Homeware & Kitchenware

The best place for ultra-cheap but high quality pots, pans and kitchen utensils is TK Maxx. You do need to hunt carefully for the genuinely high quality stuff, but some of the bargains are amazing. We bought a heavy French iron casserole there for £12 a couple of years ago that would have cost £70 + in a department store. They are also surprisingly good for some homeware items like cushions or duvet covers - again far, far cheaper than department store equivalents, but you may have to go back several times before you find something decent. Children's toys and books are also the same as you would get elsewhere but a lot cheaper. Even if you don't want to cover yourself in brand names it's worth the occasional look in TK Maxx just to remind yourself how crazy you'd have to be to buy that stuff at full price elsewhere.

Lidl also occasionally do some very good value, high quality kitchenware.

For crockery that will last, even though it might not sound that thrifty, there's a strong argument for John Lewis at sale time. They do make reductions of up to 50%

Unless you're buying stuff just for the sake of it, which is never going to be cheap at any price, it's very difficult to beat £1 for a price. Poundland has a website where everything for sale is priced at £1, as well as physical shops dotted around the country:

http://www.poundland.co.uk

As with low-cost supermarketsi, Poundland is welcoming hordes of new customers who previously would have turned up their noses at the idea of saving a bit of money:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/dec/06/poundland-recession-creditcrunch

Wilkinsons is extremely good value for things like gardening tools and camping equipment. We bought a double airbed there this summer for half the price of the equivalent item in Blacks or Millets. (Argos were out of stock at the time, which often seems to be the case.)

http://www.wilkinsonplus.com/

One day we may be lucky enough to have Hema in the UK:

http://producten.hema.nl/

It's like Woolworths was before it became rubbish. If nothing else the front page of their website is very entertaining.