to think that Aldi/Lidl are not that much cheaper than Sainsbury's/Tesco's etc?

[ophelia275]

I recently went to my nearest Lidl and Aldi on a shopping trip with the hope of picking up some bargains as I had heard they were so much cheaper than the mainstream supermarkets.

I was a bit surprised to see that the stuff they have is quite random and I didn't find it much cheaper than the other supermarkets. Perhaps a few pence but nothing to write home about and some of it was definitely the same price. Sure, things like Lidl's nappies are cheaper but I just waited a few days until Sainsbury's/Tesco's have an offer on and got a load of Huggies nappies cheaper than Lidl's. Perhaps it's just a case of not buying expensive brands (except when they are on offer) and looking for offers/bargains at the big supermarkets?

[AitchTwoOhOneTwo]

aaaah, our lidl has baking ovens and has french bread on constant rotation...

[PowerDresser]

I shop at Asda mostly because it's in a precinct with a chemist, lots of a couple of charity shops, takeaways and a 'sell everything' shop.

I have an Aldi closer to home so I will try there to see their prices what they have because it would save on petrol if nothing else.

[invicta]

We have a new Aldi near us and I had my first proper look round last week. I agree that if you are a careful shopper in The Big Four supermarkets ( ie. bulk buying special offers) etc, then it's not that much cheaper. I intend to try and shop there every other week to try and save money, but I couldn't't use it ecxlusively.

Regarding what Lidl doesn't stock? French bread!

[lozster]

I don't 'get' aldi either. As a tee-total veggie who goes to a market for all fruit & veg, i think I would starve if that was the only place to shop. Either that or go on to a dairy overload. I have never seen brown rice or pasta or brown flour or just a normal pack of Cous-Cous. There's no tofu, no quorn, no soya, no lentils, few beans not of the baked variety.

The products there that I do eat seem to be either the same price as asda or they are dairy delicacies that I wouldn't normally eat anyway.

Their adverts make me titter too. 'I like this (points at brand) and I like this too (points at aldi)'. Claim Is that x% who liked a brand also liked aldi's version. Not, note, that they liked it more. Not exactly setting the bar high there..... Mind you come cycling week and walking week I am in there!!

[MildredIsMyAlterEgo]

I prefer to shop for certain items at ASDA, then use the Asda Price Guarantee to get nearly all my money back in the form of a voucher via the massive glitch in the APG system

oops did I say that out loud

[happyscouse]

As I said in a previous thread we did a massive shop in our local aldi for £109. a couple of weeks ago, out of interest I came home and did an online "shop" with sainsburys using my shopping list doing like for like eg aldi beans = sainsbury own brand beans not heinz ,and Sainsburys came in at £171.00. Now that I consider a great saving.We are recent converts and we still get odd bits elsewhere but really food is the only bill we can cut and we have done easily with NO compromise on quality.

[Theas18]

YABU I haven't done a " like for like" comparison, but as I said on the thread I started re DT, I shop at aldi for 5 for about £50-70 a week . OK more if I buy lots of meat or cleaning stuff but thats no every week (I spend about £5 on meat a week- maybe a chicken that will make a chicken dinner, some meat to go into a rice dish and the bones/left overs for soup. or £5 mince that will make enough pasta sauce for 2 meals for 5 people ).

I asked DD1 to do a direct price comparison on line with my receipt. Maybe I'll do it after todays shop. It would be interesting.

[BackforGood]

What I do is start from what they've got. Aldi always have veg on offer - buy their offers for that week and then cook your meals with what you've got. It's great, means we sometimes have things we've not had in ages, rather than getting into a rut. Never had any fruit or veg (nor meat nor fish come to that) from Aldi go off except where my dcs decide they don't like a particular fruit one month but I can hardly blame the shop for that.

[SuperSaint]

Aldi fruit and veg in my local store is always really poor quality and only lasts about 1 day before going mouldy. I have tried buying it from there a few times and it is always the case. As I haven't got the time or inclination to shop daily, I do my regular weekly shop at Tesco and go to Aldi about once a month to buy apple juice cartons etc that are much cheaper there.

If you shop sensibly at Tesco and buy seasonal fruit and veg plus stock up on non-perishables when they are on offer I don't think there is much difference in the prices.

I haven't tried Lidl though as there isn't one for miles.

[StuntGirl]

Someone please tell me what we're doing wrong, because we can't get it cheaper at Aldi/Lidl either. We meal plan a fortnight in advance, write a shopping list and we don't eat a lot of meat or drink alcohol.

