Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think Waitrose...

97 replies

bagpackbagpack · 22/02/2017 21:13

Isn't expensive or posh?

Out of interest I just popped my weekly shop (I shop Waitrose and m&s mainly because they are closest and always has a niggle that discount/big 4 supermarkets aren't really worth the extra petrol and traffic to drive to ) into the mysupermarket website.

I would save a royal £3 on my weekly shop, and that's the maximum, if I went to one of the big 4, and that's only if I dropped 3 items out of my basket, because the others don't stock them, theses items where: sea bass (whole, Waitrose fillets them for free), duck legs and pollock fish fingers.. these items actually cost £10 together, so the big 4 seem to be more expensive.

I would like to think that most people can afford to spend £5 on a whole large fish, £4 on 2 duck legs and £1.20 on a pack of fish fingers given they had the choice. All of the above would feed a family of 4.

Would I also be unreasonable to propose a ban on elitist supermarket posts. That goes for Aldi and Lidl shoppers too...

Just shop at your bloody local supermarket people, it's just bloody nonesense that any single one is more expensive than the other!!

OP posts:
Rosieposy4 · 22/02/2017 22:03

2 duck legs do not feed 4 people, ever, fact.

TheWorldAccordingToToads · 22/02/2017 22:06

Well I shop in Waitrose and I'm anything but posh so YANBU on that point Grin

Original poster
bagpackbagpack · 22/02/2017 22:06

Well I couldn't eat a full one! I usually do them like a coq au vin in the slow cooker though..

OP posts:
Ackvavit · 22/02/2017 22:06

Near a Booths and a Waitrose here. Fed up with Booths, they just don't cut it if you go with a list and want specific meat whereas Waitrose do. Plus great decent fish counter which again you can count on rather than being hit and miss especially with a list. Used to have time for a decent Asda but gone right off recently with totally weird move round of stock plus newish speeded up checkout rules which make it impossible to pack. It's sad for staff

TheWorldAccordingToToads · 22/02/2017 22:07

What's Booths? I have never even heard of them and I'm a northerner.

cowshindtail · 22/02/2017 22:08

Waitrose is definitely posh as it is the only supermarket where I get stared at for not being smartly dressed.

BarbaraofSeville · 22/02/2017 22:08

YABU. You have to shop very carefully in Waitrose to avoid spending a fortune. Stick in a few 'that looks nices' into your trolley and it can cost loads.

They are the cheapest place for Lavazza coffee though, I'll give you that. And I do find them stressful. Once you've got used to the checkout speed of Aldi, Waitrose checkouts are jaw clenchingly, infuriatingly slow. I stand there twitching and resisting the urge to shout 'just fucking get on with it'.

Our city has a Waitrose and an Aldi opposite each other. I often go and fill a trolley in Aldi and then go to Waitrose for coffee and a few bits. The carrier bag in Waitrose usually costs more than the trolley load from Aldi.

BarbaraofSeville · 22/02/2017 22:09

Booths is like a posh Waitrose.

SoftSheen · 22/02/2017 22:09

IME, Waitrose is cheaper than Tescos, provided that you stick strictly to the essentials range and multi-buy offers. It's definitely cheaper if you want to buy higher welfare meat e.g. outdoor bred or free-range pork.

The problem is that in Waitrose there are just so many more nice (and expensive) cheeses, patisserie and wines that tempt you to spend an extra twenty quid. These things seem easy to justify when the man in front of you is buying an £80 ham (yes really).

hoddtastic · 22/02/2017 22:11

i am an ocado shopper- get a big branded delivery from there every 2 weeks and then go to aldi in between. Some of the things i want/need they don't sell in Aldi (mozarella in a block, nice instant coffee, dishwasher powder to name 3) there's no biggie to getting an ocado/waitrose shop in. They claim to match same prices as tesco and I have a free any time delivery pass, far more civilised.

Their wine is very expensive though (i think)

PickleSarnie · 22/02/2017 22:12

The checkouts at Aldi are another reason I can't shop there barbara, paying money to have my shopping lobbed at me is no fun. Apparently though, according to friends, I have the wrong attitude and need to embrace the challenge and look on not being beaten by the checkout assistant/concussed by a flying tin of cheap beans as an achievement to aim for.

timealone · 22/02/2017 22:13

I usually shop at Sainsburys, but I do it online. I recently put my order into Mysupermarket, and it came back with Aldi being £5 cheaper, Asda £3 cheaper, Tesco £1 cheaper and Ocado and Waitrose were more (can't remember how much).

