Episode 4 Shop Well for Less

'When it comes to shopping, us Brits can blow a fortune...'

That's what I want, a single solitaire.

'..but how can we control our spending?'

-30,000 or something like that.

-Oh...

'I'm business journalist Steph McGovern.'

-7,000.

-What?

-What?

'I want to help make our money go further.'

We are bringing down your spending.

'And I'm Alex Jones.'

Sale!

I know only too well the traps consumers fall into.

How many times have you used that, then?

I haven't.

'We're challenging families...'

No!

No.

'..to try money-saving alternatives.'

No!

'So we can all learn how to Shop Well For Less.'

Oooh.

We're talking hard cash.

-Really?

-That is amazing.

Our job here is done.

ALL: Aw...

STEPH LAUGHS

'This week, a family whose reduced income...'

How big is the impact, financially?

'..hasn't reduced their spending.'

-It is so pretty.

-Do you get out in it very often?

-Not really.

-'Can we get them buying budget...'

Who is it? I mean, what is it? Who is it?

'..and back in the black?'

-Do I really have to do this?

-Yes, you really have to do this.

Get in!

No, you have to stay close. Don't go too far ahead.

We're on the banks of the Thames,

with a Surrey family who want to learn to live within their means.

Could we have a crepe with Nutella, please?

Meet John and Flo.

He's a very practical, hands-on daddy.

-Is that nice?

-Flo is the best wife in the world.

Good girl.

-Loving mother to our three wonderful children.

-I am indeed.

High five!

Jacob is our eldest - he's six.

Tia is our middle child - she is five.

Ava is our youngest - she is four.

The kids keep us on our toes. It's good.

A year ago, part-time teacher Flo decided to take some time out

to look after the children...

-Wow. What's that?

-Scorpion.

No, it's a crab.

..but less income hasn't meant a change in lifestyle.

And I am quite a social bee.

I really like going out, I do.

You do just spend when...when you want.

It's just life. Life is expensive.

Living where we live is expensive.

Having three children is expensive.

Basically everything they see, they ask for it.

"Mummy, can I have that? Mummy, I have that?"

Mummy and Daddy buy us a new toy about once a week.

I have been expecting you.

To cover her spend, Flo relies on the plastic.

A credit card is there for you to use, and you rack up a bill.

She spends a lot of money on clothes.

I think I'm of the generation where if you want something, you get it,

and if you've got the money to pay for it, great -

if you haven't, put it on credit.

Look. It's so pretty.

This includes a high-street storecard

she's also using regularly.

You can order at home up until midnight, I think,

and it comes the next day.

We can get your Next account locked.

Well, no, we won't.

But Flo's not the only big spender in this house -

broadcast engineer John has some rather expensive hobbies.

It's a Nissan 350Z, three-and-a-half litre V6, rather fast.

The main garage is so full of petrolhead John's stuff,

he can't fit a car into it.

Why have you got five steering wheels?

They're off of old cars that I've had.

This is your thing, and lots of husbands are down the pub.

I know you're not having an affair -

-you're just playing with your tools.

-Yes.

I don't begrudge you your hobby.

Thank you.

But John's hoarding is also costing.

Can you get down to the back?

There's definitely things in here that I know I have,

but I can't find,

so I end up purchasing more of them.

You are a little bit of a shopaholic.

It's time for John and Flo to take control

and get their finances back on track.

Everything we bring in gets spent each month, doesn't it?

-Every penny.

-And more.

And more, yeah.

'We've got to shock the Bances into action if they're to get back in

'the black, so we're raiding their home

to fill our pop-up shop with their possessions

'and show them how much they've spent.'

It's very tidy, isn't it?

Someone likes their catalogue shopping.

Oh, yeah, we've got the classic folded pages.

There's been quite a bit of shopping going on here, like.

Two laptops.

-Oh, my goodness.

-Three laptops, four, five, six devices...

-Seven.

-They're everywhere.

You could do a lovely display.

So there are five of them in this family?

Five, but the children are obviously really small.

Yeah, they're all under six.

That sofa now, with those on, is probably worth about five grand.

There's clearly a tech and catalogue obsession.

'Next, it's the children's bedroom.'

Oh, bunk beds!

Aw, look at all the toys in here.

It's hard for parents though, isn't it?

Because they're under so much pressure to buy the latest toys,

the latest games, and, I mean, all the books.

And they're expensive, aren't they?

-Ah, the master bedroom.

-Mm-hmm.

-Look at all this.

-We knew it.

We saw the catalogues -

-now here's the evidence of the purchases.

-I know.

Oh, look.

-Oh, that's nice.

-Oh, yeah, that is nice.

Oh, boots, that's a fair whack of money there.

That's out of that one bag.

-Uh-oh.

-She hasn't even tried these on.

I wonder how long they've been sitting there.

-Ooh.

-What's that?

That is a Next bill.

Ow. Is she paying the minimum payments, as well?

Yeah, yeah, that isn't good, actually.

Shall we put those all back in now?

-Nah.

-Because they don't know we're here.

-See you.

-Aw, see...

Every time, isn't it?

Hurry up!

'But we're not just interested in what's inside the house.'

Classic garage door.

STEPH LAUGHS

That is a lot of stuff, isn't it?

I can see about ten bikes, at least.

Is that a motorbike, as well?

-What are these?

-That's what I mean.

Do you think they've got a bit of a thing about old bits of cars?

What's he doing with all of these?

And all the helmets - I mean, this is a man with hobbies.

Tools worth a fortune, bikes worth a fortune,

car parts worth a fortune...

This man is a shopaholic.

Come on, we'll take it all to the pop-up shop.

I'll let you do this, because I did the clothes upstairs.

You'll be all right, won't you? You'll be fine.

How many screwdrivers do you actually need, though,

do you reckon? Hang on!

Oh, hang on. Wait!

Al!

The Bances' finances have recently been under extra strain,

following Flo's decision to take a year out to care for

their daughter Ava.

Ava has Down's syndrome.

When she was born, it was a big shock.

Now it's the best thing - she's lovely.

# The wheels on the bus go round and round

# Round and round... #

She likes babies, and dollies, and picnics and that sort of stuff.

