To think that Aldi/Lidl are just not that cheap?

[Pyjamaramadrama]

I'm always hearing people rave about how cheap these supermarkets are.

I've given them a try over the last couple of weeks, and yes some things are cheaper, and some things were just really nice but a bit more expensive.

I did an online shop and then when directly to Aldi/Lidl to price compare and there was nothing that was a lot cheaper, some of their stuff was a complete rip off. I only buy a lot of things such as cheese and beans when they're on offer anyway.

Are people just kidding themselves? I'd go again as I say some of their items were just really good quality but I wouldn't go out of my way as the few pence I save would be swallowed in petrol.

Free Range eggs are less than 10% cheaper, butter less than 5% cheaper, milk less than 5% cheaper, yes it's cheaper, but I've no idea how people get the 30-50% cheaper thing. What products are you buying?

I never used to find lidl that cheap. aldi was far cheaper. However our local has gone shit now and we were spending a fortune on top up shops and making several trips out to other places just to get everything we needed so I think now the price has lost out to the sheer amount of effort and expense involved in going everywhere else on top.

now shopping in morrissons where I do see many things in line with what we'd pay in aldi and obviously others that are more expensive but it's lasting longer and we can do one shop.

I think your right I nipped to Lidl this afternoon and my top up shop came to £36. I didn't buy that much chicken breasts, sausages, cold meat, fruit juice, rice, pasta, shampoo/conditionor, kitchen roll, crisps, bakery items. I think it would have been the same price in asda/Sainsbury's.

Well for example. Bought some bread, it was £80, I can get bakery bread from Tesco for that. Beans, I bought 4x branston beans for £1.27 from Tesco, Aldi were more than these. I got Cathedral City cheese from Tesco for £2, Aldis premium cheese was more money. Their blueberries, cucumber, mushrooms, potatoes were all more expensive than Tescos. Their orange juice was more than the Tesco value which I prefer. Their coffee was more than Supermarket on offer price. Their pizzas were ridiculously expensive.

80p for bread of course.

Aldi is also consistently cheaper. You might be lucky in one of the other stores where the items you buy just happen to be on a great offer that one week. But they won't be the next.

When I used to shop in Sainsburys, I'd buy a lot of the value stuff. I'd spend around £70 a week
When I moved to Aldi, I now spend around £50 a week (well, less since ds left home, but going back to when I first switched).

I'd be very surprised if, over the course of a month, you didn't make considerable savings by using ALdi

There aren't many brands I can compare directly, but the bread I buy (Warburtons, Toastie) for example, is £1 in Aldi. Last time I saw the same loaf in Sainsburys it was £1.45. Same difference with a bunch of bananas. Now, go through your whole basket with those differences, and I can't see how you can't save.

I think it is slightly cheaper but it depends on how you shop in the other supermarkets. I tend to shop the offers and bulk buy things when they are on offer and so as a result I don't think lidl is much cheaper.

Oh and I agree Sainsburys is an absolute rip off. I'm comparing to Asda, Tesco and Morrisons.

x posted.
I get pizzas for £1 in Aldi - I can't gt them for that in Sainsbury's

Their 99p pizzas?

Blueberries were 79p last week.

Oh and to the very rude poster, I'm only starting a discussion. When I say I people kidding themselves I just means Aldi/Lidl probably were cheaper but food prices have come down lately. Sometimes things appear cheaper but it's worry double checking not just assuming they're cheaper because we're told they are.

I was talking to one of the women on the till at Lidl and she said the thing is that yes, you might find something cheaper at Tesco or wherever, but that will be a temporary offer. Lidl doesn't do any special offers at all - the price that you're charged this week is the same as the price you were charged last week. That means a lot if you are shopping on a budget.

I got a spinach and ricotta pizza from the chiller in aldi - was delicious, I'm sure it was less than £2. I don't call that ridiculously expensive!

And you know that cathedral city will be £4 next week.

YABU

I save loads in aldis.

I probably could do a shop in tesco buying all their own value brands for a similar price to aldi but tesco value brand stuff is no where near as good as aldis.

Ok so my shop:

Lidl £57.85
Sainsburys £86.72
Tesco £82.60
Morrisons £82.63
Ocado £92.28
Waitrose £97.82

No, I can't get everything in lidl and its 20 miles away but it's still much cheaper.

Fruit and veg are the only things that really change because of aldis super 6 thing where every week 6 items are reduced to 69p.

Blueberries were in that a few weeks ago then 79p the next. We ate loads of them that fortnight!

My shop in Aldi for me and DD costs about £50-60 (more than it should for 2, but I buy whatever we fancy). I do my elderly parents' shopping for them at Tesco (online, so offers very obvious) and it is rarely under £100, often £120 or higher.
OP it was a bit of an odd way to 'start a Discussion' to be fair...
I consistently save money at Aldi (occasionally have to shop at Tesco or Morrisons so keep on top of price differential). If you don't, then don't shop there. We a aren't kidding ourselves, I assure you.

Yanbu

I used to shop at Aldi and Lidl then swapped to Tesco for convenience but I was spending more each week. So I went back to Aldi recently and did a couple of shops but whilst they were less they weren't massively cheaper and it wasn't particularly accurate as I didn't have to top up my store cupboard bits or cleaning products. In Tesco I would get my shampoo etc within the shop but with Aldi I would have to go to Boots so Aldi wouldn't have been far off my usual shop costs.

I have still been going midweek for fruit and veg top ups because that's where the biggest savings seem to be but I've been trying different supermarkets alongside this.

I think Aldi's standard fare is comparable to the price of Asda value products, except the Aldi quality is higher.

In general I save 20% on what I spend in Tesco. I use the difference to pay for my gym membership each month which I otherwise wouldn't be able to afford.

Yes but I got a spinach and ricotta pizza in tesco this morning for £1.25 on offer and would never buy cathedral city cheese since it is always cheaper to buy the two 500g blocks of mature cheddar for a fiver than to buy the brands which are much smaller.

I do agree though that if you just want consistently lower prices they are a few pence cheaper on most things. I don't think the difference is dramatic however and there is much less choice.

I didn't see any blueberries for that they were £2.19! And smaller than the Tesco ones. I didn't see any 99p pizzas the cheapest was about £1.70 and I can get really nice ones for that at other places often in a 2 for £3 but we need two anyway.

I agree it's usually offers but who buys full price anyway?

I do still shop in lido though. In like the fruit and the bakery section.

I hunk now the trouble is in some areas aldi has become a victim of its own success.

I was frequently finding aisles blocked with big empty boxes, green mince on the floor having been taken off a shelf and dumped in a crate, veg and fruit practically empty, products we bought regularly such as bread flour suddenly just gone.

It used to be a lovely shop where I could get 95% of what I needed and dp could grab the rest on his way home from.work.

last time we went we spent about 40 quid had nothing in the way of fruit veg or meat or food really and the prices of what I did buy had gone up.

real shame tbh as was happy shopping in there before