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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To love aldi but get fed up of having to visit two supermarkets as they don't stick everything I need?

106 replies

Onabudget2015 · 02/05/2015 20:53

I love aldi so much it is saving me a fortune but I get so fed up of having to visit tesco afterwards to get the bits I can't get from aldi (oat milk, wholemeal finger rolls, wholemeal bagels, wholemeal pasta, alpro yogurts etc) it's bad enough dragging the twins round aldi but I hate having to then go to tesco straight after? It makes me want to go back to just shopping at tesco, grrrrrr.......

OP posts:
Original poster
Onabudget2015 · 03/05/2015 08:03

That's a good idea about click and collect I will have a look and see if our tesco does one. In a perfect world I would get meat from the butchers, what ever non meat items I can get from aldi, and what ever aldi doesn't stick from tesco, but I don't seem to be organised enough to do this!! It gets to the weekend and we have run out of everything so need to get it all in one day!

OP posts:
Original poster
Onabudget2015 · 03/05/2015 08:04

Why does stock always come up as stick on my phone, so annoying!

OP posts:
Unescorted · 03/05/2015 08:05

Fancy shoes = ones I take off after 2 minutes because they are so uncomfortable. I do have several pairs of site boots and running shoes though.

Baking - I work / commute silly hours too. That is why the bulk shop is once a month and pop out for speciality items at lunch time. It helps that I work in the middle of Manchester and they are all within a few minutes walk of my office (except the International Supermarket). Also my employer lets me work non standard hours so I can be at my desk for 7 and leave earlier or log on from home.

Original poster
Onabudget2015 · 03/05/2015 08:08

I have done a few weeks of just going to aldi and substituting, but it meant twins had jelly instead of alpro yogurts so no calcium in jelly, no calcium enriched orange juice, and no brown bagels, rolls, pasta so we had to eat white. I was a bit worried we were not very healthy those weeks! I guess if I was creative I could change what kinds of food we eat based on what aldi stock but I'm not clever enough to come up with healthy meals everyone will eat from aldi :(

OP posts:
MrsMook · 03/05/2015 08:08

I do my shopping on two days now.

I ended up having to go to 4 supermarkets around DS's allergies a few years back. Not weekly though. Lidl sold sausages he could eat, Sainsburys was good for other free from, Morrisons was my usual staple, but couldn't always get his milk there, and a special 12 mile trip to Tesco Express to buy a particular loaf of bread, hopefully en mass to freeze.

Morrisons wasn't online then and I didn't buy enough in any one shop to manage delivery.

My pregnant hips would have loved to.just do it online and cut out tantrums in the supermarket, but it just wasn't viable with the products we needed.

TooBusyByHalf · 03/05/2015 08:22

LOVE aldi. Sad I know. Yes you do have to go elsewhere for some things but for me 1. I like getting fish and meat from the fishmonger and butcher anyway sometimes - and depending what you buy that can be very good value too. And 2. The savings make the extra time taken totally worth it. But 3. It helps that there's a big Sainsburys on my road so the top up shop is pretty straightforward. But always Shock at Sainsburys prices.

My overall food bill has gone down average £200 pm since I started going to Aldi.

bakingaddict · 03/05/2015 08:23

Not as much fullofthebrim as I used too but the point is I online shop and have a cleaner so that it free's up precious time at weekends that would otherwise be spent shopping and cleaning so we can do things as a family unit.

I believe if you profess to be a decent cook and have a well stocked larder with different herbs, spices and speciality ingredients such as some Chinese, Asian, Japanese condiments then you can make tasty food regardless. For example I make my own pasta,ravioli and ho-fun noodles completely from scratch with my bog-standard Tesco ingredients

PrimalLass · 03/05/2015 08:27

We're supposed to be getting an Aldi 5 mins away, which is good because the Asda on the same street is shit. It is so heard to find something to cook a meal amongst all the cheap ready-muck and aisles of junk food. But I'm a Tesco delivery shopper at the mo because someone bringing it to my kitchen is just too nice Grin

airedailleurs · 03/05/2015 08:28

Try lidl? Our lidl's stock has expanded out of all recognition in the 10 years I've been shopping there and it even has a bakery now Grin. I used to have to do what you do OP but not any longer. Do you have a Lidl near you?

Unescorted · 03/05/2015 08:30

The well stocked larder is a must Smile My spices alone take up a cupboard and then there is another cupboard for the condiments and yet another for oils and vinegars Blush

YouMakeMyHeartSmile · 03/05/2015 08:40

fulltothebrim we do all our shopping in the same place, don't have the time to do anything else. Yes we have days 'off' but prefer to spend them taking toddler DD out than traipsing around supermarkets. The only other place we buy from is a local farm shop as you can also wander round and see the animals and have a coffee and cake so it's a lovely day out. Usually get some nice meat, cheese and veg from there.

