With the cost of food going through the roof, families are understandably looking for ways to cut back. But it's not just the food itself that's an issue, it's the rising cost of the fuel to cook it with.
And with us all facing another energy bill hike in October, customers are wanting to do all they can to keep those costs down.
Now, as the saying goes, sometimes you have to speculate to accumulate - whether that's forking out for a heated airer that will stop you needing your heating or tumble dryer, or a microwave that means you can ditch your oven, hob and toaster.
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Yes you heard that right - the Sharp Combination Microwave Oven lets you cook just about everything. If I'm honest, I struggled to believe it would perform the way its product description promised.
When you've only ever really used a microwave to warm some beans, or heat a ready meal, it seems rather odd for the booklet to come with a load of recipes in the back. It seemed even more bizarre that I could cook a joint of gammon - from frozen - in little over an hour, but I did exactly that and it tasted perfect.
The preset programmes on the straightforward touchscreen also means it works out the times of the defrosting and cooking for you, calculated by the weight, so there's no guess work involved.
By using the convection setting, it basically means you're using the microwave as a typical oven, so everything is cooked evenly. You just have to remind yourself that it is OK to use the metal trays - but more importantly to take them out when you're using the normal microwave function.
In fact there are two square trays to use that fit as shelves inside the microwave and your typical turntable on the bottom. I wasn't prepared for the pizza to cook as quickly as it did, hence it looking slightly burnt in the pictures.
I also used it to bake a cake. It was just a simple school cake, but again its speed was impressive. Especially the preheat function. I'm used to waiting an age for our electric oven to reach the right temperature. This took just four minutes to get to 180 degrees and the cake was perfectly cooked within half an hour.
For the grilling option there are racks to use and the turntable rotates them to ensure even browning.
While you can grill everything from bacon and gammon to teacakes, I've so far only used it for toast, but it did the job just as well as the toaster - and again quicker.
It's bigger than your average microwave and I had to make a bit more room than I'd planned for when it arrived and I realised just how much of the counter it needs, but it makes for an impressive oven space - 'a bit like the Tardis' is how one happy customer described it.
And when it's capable of so many different cooking methods, you could actually replace other items in your kitchen with this - saving space and money in the long run. Who needs an oven and a toaster when this thing does it all.
The Sharp R959SLMAA 40 Litre Combination Microwave Oven is available for £249 on the AO website, where almost 400 customers have given it five-star reviews and compliments ranging from 'king of combinations' to 'cracking bit of kit'. I couldn't agree more.
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