Definitely more of a girlie girl.

But, despite her reduced income,

neither Flo or John have altered their spending habits.

I, sort of, feel that life costs what it costs.

Some things you just have to buy -

that's just the sort of world that we live in.

And I don't like to deny myself.

If friends are going out for dinner, I'll go out for dinner -

even if I know I'm going over my overdraft, I will.

'And it's this attitude we need to change,

'so we are building a shop with their belongings to show them

'exactly where their cash has been going.'

'Time to surprise our unsuspecting shopaholics.'

Hello, world.

Do you want us to take that for you?

Hi!

-Hello!

-Hello, sir.

-Hello.

-Lovely to meet you, John. Hiya.

-How are you?

Are you surprised to see us?

-Very surprised, yeah, yeah.

-Yes.

We're going help you save some cash.

-Fantastic.

-Fantastic.

-He's going to like that!

Well, we've got something to show you that's just up the road,

-so, ready?

-Yeah, yeah.

-Fantastic, yeah, let's do it.

-Excellent. Wow.

-Let's do it.

So, we've got a shop here we'd like you to go in... OK.

..and see whether it's the type of shop you'd buy things in.

-Do you want to go in?

-OK.

-We'll let you go in first.

Oh, fantastic!

Wow.

All our stuff. It's brilliant, yeah.

-Well, it's not actually all your stuff...

-No, no.

..because we couldn't find a shop big enough.

Yeah, lots of tools, but a man needs lots of tools, apparently.

-He does, yes.

-Lots of books, but that's good.

Books are good. You can never say no to books.

I don't think there's too many toys.

Not for three children.

-Three children, so, yeah...

-Yeah, no...

They do play with all of their stuff.

I don't know if you play with all of your stuff.

Some of those dresses do still have tags on.

-Oh, yes.

-But, any day now, I'm going to lose weight and fit into them.

'Flo and John seem very relaxed about

'the amount of stuff they have.

'Will they feel the same once they know how much they're spending?'

Now, one of the first things we noticed when we went into your house

-were the catalogues.

-Yes.

-It's my little guilty pleasure, yeah.

-Yeah.

So, there's a fair whack of money on your storecards.

-Yeah.

-And what you like at paying that card off?

I'm very bad. I pay a little bit off, so, sort of, £100 each month,

but then I spend another 100,

so it tends to hover in the £800 zone.

'But it's not just the storecard that's mounting up.'

Do you know how much is on your credit card?

Erm... I think it's in the 5,000 range.

If you look at the interest that you're paying on your storecards,

and your credit cards, and your overdraft fees,

then it's actually costing you £1,400 a year.

-That's terrible.

-Does that surprise you, that figure?

Yeah. No, that is a total waste.

'By only paying the minimum balance each month,

'the accumulating interest means the items they buy

'are much more expensive.'

We worked out that, over the last 12 months,

for every pound you're spending, you're actually spending two.

OK, I didn't think it was that much.

-Yeah.

-No.

-Yeah.

So, those shoes that you paid 35 quid for,

-those lovely boots that you've bought in two colours...

-Yes.

..at £35 a pair, they're actually 70 quid a pair...

-Right, OK.

-..in the way that you're spending,

so you spent 140 quid on them.

Right. I imagined it wouldn't be that big of a percent, no.

You know, obviously you have to pay for credit, it's not free,

but I thought it was a reasonable way of shopping,

and everybody, sort of, shops on credit.

Yeah.

'John's not blameless, either -

'I mean, who needs nine big-brand laptops and tablets?'

When a new version comes out,

he gets the new version,

and the older version gets filtered down to me,

then to the children in a sort of pecking order.

Oh, we'll have to go and hang outside their house

-on one of those days.

-Yeah, we will. Get a free laptop!

Do you feel like it is excessive, looking at it?

Looking at it like this, yes, I'd say it is excessive. Yeah.

So, in total, we've worked out they're worth seven grand.

Wow!

-That's good to know.

-Yeah.

'And what about that car hobby?

'Will John's spending on this give them the shock they need?'

Where's the car?

I rent another garage where I keep my other car.

You've got two garages?

Yes.

-Oh.

-So the other garage has got a car in it

and this garage is for...?

-Family stuff.

-Family stuff.

-Family stuff?

-Well, it's got the kids' bikes in it.

OK.

'Over the years, John's hobby, including the cost of the cars,

'insurance, garaging and additional parts has cost close to 20 grand.'

That is a fair chunk of money.

It's a fair chunk of money.

'Finally, it's the kids' toys and books.'

What's it like for you when it comes to getting the kids toys,

and books and things? Are they quite demanding?

Have you got a system of how you get them,

or is it just, when you're out and about, you'll pick things up?

We do fall into that trap that, if we are out and about, we do get them

something to keep them happy or, you know, keep them quiet,

so we do do that.

I tend to try and stick to the supermarkets or the cheaper shops,

pound shops and things.

-Birthdays we do do the big, extravagant...

-Yeah.

You know, like the ships and the planes and the remote controls.

We've worked out that you spend around £1,000 a year on toys...

-OK.

-Yeah.

-..and about £400 on books.

-OK.

-So...

'But I bet there are still some options out there which can save

'John and Flo money, without making the kids feel like

'they're missing out.'

Looking at the areas we've taken you through today,

what do you think that amounts to?

-I think about 30,000 or something like that, yeah.

-Yeah.

Ah...

Oh...

You might want to raise that a little bit.

-52,000.

-Wow. Wow.

'Wow indeed - perhaps those numbers have finally hit home.'

It was slightly shocking to come in and find all our stuff laid out.

It's not until you look at it,

and see at all like that, that you think,

"Wow, you know, we've spent a lot of money over the years."

-And it all adds up.

-Yeah.

It's going to be exciting to see what...

-Where we can make changes, yeah.

-Yeah.

Well, we're up for the challenge. We're going to do it.

'We have got to come up with a plan.'

-I think they were stunned to silence because, you know...

-Maybe.

..realising how much they've been spending on storecards

and credit cards,

they've had their heads buried in the sand, haven't they?