LaurieFairyCake · 03/05/2015 08:42

I do Aldi and get Ocado to deliver the rest.

I hate going to supermarkets, it's such a crappy chore to load everything up.

HagOtheNorth · 03/05/2015 08:43

Cheap supermarkets are exactly that, designed for people on a very limited budget so they keep their prices well down but you have to take pot luck on what's there.
Like honeyroar said
' when I get to the second supermarket and realise that I've got four huge bags of shopping at Aldi and one at the other supermarket, yet spent £60 in both shops I remember why I went to Aldi in the first place!'

We have a large freezer, fridge and breadmaker, which means things don't go off, and I can shop once every 10/12 days for basics.
We have a pantry stocked with raw ingredients for most things, tins and dried goods.
DS is more of a forager than a cook, so not having lots of ready-bought stuff cuts down on his calories.
'Yes, you can have cake, here's the flour.'
With both of us working FT when the children were still dependent, we had to be very organised and not run out of things. That's continued now they are adults, and we have a running shopping list.
Open the last one, write it on the list.
Saves us a lot of time and money.

JumpRope · 03/05/2015 08:43

Lidl for most things, topped up with an Ocado once a month or so and trips to Waitrose when I'm walking around town.

Totally bypassing Sainsos and Tescos now, and I don't miss them at all. Too big and exhausting.

chocolatelife · 03/05/2015 08:49

at one stage i was doing all 3 or even 4 shops in my town, in one evening. just to save money.
ended up having just loads of food. all very well it is cheaper in Iceland for example but my kitchen cupboards look like i am expecting a siege.

i just do online now, without top ups

FusionChefGeoff · 03/05/2015 08:50

I am very lucky to have a butcher and a greengrocer in walking distance then I do Aldi once every couple of weeks and local co-op for more specific ingredients.

I always have multiple lists running and spread out the shopping visits as and when so it doesn't feel like a big chore to go to lots of different shops.

I think this works as I don't meal plan ahead (mostly work with what I've got ready steady cook style) and am obsessive about keeping the freezer stocked with leftover batch meals so we can always cobble together a meal if one of the shops is overdue.

chocolatelife · 03/05/2015 08:51

i think the answer is to look in your cupboards before you go shopping, make a meal plan and buy only minimal

HagOtheNorth · 03/05/2015 08:51

'ended up having just loads of food. all very well it is cheaper in Iceland for example but my kitchen cupboards look like i am expecting a siege. '

Shall I lend you DS for a few days? Grin

orangutanhihio · 03/05/2015 08:51

Yanbu. It depends on how you value your time and petrol (assuming you drive), I wouldn't want to trek to two supermarkets.

I can buy everything I want in Sainsbury, it's also my closest supermarket so that's where I shop. I don't have loads of money, but I don't care whether my carrots are 10p cheaper in Tesco or milk is cheaper in Aldi, I value the fact I can buy my entire shop in one go, there's plenty of choice and offers and I'd rather support a British supermarket.

chocolatelife · 03/05/2015 08:54

that is a good point orang....
Asda is american isnt it Blush
perhaps I should buy British.

DameDiazepamTheDramaQueen · 03/05/2015 08:54

I save over 60 quid a week by shopping at Aldi so if I have to nip into tesco to get something they don't stock I remind myself of that fact!

Tesco often doesn't have things I go in for though and when you order on line the substitutions are ridiculous sometimes.

UnbelievableBollocks · 03/05/2015 08:58

I've got Lidl and Aldi close by and used to shop around, but now do the whole lot in one go at ASDA. By the time I'd traipsed around 2-3 shops it just wasn't worth it. We spend around £70-80 pw on food for a family of 4 from ASDA. I occasionally buy frozen seafood from Iceland, or nip into sainsburys if there's something specific like rice noodles that I want, but ASDA don't stock, but that's it.

Pointlessfan · 03/05/2015 08:58

We alternate: big supermarket one week, Lidl the next. I stock up on basics like tinned tomatoes in Lidl and the things they don't stock in Asda. Go to Waitrose for a few treats now and then too.

piggychops · 03/05/2015 09:06

We do so bulk buy at Tesco once a month for stuff we can't get. Wholesale pasta is one of our staples.
As an aside, we used to buy Alpro yoghurt when DS was younger but when I realised how loaded with sugar it was I decided not to bother any more. Could you bulk buy and freeze the oat milk? Bagels and things would freeze too.

LePetitMarseillais · 03/05/2015 09:07

Yanbu

I'm like this with Lidl.

Have started doing a big Sainsbo shop once a month for Ecover,healthier kids cereal and healthier snacks. Yogs are a prob though as I find Lidl too sweet.