Sainsbury vs Lidl - OH MY GOD!!

[Stargazing]

Just did my first Lidl shop after years of shopping at Sainso's and being increasingly terrified by hundreds of pounds of groceries disappearing in a matter of days, despite regular supplementation (is that a word?) from the local shops.

Our household -

DH, works odd hours so often not home for dinner, never takes lunch with him, manages to wolf a bowl fo cornflakes in the morning.

Me - very health conscious, weight conscious etc - vegan, wheat-free, dairy-free, all round pain in the a*se dinner guest

DD - not quite 2, good appetite, eats all her veg and fruit, likes meat, 3 solid meals a day plus 1 or 2 snacks, mostly of the dried fruit variety.

DS - just over 6 months, has been on purees for 2 months, has just started eating fish/ meat/ chicken as well as veg, lentils etc.

Today at Lidl I spent .... £74.18

In the interests of being a TOTAL geek, I did the same shop online at Sainso's and it came to... £122.99

I tried to get weights. sizes, etc the same, only chose the basic brand stuff etc etc .. and it still came out nearly £50 more expensive!!!! Am in total shock. Granted, it was not nearly so pleasant a shopping experience (had to do it myself, for one thing, with the infants, rather than having some delivery man bring it round, and was accosted by someone wanting 'just a few pence for a hot meal' in the car park ... ) but OH MY GOD - am sooo converted.

[lazarou]

Lol at the vagrant in lidl car park. Glad to know they are sticking to their own kind, hey?

[Madlentileater]

Excellent research, Stargazing.

[BecauseImWorthIt]

But could you buy everything there? I think Lidl is great, but I can't do my whole shop there.

I couldn't find cat food that I was happy to buy, or shampoo or san pro (can't remember what else, but did have to go elsewhere to complete the shop)

[Stargazing]

to be fair to the vagrant, I told him he could have the £1 when I took my trolley back and he said that he would take it back for me. That suited me,as I hate to have my kids out of sight for so much as a minute, even in a locked car ... and he even loaded up my boot for me. Almost as good as a Sainsbury's delivery man!!!

[Madlentileater]

yes, I remember they didn't have any eco friendly/skin friendly washing powder. What about tofu?
(no, really)
fresh orange juice?

[hercules1]

perhaps he worked for lidl...

[FairyMum]

LOL at BecauseImWorthIt who can do weekly shop at LIDL, but has to pop to Waitrose for the cat

[Stargazing]

WorthIt - I couldn't get everything, no - I'll still have to get my 'special' wheat free, gluten free, dairy free etc stuff from Sains or the local health food store ... toiletries I buy in bulk from ecotopia ... don't have a cat ... or dog ...

[Madlentileater]

Well, Hercules, I didn't know how to say this without sounding disapproving (esp as our sainsbury's bill is so frightening) but DS1 works for Lidl and surprise, surprise theya are crap employers and pay very badly.

[Stargazing]

there were definitely Heinz beans there, and some decent bread - not Hovis but looked similar .. I don't eat it but no complaints so far..

re: juice - DH loves Copella Apple juice ... so I bought 2 for £3 at Lidl - the same would have been £3.52 @Sains

[BecauseImWorthIt]

@ FairyMum!

No, I'm not a Twatrose shopper, just that there are certain (yes, might be premium) brands that I couldn't get at Lidl. I buy premium recycled loo roll, for example, and couldn't get that.

Having said that, I am buying an increasing number of Sainsbury Basics stuff in a bid to get the cost of my weekly shop down. It's become a bit of a game, actually! I was very disappointed this week when the bill was over £120 as I can usually get it to just under £100.

[foxythesnowfox]

I've gone off Lidl a bit, beef gelatine in their fruit lollies, hydrogenated fat in their biscuits.

But I love their obscure weekly products. Riding things one week, diving gear the next.

[Madlentileater]

We only ever get Sainsbury's not quite basic juice....we get through at least 12 l a week. WHY didn't I train the dcs to like water? and why won't they drink tea now they are teenagers? are they not really British or something?
grim about the lollies, though.

[Chequers]

Message withdrawn

[Stargazing]

yes, that does sound yuk. I didn't get anything like that. Lots of tinned tomatoes, lots of fresh fruit & veg, a few cans of butter beans, chick peas etc, lentils, bit of meat, a few different cheeses, yoghurt, bread, fairtrade brown sugar, recycled bog roll, dried fruit, oats, tinned tuna, tinned mackerel, pesto, olives ... stuff like that. Checked all the labels and they all seemed okay

[Madlentileater]

Will tell DP as he is In Charge of Supermarket Shop

[CarofromWton]

I have been an ALDI convert for some years now, after noticing the shocking price difference between the supermarkets. Frankly, I'm too tight to shop at Sainsburys, Waitrose or Somerfield and the like and I resent their inflated prices. I am, however, a fan of ASDA, and find I can get anything I want between that and ALDI. Fair to say though that I'm not bothered about brand names (nor are my kids thankfully) and believe that, if we had to taste different brands blindfold, very few people could actually guess the branded ones! I have been to LIDL a few times, but I'm not so keen - not much choice.

[Aefondkiss]

lidl do great parmesan, and they do organic and fairtrade coffee etc, I can't get everything at lidl, but my dh does the lidl shop and we get bread etc as we need it, vine ripened tomatoes at lidl are good, fruit and veg can be really good there and not expensive, I think the loo roll is fine, even if it isn't organic.... the fruit juice is not from concentrate, 100% pure, which I also like.

it isn't exactly a pleasure to shop there, but dh really likes doing the lidl shop, though he comes home with some really ridiculous "bargains".

[Aefondkiss]

lidl do great parmesan, and they do organic and fairtrade coffee etc, I can't get everything at lidl, but my dh does the lidl shop and we get bread etc as we need it, vine ripened tomatoes at lidl are good, fruit and veg can be really good there and not expensive, I think the loo roll is fine, even if it isn't organic.... the fruit juice is not from concentrate, 100% pure, which I also like.

it isn't exactly a pleasure to shop there, but dh really likes doing the lidl shop, though he comes home with some really ridiculous "bargains".

[MilaMae]

I have a steer clear list now in Aldi and Lidl which is basically the yogs,peanut butter, baked beans as all full of sugar and some biscuits, oven chips as got hydronated fat, (there are a few more). Then I just stock up with those items and anything else I can't get in Asda. Have saved a fortune that way.

I find you need to lable check less in Aldi. You do find quite a few things with a lot less crap too,it's just learning what to avoid and what to go for.

[WendyWeber]

Another place you could try, unless you are in the south, is B&M. (Southernmost store atm is Kidderminster, afaik)

They are expanding wildly, and sell loads of branded stuff - not food as such, except eg tea/coffee/crisps/biscuits, but virtually everything else you'd buy in the supermarket, and at incredible prices...

[nappyaddict]

aldi don't sell yoghurts???

[combustiblelemon]

I've moved from shopping at Sainsbury's to shopping at Morrison's- I'm still in shock at the savings. A shop that's £80 something at Sainsbury's comes in £20-£30 cheaper in Morrison's consistantly. They have all the same brands (not that I buy that many TBH) and the bread/bakery stuff is nicer! I'm converted, and I loved Sainsbury's.