And one of the areas they're spending quite a lot on,

naturally, though, because they have got three children,

are toys and books,

but I think we could reduce spending in that area

-by quite a lot, couldn't we?

-Yeah.

But I think we just need to get them in order, don't we?

-Mm-hmm, yeah.

-Right, come on, it's freezing.

The sooner they start reining it in, the better,

so we've de-branded their home,

replacing many of their favourite products with cheaper alternatives -

although some haven't been swapped.

Will the family recognise which items have been switched

and which haven't?

It begins.

-I'm not happy about that.

-SHE LAUGHS

Who is it? I mean, what is it? Who is it?

Well, it's a vacuum, Flo - just not your usual £300 one.

I don't like it. I'm... I'm quite upset.

A Dyson is like a Porsche, and you've given me a Skoda.

That's just the start of it, Flo.

Oh, no, value toilet paper.

Yeah, it does look thin.

The feel of toilet paper is not a big deal -

it's how long it lasts, cos our kids like to use huge amounts.

But swapping big brand for own brand means you'll be saving

with every wipe.

-Oh, they're horrid.

-SHE SNIFFS

Have a smell of that.

Will Ava's new, unbranded night-time nappies be a better fit?

The absorbency is fine -

it's just the stretchiness and how easy they are to pull up and down.

-But, you know, it's all doable.

-Mm-hmm.

If we want to save money -

we have to buy cheap, or cheaper, or different -

then we can do it.

There's so many things. Where do we start?

There is, however, a surprise waiting for them in their bedroom.

-I love this.

-Oh, my...

-I love it.

-It's brilliant.

-Yeah, it definitely should stay there.

-How do you get into it?

-You don't.

-You don't?

-No.

The cards are not the only thing now off-limits.

Receiving loud and clear, "Step away from the Next catalogue."

-Yes.

-OK.

-On it.

-And don't use your credit card.

Guilty as charged.

Well, this criminal spender is now on parole,

but what will the children make of all these changes?

What have they done to your room?

I don't have... Why do I have a new cover?

Oh, a new cover.

Yeah.

Tia still has a favourite film character duvet cover,

but it's £17 cheaper than her usual one.

Well, brush brush.

-What flavour is it?

-Bubble gum.

Is it bubble gum? All clean?

-Night-night.

-Night-night?

In a little while - you need pyjamas.

With the children in bed,

John has one other swap to get his head around.

All my old laptops.

What can this mean?

I think they're going to try and de-Mac you.

No...

Your challenge, should you choose to accept it...

"Dear John, we're curious if any of your retired laptops

"have a value, and we would like you to investigate.

"We've e-mailed you an info pack to get you started.

-"Good luck, Alex and Steph."

-Ooh.

John and Flo had better get a good night's sleep.

It's day one of the swaps,

and John's cracking on with his laptop challenge -

to downsize the family's nine computers,

starting with a website for an instant online quote.

The offer is a bit low, I feel.

Macs tend to sell for £300-£400 second-hand,

so I'm sure I could do better.

In true Shop Well For Less spirit,

John's next stop is a high-street store that we think could give him

a better quote.

-The MacBook Air, this one here...

-OK.

..is worth £287 cash.

-Oh, right. Great.

-Yeah.

-It's looking good.

So, altogether you're looking at £629 cash.

Thank you very much. That's food for thought.

£600 for four old laptops is a great start.

And, at home, it's also good news on the nappy front.

Ava's pull-up hasn't leaked, so that's very good.

Flo usually uses the brand-leader pull-up nappies,

but this week they've got a cheaper supermarket own brand.

They fit brilliantly. They were stretchy.

They held all night long.

I can swap those - they're great.

And so is the saving, because that nappy change would save Flo

over £200 a year.

And how have they found the budget toilet paper,

at £1.37 cheaper per pack?

It's horrid. It's awful. It's...

It's grey, it's thin,

and when you unroll it, the ply didn't stay together.

It all comes undone.

Yeah, no. I mean, you have to have small pleasures in life.

It's horrid - horrid, horrid, horrid.

'But some of Flo's small pleasures are pushing this family further

'into debt, something I'm keen to learn more about.'

This year has been your most challenging year financially.

Why is that, then?

I decided to take a year off from work to focus on my youngest, Ava.

-Is that a cup of tea?

-Tea. I've got tea...

-Cup of tea.

The year before, when I was working, she had a lot of appointments,

-she had a lot of different therapies...

-Yeah.

..and I felt I was really juggling everything

and not doing anything very well.

How big is the impact that that's had financially?

I think that to kind of make up for that time away from

the other two, we've bought them things to kind of show them that

we are thinking about them and caring for them.

If I was out, and I needed to get petrol in the car,

and I didn't have money in my account,

I'd just put on the credit card.

-Right.

-If we were going to a birthday party,

I need to buy presents and I don't have any money,

I'd put it on the credit card.

I went over my overdraft limit every month, basically,

and I was just getting charges,

and I'm a real kind of "bury my head in the sand" kind of girl,

so I just thought, "It's only for a year,

"I'll worry about once I go back to work."

And did you and John

have honest, open, frank conversations about this?

I admitted to him how much I owed,

and I wasn't able to cover the payments,

so he took over the payments.

And how much was it, at that point?

It was probably over £5,000 at that point.

Going forward,

do you think that you'll be able to spend in a very different way?

I've got to sort out this credit-card debt,

and I have to change my ways. I do.

You can do it, Flo.

-I can, I can!

-You can do it, but remember, you know,

lots of people do take career breaks,

-and you did what was best for your family...

-Yeah.

-..which is admirable.

-Yeah.

Changing their ways is what they must do,

starting with not buying items they've already got,

so it's time for John to discover exactly what's in

that overstuffed garage.

We've even got him a willing assistant from

a local handyman company to help with the clear-out.

As you can see, it's bit of a mess at the moment,

so I'd like to get a lot of the stuff out, organise it...

It's hard to know where to start, isn't it?

Hopefully we can show John that a couple of hours

cleaning out his man cave...

Might need more than three hours to do this garage.

..will be worth it.

Slowly, slowly.

Good girl.

