focus has changed - to The UK's Biggest discounter or Deal of the Week etc etc.

But the question is - Supermarket basic ranges are much much less expensive than brand names, but are they just as good quality?

Sainsbury has recently been voted Britain's cheapest supermarket - which is quite surprising really. Sainsbury has historically portrayed itself as a high quality, higher priced retailer.

Times are changing though and Sainsbury have brought out their blue and white packaged basics range - quality at cheap prices.

Last time I was in I bought some vegetables, grapes and tea bags to try them out.

The highlight was the teabags - 31p for 80 Tea Bags - Fairtrade!!!

Two immediate questions - 31p for 80 teabags - they must be awful!
31p for 80 teabags - how can they be fairtrade?

The teabags were absolutely fine - served them up to loads of people and everyone said they were great - before I told them the price.

Have you tried any Supermarket basic products - let us know your reviews!!

Give them a try and save cash!!

Recycle your old Mobile for Boots Points

Here at Canny Squirrel we have looked before at how fantastic a loyalty scheme Boots Advantage is.

Boots have now launched a scheme that allows you to recycle your mobile phone and also get Advantage points added.

Click here to see how much your phone is worth

I just tried my old Sony Ericsson - must be about 4 years old but worth £8.33 in points!

Give it a go and see how much yours is worth.

A bad day on the markets!

What a difficult time we are going through worldwide. Today we saw Lehman Brothers go bankrupt and Meryl Lynch being taken over by Bank of America.

Stockmarkets around the world plummeted with Financial stocks suffering particularly badly.

The word on the street is that it's not over yet. There's still more to come, so we need to be even more canny with our money and thriftyness.

I went searching for a funny youtube clip for Canny Squirrel to lighten the mood of the day.

Have a look at this one!!

Kath Kelly's next 5 ideas to save money!

(6) Rather than shopping in Charity Shops, consider shopping at Church Jumble Sales - not so many shoppers and better deals.

(7) Give people gifts such as second hand books or homemade chocolates that you know they will like. You will be relying on other peoples good will.

(8) Make the most of free food, including mince pies and wine at Christmas events, buffets at art and book launches, free samples at farmers' markets and deli counters.

(9) Visit department beauty counters for free make-overs and to try perfumes. The assistants will often give you lots of free samples. You can also get free haircuts, manicures or facials by being a trainee's model at a beauty college or salon.

(10) Join your local library to avoid paying for books, DVDs and a range of magazines - you can order books, especially new hardbacks for as little as 60p.

Well that's Kath's tips, if you have any of your own please leave a comment. We love getting comments here at Canny Squirrel - so just click the comments button and leave us your tips.

Canny Squirrel

How she lived a year on just £1 a day

Have you heard the name Kath Kelly?

Kath bet her friends that she could live on just £1 per day for a year. This would really encourage her to come up with some ingenious ways to save money and survive the credit crunch in the process!!

Kath has now written a book which is available at Amazon - but here's a wee taster of the ideas she came up with to help save money:

(1) Collect as many coupons, leaflets and free papers for vouchers. They often have 2 for 1 meal offers, free cinema showings and free entry to many events.

(2) Look in shop windows and on noticeboards for "free to collector" goods. We have also looked at Gumtree in the past at www.cannysquirrel.com - they also have a free to a good home section.

(3) Never ignore Market Researchers! They often have freebies to give away and questionnaires to complete. Often these questionnaires can result in you being sent shampoo, alcohol samples, etc etc.

(4) Go shopping at the end of the day to benefit from end of day reductions in delis and shops. Look for dented tins and also 2 for 1 offers. Also learn how to "stretch food" - eg Buy a chicken, roast it today, use the spare meat in a risotto and then use the bones to make soup the next day!

(5) Leave notes instead of using your mobile phone and also use the internet at the library.

Another 5 tips coming tomorrow........

Canny Christmas

It's scary.....that's the shops starting to build their Christmas displays! From today it's 109 days til Santa comes!

You know what that means - added expense!!!

Here's a few tips to help you avoid putting Christmas on your Credit Card!

(1) Start now - get a Jam Jar or a bowl and add all your spare change in every night. Anything from 50p downwards stick in the jar. You will be amazed at how quickly the change adds up. Before you head off shopping get some bank bags, count the change and exchange it at the bank for notes.

(2) Stop now - for the next 70 working days don't have a posh coffee on your way to work. - That would be over £140 saved. Instead add an extra £2.00 to your Jar every night.