Last time we went to Lidl out of 7 or 8 items of veg on the list they only had cherry tomatoes, which were the same price as the Morrisons ones anyway. Tins of beans were more expensive and they didn't even have any kidney beans. We did get a nice big box of couscous for half the price of Morrisons, but that was it. Ended up going to Morrisons for most of the list because Lidl didn't even have it in stock. I am baffled how people make such humongous savings.

[FoofyShmooffer]

Oh I agree with Charlotte. I went to our Aldi on Monday and could only find mixed herbs and basil. I wanted Oregano and Turmeric. I also wanted frozen onions, peppers and mushrooms (batch cooking) but the frozen veg selection was pitiful. The fresh veg is frequently questionable in age and quality and in the past I have had fresh mince that was green at the bottom, chicken that was off and stank and pork steaks that were also off.

Now it could be just my Aldi. Not sure.

[BackforGood]

I too spend about £40+ on an Aldi shop, but generally £70+ on a Sainsburys shop. I do concede there are a few things I can't get in Aldi that I need to top up elsewhere, but even if that were £5, or even £10 (which it doesn't tend to be), it still means a big saving.

[DoesItComeInBlack]

I lke Aldi and Asda, but not keen on Lidl, I usually do most of my shop at Aldi and get all my fruit, veg, tins, pasta and stuff but then go to Asda for stuff like turkey rashers that they don't stock at aldi- fwiw they don't stock them at the Tesco in our village either. I find Aldi own brand stuff to be as good quality as top branded stuff- better sauce to bean ratio that Asda basic beans for example- at the same price as basics in other super markets. I never do brands anywhere so that saves us loads of money. And those Aldi free range chickens are a bargain.
I like lLdl chocolate at Christmas though and their Stollen cake is lush.

[AitchTwoOhOneTwo]

(i should say that i am more of a lidl shopper than aldi, i do think aldi's a bit randomly-stocked unless i go to one of the big ones. but lidl is sensational).

[CharlotteBronteSaurus]

we do go through a lot of rice/pulses etc, and our kitchen is tiny, so we've no room to to bulk buy and store them. I might have a rummage at Lidl though.

[AitchTwoOhOneTwo]

you should try lidl... seriously, the only things i can't get there are puy lentils, brown basmati and tinned mackerel (but you can get vacuum-sealed stuff and very delicious it is too).

it does borlotti beans, cannellini beans, chickpeas, mixed beans, butter beans and the dreaded kidney. am so totally with you on the pulses front. funnily enough our giant tesco is frustrating on cannellini.

and puy lentils and brown rice are more of a staple, surely, than a weekly shop thing. one pack must last a while...

[GoldShip]

Charlotte I'm sure ours is the same aldi, I can never find peppers in ours either

[susiedaisy]

YANBU op I find random things cheaper such as washing powder but I struggle to get a full shop from our local small lidil and end up going back to tesco to get the other bits!

[CharlotteBronteSaurus]

aitch, of the top of my head our aldi doesn't stock arborio rice, brown basmati, puy lentils, cannelini beans - indeed any beans that aren't kidney - , proper-sized red peppers (the only ever have some sort of exotic little ones), boneless tinned mackerel fillets or boneless sardines, and lamb mince. i know that lot probably sounds a little wanky niche, but we do have a lot of soups and casserole things with pulses and the like.

[AitchTwoOhOneTwo]

well, yesterday i went to lidl hoping to buy aubergines and there weren't any. however, i then went to the gigantic tesco and they didn't have any either. i conclude that there is a big freezer container full of dutch aubs stuck in a docks somewhere. not that lidl is crap.

[AitchTwoOhOneTwo]

but what IS that stuff, sparkling, can you identify it? they don't stock particular stuff, certainly, like i do prefer a wanky soy sauce i get at the chinese supermarket to their own brand... but i prefer lidl own brand to sharwoods, which is what i would get in a supermarket.

[GoldShip]

Online shopping is brilliant for saving money too

My weekly shop at asda was 70 odd quid.

Online shopping has brought it down to 50

[GoldShip]

aitch that may be but with something as simple as lettuce you expect it to be there. Its no good to me shopping somewhere unreliable. there's loads I prefer not to go through a shopping list though. It's understandable theyre not going to be able to have as much. Especially when I'm used to shopping at a massive Asda Walmart.


What I do like about aldi though is they tend to have stuff id never try before. Cheese with chilli bits in. Among other things. But they don't stock things regularly. One time it will be there and the next not.

[jellybeans]

YABU. The veg and fruit is way cheaper. face cream/nappies are great. We usually save 20 quid on average there (7 of us-over 130 quid usually tesco)

[Sparklingbrook]

My Aldi sounds like yours Goldship.