Cereal Wars: Asda Store Brand Vs Name Brand

Grocery shopping gets expensive.  If you're like me and trying to feed a family, then it can be worth it to try to save any money you can by buying the knock-off brands.  Sometimes the knock-off brands taste like cheap knock-off brands.  Sometimes they surprise me with their quality.

Asda (the UK extension of Wal-Mart) has a wide range of their own store brand cereals.  The packaging isn't always as fancy as the name brands, but I wondered how the product compared.  Asda has its own version of every major cereal (Cheerios, Rice Crispies, etc.).

I'm not going to say that every Asda cereal tastes as good as the real thing or that you won't be able to tell the difference.  However, at about half the price of name brand cereals, they actually hold up pretty well when you compare them.

To read my article  comparing Asda brand cereals and name brand cereals, click here.

PS-This is my 50th post!

Putting Dishwasher Tablets to the Test

I have a busy family with kids.  The last thing that I want to be spending a lot of time on is the dishes.  I love my dishwasher, but I've realized that which tablets we use can make a big difference on how well it works.  I've tried out a lot of different types of dishwasher tablets.  My resounding favorite is Fairy (especially their platinum tablets).  Dishes get cleaner; the dishwasher seems cleaner; my glasses get that commercial clean sparkle.  I've tried lots of tablets, but I always seem to come back to Fairy.

For my more in-depth comparison of Asda smart price dishwasher tablets, Finish quantum powerball dishwasher tablets, and Fairy Platinum tablets, click here.

Asda Brand Laundry Products

Like most people these days, I've thought about ways to save money on my weekly shopping and household costs.  Having a family we create a lot of laundry, and so use a lot of laundry products.  I usually buy the name-brand products.  In an effort to save some money, I decided to try out Asda brand laundry products and compare.

First off, the Asda brand products were cheaper when both the Asda items and name brand items were at their normal prices.  However, the name brand products like Persil and Comfort often go on offer so that the price difference is not as great.

I tried out the cheap Asda brand stain spray, non-bio laundry detergent, and fabric softener.

The stain spray smelled bad and didn't remove stains.  The loads without any stain spray at all were cleaned equally with the ones using stain spray, so that was a total waste of money.

The non-bio laundry detergent did not get our clothes as clean as the name brand alternatives.  Also, my daughter has eczema and her skin was irritated by the clothes washed with the Asda laundry powder.

The fabric softener didn't soften our clothes nearly as much as name brand softener.  This means that our clothes/towels/etc. were left rough to the touch which, again, irritated my daughter's skin (and didn't feel nice for any of us).

So here's my prognosis: Asda's brand laundry products are not worth the small amount of money I saved using them.  I'll stick to Persil and Comfort in the future.

To find out more about my experiences using Asda brand laundry products, click here.