(3) Start now - Do you usually buy lots of presents at one shop. Buy one the shop's gift cards - you know the ones you can give as presents. Every time you get paid - go to the shop and add some extra cash onto the gift card. This will then help pay for your shopping spree at that shop. Boots would be a good example. This would allow you to save up cash, benefit from their link save deals, collect Boots Advantage points, and have flexibility when you buy - they often have 10 times the number of points events in the lead up to Christmas!

(4) Make a list of all the people you need to buy for and start chipping away over the next couple of months. This will help spread the cost.

(5) Think about your skills, can you make some presents this year. Homemade presents always go down a treat! Especially homemade sweets!!!

(6)If you use a credit card that provides vouchers - eg Tesco or M&S - why not keep the vouchers you get all year and use them for the Christmas Dinner shop or for gifts.

(7) If you send a lot of Christmas cards, start buying stamps now - again spread the cost!

(8) Consider purchasing a live Turkey that you can look after for next year's dinner! - Do you have space in your back garden?....err maybe that's taking it a bit far!

Anyway - as the scouts say - Be Prepared!!!

Conserve money and energy this Autumn

As the days get darker and colder, the first thought is often to get the heating ramped up and turn on all the lights!

Now I'm not suggesting for one minute that to conserve money and energy you go through the winter in the dark, being frozen cold!

But think about this:

Around about 30 years ago, President Carter in the USA, asked his country to turn down the thermostat and "put on a sweater." He wasn’t making a fashion statement; he was encouraging Americans to conserve energy during the 1979 Oil Crisis.

Alliance to Save Energy claims a one-degree thermostat reduction can save 3 percent on your heating bill.


(2) Turn off unnecessary lights. You know the feeling - you walk from room to room switching on lights that then remain on for hours. Only the part of the house that you're in should have the lights on!

(3) Change all your bulbs to energy saving bulbs. There are some great deals out there where you can get them for about 40p. Sainsbury are often giving them away freee to shoppers.

(4) Go around the house everynight and switch off all your electric goods. How often have you left your mobile phone charger switched on for days on end. Not good for your pocket or the environment!

(5) Have an autumn cleanout and sell your excess goods on www.gumtree.com or ebay!
Make some money to help with your Christmas Present list!

These tips won't just help your pocket - but just think how they'll help the environment!

Save Money with your weekly shopping - automatically!

This is one of the best things I have come across in a while.

My Supermarket - allows you to shop online at your usual store.

The clever website then compares each product in your basket against the other leading supermarkets to see if they have any cheaper deals on any of the products you have bought.

The system then allows you to switch the deal.

It also has a health checker where it checks your products and recommends healthier ones of the same type, with lower fat or calories.

You then complete your order and the supermarket of your choice then sends out your weeks shopping complete with all the best deals. It's amazing!!!! Saves you visiting 4 supermarkets to get the best deals.

Check out the demonstration.

One customer saved £50.00 on her weeks shopping - That's £600 a year!!!!!

Give it a go today.

Ditch the bleach and expensive cleaning sprays!

How nice do these Ecover and similarly sympathetically branded cleaning products look on the supermarket shelf.

We really should do out bit for the environment....but it's all so much more expensive!

Ditch the expensive potions today and simply buy a tub of Bicarbonate of Soda, a Lemon and some Vinegar! You should get all that for about £1.00.

You can use Bicarbonate of Soda for surfaces, sinks, basins and floors and toilets.
You can use the lemon to clean the Microwave and the vinegar for you mirrors and windows.

Pop the lemon in a blow of water and turn the microwave on for a short burst. The lemon scent and water will loosen all the dirt and grime from inside the oven.

Remember in the olden days(!!) Some Vinegar and water along with a weekend paper to clean your windows and they came up sparkling!

1 x pot of Bicarbonate of Soda per month = 38p against 1 x large bottle of Ecover Multisurface (£2.00p) saves you £1.62p x 12 = £19.44 a year.

1 Lemon at 29p against Microwave cleaning cream £1.39 - another £12.00 per year.

1 Bottle of Vinegar against Mr Muscle window cleaner 49p against £1.99 - another £18.00 per year

That's almost £50.00 a year in your pocket. Thrifty and Green at the same time.

A Film, cup of tea and a biscuit! Count me in!!

Here we have a couple of deals from Vue Cinema.

What night do you usually go the the cinema - Thursday - Sunday perhaps?

If you do, you are paying over the odds.

First canny tip is to go on a Tuesday evening - That's CHEAP TUESDAY!!

Instead of paying £6.75 you only pay £4.00 ish and you get a voucher for £1.00 off your next visit. This means the film next Tuesday will be pretty much half price!!

Also if you are an OAP you will get a special deal ever Wednesday at 11.30am.