While John's organising his garage,

we've sent Flo and the children to one place many book-readers have

simply forgotten about - the local library.

Little Bo Peep has lost her...?

-Her sheep.

-Good.

John and Flo spend nearly £400 a year on new books,

but using the library is free, plus there's other priceless benefits.

It's sort of like a family outing, as well as getting books.

You know, it's just been a lovely experience this morning.

So, another successful swap.

Look how many books in there!

COCKEREL CROWS

Like the Bances, many families enjoy quality time together,

so we're putting the ultimate family make-or-break tool to the test.

We've got five different four-person tents.

Pitching up on the field today are keen campers, Team A...

I like to have a lot of room.

Will our cheapest mid-range tent be adequate?

Multi-generational Team B...

We look for a tent that's easy to put up, and something that's

going to keep us dry when we get the lovely British weather.

An easy, mid-range, pop-up tent for them.

Luxury lovers, Team C...

We like windows - plastic windows.

Well, this inflatable, top-of-the-range tent

ticks that box.

Next, it's confident Team D...

Yeah, I think we'll find it quite easy to put up a tent.

But will their expensive teepee-style tent be their undoing?

And finally, big spenders Team E...

I believe that you need to pay for the quality.

So we've given them the cheapest tent of all.

Our teams will judge their tents on ease and speed of construction,

comfort, and whether they can weather the weather.

-CHEERING

-And they're off!

It looks like we've got the biggest one out of the lot.

There's 13 instructions on how to put the poles up -

just the poles alone.

Nathan, sort out the poles.

Come on, then. Bring it all out.

It's big!

Where's the pegs?

Oh... The instructions are not very good.

No, no, no, Josh.

Are you sure this isn't too long?

Maybe we should actually be roping it down...

It feels quite flimsy.

Oh... Pick it up.

-Where's all the poles?

-That's good, that is(!)

Oh, gosh. The instructions are not very good.

It doesn't really give you any idea.

-Put it up.

-Oh, you've got to put it up.

-Oh...

-Quickest tent I think I've ever had to put up.

Our tent is up.

9 minutes and 47 seconds to put this up.

Cracking.

Not bad for the most expensive tent,

but the mid-range pop-up was quicker.

It's 4 minutes and 12.

13 minutes, 54 seconds.

It's 11 minutes and 10.

Is that quite quick? No, not really.

The inflatable tunnel tent puffed in last on speed.

OK, what time have we got now, then?

17.12...

-17.12.

-Not bad.

-Not bad.

But how do our tents fare with comfort and weatherproofing?

Absolutely tons of room.

I can't even touch the top and I'm over six foot tall.

It just hasn't gone up well.

There's water coming through up here somewhere.

Four people would have to be very familiar.

SHE CHUCKLES

All in all, I think it's nice.

Each team has scored the tents on style,

how easy it was to put up,

space and waterproofing.

All right, the winner is...

SoulPad.

-CHEERING

-Yeah! That's ours!

It's got the luxury, and it's got enough space,

and it would be an enjoyable holiday.

Very, very good quality on it,

and quite a nice price, too, for 520.

Our winner is the

most expensive tent,

and then they follow in price order.

So, when it comes to tents,

our campers think maybe it is worth

paying a little bit more

for your canopy.

'Back in Surrey, John's sorted out all of the tools and car parts

'that he's been collecting over the years in his main garage.

'I'm hoping this clear-out will now help him focus on the costs involved

'with keeping his expensive sports car in his rented second garage.'

-Right, let's get this opened, then.

-OK.

Ah! Look at that little beauty. Nice.

Do you get out in it very often?

Not really. Not any more.

-Why is that, then?

-It's only got two seats.

-You can't really take three kids out in it.

-Yeah.

-It's not the car for kids, is it?

-Not really, no.

But do you work on it very often?

Do you come and spend a bit of time with it?

I do like to do bits on it,

but it's becoming increasingly hard to do that.

I might take it out once a week, drive it to work or something.

It's expensive to have, though,

if you're only using it fairly infrequently.

-Yes, it is a bit of an expensive luxury.

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

'The rented garage is costing John £1,300 a year,

'plus there's the car's hefty insurance,

'but I have a few cash-saving options for him.'

So, you're spending £500 a year on insurance.

Well, actually, we've found a deal where you would be paying

-£220 a year, saving you 280 quid.

-Fantastic.

-That's a lot of money, isn't it?

-Yeah, that's a lot, yeah.

Again, that's for the same conditions you've got,

so it would still involve renting the garage.

So, I've got another idea to put to you.

-OK.

-Get rid of the garage...

-Yeah?

-..and we've found an insurance deal where you could park it on

the road and you would pay £460 a year, so you'd save 40 quid,

but, better than that, you'd save £1,300 from not having to

-rent the garage any more.

-Great deal.

Can we ditch this garage?

-Yeah. Yes.

-Brilliant.

Come on, you.

Another positive result.

Meanwhile, getting to grips with more swaps...

Let's give it a go.

..Flo is coping with the loss of one of her luxuries,

as we've switched a £300 top-brand vacuum for a budget version.

-VACUUM HUMS

-You can hear the dirt going in.

When I use my Dyson, it tends to suck this rug up.

So I'm wondering if it's not as powerful, but, you know...

it's definitely doing the job.

There's good manoeuvrability. It's easy, yeah.

It's... It's better than I expected.

And so is the price - at £50, investing in this budget machine

next time would save Flo £250.

Oh, vacuum heaven!

'With that in mind, Alex and I want to put Flo's big-brand loyalty

'to the test on a selection of hand-held vacuums.'

We imagine, with three children, that you've got a lot of use for

one of these hand-held vacuums.

Yeah, they're brilliant, actually.

-Yeah? Do you have one?

-Yeah, I do. I do.

-Yeah? Is it a pricey one?

-It is. Yes, it is.

-Hmm... You like your brands, you, don't you?

-I do, I do.

Well, you're going to try and see if we can change your mind, though,

to see whether, actually, the price, the brand,

matters when it comes to using one of these.

-OK.

-Yeah.

We're testing four different hand-held vacuums.

First up is the cheapest model in the test,

then a branded mid-range model,

followed by another, which is slightly cheaper,

and, finally, it's the most expensive.

