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Episode 1

Episode 1 of 4

Alex Jones and Steph McGovern are on a mission to help families change the way they shop. They head to Caerphilly to help the Ingram family save money.

Kicking off the new series in South Wales, Alex and Steph head to Caerphilly to meet the Ingram family. HGV driver Liam and IT engineer Emma are proud parents to 10-year-old Mackenzie and two sets of twins, 19-month-old Maddison and Jaxon and 6-month-old Alexa and Sienna. Emma's mum Katrina also lives with the family but even with her help, jumping from one child to five in less than two years has had a massive impact on Liam and Emma's finances. To make matters worse, Emma's maternity pay is about to stop so saving money has never been so important.

It's not only the Ingram's surprise baby boom that's costing them, their desire for big name brands is also crippling Liam and Emma's finances. Alex and Steph need to shock the family into realising the error of their spendthrift ways. While the family are out, they take a sneaky peak around the house and are amazed by the volume of expensive baby items they find. They're even more shocked by how much football merchandise there is and the array of designer gear in Mackenzie's bedroom. To shock the family into making some big changes, Steph and Alex build a surprise pop-up-shop in the Ingram's house with some of their biggest spends, but how will they react when they know the cost of their big brand spending?

The family want to change so they are put to the ultimate test. To get their spending down, the family's budget-blowing belongings are banned and replaced with alternatives disguised in plain packaging so the Ingram's have no idea what's been swapped and what hasn't. Will the family like Alex and Steph's changes?

Steph gives the family her top tips on how they can go on holiday for less and Alex explores the childcare options Emma could consider when she decides to return to work. They also blind test men's shavers and car seats with the family to find out whether brands are always best.

The Great British public get their say too. Steph and Alex hit the high street with four de-branded polo shirts ranging from high-end to budget, to see whether the public can tell what's pricey and what isn't just from the look and feel. Plus a group of mums put five strollers to the ultimate test around a race track in Bristol to see which takes their top spot.

At the end of the experiment there are plenty of surprises when the Ingram's find out what's been swapped and what hasn't, but with Emma's maternity pay about to run out - have Alex and Steph managed to get the family to embrace enough of the new products and changed their brand loyal ways to save them money?

58 minutes

Last on

Fri 9 Nov 2018 08:00

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Credits

Role Contributor
Presenter Alex Jones
Presenter Steph McGovern
Executive Producer Jo Scarratt-Jones
Series Producer Fiona Gay
Series Producer Nicola Kingscote
Producer Hermione Drew
Producer Nicholas Berry
Director Nicholas Berry
Production Company RDF Television

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