You will get a screening, a tea and a biscuit for £3.00.

Finally if you plan to go for a meal before hand Vue now have a new restaurant booking service.
Book your meal online by simply completing the search fields for the date, time and number of people who will be dining. Our expert search will recommend selected restaurants within a close radius to your chosen Vue cinema.

Check back soon for exclusive deals and offers at selected restaurants including half price dining or eating out under £15.

Time for £30 worth of deals at Burger King

Burger King are offering you a superb 12 voucher booklet, just by filling in a few details. All that you have to do is visit the Burger King website, click on 'Download £30 of Vouchers Now', fill in your details, and the next window that appears will ask you to print out your voucher booklet.

Here are a few examples from the voucher booklet:

Two vouchers for Buy one Whopper and get one free', Two vouchers for 'Free fries and drink when you buy an Adult burger', 'Free regular drink and regular hash browns with any breakfast butty purchased' and 'Buy one Angus Burger and get another one free'.

This is easy peasy to do and will save you stacks!

Print it out today.

www.Burgerking.co.uk

Is car sharing for you?

You wake up in the morning, pop some bread into the toaster for breakfast, then it's off into the car to drive to work.

You get into the car, tune the radio to your favourite station, turn the volume up full blast and you are on your way. You set the temperature to 23 degrees - nice and cosy, before remembering that you have a package to collect at the post office. A quick detour before work to collect the packet and you arrive at work just on time.

After a busy day, you decide to complete one last item from your "to do " list then it's off to the supermarket to collect some provisions for your dinner.

Ultimate flexibility, but maximum cost - You are using the car everyday, lots of wear and tear to the engine, higher depreciation due to higher mileage and also increasing fuel bills!

Is now the time to think about car sharing? Could you do it?

Car sharing websites are the new dating websites of 2008. They are springing up all over promising to match you with the ideal car sharer!

Here's what National Car Scheme has to say about car sharing:

"Lift sharing", "ride-sharing", "car-sharing" or "carpooling" -it doesn't matter what you call it, it boils down to the same thing - two or more people sharing a car to get from A to B rather than driving alone. The benefits are numerous both for yourself, your family, your community and the environment. You save money on running costs, you save time looking for parking spaces and you help to save the planet by reducing your carbon footprint.

If everyone who drives on their own to work every day were to catch a lift with someone just once a week, the commuting car journeys would reduce by 20%! And both parties would save money!

Car sharing is becoming increasingly popular as the benefits are acknowledged, and many communities and employers are introducing car sharing schemes. But car sharing is often given last billing when it comes to environmental transport because there are so many misunderstandings associated with it - just see our FAQs to get the clear picture.

Save money. Save time. Save the planet. Register now with National CarShare. It's FREE! Visit them here for more information

You can also visit Carshare.com who offer similar services

See there other links for more information

Save money on petrol

Let us know if you car share - how you arranged it and how you are getting on with your new passenger.

Save £547.50 per year!

Just take a minute to stop and think how much you spend each year on bottled water!

Lets say that you buy 1 bottle of water each day from a motorway service station. You could easily end up paying almost £600 a year for bottled water. This doesn't include bigger bottles for the house and your water rates!

Your granny would be turning in her grave at the thought of (1) the waste of money and (2) the waste of plastic

Why not dump your bottle today and purchase a reusable water bottle. I have done a bit of research and there's a reusable bottle, complete with a built in filter available at the Guardian's online shop. Click here to check it out



Have a look at Think Outside the Bottle.org
It's the simple things that make all the difference both to your pocket and to the environment. Buy a bottle now!

How often do you boil your kettle a week?

Have you heard about the Eco Kettle. This could save you money for years!

Check out what www.smartplanet.com have to say about this GREEN MONEY Saving idea

"Here's a spot of eco pub trivia for you -- if everyone stopped overfilling their kettles, we'd save enough electricity to power the nation's street lights for seven months. Yes, a completely pointless and incomprehensible bit of trivia, but the message remains: just boil the right amount. Of course, that's easier said than done with some conventional kettles. And filling a kettle and then emptying water to get the right amount for a cuppa is not very green, especially in water-stressed areas like the south east. Which is where the alternative, the Eco Kettle, comes in.

This is the original eco kettle, and remains the first and only to carry the Energy Saving Trust's Recommended badge of approval. Since then, the flashy Plunger Kettle and instant-boiling Tefal Quick Cup have also arrived to offer some competition. This 1.5-litre pot remains incredibly popular though, for the simple reason that it's half the price of those two -- if you shop around, you'll find it for less than £30.