And to test them...we are going to vacuum up some cereal.

Steph and I have gone to great lengths to make sure

-it's embedded in the carpet.

-OK.

OK, grab your weapon.

-Ready.

-And off we go.

-VACUUM HUMS

-Oh, nice.

-Ah...

Looks good.

Oh, look at that. It's like a runway.

Right, that's good. Now, then, we're going to do the whole lot now.

-OK.

-Give it a bit of, you know...

-Bit of welly.

-Bit of welly.

All right.

'Sucking up first, our cheapest own-brand.'

And there. That sounds pretty good.

-Yeah.

-It's all right. Yeah.

-Are you happy with that?

-Yeah, I'd say that's great, yeah.

It feels good. I did had to put a bit of elbow grease in it.

-Yeah.

-I think it's hard to tell until you've seen the others, so...

-OK, let's go for the red one.

-OK.

-VACUUM HUMS

-Yes, yes, yes!

-Oh!

Round of applause.

That is powerful.

Oh...

-That...

-That was good.

-It was taking it in from the sides...

-Yeah?

It wasn't just doing... Yeah.

-That was nearly hypnotic, wasn't it?

-I'm getting excited.

So, preference so far?

Well, that was impressive, the way it kind of

-sucked in from the sides - that was good.

-Yeah, agreed.

Flo's frontrunner is a mid-range brand,

but so is its next competitor.

VACUUM HUMS

I think that is, by far...

-winner, winner, chicken dinner.

-Yeah.

-Winner, winner, chicken dinner.

-So, so far, Flo...

-Yeah, that one.

-Five-star standout.

Yeah.

Reserve judgment until you have seen all four.

-OK.

-So, we'll move on to the last one.

'It's £100, but it does have a power boost setting.'

-That's good, as well.

-Oh! VACUUM HUMS

-Oh.

-It's the back, Flo.

It had two speeds there, didn't it?

-It did.

-I mean, it keeps you on your toes, this one, doesn't it?

-Yeah!

-Because...when you think that the cereal's here,

it suddenly moves over here.

Yeah, it's because of where the exhaust is, isn't it?

So, whereas they're all on the side, this is on the bottom,

so, as soon as you are doing anything above,

it blows it off that way.

-Yeah.

-So, if you were going to buy one of these,

-not knowing the price at this point...

-Yeah?

-..is this the one you'd buy?

-I'd go for this one.

So, your favourite is...

-made by Vax...

-OK.

..and that would cost you 49.99.

Oh, that's really good.

'Flo's favourite was the cheaper of our mid-range models,

'but, in fourth place, at double the price, our market leader.'

That one would set you back 100 quid.

That is really expensive, isn't it?

-That's a big difference, isn't it? Yeah.

-Yeah.

'So, before splashing the cash, check out your options first.'

-There we go, then.

-Lovely.

Time for a cup of tea.

Everyone in the Bance family is getting involved with the swaps,

including Jacob.

"Dear Jacob, we know it's your birthday soon,

"so we wanted to send you an early birthday gift..."

Jacob loves Lego,

but a new set every six weeks costs John and Flo £30 each time...

-So, you pass me the bits and I'll build.

-OK.

..so we've given Jacob membership to a toy-rental service

for £8.49 a month.

Once you've finished with it, you put it all back in the box,

then you send it back and they will send you another one of your choice.

You look at it online.

-Ohhh...

-So you don't get to keep it, but each week, or each month,

you get to make another one.

-Does that sound good?

-Yeah.

'Across the year, the family could save over £190.

'And he gets to build something new every month.'

Oh, look. Black Panther pursuit plane.

Yeah. But that top one I was looking at, that's definitely

-going to be the next one.

-Oh, the jet plane?

-Yeah.

-OK.

Downstairs, we've swapped Flo's big brand cleaning products

for supermarket own ones,

hoping she'd be as pleased with the results.

Smells nice. This shape of mop is what I like.

It actually feels good, yeah.

I'm very impressed. I think this is a good quality product.

It is, just not branded.

Simply swapping all her cleaning products would save Flo £17 a month.

Yeah, that smells quite nice.

Cleaning kitchens is big business, and we Brits spend

almost £100 million on surface cleaners alone every year.

Some of the most expensive are eco-friendly.

So I've travelled to Malle in Belgium,

the home of the world's first green factory,

to find out if it's worth spending more to clean green.

Now, many of us at some point will have probably worried about the

chemicals in our cleaning products,

but what actually is in them and do we need to worry about them?

And should we be thinking about buying more sustainable products?

Let's go and find out.

I'm meeting the company's Queen of Clean, Clare Burke.

So, Clare, I've been to many a factory in my time.

What does sustainable actually mean?

So, sustainable is all about the ingredients and the packaging,

essentially, that we use and how it is produced.

So if you look at what's around us...

You look at the wood that we've used in the factory -

it's all been used from local forests.

We also make sure that we recycle everything in the factory, as well.

Many regular cleaning products contain chemicals made from

petroleum and strong antibacterial substances, like bleach.

So what's so special about the products that are in this,

compared to other cleaning stuff?

All of our products

are actually made from natural plant-based materials,

so our ingredients actually all come from nature and

are inspired by nature.

But nature doesn't come cheap.

The raw products are more costly than petrochemicals,

and, as the eco-friendly market is relatively new,

a lot of expensive research has been done to develop the products.

It does smell gorgeous, but whenever I think of cleaning products,

I think of chemicals and bleach and it's not clean unless it smells

-like that, is it?

-You don't actually have to sterilise your home and make

it smell like bleach for it to actually be clean.

Our products remove all the dirt and anything that you'd want to be gone

from your surfaces.

'But our kitchens can get very dirty,

'and the lowly kitchen sink can contain 100,000 times more germs than the bathroom.'

But your stuff isn't antibacterial, is it?

And that would worry me, because I'd be thinking,

"You're not getting rid of the bacteria, so how is it cleaning it properly?"

Not all bacteria is bad bacteria and actually we believe you don't have

to over sterilise to actually kill to clean everything.

I think we should put it to the test, then. Shall we go to the lab?

