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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to think Aldi/Lidl aren't THAT cheap?

89 replies

carlajean · 23/09/2015 15:06

I go to one or the other now and again, and come home thinking 'blimey, all that food for so little money' but there is always at least one item which is disgusting (this time it was the cider - it tasted like fizzy apple juice with several teaspoons of sugar added). So, if you factor out the horrible stuff, it really isn't that much of a bargain, IMO.
I haven't got time to shop there for what IS good, and then go somewhere else for all the other stuff, and I can never get everything I need from them.
I know they're amazingly popular, but can't see why.

OP posts:
DameDancealot · 23/09/2015 15:10

I save about £40'a week by shopping with lidl than I would if i shopped in tesco etc. lidl are also becoming cleverer by stocking Heinz soup, he'llmans Mayo where they never used to, they are stI'll the same price as major supermarkets.

PingpongDingDong · 23/09/2015 15:12

Exactly the same as DameDancealot. We have saved a small fortune in the past year by shopping at Lidl. I haven't found anything at all that tastes vile yet.

Original poster
carlajean · 23/09/2015 15:13

glad to hear about the mayo, their own brand is disgusting

OP posts:
PingpongDingDong · 23/09/2015 15:16

I will concede that the multi pack of rubber gloves wasn't that great quality but that's as far as I'll go!

NoArmaniNoPunani · 23/09/2015 15:19

We save a fortune at Lidl. If it's not that cheap, where would you suggest is cheaper?

DameDancealot · 23/09/2015 15:20

I love their mayonnaise, now prefer it to hellmans, I have been shopping at lidl for 13 yrs when I started shopping there they didn't sell double cream, crime fraiche, all the different cheeses etc

Gatekeeper · 23/09/2015 15:22

The only thing I've found there that wasn't up to much was the rubber gloves. Everything else I buy there and find it loads cheaper than Tesco etc- we live very well on £65 for four people

Gatekeeper · 23/09/2015 15:23

Look out for the copies of Lidl news in the shops; they have a £5 off £40 spend voucher inside and it is valid for this week end and next

Millymollymama · 23/09/2015 15:23

Cannot see all the fuss about shopping at Aldi. They are German. Why shop somewhere that never stocks what I want and the profits go to another country? Waste of time for me because I have to pass Waitrose to get to Lidl and Aldi. Definitely more expensive in petrol!

girlandboy · 23/09/2015 15:25

I can spend £125 at Tesco, but only about £80 at Aldi.
I'd say that was cheaper. And I think the majority of the food is great. There's not been much that we don't like. Yes, you perhaps won't like everything, but I think that goes for any shop you go to.

DameDancealot · 23/09/2015 15:33

Hi milly molly can't talk about aldi but pretty sure you could get a lot of what you want at lidl albeit a different brand name.

PingpongDingDong · 23/09/2015 15:34

I really haven't struggled to find what I want at Lidl either. What sorts of foods do you have to go elsewhere for?

DurhamDurham · 23/09/2015 15:34

We have cut about £35+ off our weekly shopping bill since we started shopping at Aldi, with the odd trip to Lidl when we fancy a change.

It is much cheaper and its ridiculous to say you won't shop there because something was awful....surely you tried stuff you didn't like from Tesco/Sainsburys etc and if you didn't like it you just didn't buy it again.

I haven't had anything I didn't like from Aldi food wise and I've only been disappointed once with the washing up liquid as I got through it v quickly, I bought the premium once the next time and it last ages.

tootiredtoknow · 23/09/2015 15:45

Wow Milly. You really do need to do some research. Lidl pay 20% in corporation tax to the UK government on their annual profits, the same as Tesco's et al. They are also committed to a living wage for its employees.

specialsubject · 23/09/2015 15:48

haven't got a Lidl (and not been impressed with UK ones) but the Aldi stuff is cheaper AND better.

examples (same quality): tinned tomatoes 39p a can, £1 in Sainsbury.
haloumi cheese: £1.60, £2 or more in Tesco/Sainsbury
olives: can't remember but half the price at Aldi and much better.
bog roll; half the price and same function. :-)
mince: again, considerably cheaper.

Waitrose are indeed British owned but I think I'm too far oop north, and the town certainly isn't going to pay their prices.

wonkylegs · 23/09/2015 15:53

I found I cut that much from our shopping bill changing from Tescos to Morrisons when we moved house (closest shops each time) Never considered Aldi or Lidl as their car park by us (they share a car park) is so difficult to get in and out of.

DaddyDr · 23/09/2015 15:54

I'm with op. Its all a big con done with very clever marketing. The same as the £ shop. Its never the bargain it seems. Very often the weight is lower than branded items from elsewhere. So £ for lb you pay more.
Company's like Kellogg's, fairy liquid etc make smaller packaging for cheaper shops and its done in such a way that you wouldn't notice. I'll stick to Waitrose thankyou. Cough cough cough Tesco cough cough cough

MakeItACider · 23/09/2015 15:58

I always spend less at Lidl, than I do at Sainsburys, but I ENJOY shopping at Sainsburys. TBH if I were disciplined in Sainsburys I could probably spend a lot less than I do. But when I shop there I buy all of the extra nice/convenient things that Lidl don't have.

Quietlifenotonyournelly · 23/09/2015 16:03

I spend less if I go to Aldi or Lidl because if I go to somewhere like Tesco I get tempted to buy stuff I don't need as there's more choice.

bbcessex · 23/09/2015 16:03

I'm another who can't see how you can fail to save money. Almost everything I've tried is very good quality. Of course you'll get the odd thing that's not to your taste but that happens everywhere.

I have saved at least 35% per week since shopping there. I still have to go to other places as we eat a lot of quinoa, lentils and wholemeal pasta plus i dont like the Aldi coffee options but it's easy to get those things bulk elsewhere.

Notso · 23/09/2015 16:12

I regularly put my Morrisons list into mysupermarket and although Aldi seems to come out cheapest it's only ever by maybe £2 or £3.
When we have tried things from Aldi I end up chucking a lot of it out as it's poor quality.

Wolpertinger · 23/09/2015 16:12

I used to spend about £80 a week at Waitrose - now spend £30-40 at Lidl.

If £ for lb you pay more, how come I'm saving all this money?

CookieMonsterIsOnADiet · 23/09/2015 16:53

I think they are cheaper as hardly any branded items. However you can't get everything from there and they don't deliver so we don't bother. I like one supermarket that sells everything and don't want to go two as far too time consuming.

MinecraftWonder · 23/09/2015 17:03

Very often the weight is lower than branded items from elsewhere. £ for lb you pay more

Oh of course, silly me. There's me thinking that those chicken legs were half the price in Lidl compared to Tesco but really it was just because there were only 5 in there instead of 10 and I never noticed!

Hmm
HildaFlorence · 23/09/2015 17:03

It would help if they managed to put things through the till properly and it annoys me that it's totally impossible to check the till receipt because they are rushing you off .

Went on Saturday , charged twice for a jar of jam, charged full price for some raspberries when on the shelf they had been marked down , charged twice for the bread rolls and charged completely the wrong price ( more of course ) for some cold meat .This happens everytime I go there.

I don't mind the stuff but this time I compared it with ocado and found there was hardly anything in it , the pasta was a lot cheaper but most of the stuff there was just pennies in it .