Usually shop in Tesco, tried Aldi this month - didn't save as much as I hoped

[MooseAndSquirrelLoveFlannel]

The cost of my shop savings over 4 weeks was £92. But, there were items I usually get in Tesco that I couldn't get in Aldi. So ended up buying these separately from amazon.

Taking into account this calculation my savings equate to £6.73 over 4 weeks with the annoyance of needing to actually shop every month rather than have it delivered to my door.

In Tesco I mainly buy store brands, and many items the Tesco stuff is preferred. For example my daughter only like the Stockwell salad cream, cereal in Tesco is better value.

Some nice stuff in aldi, crackers are nicer (I eat these often as a dodgy stomach means dry crackers and eggs are a staple) but ham worked out cheaper for smaller packets in Tesco than aldi (we dont get through larger packs).

Cat biscuit we found in the middle aisle much cheaper than Tesco, but they only had it for 2 weeks and then was gone which was annoying.

But, frankly, a lot of prices were the same or similar and sometimes aldi was more expensive in so far as items were smaller packets.

I really hoped we would save more. Maybe if you buy more branded items in Tesco, then Aldi is a saving but I didn't find that. Plus, their laundry tablets caused my daughter a nasty skin rash and roll on deodorants were useless.

Wondered if anyone else found this?

Nope I spend markedly less in Aldi or Lidl. It's so much better without the endless offers and distractions designed to make you spend more in places like tesco and sainsburys.

What are these mystery items that cannot be bought in aldi?

Mitcham deodorant (the only one I've found works, but sensitive enough for my kids skin), big bottles of fairy liquid, dishwasher tablets that actually work, laundry pods that dont break my kids skin out, laundry sanitiser liquid (we do a lot of sports, so vital), cat food for fussy cats with gut issues, quality cat biscuit to name a few.

Amazon is usually really expensive to buy groceries and stuff from... Was it cheaper than Tesco.

I personally think aldi is only cheaper if you're buying loads of branded goods in Tesco or other supermarkets. I buy mostly Tesco own brand and loads of items are aldi price matched. Aldi never works out much cheaper for me.

What a load of faff, bother and nonsense for £6.73.

This extreme budgeting malarkey never works out well for me. In fact, I would wager that you are actually out of pocket overall.

Petrol, (I assume) to get there and back.
Skin rash on daughter possibly causing trip to chemist/use of skin cream etc.
Did you buy yourself a coffee/chocolate bar/Haribo Happy Sweets on your shopping trips out?
Were things like tinned tomatoes etc a bit insipid so you had to jazz things up with tomato purée, extra Oxo, Washyoursister (Worcester) sauce etc?
Washing up liquid a bit weak so you used more.
Cat wouldn't eat substandard nibbles.

Nah. Forget about it.

I spend a lot less in Aldi than anywhere else. But if you need fairy liquid, specific washing tabs and cat food then of course you won’t get it in Aldi and will end up going to other places.
Personally my cat and dog eat the cheapest Aldi food, a huge bottle of 69p washing up liquid is fine and lasts months as I have a dishwasher. I go to home bargains for washing stuff but will get from Aldi if I need to and again, it’s fine.
Pasta is 41p a bag, pasta sauces 69p. Fruit and veg is cheap and I’ve never had a problem with it. They do 6 pints of milk which you can’t get in Tesco and I buy 2 a week. Great for packed lunch stuff.
I guess it depends how fussy you/your family are.

I find Lidl cheaper for what we buy than Aldi, both cheaper than Tesco

This is your problem I think. You have a list of specific items that you need (which is fine and your choice) - Aldi works best for people who can be a bit more flexible.

I buy Tesco own cheap brands for lots of things and then buy bulk items from Amazon using subscribe & save. Then I pop into home bargains once in a while when I’m passing. I have found that’s the best way to keep costs down.

I shop in Aldi and find it by far the cheapest. We rarely buy brands as find Aldi stuff just as good. Always makes me wonder who buys for example, the branded Weetabix for £3.99 when sat next to them on the same shelf is Aldi's version for £1.99...