Lead formulator Peter from the factory's in-house lab

is going to do just that.

-Hi, Peter.

-Hello, Steph.

-So, Peter, this is clearly where you test everything.

-Mm-hm.

And I've seen earlier with Claire the ingredients that goes into your

stuff, but what goes into other cleaning products?

Why are they so different?

The other products usually use petrochemicals,

which are basically made out of crude oil.

But how do they compare when you put them to the test with cleaning?

-Can we have a look?

-Yes, OK.

So first we need to get dirty.

'Three plastic strips are stained with an oily solution.

'That's then dried to make it as hard as possible to get off.'

So we've got your product here...

-Yes.

-Brand X, which is a leading competitor that we know has petrochemicals in.

-And water.

-Yes.

And you can choose which one...

Oh, I can choose.

Right, well of course, I'm going to make your product do the one that's

the muckiest.

'Once added to the sponges, it's time to get scrubbing.'

And then we let machine do its work.

None of the cleaning solutions will remove the oily stains completely,

but I'm expecting a difference between them.

And you can see that the water's not up to much,

but it's got a little bit off.

-It's got a little bit off, yeah, of course.

-But the other two seem to have got more.

But you haven't beaten the competitor there, have you?

No. But that's not our goal.

We just want to...

show that green also can clean as good as the conventional brands.

When you're comparing what these different types of products do,

the ones with the chemicals in

versus those which are more sustainable and

have less of an impact on the environment,

there isn't much difference in terms of their cleaning quality.

The difference is about the price.

And you've got to ask yourself...

is helping the environment something I can afford?

But if it's all about price for you

then it might not be something you want to pay for.

-In Surrey...

-Yay!

We're trying to teach the family to

decide what's worth paying more for and what's not.

They spend over £1,000 a year

on games, toys and books for the children.

Bought a lot more toys for Ava

when she was younger to help her development, you know?

Sort of different toys than we bought the others, so, yeah, we did

spend a lot of money on Ava's toys. About, yeah, £20-£30 per toy.

So, to reduce that amount,

we've sent Flo and Ava to this local church

where each week a toy exchange takes place.

We could borrow the horsey.

Shall we take the horsey home?

Does it make a noise?

'For just £10 a year, Ava can choose four toys to take home,

'play with them to her heart's content

'and then return them to exchange for four more.'

This is a great toy library - it's a great idea.

I've been to lots of stay and plays.

You know, so you go and use other toys - that's great -

but I've never been able to take them away.

And it's a really great idea, yeah.

'If Flo swapped half of Ava's new toys with the toy exchange ones,

'she'd save around £150 a year.'

-Lovely.

-There you go.

-Thank you very much.

Flo and John, like many parents,

feel the pressure to regularly buy things for their children.

Professor Avi Shankar wants to tell us more.

So how old do you think children are

when they become influenced by advertising?

They've got to be young, because advertisers are clever,

-aren't they?

-The evidence suggests that from about three, four, five,

kids can start recognising the difference between the TV programme,

the advert, they can start recognising a brand.

We've got to remember that children aren't born consumers,

they learn to be consumers.

There are various tricks that marketers are doing to attract

children to their products. Animals are often very commonly used.

The other thing that's interesting is the use of colours,

the use of very simple images.

So this rabbit is a very simplified rabbit.

So, have a go at naming them.

-Do you know what they are?

-I think Xbox is the top one.

Yeah. Nesquik.

-Yeah.

-I don't know what that one is.

I think that is some sort of...

Is it something to do with music?

That is the Pokemon brand.

BOTH: Oh!

-OK?

-OK. That's Nickelodeon, isn't it, the channel?

-Yeah.

-That's...

-Any ideas?

Is that like a Minecraft one, or something like that?

-And then Duplo the rabbit.

-The building blocks, yeah.

Well, all I can say is

you're pretty in touch with the child within you both,

-cos you did pretty well.

-We're very childish, Avi.

And I suspect if we showed these to a group of young kids,

they'd be able to get every single one of these.

-Yeah.

-When they get a bit older,

they can start recognising certain relationships,

like, for example, the relationship between price and quality.

They also start getting influenced by other people,

so they start saying, "I want this, because my mate's got it."

'To illustrate his point, Avi gives us both our very own school PE kit.'

-I like your bag. It's got more of a leathery feel.

-Off, off.

-Mine's pleather.

-Oh, mine's got a big brand on.

Oh, maybe I like mine more now.

Oh, they're nice, aren't they?

I'm that kid in the playground

who's got everything with labels on, aren't I?

I'm the one who forgot their sports kit

and has had to borrow from the school.

So, clearly, Steph's got the branded kit

and I've got the non-branded kit.

But if you pick the stuff up and have a look at it,

can you tell any difference between the quality?

I know, but that's the thing - there isn't much difference, is there?

It's just about the ticks, the dots, the little stripes, the logos,

-which is sad, isn't it?

-Yeah.

-That that's what it comes down to.

It is. And, as an adult, you can see their functionality is the same,

but, as a child, it's very hard when the 'in' thing

is to have the tick on your T-shirt.

So one of the things we can do is to try and point out to them

that they shouldn't make friends with people just because

they've got this brand or that brand and there's more important things.

-So, when they're at school, they're not feeling that pressure from other kids?

-Absolutely.

They're thinking about other things that they should be valued for.

-Yeah.

-And if all else fails...

home-school them. So they don't see any of it!

'This is good advice for us all.

'Don't bow to the big brand peer pressure

'and check out cheaper alternatives.

'And, in Surrey, the brand-loving Bances are doing just that.'

There are certain brand products I do like. So, I've got dry skin...

Dove products are lovely, so I do like that.

'But we've swapped all her branded

'toiletries with products that cost less, including her favourite soap.'

The soap I used today in the shower, I really didn't like it.

I did feel I was being punished.

I felt it was like the war, you know. Ration.

'But, Flo, you get four bars of this soap

'for the price of your usual one.

'So are our budget face wipes at 50p a pack also facing defeat?'

They're really nice, yeah.

They got off all the dirt and make up

and they felt nice on my face.

'It's a pretty good £2.49 saving, too.

