To wish I could shop at Sainsburys

[Jujuheyhey]

I know this is ridiculous but I bloody love Sainsbos. I do most of my shopping at Lidl/local market because it's cheap and convenient but every now and then I go to the big Sainsburys for 'a few bits' and spend a bloody fortune marvel at the choice and variety and lovely things they have. I know I'm a sad act and that I'm lucky I can afford food, but it pisses me off that I'm always having to watch the pennies when other people can go there and pile their trollies high without thinking about it.

I have quite a small budget so I mainly shop in Aldi & Lidl, which is great because I get so much more for my money. I've always been a happy customer and I especially love the Super 6 fruit & veg on offer for 39p, its amazing.

Saying that, whenever I'm in town I do enjoy going to the big Sainsburys to have a look round the home and clothing section. I always come out with at least some candles and new towels

I get delivery from Sainsbury's because I'm disabled and struggle to carry shopping. It is more expensive than Aldi/Lidl even if you're careful, but if you stick to own brand stuff and offers, and meal plan sensibly I don't find it too bad. I know what you mean though, we had a few years where we were more or less living off value pasta and tinned tomatoes with some herbs stirred in, and now things are a bit better I still really enjoy being able to buy some properly nice food now and again. Going to Sainsbury's feels like a bit of a treat.

I'm an Aldi/Lidl devotee these days, reckon my weekly shop is about £30 cheaper than Tesco.

I love Sainsbury's clothes and homeware sections and will go for a mooch even so often, but am not overly - fussed by the food.

We usually shop at sainsburys mostly basic range as its closest supermarket. We did a shop in aldi then compared to what we would spend in sainsburys and it was an £8 saving although couldn't get lentils. But it's further and along a scary road so we stick with sainsburys on a strict budget. I'd love to shop in waitrsoe.

I only go there for their mayonnaise! I don't like any that Tesco sell, so I get all my food from Tesco online, but go to Sainsburys a buy three jars of Taste the Difference Mayonnaise/manna from heaven. Actually the orgnic crunchy peanut butter is good too.

I lust after Ocado and Waitrose, but actually shop in Tesco. One day...

(to a poster upthread) - you know they pipe the nice 'smells' in - it encourages people to spend?

I can't be doing with the slowness of other supermarkets than Aldi - I am part of the 10am sunday queue to get in - we even say hello to each other.

But then, shopping is not a leisure activity for me - more like a strike mission.

Our local sainsbo is a hellhole with rock hard fruit, piles abd piles of Danish (ie intensively reared, nasty) pork, inedible stuff from tge deli counter and over priced tins.

And the sad white and orange value range.

It smells too.

Slowest moving queues in the history of queues. 1 trolley in front of you = 10-15 mins wait.

HTH

It's all true! Our local Lidl is much nicer.

I shop at Sainsbury's on a regular basis; their own brand (the JS one) doesn't taste any different to branded stuff and is affordable. If you are wanting branded, then they are slightly more expensive than Tesco/Asda!

I know what you mean. I shop at asda, aldi and the local market. I will occasionally go to waitrose for stuff you can't get elsewhere (Asian ingredients mostly) and always genuinley marvel at people doing a full weeks shopping there whilst people watching!
I actually earn a little bit more than I used to do, and could afford to step up from smart price everything but old habits die hard. I swear by smart price loo roll and genuinley can't imagine spending £3-£4 on another brand!!

On a separate note, I should probably get out more.

I love Sainsburys, they deliver to me weekly. If I go in the price is shocking but doing it on delivery means I can really reign in the cost. It's not Aldi prices but it's cheaper than Tesco, especially when you factor in the fresh stuff doesn't get binned after going rotten overnight. Their own brand stuff is brilliant, I hardly buy anything branded now. Tis a lovely shop, I could very easily blow the food budget

Actually I think Sainsburys is the most sneaky supermarket. Like they put massive red offer signs up, but when you actually look at the small print it's a saving of like 3p.