I can answer that specific question, although I don't buy many brands I do buy Weetabix because my children don't like the taste of the Aldi ones

I dont eat them but by sight I can see they aren't exactly the same and buying them would mean they end up being thrown away.

Luckily I can afford for us not to have to eat food we don't like to keep costs down, not all own brands taste the same as the big brands, they just don't

Aldi is cheaper only if you buy certain lists of things and don’t have specific preferences. I can never shop at Aldi only - it’s not enough ingredients wise and in many cases it’s not worth it. E.g I tried their cheap pasta and absolutely hated it so ended up throwing it away but their eggs were fine and much cheaper. Tesco pasta is just a bit more expensive but Im absolutely happy with it. I bought a shampoo from Aldi (it was praised by MN!) and I couldn’t tolerate it but I was happy with their period pads.
I think the key is to shop around as much as possible (you can check prices online), adapt your plans to what’s on offer and freeze leftovers.

Obviously it depends what you buy but I don’t think there’s much between supermarkets these days. Gone are the days I could get a heaving trolley from Aldi for less than a hundred pounds.

I shop at Waitrose these days and I find the price fair for the quality and the convenience of the online experience worth the extra money for delivery. My weekly shop was £75 this week but that was only 5 dinners, 4 lunches, some snacks and no cat food or cleaning stuff, it’s usually around £140.

My kids don’t like Aldi Weetabix. They actually like Tesco own brand best, but if we’re in Aldi I’d buy branded Weetabix over the Aldi version, as the Aldi ones wouldn’t get eaten.

you need to embrace Aldi’s own brands to make the savings.
their deodorant is as good as mitcham. It’s sensitive, it’s also a deodorant AND anti perspirant which most aren’t. It’s under a pound as well. But I do appreciate the risk at swapping.

the Aldi premium washing up liquid is really very good as well, just about as good as fairy and remarkably cheaper.

their bathroom cleaner is by far the best regardless of cost, window cleaner the same. Washing powder etc is fantastic. Premium kitchen roll is excellent.

ive two Aldi’s near me, ones fruit and veg is better than the other, but both are great on the whole.

it does take a few weeks of getting used to the different shopping habits, you’ll make the savings.

I'm experimenting at the moment, we normally get shopping delivered from Morrisons.

My system...

Book a shop on Morrisons and put all our shopping on it.

This week it came to £134.

Use that before the cut off as a shopping list for Aldi.

I spent £54 at Aldi.

Take off Morrisons what I've bought at Aldi and let them deliver the remainder.

Morrisons reduced to £56, therefore this week a £24 saving. Aldi took less than an hour door to door.

Aldi fruit & veg is marginally cheaper but it’s usually started to rot in the bag before you get home. M&S fruit & veg might be more expensive But my god it lasts so there’s no waste.

To also add, my husband also dislikes cheap brands of ‘weetabix’ and he knows straight away if they are not branded ones. They end up getting thrown away which makes them costly and a waste of money so I just now buy the genuine ones.

What are these mystery items that cannot be bought in aldi
Are you serious? There is so much you cant buy there and i don't mean just in terms of brands. Lidl is better in terms of variety but I don't think either are significantly cheaper anymore. Ive also found that Aldi fruit and veg goes off so quickly that it mostly ends up in the bin so what is very cheap is a waste of money anyway. Sainsburys do an Aldi price match over hundreds of products now.

I think that because the big supermarkets are now price-matching their own brands to Aldi so much, that there isn't as much as a price difference as there used to be.

our fruit and veg keeps really well from Aldi.

Always has over different shops.

We found the same and actually for some of the same products and price the packets were smaller in Aldi. We mostly buy own brand but really didn't find Aldi better for either quality or price. Perhaps it depends what type of things you tend to buy.

Window cleaning is one of the banes of my life, I've never mastered a streak free clean, would you mind sharing exactly which cleaner you bug please

@Shr3dding try Coop wheat biscuits they are £2.00 per pack, we moved to them from Wetabix and they taste the same.
Are you sure your kids react on content not to packaging?

The inconvenience of having to go to the shop eliminates most of the bonus of any savings for me (plus having to to in store usually leads to more ad hoc purchases). I do like to pop in once a month and stock up on some bits, but I stopped shopping there when they ended the click and collect function.