'And this body lotion at 99p is a quarter of the price of her usual top-end cream.'

It's a really nice lotion, so I would definitely be happy to swap to this one.

'Outside, John's hoping his driveway will scrub up a treat.'

-Ta-da!

-Right.

'More proud homeowners than ever are ditching soggy sponges for these

'heavy-duty cleaners. And I've brought five along with me for John to test.

'The first one is the most expensive at almost £140.

'Our next pressure washer is under half the price,

'followed by not one, but two mid-range models.

'And finally, the cheapest, at just under £40.'

What I've done - brought five patio slabs, covered in autumnal muck.

-Yeah.

-And we're just going to put them to the test.

-All right, fantastic.

-OK, shall we start with this one?

-Yeah.

-Oh!

I didn't expect that.

First up, our most expensive model with its different jet settings.

Well, I mean, it's magic, isn't it?

Yeah, look, it looks lovely and clean now.

That is quite impressive, isn't it?

-Yes, yeah.

-Let's give the second one a go, then.

Oh...

At just under half the price, our next washer has the same pressure,

but will it be as good?

That looks like a bit of an effort.

Yes, it's certainly more of an effort than the first one.

Eh...

-Yeah.

-I couldn't be doing with it. I mean, imagine doing a whole patio.

Yes! Next up, with higher pressure, our first mid-range washer.

Love the colour of this one.

Yes, yes. Nice and bright.

Do we think that stripe is as clean as the first one?

No. No.

I don't think so. Unsure at the moment. Definitely between one and three.

OK, let's move on to this lovely green one.

Have a go. Oh...

And with the same pressure, another mid-range machine,

compact and slightly cheaper.

Now that is a good stripe.

-Yes.

-How do we feel about this green one, compared to the others?

Oh, it could be in the lead now.

Finally, it's our cheapest and smallest model.

That to me, it's like a toy one, isn't it?

-Yeah, it looks a little bit feeble compared...

-A little bit feeble.

But you never know. Size isn't everything.

-No, no.

-That's what they say, isn't it? Let's have a look.

It might be a £40 bargain,

but does our cheapest model sacrifice power for price,

with only 60 bars of pressure?

Well, I mean, do good things come in small packages?

It did work all right. But it was a little bit more effort than the

others. I would say it's your budget option.

After a quick spray,

John's second favourite was the most expensive model.

But which washer really raised his pressure?

Most favourite would be the green one.

Good price, good size, worked very well.

This gadget man's favourite is a mid-range washer.

So for John, price doesn't always reflect performance.

-It's just win-win, John.

-It is, yes.

-Win-win.

What isn't a win-win, however,

is the five grand of debt on Flo's store and credit cards,

which we've locked away in the bedroom.

Cleverly managing this debt could get them out of the red much quicker.

The store card that you have has a rate of 22.9%...

-OK.

-..on it, APR, so the annual percentage rate,

so that's the interest that's going

-to the company who are giving you the credit.

-Yeah.

So if you've got a grand on a store card,

roughly that works out...

Let's say it's 22% of £220 interest you're paying...

-Yeah.

-So there's the grand you've spent and then 220 quid on top of that.

-Yeah, yeah.

-So that is just wasted money, isn't it?

-It is.

-And you guys have got money you're putting into savings,

-haven't you?

-John has.

-So if you look at the other end...

Yeah, so, John, I'm pleased to hear that you're a bit more savvy with

-your money.

-Yeah.

-But actually, the way you're doing it now,

you're cancelling it out,

you're cancelling anything you'd get from that savings out and more.

Thinking of their savings and debt separately is a big mistake.

To keep things simple, if John has £1,000 in savings at 2.5% interest,

he's earning £25 a year.

Meanwhile, £1,000 of Flo's debt with 22% APR will cost her 220 a year.

Look at that big difference between the two.

It's 220 quid versus...

Sounds like you're saying he should give me the £1,000

instead of saving it.

Yes, but only if he knows you're then not going to spend another grand...

-On another credit card!

-Exactly, that's why I don't do it.

Yeah. 'If John did, it would save the couple £195 straight away.'

I'm sure you've seen these advertised.

'But a solution to their almost £5,000 credit card debt might be

'another credit card with 0% balance transfer.'

The upshot is you're then not paying any interest on the actual

outstanding balance.

So if you're paying off £100 a month for four years,

how much better off do you think you'd be?

Don't know, you're asking me difficult maths.

£1,000?

-I've no idea.

-Not bad.

£1,200 better off.

-OK.

-'It is a good option,

'but only if you pay off the amount before the 0% offer expires.'

So having seen those options, how do you feel?

The best option seems to be John pays off the credit card and we're back at zero.

But could you be disciplined enough not to then spend on the

-credit card?

-Um, no, in that it'd have to go. If it's there, I probably would use it.

So if we're going for that option,

we'd have to cut it up, get rid of it.

So would you do that with your store cards, as well?

-Um...

-Because John is making the sacrifice that he's going to use the

savings to help you pay this off, but you have got to...

-Yeah.

-..make the sacrifice with your store card.

-Yeah.

-So...

Oh, God. Do I really have to do this?

-Yes, you really have to do this.

-OK.

-Come on.

All right. But it's a big...it's a big sacrifice that I'm making.

I can see the pain in your face. I know this is a major thing for you.

-Yeah.

-Look at John's face. He's like, "Get in!"

'That's got to hurt, but to ease the pain,

'John could use the money from the sale of his laptops to pay off the debt on the store card.'

If John pays off the Next card,

then the agreement has to be that I don't use it any more,

so that's fine.

'With her store card now snipped,

'catalogue shopper Flo will need more budget-friendly fashion for her once-a-week night out.'

Very nice. So I'm assuming...

Are they from a charity shop?

'Indeed they are. If she swapped one of the two £35 dresses she buys

'every month with a £15 charity dress, she'd save £240 a year.

'We've even got her leather boots to complete her outfit.'

They look really nice, but, yeah, I can see they're not new,

so I'm a little bit...uh.

But looking at them like that, you wouldn't know.

But that's a little bit out of my comfort zone,

the whole second-hand shoes thing.