The concept's simple. Instead of one water chamber, it has two -- one for the boiling, and one for use as a reservoir. To use the kettle, you simply top the reservoir to full, and then press a button to plunge the required amount of water through to the boiling chamber. The result is it generally boils much faster than a normal kettle, producing one bog standard mug of tea in around 15 seconds. As a bonus, you're saving carbon and cash in the process.

It's easy to use, but -- like the similar Plunger Kettle -- the button does give a certain amount of physical resistance when you press it. That'll be fine for most hands, but not for frail ones. On a related note, it's also worth pointing out the kettle is considerably heavier than a conventional one, albeit slightly lighter than the Plunger.

The whole thing is well-built and sturdy, fitting neatly on to its base and locking the lid with a distinctly clear 'clunk'. However, the cheap price tag is reflected in the styling, which we'd be polite if we described as bland -- it's like an anti-iPod, reborn in kettle form.

Unlike its competitors, the Plunger Kettle and Tefal Quick Cup, the Eco Kettle doesn't have a water filter. Whether this is good or bad depends on your viewpoint. On the one hand it means less embodied energy and carbon emitted to produce the filters, and less landfill taken up with discarded filters. On the other, it means anyone living in a hard water area needs to be more rigorous about regularly cleaning limescale from the kettle to maintain its efficiency.

On a tasting note, anyone who likes their tea as close to boiling as possible will prefer this over the Tefal Quick Cup, which produces slightly cooler tea. We found it fine and so did most of our unwitting guest guinea pigs, but a couple did complain the Quick Cup produced tea that was too cold for their liking.

Ethics are good. Product Creation, the small company behind the kettle, tells us it's made in China's manufacturing hub Guangdong. The Eco Kettle's makers have known the factory owner personally for over two decades, and visit the factory twice a year to work with staff at all levels -- they believe the staff are "relatively well paid with good working conditions." The factory has been audited by other customers, including M&S. Extra greenie points are racked up by the reportedly low fault rate of the kettle -- Product Creation says it's less than 5 per cent instead of the industry average of less than 8 per cent.


For the price, the Eco Kettle's something of a no-brainer -- even if you don't save the 31 per cent energy the EST's studies suggest you will, it's barely double the price of a bog standard kettle."

FREE SAMPLE OF HUGO BOSS PURE - NEW FRAGRANCE

FREE AFTERSHAVE AND PERFUME FROM BOSS DIRECT TO YOUR DOOR

Hugo Boss launch their new fragrance in April - HUGO BOSS PURE

You can get your free sample posted direct to the house by clicking on the above link.

Free Samples alos available for

BOSS Selections
BOSS Bottled
BOSS in Motion
BOSS Soul
femme by BOSS

Just think - never have to pay £35.00 for aftershave or perfume again!!!

Enjoy!

FREE THINGS 3 TIMES A WEEK

The best way to save money is to ensure that you get the best deals available. I was having a think about this and have been doing some research on FREE THINGS! The ultimate money saver.

Just imagine if you could get free samples of aftershave, perfume, toothpaste, shampoo etc etc how much money you could save yourself.

After looking into this it seems that companies are tripping over themselves to get you to try their brands with the aim of trapping you as a loyal customer. This is great news for you as you now no longer need to buy any "travel toiletries" ever again.

The range of free samples is amazing - ranging from the above toiletries, to dog food, loyalty card points, household things, magazines etc etc.

Have a look at the following link - it is updated 3 times a week with Free offers.

Lessons from the Painters!

How do you find a painter that is reasonably priced, will do a good job and that you can trust?

Getting tradesmen can be very expensive and you often have no guarantees about the standard of their work, or how they will treat your property.

I'm in the process of getting some decorating work completed around the house, so I thought I'd share my experiences.

I decided that I would get three quotations for the work to be completed, so that I could ensure I was getting a good deal. This is probably the first key point - make sure you get more than 1 price!!

So I had a choice of 3 people - I decided to go on 1 recommendation from another Canny Squirrel, one from a flyer that came through the door from a Polish Company and one from a business card I found in the local post office.

It is really amazing the differences between each of the prospective decorators. The recommended painter came with measuring tape, notepad, colour charts and loads of options. He was really impressive and was so keen to help. He's gone off to put his quote in writing by post (not arrived yet)and if I agree can do the job in 4 weeks time (he's a busy boy!) 2nd key point - it's always key to be professional, organised and go that extra mile to ensure people feel valued and will recommend your services to friends. It is no surprise that he came highly recommended.

