Aldi switch and save a load of crap?

[Hugsgalore]

I'm based in Ireland so figures may be different...

I've been thinking about these ads for a while and wondering if anyone has switched and has a comparable story.

An Aldi ad a while back with an elderly couple claiming to have saved more per week than I spend feeding 3 people by simply switching to Aldi. I can't remember the exact amount and the ad is no longer shown.

Just seen another ad tonight with a couple from Cavan with two small boys claiming to have saved €482 over 4 weeks by switching to Aldi.

I do my weekly shop in Tesco and spend roughly €120-140 a week feeding myself, Dh and dd who is 5. I can't get my head around how they are managing these savings. Surely these figures are bullshit. I would imagine an extra 30-40 a week max for the extra kid... so the ad seems to suggest they feed 4 people from Aldi on €40-€60 a week.

Unless you are only eating cheap pasta and sauce this seems like bullshit to me.

I can easily feed a family of 4/6 (depending if the dsc are over) for around £60/£70 a week in aldi, I spend a lot more if I go to Tesco.

I switched from Sainsbury’s to Aldi and save between £30-£50 a week now. It’s a god send. In fact I don’t ask why it’s so cheap
I ask why is Sainsbury’s so bloody expensive!!!

And its not just pasta and sauces either

Don’t forget that it was Aldi turkeys which went off so quickly this Christmas - you get what you pay for! A totally Aldi diet would be very limited too as there’s so little choice

It's shit, sorry. You'll spend more on driving around to different shops to get you actually want.

We shop in Aldi, we are 4 people and shop is around £70. Used to spend £100+ in Sainsbury's. Our diet is better too, the fresh food in particular is cheaper.

I’m also in ireland (Westmeath) and I shop in Tesco. I didn’t find aldi any cheaper really & I like the convenience of getting my shopping delivered. However I never spend more than €150 a week in Tesco and that’s for myself, 2 adult children & the babies I mind (childminder). Sometimes I can spend less than €150 but never more.

why don't you go and see for yourself?

imo aldi/lidl are good, but only saving money if you are geographically as close as another major supermarket.

I spend about £60 a week in Aldi for a family of 4. Maybe another £20 on a top up shop somewhere else and I'm amazed at how little I get somewhere else!
Would do Aldi for the top up but it's too far away.

There's actually lots of choices at aldi if you don't rely on ready meals or processed foods.

I can save about £40 per week shopping at aldi compared to tesco. A few odd things aldi doesn't do or I don't like but find my local aldi fruit and veg better than tescos or morrisons, the meat better than tesco and equally as good as morrisons and dry goods like pasta exactly the same but cheaper. I don't buy much frozen stuff but what I have bought is similar. The posh ice cream is good, the bloomer breads are good and cooked meats, cheeses and stuff like hummus is the same. Biscuits/crisps and tinned stuff is good. And the odd few bits from the freezers have been good apart from oven chips which smell funky.

It depends how and what you cook. If you use a lot of processed or ready meals it's probably not for you. If you cook properly and can nip to a supermarket occasionally for the odd thing then the basics are the same as anywhere else but cheaper. And slightly more ethical than Tesco etc.

@stripeypillowcase I have tried. That's one of the reasons I think it's bull. The choice is very limited and I find the stuff goes off a lot quicker. The meat portions are smaller and mot much cheaper here than Tesco pricing.

@Alsonification I'm glad someone else agrees. I think the ads just don't add up. I cannot see how they are making these huge savings.

@DontLookBackIntoTheSun yes I agree that you get what you pay for and this is also the reason I stick to Tesco.

To all those that do save it seems to be more UK based.

It's just really to me the figures quoted on the ad don't add up when you are taking Irish pricing.

@Frouby I don't use any ready meals or much frozen food.

I maybe save £20/30 but still need to go get certain things from Asda/Tesco as Aldi equivalents are crap. Don't like their potatoes, they don't cook well.

