Back to basics at Kmart

I love plain, block-colour cotton basic garments such as T-shirts and skirts. Of course I am troubled about the nightmarish exploitation of people and resources that enables the low, low prices at discount department stores. Don't treat them disposably; wear them often and in the long term, as the building blocks of your wardrobe.

Kmart's clothes are astoundingly cheap. Men's V-neck T-shirts are $4, "ultimate polo" shirts are $8 and "ultimate tee" shirts (round necked) are $5.50.

Meanwhile, women's tank top-style singlets are $4, with a high back and a scoop front. Women's V-neck T-shirts are also $4, while spaghetti-strap singlets with a shelf bra are $6. All these garments come in a great range of bright, summery plain colours, from the traditional white, red, black, navy and grey to interesting shades of blue, green, pink and purple.

Chicks: Kmart has stretch midi tube skirts (roughly knee-length, depending on your height) in plains and prints for $12 each, and mini tube skirts for $10. I own plain coloured skirts in both these lengths and get so much wear from them, except my mini skirts came from Cotton On and my knee skirts from Cocolatte.

If you have ambitions to look like a Robert Palmer video chick, Kmart also has what it calls "extreme mini skirts" in black for $5.

Dudes: want to go for a swim but forgot your bathers? At Kmart, $5 gets you a pair of plain board shorts in yellow, aqua, navy, emerald green or black, with contrasting-coloured drawstring waist. They have a roomy cut that sits just above the knee and they look much like regular shorts (unlike those ugly, juvenile 'surfwear' prints).

DVD bonanza

I have a policy never to spend more than $10 on a single DVD. I also only buy DVDs I'm happy to watch repeatedly. This means my DVD collection is surprisingly small for a professional film reviewer. Luckily for me and any other cheapskates, there are some good DVD bargains around until 16 January.

At Big W, TV shows on DVD are 2 for $50. These mainly include mainstream commercial procedural shows such as Rush, NCIS, Supernatural, Castle and The Mentalist, plus such guilty pleasures as Gossip Girl, The Vampire Diaries, Pretty Little Liars, Jersey Shore and the truly lamentable Geordie Shore. These same shows are either $29 or $35 at Kmart, so Big Dubs is your best bet if you're a fan.

However, the Big Dubs deal also includes some upscale costume dramas, such as Game of Thrones, Boardwalk Empire, Downton Abbey and Rome. Meanwhile at Kmart, such cult shows as Mad Men, Smash, The Walking Dead and Once Upon A Time are $35 for the most recent season.

Kmart's TV selection is depressingly Kardashian-heavy, but you can also pick up the original BBC Pride and Prejudice (essential comfort viewing; I start to relax even hearing the theme tune), the grim fourth season of Breaking Bad or season one or two of Community for $16.

For kids, and just fans of great animation, excellent films including the Toy Story cycle and Puss in Boots (which contained one of my favourite running gags of 2011) are just $16 at Kmart. It's also well worth forking out an extra $4 for Tangled at $20.

Kmart has relatively recent release movies for $16. These are mainly horrible crap such as The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2, Cowboys & Aliens and The Five-Year Engagement, but I wouldn't mind getting The Grey (aka Liam Neeson Punches Wolves). Also at Kmart are movies, including multi-packs, for $13. There are quite a few stinkeroos, but my picks include The Hunger Games and Abduction (the most inadvertently hilarious film of 2011!).

If you want to get cheaper, Kmart has movies for $9, my favourites of which include 21 Jump Street, Burlesque, Point Break, Step Up 3 (not Step Up 3D, as it was marketed in cinemas) and Easy A.

Big Dubs also has some fairly decent movies at 2 for $15. The ones that caught my eye – that I totally recommend as 'classic' investments – include GoodFellas, Mean Girls, Pride and Prejudice (the one with Keira Knightley – surprisingly great, even though I loathe Knightley as an actor), Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, 10 Things I Hate About You and Black Hawk Down.

If even $7.50 sounds like too much to lash out, there are even more movies at Big Dubs for just $5. The ones I like include The Crow, Lawrence of Arabia, The Virgin Suicides, Being John Malkovich, Boyz N The Hood, Secretary and Sleepless in Seattle.

Mo' Moët, no mo' problems

As I've previously observed here, there are currently supermarket price wars on French champagne.

