Cheap Sweets

Some wallets have a weak spot for takeaway coffee. Mine has one for the multifarious, rubbish chocolate bars and crisps strangling the tills of newsagents.

They’re one of those costs I don’t tend to give much thought to: 85c here, €1.05 there. The shops know they can get away with charging us more or less what they like. And this might be why some of them are quite overpriced.

But if you’re a sugar fiend, it is worth paying attention to the prices. Here’s just some of the differences I’ve noticed. Granted, it’s a bit south Dublin-centric, but I have noticed that prices on confectionery tend to be cheaper outside the county:

• Wispa Gold: 95c in Bus Stop Newsagents on Gaiety Corner in Dublin, 78c in Centra Sandyford, and 80c in the UCD Students Union shop.
• Tayto Waffles: 79c in Esso Round Tower Service Station on the Naas Road, 65c in Spar on Pearse Street

It might not seem like a lot, but as every pigface knows, it all adds up.

I’ve been getting a bit more savvy, picking up two packets of Tayto Waffles in the Esso garages for €1, where you also have a choice of two bars from Bounty, Snickers, Mars, and Twix for €1. What I should really do, however, is bite the bullet and buy a multipack of these sweet treats; it’d be cheaper, only I’d probably just eat more and get quite fat, quite soon.

But forget the Wispa Golds and my other chocolate non-secrets, like Galaxy Cookies. My new discovery is those Choco Caramel bars at the till in Lidl. My much-missed flatmate Catriona introduced me to them. Just 45c each, they’re a light and satisfying sugar delivery vehicle: kind of like Milky Ways were in the 70’s and 80’s, for those with long enough memories. I hear the coconut chocolate Bounty imitations are good too.

Lastly, for fans of jelly sweets, Lidl also sell very nice, very cheap “Toute Sweet” wine gums, just 59c for a big packet.