Review: Coles Smart Buy Cat Food
Usually, Mr Underfoot gets chicken necks and chopped-up late-dated meat, with the occasional tin of whiskas for his dinner.
But today, he agreed that it’s about time he began to do his bit to save money in our household, especially since Friday’s surgery.
We began by taste-testing some cheaper tinned cat food.
Although I did have a sniff, I am merely translating Mr Underfoot’s review of the product in question. Seriously.
The product:
Cole’s “smart buy” brand cat food is 79c a tin, as opposed to $1.38 for whiskas (at least those were the prices here last week).
Well worth trying for the potential savings, since we go through up to five cans a week.
We tried… erm, he tried the “fish cocktail” flavour.
The smell:
Jane: I usually heave if I get a lung-full of cat food, but when I accidentally did with this one, it wasn’t so bad.
Mr Underfoot: For once, a cat food that actually smells like fish. I was almost tripping Jane over!
The look:
Jane: Good sized pieces of fish, not too runny, the jelly was kind of firm & orange coloured.
Not sure why it was orange, maybe to look like fish roe?
Mr Underfoot: Who looks?
The taste:
Jane: No comment.
Mr Underfoot: *slurp* good *gobble* taste *gulp*
The result:
From the way Mr Underfoot gobbled down his meal, I would say we have success.
That’s another $2.95 we’ll be saving each week from now on.
Next week, I’ll be looking at tinned diced tomatoes, and comparing the store brands of Coles, Woollies & Aldi.
Thirteen Groceries I Can Survive Without
As you should know if you’re a regular reader, we’re moving house today, so to keep you entertained, here’s my T13 for cutting the grocery bill.
I can cope without these things until Christmas, anyway…
1. Peanut M&Ms ~ $7.50
That’s right, I go through a 450g pack a week. So my hips will benefit as well as our hip pocket.
2. Brie / Camembert ~ $2
We don’t buy it weekly, but I averaged out the cost. Ditto with the hips, here also!
3. Fancy-shmancy jam ~ $2
Savings brand will do us just fiiine.
4. Crumpets ~ $1
Two years ago, they used to be $2 for a 6pk, and $1 on special. Now they’re $4 and $2 on special if you’re lucky. I really don’t enjoy them that much.
5. Biscuits ~ $3
We’ll make our own each weekends, and the kids will love the cooking with Mum & Dad.
6. Evening snacks ~ $6
By brushing my teeth with the kids and doing cross~stitch until my bedtime, I’ll be less inclined to snack with my evening cup of decaf. Busy hands leave less time to snack!
7. Dips & paté ~ $2
We don’t have it that often, but when we do it adds up.
8. Craft bits & pieces ~ $4
Each week when I do the groceries, I found myself sneaking a little crafty something into the trolley. I told myself that I deserved a treat and it wouldn’t make much difference to the total.
But I have a drawer full of unused craft stuff in my wardrobe, and there’s nothing in there that I need.
9. Potato crisps and corn chips ~ $4
10. Fortnightly online shopping ~ $7 +
Because I’ve been so ill I began doing our groceries with Coles online, but I’ve noticed that groceries are dearer online - on top of the $13.95 delivery fee.
A perfect example is the 36pk Bega sliced cheese we buy, which is $9.99 in our local store and almost $12 online. Not good.
11. Toilet cleaner with the fancy duck neck thing ~ $2
I’m going to go back to how I used to clean the toilet; with gloves, a brush and bicarb.
Uses more energy, but it cleans better and I’m also training the kids to wipe up spills.
12. Dishwashing liquid ~ $1
Wonderhubby bought a huge bulk container of a generic ‘Morning Fresh’-like brand from a place he used to work, and we refill the bottle on the bench as needed. So far, it’s lasted us 2 years and we should get another year. It works out as a saving of around $200 over 3 years.
13. Generally choosing generic over branded products ~ $15
We used to buy Kellog’s this, Mars that and Coca-Cola. Now we eat Aldi breakfast cereals drink their cola and WH munches on “You’ll Love Coles” brand ‘mars bars’.
Generic products are often made by the large brands on contract for the major supermarkets. One large manufacturer of bread that WH once worked for packaged their surplus product as a low-cost supermarket brand.
Keep trying generic products and you’ll be surprised at the number of products that taste just like the big brands you pay more for.
Total amount saved: $56.50 per week.
Check out more Thursday Thirteen posts today, and more money-saving grocery tips at GroceryMama ~ I am but a worshipful acolyte. 