Saying that I used to shop in there when I was budgeting at £40 a week - just look at the bottom shelves for the cheaper priced items and the world food aisles for big cheap bag lentils and tins of tomatoes for 30p and things like that. I did a comparison on my local Aldi at the time, and Sainsburys worked out cheaper for what I was buying.

I'm always envious of people that seem to chuck things into their trolley without looking at the prices on the shelf.
I add it all up as I go to stick to my list / budget and usually put a couple of items back.
It makes food shopping a PITA

I must admit, as the owner of teens, I love they cook the pizzas for you and box them. Cheapest take out ever

Our Tesco is ever so expensive. I had an engineer out from bt and he reckoned it was the most expensive Tesco in the country

"I'm always envious of people that seem to chuck things into their trolley without looking at the prices on the shelf"

I'm not envious - I think they are gullible idiots to waste money like that.

I shopped in Sainsburys on a recent self catering holiday. It was very nice but I was at the checkout and then spent all weekend muttering about being able to get a huge trolley full in Aldi for what we had spent on a few bits for the weekend.

That said, I'll be first in the queue to shop at Waitrose after my impending Lotto win

I usually shop in Sainsburys but went to Tesco today as wanted a Costa coffee afterwards. The shop was much cheaper than I expected. I'm not sure if they've dropped their prices to compete with Lidl and Aldi but I got a huge trolley of food including £20 of nappies for under £100.

Yes you have a point Pearlymum

A friend of mine works in Sainsbury's so has 10% staff discount. She shops in Tesco because it's better value.

I can choose and just about afford to shop in any supermarket I like but I LOVE alid/lidl. The lidl within walking distance has just closed to be rebuilt all shiny and new so now I have to drive to the new aldi. I actually like the limited choice - I am fed up of traipsing around massive supermarkets. The fruit and veg selection is always good and lasts a long time. My local sainsburys is big but crap - they don't stock anything special (unlike waitros/M&S/aldi/lidl)

Didn't Jack Monroe do most of the shopping on the blog at Sainsbury's?

My Mum loves Sainsbo's, I'm not fussed although their Taste the Difference chipolatas are the only sausages I eat.

I am the only person in the world for whom Aldi/Lidl is not much cheaper. I saved just under £3 compared to Morrisons I found most of the products unusable so really wasted money. I'm happy to pay the extra £3 not to trip over empty boxes and not have my shopping chucked at me at the till.

I think Sainsbo's is the worst value of all the supermarkets. I actually find Waitrose - as long as you stick to their Essentials range and don't buy artisanal cashmere-woven luxury toilet paper or handmade organic pesto with pine nuts and virgin's pubes - much more reasonable than Sainsburys.

Nah, I'm not fussed about Sainsbury's food- although I do go there for the kids' clothes. Their school uniforms are much better quality than Tesco IMO, and the day clothes are naicer.

I only buy the cheaper, bog-standard stuff tho. Their TTD range is possibly terribly pleasant. I wouldn't know.....

Our Morrison's is my supermarket of choice. Cheap, unpretentious ingredients for cooking normal family meals with.

BatFacedGirl - I can't decide if your post is rude or just ignorant. It's great for you that you could spend up to £400 a month on food - I don't have much more than that for everything that needs paying for each month (including rent and bills). You are one of the lucky ones, not one of the usual unfortunatly.

I get what you mean OP. Went shopping today and took so long as I have to think 'well if I treat myself to this, we have to have a cheaper meal here', it just gets boring. Yes, it's good not to be in the situation of bare cuboards (been there, it's horrible), but sometimes it would be nice just to be able to put things in the trolly (brand name tasty things) without feeling guilty or like I need to take a small loan out!

Sleepy absolutely! I'd love to be able to go round and pop whatever we fancied in without thinking of the cost. I'd love to think I'd shop in Waitrose or Sainsers but I don't think I would even if we won the lottery! We've recently changed to buying fruit and veg from the market and meat from the butcher (they do a brilliant family freezer pack for a £10, which lasts us 2 weeks) and just get a few bits and bobs from Aldi and we've saved a fortune. They fruit and veg lasts loads longer too. I think I'd do more organic farm shopping if we won the lottery!