The Champas Wars continue at BWS/Woolworths Liquor, where you can currently get two bottles of Moët & Chandon Imperial Brut NV champagne for $95 – a saving of $44.98 off the individual price.



At the risk of sounding like a dick, Moët is not my favourite French 'champas'. We had some at Christmas and I found it too acidic for my taste.

However, what I like about this bargain is that normally with wine bargains, you have to buy six or a dozen bottles before you see real savings, whereas two bottles is a more reasonable quantity to buy. You could split the cost with a 'champas'-loving friend.

Fake meat, real cheap

We've mentioned Quorn fake meat products previously at JMB, but until Tuesday 15 January at Coles, they're just $4.



Meat Free Soy Free Mince is $4 for 300g (save $1.99).

Meat-Style Balls are $4 (save $1.99). Both the mince and the schmeatballs have Australian Heart Foundation ticks, I notice.

Not so for the Southern Style Burgers, which are intended to resemble chicken, and which are crumbed in a "crunchy pepper coating". They're – you guessed it – $4 (save a whopping $2.29).

Teatime specials

I am a big tea drinker, so I was hugely excited that Twinings 100 teabag varieties are currently $6 at Woolworths (save a whopping $4.09).



When I was in there last week, I snapped up some Good Earl, but all the English Breakfast had sold out already. A lady was searching for the EBT and as I watched her reach for it she gave a consterned sigh when she saw there was none there.

"You could try Irish Breakfast," I suggested brightly.
"I know what I wanted," she pouted.

Aww, too bad.

To go with your tea, Woolworths cinnamon donuts are currently half price – $1.94 for a dozen. They're freshly baked daily. Be the hero of your workplace and come back with donuts for everyone's morning tea!

Tim Tams, Royals, Mint Slice and other Arnott's chocolate biscuits are on special for $2 at Woolworths… but also at Foodworks!

Or you could try the intriguing Little Chef's frozen sweet pastizzi for $2.49 each (also half price). I am a massive fan of frozen pastizzi as they're a fancy catering option for parties and yet all you do is take 'em out of the freezer and bung 'em in the oven.



The flavour featured in the Woolies catalogue is Berry Bliss (strawberries and ricotta), but apparently there are also Grandma's Strudel (apple and ricotta) and Zesty Lemon (lemon and ricotta).

Bargain price for Bonsoy

Soy aficionados regard it as the king of soy milks, but Bonsoy is also one of the most expensive items in the non-dairy milk aisle of the supermarket.

(It was also recalled in 2009 amid concerns about excessive iodine levels. There's a class action afoot for people who suffered thyroid problems as a result.)

But anyway, until Tuesday 15 January it's on special at Coles for $3.50 (save $1.29). Nice. Get on it.

Best-quality cat food for 88c

Pet food is a real dilemma: once you feed 'em the fancy stuff, they never want to go back to the cheap stuff. Personally, I never buy the expensive specialty food you can buy from the vet or from pet barns: it's supermarket chow all the way.

However, a while ago I was fretting that I was feeding my cat crappy food. Cats need to eat a meat-based diet high in protein, but my online research revealed that a lot of dry cat foods are bulked out with grains, and a lot of wet cat foods are bulked out with random mystery meat (when a label says "meat by-products", this could mean ground-up bones and sinews, or any mechanically reclaimed goo off the production line) and only contain 'flavours' of the stated main ingredient.

One day I spent a lot of time in the pet food aisle of the supermarket, reading the ingredients lists of the various brands. From this I realised that one of the best-quality brands out there is Nature's Gift. They are Australian made and owned, and they don't add extra hormones, antibiotics, flavour enhancers, colours or preservatives to the food.



For instance, tonight I fed my cat their "Roast Duck" food and the first ingredient listed on the label (that is, the main ingredient) is "Duck", followed by "krill oil" and various vitamins. Whereas a mainstream brand like Whiskas can't make duck the main ingredient and still keep its price point. Whiskas' "Juicy Duck" label will list "Meat and meat by-products including chicken, lamb, beef or pork; duck flavour…"

Of course, Nature's Gift is a premium brand. At $1.13 per 100g tin, I only ever buy it when it's on special… which it is at Woolworths right now! The 100g tins, in flavours including "Real Kangaroo", "Roast Duck", "Chicken in Gravy", "Beef in Gravy" and "Chicken with Pilchards", are 88c each.

Nature's Gift also makes dog food, but that isn't on special, unfortunately.