'I bought the same ten items from Home Bargains and B&M to find which was cheaper'

They are the discount stores that have become synonymous for their bargains amongst shoppers - but which one of them offers the cheapest bargains?

Whether you are looking for home-decor items or household essentials, both Home Bargains and B&M have been delighting bargain hunters all across the country.

Not to mention they also both stock big name brands for much less as well, meaning shoppers can get their hands on premium priced products for cheaper.

Quite frankly, even I will admit that I am partial to a good trip out to either store, and regularly find myself walking out with much more than I anticipated.

But, with the cost of living rising and soaring prices forcing more and more families to seek out cheaper options, it can be worth knowing where you can pick up household essentials for less.

Which is exactly why I decided to find out once and for all which of the two bargain retailers would officially offer me cheaper prices for my shopping.

I headed to both of my local stores based in Falkirk, where I purchased ten of the same, or very similar, items from both retailers.

So, which was the cheapest out of the two stores?

What did I purchase?

I decided to head to both stores with a plan - to purchase 10 of the exact same household items that you would find on any shopping list.

My list included a variety of items that were in exactly the same sized packaging, just to keep things fair.

I did try my very best to find items that were own-branded, but I did find that I occasionally had to make a few switches, particularly with B&M who were offering more branded items than Home Bargains.

Here were the 10 items on my list:

• Tea bags
• Milk
• Bread
• Shampoo
• Deodorant
• Laundry scent boosters
• Instant Coffee
• Candle
• Fajita Kit
• Handwash

Tea bags

Home Bargains edged it with their prices for tea bags (Rachel Williams)

Ty.Phoo 100 tea bags

Home Bargains: 98p

B&M: £1

Starting out with the essentials for a cuppa, both stores were almost neck and neck, with Home Bargains just pipping B&M to the post.

At the end of the day, there was only a 2p saving to be made, and Home Bargains did have the tea bags on offer as part of their Star Buys that day.

Winner: Home Bargains

Milk

Milk was cheaper at Home Bargains (Rachel Williams)

Graham's 2l semi-skimmed

Home Bargains: £1.19

B&M:£1.29

Not another huge saving overall, but Home Bargains did manage to edge out B&M once again with their semi-skimmed milk coming in at 10p cheaper than B&M.

Winner: Home Bargains

Bread

Bread came in a bit cheaper at Home Bargains (Rachel Williams)

Roberts 800g and Warburtons Tiger loaf 800g

Home Bargains: 99p

B&M: £1

This was one of the areas that I had to make a substitute, as B&M only had Warburtons in-store, whereas Home Bargains did not. So, I managed to find two loaves of bread that equalled the same weight.

Again, Home Bargains came out on top, but with another small saving - this time at just a 1 penny difference.

Winner: Home Bargains

Shampoo

B&M took the crown for their shampoo (Rachel Williams)

Nature Box Volume Shampoo 385ml and Banana Shampoo 400ml

Home Bargains: £1.29

B&M: £1

This was another area where I had to find two items that were fairly similar and, aside from being slightly different, B&M managed to nab this one with a major saving of 29p.

It is the biggest saving of the bunch so far and their shampoo contains an extra 15ml!

Winner: B&M

Deodorant

It was a tie with both stores offering the same price for the same branded deodorant (Rachel Williams)

Soft and Gentle 200ml

Home Bargains: £1.29

B&M: £1.29

The fist tie of the list, as both Home Bargains and B&M came in at the same price for exactly the same item this time round. Occasionally, you will find that the stores do offer the same prices on the same products, such as this time.

Winner: Tie

Laundry scent boosters

B&M were offering Lenor scent boosters for £1 cheaper than Home Bargains (Rachel Williams)

Lenor Daffodil and Vanilla

Home Bargains: £3.99

B&M: £2.99

B&M managed to take the crown this time, as they were offering the new scent booster beads much cheaper than Home Bargains at £1 cheaper.

This fragrance is also brand new to stores, so it's quite the bargain for B&M shoppers.

Winner: B&M

Instant coffee

The instant coffee was the same in both stores (Rachel Williams)

Nescafe Gold Vanilla Latte 8pk

Home Bargains: £1.69

B&M: £1.69

No shopping list is complete without some coffee to help power you through the day, which is why its good news that both stores are offering the exact same pack at the same price.

Winner: Tie

Candle

The difference in the candle prices was just 1p (Rachel Williams)

Pomegranate 2 wick candle and Palette No Golden Vanilla

Home Bargains £2.99

B&M: £3

To be fair, I included a candle on the list because I rarely go to either store and don't walk out with a new candle.

Again, both retailers are neck and neck for this one, with Home Bargains just edging it with their 2 wick pomegranate candle at just 1 penny cheaper.

Fajita Kit

Home Bargains fajita kit only came in cheaper as B&M only had a select few packs in-store (Rachel Williams)

Santa Maria 473g and Ol Del Paso 750g

Home Bargains: £1.50

B&M: £3

Everyone loves fajitas, but this is where the two stores really differed, as Home Bargains came in at a full 50 per cent cheaper than B&M.

To be fair, B&M only had the Ol Del Paso kits available, and their pack did contain an extra 50 per cent for free. So, depending on your family size, either is a bargain.

Winner: Home Bargains

Handwash

Home Bargains won with their 89p handwash (Rachel Williams)

Pampered Handwash 500ml and Astonish 500ml

Home Bargains: 89p

B&M : £1

Home Bargains once again takes the crown with their own-branded Pampered handwash that is available in a variety of luxurious fragrances, including mango, passionfruit and orange.

To be fair to B&M, they once again were not offering a large selection of smaller brands in-store, which may have led to the 11p difference.

Winner: Home Bargains

Overall verdict

Home Bargains was the overall winner at just a 40p difference (Rachel Williams)

Home Bargains total: £16.80

B&M total: £17.26

At the end of the day, both retailers are offering really low prices for the same products, so you can't really go wrong either way.

Not to mention that both stores offer their own discounted products, with their weekly Star Buys and Special Buys that can be found in-stores at certain times.

But, one of them had to be the cheapest.

In this instance, Home Bargains managed to just edge the competition by coming in at an overall total that was just 40p cheaper than B&M's.

B&M did come in at the cheapest individual prices for the Lenor scent boosters and their shampoo products, as well as both stores taking a tie in some areas.

Despite Home Bargains winning my round, I do know that both retailers offer different prices on a vast variety of products, so any other shopper might find the results different depending on what they purchase.

Although there was a slight difference, I do still find that both stores offer great prices on similar products and I will continue to visit both in the future.

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