A woman who went into Poundland with just £10 was left dumbfounded when she got to the checkout.
Tilly Alexander, who works as a reviews writer at our sister site MyLondon, set herself a challenge to deck out her kitchen with items from the store with the small amount of cash she had. While almost everything at Poundland used to cost £1, these days, there are items which will cost you sometimes six-times that amount.
Look hard enough, though, and you'll find some gems. Here's what Tilly said:
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Down I headed to Shepherd's Bush's resident Poundland, making a beeline for the aisle I'd formerly spotted my coveted goods in. Yes! The shelves were still decently full, with eye-catching '£1' stickers sprinkled healthily throughout.
The first few were no brainers. Flat non-stick oven tray for £1? Gladly. Roaster for £1? Yes, ideal. And ooh, this loaf tin was £1 too and guaranteed to come in handy for making easy baked goods or (maybe one day) actual bread.
Progress stuttered a little at this point. There was a handful of other items priced at £1 but I wasn't convinced I could argue their usefulness. Cupcake box. Bun tray. The former I barely contemplated, dismissing it quickly as an unwise purchase - how would I even make the cupcakes to go in it?
The latter, though... maybe. I traced the thin grey tray with my hands, picturing cinnamon buns popping up from its shallow indents and me, a flour-splattered baker in a striped apron. No. I pulled myself from my reverie with a firm reminder that I needed the basics.
And there were more basics, as long as you were willing to pay a little more than £1. £3 for a cake tin or a larger metal roaster. ('Perfect for a roast!' I squealed internally, throwing the latter into the basket).
£4 for a two litre glass roasting dish, or ceramic in two possible colour-ways (storm cloud grey or pine green). Beneath: a chunky cream Le Creuset style casserole pot, complete with a matching lid. £6!
Above: a sturdy, curved wok, also £6. In fact, £6 was the priciest this section got, as far as I could tell. Not bad, for sure, but I wasn't sure I wanted to spend 60 per cent of my allocated budget on either of these particular items.
My eyes flicked longingly to the empty space above the listing for 'Frying pan 2pck, £5'. Damn, that would've been perfect for my purposes. Oh well, I still had £4 to play with and some viable candidates. £2.50 for a skinny but solid pizza tray hole-punched with several concentric circles. £3.50 for a muffin pan not dissimilar to the bun version but deeper and somehow more appealing.
It seemed easier to imagine myself making muffins than buns but still, was this really an essential? But then, was a pizza tray? I remembered fondly my method of cooking pizza at uni, AKA simply shoving it onto the grill and hoping for the best, which had so far resulted in zero fires or dough casualties.
The decision was eased by doing of lap of the shop (as I found when looking for living room decorations previously, Poundland occasionally has a penchant for splitting up items across the store) and a further nosy of the wider kitchen aisle. Here I found another worthy candidate: a miniature version of that same ceramic oval dish, for £1.50.
After making a mental note to return for the chopping boards (£1.50 each), a sieve (£1) and an adorable but possibly useless mini lidded casserole dish (£2), I returned to grab the pizza dish, reminding myself that I was an adult who should use a tray.
Also, its uses could arguably extend to heating up quiches or flatbreads too. Either way, six items for £10. True, I hadn't managed to acquire any pots or pans. But I had almost entirely covered the oven department.
Items bought: Non-Stick Oven Tray (£1), Non-Stick Roasting Tin (£1), Loaf Tin (£1), Oval Ceramic Oven Dish (£1.50), Premium Non-Stick Pizza Tray (£2.50), Premium Non-Stick Large Roaster (£3)
Total: £10
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