to not understand why people go to Aldi & Lidl...

[TheBeautifulVisit]

… it's such a horrible shopping experience.

It reminded me of being in a co-op in my very small hometown circa 1977. And then when you've got a trolley full of their stuff and queue up to pay there's that humiliating bit at the end where they don't give you sufficient time to pack your groceries. They just expect you to very quickly remove your groceries and go and pack them elsewhere, with no bags.

I feel assaulted.

Can you please tell me

1. how far away is your Aldi or Lidl & why do you go?

2. what do you miss about your old supermarket? (which one was it)

3. how much do you spend there each time you go

It was cheaper than my normal shopping but actually I didn't buy my normal shopping: no fresh chives, no fresh ginger, no butternut squash, no purple sprouting broccoli, no green peppercorns, no little tubs of anchovies & olives from the Waitrose deli. I travelled much further to get there.

And there's no delivery.

Why why why?

Lidl have on offer at the moment "Icelandic Blck caviar" --£1.49.
Bought some and will serve over Easter [or any other time for that matter] with smoked salmon on blinis.
Too yummy for words, add to the mix,. Champagne, total bliss.

First time I went to Aldi, the teenager at the checkout told me off as I starting packing my stuff directly into my own bags sitting open in the trolley- you know, the huge reusable Toys r Us style bags which stay open.

I just said that was what I was going to do and he sneered "Well.....if you think you can keep up" and proceeded to try and "race" me.

Yes, I thought he was an idiot, no it wouldn't happen in any other supermarket, but would it stop me getting my cheap shopping there? No!

I have two Lidls and an Aldi within a 2mile radius from my house. I also have a Sainsburys within the same distance. I used to shop in Sainsburys but realised that I'm saving about £50 a week, maybe even more by shopping in Lidl. I don't miss purple sprouting broccoli, although I do love broccoli and eat a lot of the normal variety which I can get in Lidl. My local Lidl stocks fresh herbs including chives but I don't tend to buy them because I get fresh herbs from my own garden. My Lidl also has butternut squash, aubergines, mangos etc.
The only thing I can't get in Lidl is coffee beans (although in fact they had 1kg bags of lavazza coffee beans in the store this week). So I only need to go to S'burys for my coffee.

Op, out of interest what do you do with the little tubs of anchovies and olives? Do you use them in cooking or do you eat them as they come? I can get anchovies in my Lidl too but they are not in little tubs.

Maybe my local Lidl is just very well stocked but I have been very happy with it. I'm usually in the shop with a baby and a toddler and I generally don't want to spend a long time at the check out anyway. So it suits me very well not to have to make any small talk and just quickly pack my bags and go.

omg did people report this thread or whatever?

I totally took the OP as a tounge in cheek side swipe at her self...

may she should have put a certain word in the title.

I agree that I prefer to go to M&S Food as it is more pleasant than going to asda with all the smokers outside the doors, but I still have to shop at asda as needs must.

1. about 5 miles. I saved the money I saved on food and took my kids skiing.

2. I miss the 'free' bottles of booze I used to buy with nectar points. I do go back now and again to ram home the reality of their pricing so it's bearable.

3. I think I'm a big spender (get me). I spend £80 - £100p/w

FWIW my local Aldi often stocks fresh ginger (I freeze a pack or two), always has butterNS and has even sported the odd pak choi.

I frankly bloody love the place, but I do take the precaution of limbering up before the trolley challenge (which with one or two tricks I now have down pat and I can pack and keep up with the cashier )

Mind you I'm not looking for an 'experience' I'm looking for fresh no frills ingredients and my own body weight in yogurt and guess what, that's what they sell.

This thread inspired me to go into lidl today and what did I get....purple sprouting broccoli!!! I kid you not. I was mostly after meat and veg and was impressed.

Had to pop into tesco on the way home to get some paprika though.

Not a fan of either chain, I'm afraid.
I went shopping in Russia before the collapse of communism. It wasn't that dissimilar an experience.....

Um, no Corus, it's more the staff attitude, the limited choice, their bonkers mix of stuff for sale eg a mig welder next to the yoghurts...

FUN ,

Bless , you do like to have your jokes,

What on earth is a MIG welder ?

Lidl bakery is far superior to waitrose. Fact.

Can't say that I've ever been tempted to weld while eating a yoghurt....

I go to Aldi for their chocolate - it's ace.

Their brands are different - e.g they have Cornish butter which is delish and cheaper than the generic stuff in Sains.

Their rice, olive oil and tinned fish is also way cheaper than Sains' and nicer too. I also buy their face cream, which is excellent, and other basics such as cheese and pasta. They do offcuts of ham which are incredibly cheap. Every now & then they'll have a promotion (for example German or Spanish food) so you get interesting stuff. Their veg are great and e.g. red grapefruit are 50p each in Sains but 29p in Aldi, and are bigger & juicier.

So I do a big shop in Aldi (5 miles away) and then top up at Sains (1 mile) for stuff I can't get there and organic stuff.

Slippy we have an Aldi about 3-4 minutes drive from us and a Lidl 15 minutes drive. DH detoured via Lidl after a dog walk todayfor no other reason but to buy their sour dough bread.

He is a mad keen baker himself, DH, so that said something.

Their pink donuts are pretty good too. :)

Bought p s broccoli in Lidl this week. Last week I bought a pink donut and ds said it was the best treat ever.
I always buy their organic carrots.

Eeeee, what a snob you are OP!

So that I don't have to fill in dubious market research forms for people doing degrees in marketing

Perhaps, 'It Is Too Hard' should be 'I Can't Be Arsed'.

I do my groceries at my local shops.

We are fortunate enough to have an excellent greengrocer, butcher and baker under one roof.

So I do my shop there and then wander over to Woolworths to fill the gaps.

Aldi is outside of my 'circuit' as it were so the small savings I would make are not worth the effort.

Morloth... you go to "Woolworths"? I thought they closed down a couple of years back?

I've really enjoyed reading the posts on this thread, esp. the ones implying that the OP must be a journalist coming here to do some research. I've never shopped at these stores but my MIL loves them so they must be cheap - she loves a bargain.

There are so many positive comments here I think I'll try one of these stores soon, but I'm not keen on rushing through the checkout with a huge shop, so will just test the water with a small shop to begin with.

We have a 99p shop near us that has some real bargains. Also, their carrier bags are nice and strong and useful for bin liners. (As opposed to Sainsburys bags - thin as tissue paper.)