The Lemon Fool

I heard about an app called trolley.co.uk on the radio this morning, just downloaded it, looks really good, it compares supermarket prices on all sorts of things. I tested it out on a few higher priced items and the results were revealing. A 1L bottle of Jack Daniels ranges from £26 (Morrisons) to £33 (Asda, Sainsburys & Tesco). Smoked salmon from £1.38/100g to £4.75/100g. Pak choi (just cuz I happen to want some today) 0.22/100g (Aldi) to £2.33/100g (M&S). You've got to check you're comparing similar products but interesting, no?

Haven't used them but there are similar apps that compare petrol prices etc. Does anyone use any apps like this? Would you recommend any?

Fluke wrote:I heard about an app called trolley.co.uk on the radio this morning, just downloaded it, looks really good, it compares supermarket prices on all sorts of things. I tested it out on a few higher priced items and the results were revealing. A 1L bottle of Jack Daniels ranges from £26 (Morrisons) to £33 (Asda, Sainsburys & Tesco). Smoked salmon from £1.38/100g to £4.75/100g. Pak choi (just cuz I happen to want some today) 0.22/100g (Aldi) to £2.33/100g (M&S). You've got to check you're comparing similar products but interesting, no?

Haven't used them but there are similar apps that compare petrol prices etc. Does anyone use any apps like this? Would you recommend any?

You have already alluded to the point, but when comparing fresh produce prices it is important to take quality into account. A bottle of Jack Daniels is going to be the same I expect where ever you buy it, but smoked salmon for instance can vary in so many ways that any comparative price is unlikely to be of much value. I have always found M & S fruit and vegetables to be of much better quality than most of the supermarkets, albeit the prices are higher to reflect that.

Dod

II've used petrolprices for years, and I tend to use trolly when looking for something 'expensive' or looking for deals, mainly on alcohol

For some reason I seem to always check the price of Anchor Spreadable when we are running low, mainly as one of the supermarkets within our area has a deal on.

But what I have noticed is everywhere has different things on offer, so if I put my entire list in, then it usually makes little difference to the total as to which shop I use unless I go to several.

Paul

Fluke wrote:
Does anyone use any apps like this?

I'm a regular user of the Trolley website, rather than the app -

https://www.trolley.co.uk/

If I'm looking to stock up on relatively high-cost staples, such as coffee, washing powder, tea-bags etc., then I'll make sure that I check on the above site to see where the best value is locally, and I'm happy to travel out of my way a little if the savings are relatively high, which they can be on a fairly regular basis.

I have a couple of shelves in my garage to enable me to buy in multiples where there's good savings to be had and where there's good expiry dates, which accounts for most of the above types of items that I use the site for, and working that way I'm able to make some good long-term inroads into some cheaper weekly shops.

It's important to check that you're comparing like with like on these types of site, as already mentioned, and I find that focussing on the price per 100g / 100ml etc. is a simpler basis for comparison most of the time.

It's surprising how much can be saved over the long term with this type of process, so long as you can plan ahead a little and have a good feel for when you're likely to need to re-stock some of these higher-priced items...

Cheers,

Itsallaguess

I have a Wife v. 1.0

Fluke wrote:Haven't used them but there are similar apps that compare petrol prices etc. would you recommend any?

yes, here
https://www.petrolprices.com/
you have to sign in, but they don't spam you.

Tedx wrote:I have a Wife v. 1.0

Hmmm....many people find that to be a high maintenance app that needs a lot of resources and ultimately takes over or intrudes into or blocks many other apps. You could try an uninstall but that's usually a long and problematic procedure. Installing a Mistress v. 1.0 can provide some relief but in the end only adds to the total maintenance needed and you must install that on a different, well firewalled, device or there will be severe clashes.

OTOH, if you're prepared to go through the intermediate grief and hassles, and probably give up some resources, many find that upgrading to a newer, sleeker, faster Wife v. 2.0 to be the option with the best result. At least for a while....

mc2fool wrote:

Tedx wrote:I have a Wife v. 1.0

Hmmm....many people find that to be a high maintenance app that needs a lot of resources and ultimately takes over or intrudes into or blocks many other apps. You could try an uninstall but that's usually a long and problematic procedure. Installing a Mistress v. 1.0 can provide some relief but in the end only adds to the total maintenance needed and you must install that on a different, well firewalled, device or there will be severe clashes.

OTOH, if you're prepared to go through the intermediate grief and hassles, and probably give up some resources, many find that upgrading to a newer, sleeker, faster Wife v. 2.0 to be the option with the best result. At least for a while....

I've heard that uninstalling Wife v1.0 triggers some nasty ransomware and can reduce your bank balance by 50%?

Tedx wrote:

mc2fool wrote:Hmmm....many people find that to be a high maintenance app that needs a lot of resources and ultimately takes over or intrudes into or blocks many other apps. You could try an uninstall but that's usually a long and problematic procedure. Installing a Mistress v. 1.0 can provide some relief but in the end only adds to the total maintenance needed and you must install that on a different, well firewalled, device or there will be severe clashes.

OTOH, if you're prepared to go through the intermediate grief and hassles, and probably give up some resources, many find that upgrading to a newer, sleeker, faster Wife v. 2.0 to be the option with the best result. At least for a while....

I've heard that uninstalling Wife v1.0 triggers some nasty ransomware and can reduce your bank balance by 50%?

Shut up you two!

Back to the point, anyone know of an app that compares garden centre items, that would be useful.

https://uk.camelcamelcamel.com/ checks amazon but also the amazon marketplace. It often has Morrisons products as part of their range.

In supermarkets I too use trolley.co.uk to check for items I regularly buy that often have deep discount. The coffee that SO drinks ranges from £3 to £5 in both the stores I use Morrisons and Waitrose, it has a long shelf life so I buy in multiples, rarely pay full price and always have a few tins in store.

pje16 wrote:

Fluke wrote:Haven't used them but there are similar apps that compare petrol prices etc. would you recommend any?

yes, here
https://www.petrolprices.com/
you have to sign in, but they don't spam you.

Or you can download the Waze free sat nav app and instead of inserting a destination, select fuel and it will show locations of filling stations in your location and their current price. Generally in urban areas the info is bang up to date but because it's based on user input it may not be updated so often in rural locations.

Fluke wrote:Back to the point, anyone know of an app that compares garden centre items, that would be useful.

If you want the best price for any garden centre items then surely the first step is to not buy from a garden centre but have a look at Amazon or similar.

Garden centres are now restaurants / clothing / book / food stores for the elderly and 'ladies that lunch' to browse around and buy over priced stuff, and the over priced stuff includes the little gardening stuff they still sell amongst everything else.

And if you actually want to buy plants, then for 'cheap and cheerful' stuff then the supermarkets are best, and for anything else, then look for a plant grower or wholesaler in your area.

Bit late to the party, but there's quite a good Android app called Superizon, available from the app store.

Price spy

https://pricespy.co.uk/

There are several others similar that do price comparisons and you can set up lists.

Hotdeals is another you can browse and or set up notifications.