Home Bargains is one of those places that is famous for selling everything you need - but can you get your grocery shop from there?
The popular discounted retailer stocks everything from homeware to kids toys, and has just recently began expanding its grocery section for shoppers to pick up their weekly shop.
Known for their top-branded products at low prices, it's the ideal place for people looking to cut back on their weekly spending amid the ongoing cost of living crisis.
While discounted supermarkets such as Aldi and Lidl are still a popular choice for low-priced groceries, I wondered if Home Bargains could offer me the same prices and variety of items.
Which is exactly why I decided to forego my weekly Sainsbury's shop in favour of heading to my local store to find out what sort of weekly groceries I could pick up.
Armed with a shopping list and reusable carrier bags, I headed to my local Home Bargains based at the Berryden Retail park in Aberdeen to find out.
I entered Home Bargains on a mission and as soon as I found the grocery aisles near the back of the store, I'll admit that I was surprised at the vast selection available.
The aisles were stocked with everything you would usually find in a large supermarket, such as chilled and frozen food, fresh fruit and vegetables and packaged goods.
However, while I can zip round my supermarket with ease, I did find that I struggled to find certain items which had been placed in random areas.
For example, I decided to start with the most basic items which were bread, milk and eggs.
Luckily, the bread and milk were easily located next to each other in the main section, but the eggs were significantly more difficult to find.
I was pleasantly surprised to find a rather large 750g loaf of one of my favourite bread types, Hovis Best of Both. At just 79p, it was considerably cheaper than the £1.10 it usually sells at in the bigger supermarkets.
The milk itself was located in the fridges straight across from the bakery section and, while there were not many choices left, I was surprised that I still managed to pick up a decent sized 1 litre semi-skimmed milk from Graham's.
The eggs, however, required a bit more assistance to find, as they were located in a small corner in between the frozen food sections. Despite the difficulty finding them, there was a vast selection, and I was impressed to find a pack of 6 medium free range eggs for just 85p.
Next up, I decided to find some cupboard staples and basic items: Pasta, pasta sauce, rice, curry sauce, cheese, soups and breakfast bars, which I found to have some of the biggest selections available.
I managed to snap up a decent deal on four tins of Heinz soup - two tomato and two chicken - for just £3, which tends to be a similar deal in most retailers and supermarkets.
As for the breakfast bars, Belvita was the only branded bars on offer, but I did find that there was a selection of different flavours and types that I could choose from. In the end, I picked up the Chocolate Chip Soft Bakes, which I find to be easy for busy mornings.
I will admit, the biggest surprise for me came with the difficulty at finding a good selection of pasta and pasta sauce, because it seemed that Home Bargains only had one type of pasta (penne) and very few sauces on sale.
In the end, I managed to pop in a packet of 500g penne into my basket, alongside a 450g jar of Homepride pasta bake sauce. While I am definitely not complaining, I am more used to the vast selection of pasta types and different sauces that you can find in supermarkets.
Luckily, moving on to the likes of the bigger food groups such as meat and fruit proved to have a much better selection on offer for me to choose from.
The fact that Home Bargains now has the likes of chicken breast and steaks on offer still absolutely baffles me, but I still decided to pick up 450 of chicken breast for £2.19. I was quite happy at that, because I could use that to go with fajita seasoning and the butter chicken sauce I popped in my basket earlier.
As for the fruit and veg itself, I was surprised to snap up decent fresh items such as bananas, grapes and peppers, which were all similar to the types you would pick up anywhere. The only downside was a personal nitpick, because I couldn't understand why all these items needed so much plastic packaging.
After looking at my basket, which was filled with a variety of decent food products at that moment, I decided the last thing on my list would be to get some fruit juice for my mornings.
Unfortunately, this was the only item that I could not find, as the fridge section was arguably the barest out of all the shelves available. I did notice that at the start of my shopping, where there was only one type of milk left.
Usually, I always pick up a carton of orange or apple juice to start the day, but alas there was no hope for me in-store, so I had to forego that one staple.
The overall verdict
All in all, I have to admit that heading to Home Bargains for my grocery shop turned out to be a more positive experience that I was initially expecting.
I had expected to make more sacrifices than I had to, especially on the meat and fresh fruit and vegetables sections, so I was pleasantly surprised to pick up what I managed to get.
The one thing that really took me by surprise was the lack pasta and sauce, but I still managed to pop some in my basket, so I would consider that a win at the end of the day.
I was also impressed with the value for money that I managed to get on certain items, particularly on the staples such as bread, milk and eggs. However, there were a couple of items that were dearer than my usual Sainsbury's shop, but overall it was cheaper.
Had there been a selection of orange or apple juice for the morning, I think this would have been a perfect weekly grocery shopping trip.
Looking at the prices, I did manage a total savings of £3.94.
Was the total savings massive? No, but I was more surprised by how much Home Bargains had on offer for your weekly grocery shopping at the end of the day.
Total Prices
Usual Sainsbury's shop
Items bought: Milk (£1.15), Bread (£1.10), eggs (£1.00), cheese (£1.90), bananas (78p), grapes (£1.50), peppers (£1.25), pasta sauce (£1.90), pasta (70p), soup (£2.50 for 4), chicken breast (2.75), rice (50p), chocolate bars (90p), breakfast bars (£1.50), fajita seasoning (£1.00), curry sauce (85p) and fruit juice (95p.)
Total: £22.23
Home Bargains shop
Items bought: Milk (79p), bread (79p), eggs (85p), bananas (79p), grapes (85p), peppers (99p), pasta sauce (£1.19), pasta (65p), soup (£3 for 4), chicken breast (£2.19), rice (49p), chocolate bars (£1.49), breakfast bars (£1.49), fajita seasoning (49p), curry sauce (750).
Items missing: Fruit juice.
Total: £18.29
Total savings: £3.94.
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