'Well, perhaps a £30 saving will make them more comfortable to wear.'

Like this one. Good colour, nice fit.

That's really nice. The boots are great.

Love the boots.

'Flo loves a night out with friends and family.

'But it's costing her almost £2,000 a year.

'Tonight, we're sending Flo, her mum and sisters...

'..to something completely free - a tango class.'

You have to make sure there's no weight on that leg.

I'm really excited that it's really different, unusual,

so I don't know what it'll be like but I'm really excited, yeah.

There are plenty of free classes up and down the country.

All you've got to do is go online and search your area.

One... Two...

You know, we love going and having a dance generally.

So, yeah, this would definitely be an alternative

to going out for dinner.

So a good night doesn't have to cost loads.

And that includes buying a new outfit.

You look beautiful, very glamorous.

You've told me about the joys of charity shops, haven't you?

-Exactly.

-You said...

-And, you know, you can get fabulous-looking stuff,

just like those boots and this gorgeous outfit,

for a bargain price.

'Couldn't have said it better myself!'

Very good.

Don't want any fancy twirls.

I'm sorry, I like the spinning!

The week of swaps is over and Alex and I have returned to Surrey

to find out how the Bance family have got on.

We have asked a lot of them through all of this.

I think we have to. They are really going to have to change the way that

they view money and how they deal with their finances.

Oh, I'm excited for them!

The proof will be in the reveal pudding, won't it?

Yeah. We're about to discover just how willing the Bances are to change

their bad spending habits for good.

-Hello.

-Hello! How are you?

-Very well.

So we did a fair bit of swapping in your house.

How did it go?

-Yeah, went fine.

-Yeah, some of it was harder than others,

but generally it was all right.

-It was bearable.

-OK, well, let's have a look at the swaps

individually, then, and see whether they were a winner or not.

-OK.

-OK. So we're going to start with the vacuum cleaner.

-OK! Yeah.

-You certainly reacted to that.

I did, yes.

Swapping Flo's £300 top-brand vacuum with a budget option sent her into a spin.

Er... Who is it? I mean, what is it?

Who is it? I don't like it already.

I'm quite upset.

Can you actually get distressed over a vacuum cleaner?

Well, I didn't realise you could, but, yes, you can!

-I love that.

-Wow.

-Who knew?

-Did it work?

-Yeah.

-Were you happy with its performance?

-I was really surprised, actually.

Yeah, it works absolutely fine.

And, yeah, it did the job.

-Da-da-da!

-'If Flo bought this vacuum next time,

'she'd save herself a whopping £250.'

-Wow.

-Wow.

That is a massive price difference.

Yeah, it is. It was really good.

If you're going to save that much money, yeah, it's definitely worth it.

-Yeah.

-'Next up, the children.'

We had a look at your spending and it turns out that you do spend about

£20 a week on your children in terms of new toys, new books,

-or new games.

-Yeah.

This includes regularly buying Jacob new sets of Lego,

so we signed him up to an online club where he can borrow one set a month.

So the subscription costs £8.49 a month.

-Wow.

-OK.

That's brilliant.

So how much do you reckon you're saving, then?

-A lot.

-A lot.

-Shall I tell you?

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

It's £21.51 a month.

Yeah. That's brilliant.

So Jacob gets to play with more Lego over the year and saves them £190.

-So, swap?

-Definitely.

-Definitely, yeah.

-Yay!

-That's a big bit of Lego, isn't it?

Brilliant.

'We didn't want to totally deny Ava of any new toys,

'but perhaps they could save a little by using their local toy exchange.'

Did she like it? Was it a great day out?

Yeah, she did. Because it was sort of a stay and play anyway,

she had fun, it was all new toys that she hadn't seen or played with.

She really enjoyed it and at the end we were able to take them away.

So if you bought half and borrowed the rest,

you'd save £12.50 a month.

-Yeah, yeah.

-Which is pretty good, isn't it?

-Yeah, no, that's great.

'Over a year, that's a saving of £150.

'But a family visit to the library saves even more.'

-Thank you very much.

-We asked you to try out a library.

Tell us why you reacted like that.

Because it's so obvious, isn't it?

I'm embarrassed. I know the library's there.

-It is so obvious.

-Yeah.

-So obvious, but they are so underused, aren't they?

Yeah, they are. They are.

So the saving would be...

£25.94 a month.

-That's quite a lot of money, isn't it?

-It is.

-On books.

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

-It's all adding up.

-Exactly. It's all adding up.

Visiting the library,

plus the other toy swaps would save John and Flo over £600 a year.

But what about the family's biggest toy?

John's sports car, housed in that second garage.

What have you decided about all of that?

I will probably sell the car.

-Probably?

-All right, I will sell the car.

-You will sell the car?

-Yes.

Wow. So if you got rid of the car, you wouldn't need the garage and you

certainly wouldn't need the insurance.

That's £1,800 there in your pocket.

-Fantastic.

-And whatever you get for the car as well and it's valuing at

about £3,000, isn't it?

-Yeah, yeah.

-So that would be really helpful for you guys.

This would be an enormous saving of around 4,800.

We're not saying that you're not allowed to ever enjoy your hobbies.

But as you say, you've only had it six months

and you're already bored of it.

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

-What does that tell you?

-You don't need it!

-No...

And there are plenty more savings available if the family simply

switch some of their branded products, including the face wipes.

They're really nice. Yeah, they got off all the dirt and make-up.

And the cost per packet for these is 50 pence.

-Wow.

-Which is a saving of £2.49.

I'm really surprised. They were really good.

50p? What is 50p nowadays?

-Nothing.

-And that's an annual saving of 30 quid.

But there was one swap which definitely didn't go down well.

-Oh, no. Value toilet paper.

-You know, look at the colour of it.

It's horrid. Horrid, horrid, horrid.

There would be a saving of £1.37.

-OK. No.

-No?

I love their reaction!

It's literally, "£1.37? It would have to be £1,000..."

-Yeah!

-The point is you'd get three extra rolls,

so all of that column there is free.

Yeah, but they're thinner anyway...

-No, no...

-Not even £40 a year would change your mind?

-No.

-No.

-No.