Bargain magazine, great recipes. (Sainsburys The Magazine)

Member Name: sunshine-smile

Product:	Sainsburys The Magazine
Date:	30/01/09 (435 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good information, colourful, interesting. Coupons to save money.

Disadvantages: Lots of adverts for Sainsburys

There was a long queue in my local Sainsburys when I went to do my weekly shop a few days ago. Waiting at the checkout I started browsing through the latest issue of Sainsburys magazine to pass the time. The issue is February 2009. I don't think I've ever looked at this magazine before, but as I flicked through the pages I was pleasantly surprised at how colourful and interesting it seemed. There were several articles I wanted to read as well as lots of recipes. When it came to be my turn to get served I added the magazine to my shopping on the conveyorbelt. The price was only £1.40, so I thought why not give it a try and read it in the comfort of my own home instead of standing at the checkout.

I'm glad I bought it as I've found so much to read and this magazine really gives pricier, more upmarket magazines a run for their money. It's about 150 pages long, the first page being full of coupons which you can use to get money off your next shop in Sainsburys. The total value of these 10 coupons is £4.71, but of course it is unlikely that you will be buying every one of the items. The one coupon I will definitely use is for 50p off Herbal Essences. The other coupons include Anchor Light Spreadable, Danone Activia and Finlandia Vodka. The snag is that you can only use the coupon in Sainsburys, not any other supermarket, but for me that's not a problem as I shop there regularly anyway.

Next there are readers' letters and brief news items about forthcoming films, books and events. There is another opportunity to save money by claiming free cinema tickets for previews of a film called Hotel For Dogs. There are 15 cinemas across the country offering this promotion but it's only for one night which is the 5th of Feb. All the same, if you are within reach of one of the cinemas listed it is an opportunity for a cheap night out. You only have to buy the popcorn.

Then there is a selection of recipes for 20 meals which work out at under £1 a person. Smoked mackerel gratin, salmon and dill hash and skinny parsnip soup are some of the meals. The next few recipes are Chinese e.g crispy king prawns with chilli sauce, and after that is a recipe for Valentine's cookies which look really lovely.

India Knight is the author of an article about cutting back on spending. Money saving ideas are very much at the heart of this issue of the mag. As it says on the cover "Live well, spend less." There is a list of 50 top tips on how to economise and some of the tips give details of websites where you can find further info.

Now we have more recipes, some by Rick Stein which as you would expect focus mainly on fish. Nigel Slater writes a piece about beef dripping along with a couple of recipes of his own, then there is an item by Simon Hopkinson with a recipe for a chicken, leek and mushroom pie. That recipe looks very nice and I have earmarked it to try. Delia Smith tells us how to use cheaper cuts of meat, then Anjum Anand gives us some tasty Indian recipes. Again I have seen meals in this section I would like to cook myself. Later is another good suggestion - sausage casserole with cheddar dumpling.

Now we come onto the section that is about healthy living. This kicks off with a good article on beauty bargains and then there is a piece on how to beat the winter blues. There is an easy diet, again with recipes and some general hints about healthy eating. Also you can send off for a free yoga DVD, but you have to pay postage which is £1.99.

Finally there are some pages about home style, new books, and travel.

I think that all this is great value for money for the cover price of £1.40. If I use the Herbal Essences coupon that will effectively bring the cost of my mag down to 90p. I have paid a lot more for other magazines and not found half as much to interest me as I did in this Sainsburys mag. There is quite a lot of advertising throughout the magazine and naturally Sainsburys is promoted in a big way. But these factors did not put me off as I still enjoyed reading the contents and I gained a lot of information and recipe ideas. I would definitely buy this again as I think it's great for the price.

Summary: Excellent value and really useful