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?

So do an online shop from Tescos once a month or a few times a year (as all the stuff you mention not being able to get there is stuff you can buy in bulk) and go to aldi the rest of the time.

You saved £92 over 4 weeks = £23 a week. yes you'll have to spend a bit more to get the stuff in Tesco but that will be offset by not buying the versions you didn't like in aldi - i.e. your total spends which amounted to the £92 saving still included the versions of laundry tablets, dishwashing liquid etc you didn't like so won't buy again.

Even if you only saved £10-£15 a week that's up to £780 a year.

Or just keep going to Tesco if you like it.

God no. Frozen peas are one of the few things i will only buy branded. The Aldi peas are nasty, tough and tasteless.

I have super sensitive skin and Aldi own toiletries and washing powder is one of the few I don’t react to! Never had an issue with the washing up liquid, dishwasher tablets or cleaning products either! I think I spend less because I literally buy what I went for and don’t get distracted by other stuff I don’t need. I think a lot of products are also better quality than the supermarket own brand items.

I completely agree. Birds Eye are the only peas I will buy. Other frozen veg can be branded but not peas.
We use Sainsbury's at the moment as our Tesco is closed for refurbishment so unless we drive to the next town this is where we shop. We may carry on as I dont think the refurbishment is going to do tesco any favours (condensing a two floor supermarket into one floor). I dont find Sainsbury's too expensive but we always use Morrisons for meat, rolls and fruit - on our way home so not out of the way.
I find you can't get everything in one store so you have to shop around. We only use Aldi for the things we like and can only get from there. I find they are lacking in some things which I have to get elsewhere but luckily the 3 supermarkets are within spitting distance of each other.

I found aldi is £95-115 per week and Tesco is £120-150. But there’s always bits I can’t get at Aldi (deodorant, shampoo, lentil pasta, sorbet to name a few) so I usually end up spending £20 at Tesco making the Aldi shop £115-135 so slightly cheaper on average but more inconvenient

We shop in Sainsburys and find the same.Mostly buy own brands and they often have a price match as well. TBH Food has shot up, and meat ,cheese ,milk and so on are not really "cheap" anywhere now.I have been married a long while and before the 90s food was dearer . There has been a marked increase now and we are all feeling the pinch

There are a few things I’ll buy in Aldi/Lidl that are cheaper than Tesco and worth the trip: dog/cat food, wine and can’t beat the Lidl bakery section. But otherwise no it’s not worth the inconvenience to me of having to physically go in to the shop to save a few pounds. I also like certain brands for things they don’t sell. But my 22 year old minimum wage son is on a much tighter budget so only shops at Lidl or bargain hunts at Tesco. (Though he will only buy meat from the butchers).

We do a combination shop of Aldi and Lidl and there are the odd bits and pieces we get elsewhere. The price is simply not comparable unless you're buying a lot of branded or junk foods. We mainly buy our household stuff in there and Home Bargains. Cat food in Home Bargains as she only eats the sheba pate.

I learned a long time ago that toiletries and groceries are a LOT more on Amazon usually and have been stung a few times for that.

I use windowlene and blue paper towels that you get in big rolls, you need tons of it. Do it when the sun is at a particular angle so you can clearly see where the streaks would be. Nothing worse than all that hard work and you sit down to relax and the sun comes round at the right/wrong angle and suddenly you see all the marks!!

What you need op is to find a retail park that has Aldi/lidl/bm/home bargains. Anything I can’t get in Aldi or Lidl, I get from b&m or home bargains.

Why do you suppose you would find such things in a budget supermarket? Aldi rarely stocks big name brands so you aren't going to find Mitchum deodorant or Fairy Liquid in there. If you have sensitive skin, then you need to stick to brands you know will work, so assuming the Aldi own brand will be fine was a bit of a gamble.

We don't have Aldi, but Lidl definitely works out cheaper for me. There are very few items I cannot find/find alternatives to, though I do tend to by some toiletries separately in Superdrug anyway.

I don’t shop in Aldi as I don’t drive, but on the whole I find that cheaper is a false economy.

Dishwasher tablets/washing up liquid are nowhere near as good as branded, but often you don’t realise that until you use branded one day and realise how much less (washing up liquid) you have to use and how much cleaner your dishes are with dishwasher tablets.

I bought e.g. Sainsbury’s own brand ketchup and it separated within a week whereas Heinz lasts for months if you have it in the fridge.

Mayo/salad cream is watery and just nasty really

There absolutely are own brand products which are the same as branded, biscuits/some (although not all) breakfast serials, herbs and spices, but it’s not an exact science, and in many instances people are taken in by the price and don’t realise that they’re actually paying more because they’re having to use more e.g. in the case of cleaning products.

I shop at all the supermarkets, and Aldi and Lidl don’t seem cheaper anymore. Sainsbury’s price matching Aldi, just means Aldi puts prices up and the others follow. It’s not real competition, it just keeps prices high. I think price matching does more harm than good. Aldi and Lidl’s meat mostly comes from Thailand and China, where welfare standards are lower. Also, flying meat in from the other side of the world to cut costs completely goes against the UK’s net zero message.

the problem is that there are people who will swear blind that “own brand is just as good” when invariably it isn’t.

And if people like the OP say they don’t believe it they are invariably shot down because “I’ve found that….” And so the OP shops at aldi only to discover that actually she was right, and should have stuck to branded.

Reality is that aldi isn’t cheaper, because it’s not possible to buy everything in Aldi and so you generally have to go to several shops whereas if you shopped in Sainsbury’s you’d only have to go to one.

I think you might want to ask for that post to be removed regarding where their meat comes from.

You would see a much bigger saving if you weren’t already buying Tesco own brand stuff because lots of that stuff is actually price matched to Aldi anyway.

So if you’d been buying Weetabix from Tesco and swapped to the Aldi own version, Frube yoghurts from Tesco and swapped to the Aldi version etc you would have noticed a much bigger difference.

I tried and bought their own version of cornflakes, it was horrible compared to the original. I’ve had an open box of ‘wheat biscuits’ in the cupboard for weeks now. You can really taste the difference in some items.

I buy basics in Aldi/Lidl now and what I can’t I get from Sainsbury’s and it’s way cheaper that way.

EH? Why should she?

Why? It clearly states it on the label!

A lot of Lidl stuff [don't know about Aldi] you don't pay extra VAT on so stuff is cheaper to start with.
We have straight forward ideas about food and do a lot from scratch. If Lidl doesn't have it then we don't go else where to waste money.
Lidl is my go to because I'm not interested over inflated prices to appease the loyalty card holders. I usually save about £10 a week on Lidl Plus on already lower prices.

Aldi got in trouble for their adverts for false advertising because they were comparing brand prices with aldi own brand

Aldi and Lidl’s meat mostly comes from Thailand and China

What a peculiar statement.
No Lidl near me, but I promise the vast majority of Aldi's meat is British! I expect Lidl's the same.

How do you reckon Lidl's VAT exempt? 🤔

What has that got to do with anything? Is is now illegal to mention low animal welfare standards in Thailand and China ?🙄
I'm a vegan and even I'm well aware of other countries welfare or lack of towards animals.
[Hiding behind sofa now to wait for knock on door to be arrested for speaking out].