The polish company have just left. After a call off yesterday he arrived very prompt this morning with notebook and pen in hand, ready to quote for the job. Not so many options given here - especially around the woodwork and colours and finishes. He is very busy too, but could fit me in at the weekends or in the evenings - he has a big job on that will take 1 month to complete! He did however take my email address so that he could get the quote to me asap. He brought his diary and it was bulging with people to call and quotations to do! His flyers must be working. 3rd key point. If you have services to offer you need people to know you are there. Simple things like flyers are cheap to produce, but could keep you in work for months to come. Always think outside the box about how you can promote your business or services.

The final painter has also been (remember he was the business card in the post office). I called him about 11.55am to see if he could come to quote sometime and he agreed to come at 12.30 that day!!!!! Impressive Speed! He arrived without anything - no pen, no paper, no samples, nothing! I had to provide him with a pen and some paper to enable him to jot down my requirements. Technically he seemed to know his stuff and was keen to help. He said that he would call me at 7.30pm that night with his quote, which he did! I wasn't available to take his call, and now my voicemail has deleted his message, so I only have his quotation in memory. The final lesson from the Painters is - Under promise and over deliver - I was impressed by his speed to action. Always be prepared - pen, paper, business cards and the basic tools of your trade. Follow up important details in writing, so that your clients can reflect and discuss the details to help them make a decision.

I haven't heard from Painter 3 since he left the voicemail. He must be sitting thinking that he as too expensive and didn't get the job. Whereas the truth of the matter is, I haven't decided yet as I'm waiting on the other 2 quotations. How nice it would be if he called to check I got his quote ok and to ask if I had any questions - that might just swing it from him, if the other two are much more expensive.

I will let you know what the three quotes are......when I get them!!!!

Is a Company Car a Good or Bad thing?

Help is at hand?

Quite often the so called "perk" of getting a company car sounds like a great idea, and often if it's your first company vehicle it can also be your first opportunity to purchase a brand new car.
It offers great opportunities for cruising the streets in your shiny new Jag!!!!

Much has been written and numerous mathmatical equations created to help decide if you are better off opting in or out of the company car scheme.

There's lots of things you need to consider before making the jump:

(1) Will the car be used for business and personal use?
(2) How much will you need to pay towards the car?
(3) What will you be going for - Petrol or diesel?
(4) What will your company pay for - Personal and or business mileage?
(5) How long will you need to keep the car?
(6) What levels of mileage will you be doing?
(7) What will the emmissions be for your chosen vehicle?
(8) Does the vehicle include a maintenance package - ie the company pick up the tab?
(9) If you did opt out - how wuch would it cost to insure you car - remember business use?
(10) Does the company offer you cash instead - if they do what is the cash really worth to you?

Don't forget about all the associated costs if you do opt out: Insurance, Road Tax, Maintenance, tyres, replacement vehicles, depreciation etc etc etc.....

I have been doing some research on websites that can help guide you through the maze and two of the best I have found are The AA and LEX. Both sites have calculators for:

Cash Alternative Budget Calculator
Private Fuel Benefit Calculator
C02 Ommission Tax Calculator
Private Fuel Scale Charges
Inland revenue Mileage Rates

Click here for more information from The AA

Click here for more information from LEX
(6)

Save more money everyday!

Here's a few more of your ideas to help save money every day

Don't use cash machines that charge you for your money. Buy some chewing gum and get cashback at your local shop. You will ave about £1.70 per transaction

Buy a CD (on ebay), copy it to your MP3 player and then resell the CD on Ebay. FREE MUSIC!!

Phone up your internet provider each year to get a better deal. Just aske them if you are still on the best deal available. More often than not they will reduce the price of your monthly subscription.

Rejig your mobile phone contract each year. Call them up and ask them what the best deal they can give you is? Then say - I have been a long term customer, you must be able to do better than that! See what happens. I managed to get the price from £35.00 to £12.00 per month with the same number of minutes and texts! The adviser had to go to speak to her boss twice before we agreed a deal. If you don't ask, you don't get!!!

Save Money with the IKEA FAMILY CARD

I'm just back from Ikea and came across the Ikea Family Card. I have spotted it in the past but never really looked into it in great detail.
However I had a good look tonight and it seems to be a good deal.
I spotted a suit case that was £49.00 to the general public and £34.00 for Ikea Family Members - so a decent deal.

Here's the highlights:

25% of all IKEA Family items and up to 25% of selected products across the store
You get a quarterly statement along with money off vouchers - the more you shop, the more vouchers you get!
Email Offers
Offers on certain foods in the cafe
Free tea and coffee through the week!!
Quarterly Magazine
Home furnishing advisers on hand to help

All in all, not sure how the vouchers accumulate - but if you're looking for a cup of tea when you're out and about - this card will give you a free one!!!

Happy shopping