I had watched a few news programmes and Crimewatch where people rummaging through others bins to obtain personal information and commit fraud. This got me concerned and I wanted to be extra careful when disposing of debit card statements, credit card statements along with other letters containing sensitive material.

Saying this I did not want to spend a fortune on preventing my own paranoia. So when I was next doing a big shop at Tesco's I decided to have a look at what they offered. They had a number on offer ranging up to £100 pounds. As I only had a couple of letters each day to dispose of I decided to go for the cheapest option, the Tesco Value Shredder which only cost me £7.58. I thought I would give it a try and If it was useless I would return it. Also it comes with a year's guarantee so that gave me some reassurance.

Compared to ones I have seen in work offices the Tesco shredder is a simple model. The one I have at work is extremely heavy whereas the Tesco shredder is made of light black plastic and can easily be moved around my desk.

As I do not have much to dispose of I tend not to shred more than one or two pieces of paper at a time. Although I do recall one time trying to do around 6 pages at once and this jammed the machine. The instructions suggest not shredding more than 5 pages at a time but I just stick to a maximum of three now as I don't want it to jam.

The shredder is light and compact a really good for my home use. Its black finish also is quite appealing and does not stick out like a sore thumb. I would never recommend this for anything further than personal use as it will just jam anything slightly strenuous.

All in all it is perfect for the little use I need from it and it gives me that piece of mind I was after