If I shop in Tesco for 2 adults and a teen who eats enough for 2 then I spend £100 pw. In Aldi it's £70 but I buy steak and smoked salmon. Saves me loads.

Bear in mind that the switch and save compares branded goods with Aldi own brand. If you compared with supermarket own brand (which seems fairer) the savings aren't as obvious. Which isn't to say that you don't get better value for some things at Aldi compared to other places. We have a few items that we stock up on there (coffee, maple syrup, nuts) because they are particularly goid value, but I generally don't do a full shop.

I spend around £60/70 a week in Aldi. A Tesco shop Would be £40ish more.

€482 is about £100 a week saving, which seems a bit unrealistic to me if they’re still buying the same stuff.

But I have no knowledge of food prices in Ireland.

I always wonder with these things, I just couldn't make it work myself.
Sure you could save a few € buying your food at Aldi, but what about your other goods like toiletries and cleaning things, you'd be traipsing from place to place. The more shops I visit the more I spend. Plus they don't do the home delivery.
To save a few Euro is just not worth hours of my time, so maybe their sums are correct but for me they can shove it.

I shop at aldi, spend £60-£70 a week for family of4. I dont buy much meat there though, as I use our local butcher for that.
The very few things I cant get at Aldi I get from asda, probably spend £30-£50 a month on top up shops there.
I find aldi better quality than lidl.

I think there's just too many variables. If they all line up then yes you can save a fair amount but they all have to line up. I like Aldi but it doesn't save me masses of money, because:

I shop at Asda, so one of the cheaper supermarkets anyway.

I shop online, so I can see all the prices of similar products and choose the cheapest. I can also easily take stuff out of my basket if it's getting too expensive.

I buy Asda own products, not brands, for nearly everything. This is the biggest thing IMO, of course if you swap from the main brand to whatever version Aldi sells you'll save money, but you'd save by swapping to any supermarket own brand.

Aldi doesn't always have what I actually want, so I have to buy something close or something else, which pushes up the cost. Eg. I wanted Thai red curry paste, but they didn't have it, only a kit that had paste, herbs and coconut milk. I already had coconut milk so the whole kit was unnecessary - and cost me more - but it was the only option as I didn't have time to go to another shop.

Our family is two adults, a 6 year old and 10 month old and we spend between £30 and £40 and shop.

Saved us so much compared to Morrisons.

@ALemonyPea what items are crap in Aldi?

I would never be able to do a full shop there. I would still need to go to Tesco.

I find their packaged bread awful. Like cardboard. The veg and fruit goes off in a day or two and I find the meat poorer quality. Also the meat here isn't very much cheaper than other supermarkets.

Sure you could save a few € buying your food at Aldi, but what about your other goods like toiletries and cleaning things, you'd be traipsing from place to place

I buy them in Aldi, no need to go anywhere else.

@Dandelion1993 I find it incredibly hard to believe you can feed a family of 4 (or 3 if the youngest is bf) for a week on just £10-13 each...

I'm in Ireland. I'm doing slimming world so cook from scratch and make proper meals, meat and veg, bolognese, fish dishes etc. Always buying lots of cupboard items ie spices, tinned kidney beans, chopped tomatoes etc. I also throw in treats for my partner, like cakes, biscuits etc. Weekly, for my entire food shop plus toiletries, cleaning supplies etc I'm around 60 euros in Aldi/Lidl. Tesco or supervalu I'd be about 100. You can save a lot of money by switching to Aldi/Lidl.

Before I started slimming world, I didn't do any cooking from scratch, it was all pizza, pre prepared meals etc. I wouldn't have been able to do a full shop in Aldi. But now that I'm cooking from scratch, all I need is Aldi.

I don't think it's bull but I think they pick families who already spend a lot so it's easier to look good. It's easier to save £100 from a £300 budget than £200 budget

It really depends on what you buy. Personally ALDI is cheaper but unfortunately I have to top up elsewhere as family like certain branded products that they don't sell.