The trouble is, Aldi don't sell everything I need and don't do delivery, so I would end up needing to go to two different supermarkets every week rather than doing it online.

CaraAspen · 22/02/2017 22:14

OP:
I agree! Don't know what the fuss is about. It is only John Lewis food, after all. I find the packaging irritatingly plain and wholesome so that the effect can be drab. Not impressed by vegetable selection either.

MumW · 22/02/2017 22:15

Have to say that when we swapped from Tesco to Aldi we saw big savings. There are cetain branded products and other odds and ends that Aldi don't stock. I watch for these items and stock up when the big 4 have them on offer.

I guess I'm lucky that Tesco, Sainsburys and Morrisons are easily accessible and Asda and Waitrose are very near where DD has dance lessons so I very rarely have to go out of my way to visit one or other.

Rhayader · 22/02/2017 22:17

It's worth pointing out here that generally those basket price comparisons are a scam. Most peoples baskets are around 60% on promotion.

As you are doing your shopping, you pick the items that are BOGOF or 1/3 off etc. These exact products (pack size and brand) are not on promotion at the other supermarkets, and are the inflated "non promotion" price. Therefore, when you do the calculations, it looks like you saved loads of money. But in reality, you would have picked the on promotion products at the alternative supermarket.

Sparklingbrook · 22/02/2017 22:18

If it's expensive you want you need to get down to the Co-Op.

EssentialHummus · 22/02/2017 22:18

I can do a week's shop for two for £65 in Waitrose, closer to £80 in Sainsbury's, £45 in Aldi.

The bigger issue is the idea that my class and therefore my status in the great hierarchy of UK citizenship is determined by where I shop and the frequency with which I feed my kids McDs. It's all nonsense.

Sara107 · 22/02/2017 22:19

I got Ocado home delivery a few times and they price match to Tesco on branded things, so not more expensive. But I think there are more temptations in Waitrose? I always end up buying expensive chocolate there, while I am never tempted by the stuff in Sainsbury's.

newbie789 · 22/02/2017 22:20

I went in waitrose once, because I had a £5 off voucher
I nearly cried at the prices, a cucumber was 99p (39p in lidl) we eat 3 a week!
I seriously considered dumping the trolley half way round,
Never went back!!

BarbaraofSeville · 22/02/2017 22:26

Tesco is also quite expensive, so price matching to them doesn't mean much.

I can go round Aldi and put whatever I want in my trolley without looking at prices. Almost everything in Waitrose is cheaper elsewhere, even with vouchers, like newby says. You're almost certain to spend more, even with vouchers.

JoJoSM2 · 22/02/2017 22:27

I think Waitrose is good value for money. The food is better quality and they have a wide selection of some less usual things which I appreciate.

Timetogetup0630 · 22/02/2017 22:28

It's Morrisons all the way for me, but only cos it's a 20 minute drive to Lidl in next small town.

Love Waitrose though. Definitely posh and expensive. If it were just me I would shop there all the time but not when I am feeding a family.
I was in big Waitrose in posh Cotswolds town and the people in front of me were buying quails eggs....

I compare bags of mixed salad.
Lidl 75p
Morrisons £1.00
Sainsbury's £1.20
Waitrose £1.50

Not recent prices, pre Spanish cold snap.

Applesauce29 · 22/02/2017 22:29

I have a local Asda and Waitrose. Asda is markedly cheaper, especially for nappies and other baby stuff, but there are long queues, staff usually don't have time to show you where items have moved to / might be located, and its more run down. Waitrose has much more prepared food and nicer produce, although fresh fruit and veg is much more expensive. I shop with Ocado now - best all rounder and the app is brilliant!

Eolian · 22/02/2017 22:30

I do my weekly shop in Aldi (converted about a year ago) and pop next door to Booths for the few bits I can't get. On the rare occasions I shop in Sainsbury's or Tesco etc I really really notice how much more expensive it is than Aldi.

Booths is lovely. I find it both nicer and a bit cheaper than Waitrose but still more expensive than the others. I'd never heard of it until we moved to the NW a couple of years ago.

applefalls · 22/02/2017 22:35

Never yet seen anyone in there in nightwear.

Clientele resolutely shod in proper shoes, trousers and coats.

Hair brushed too.

Lovely.

That's worth a few pennies more, surely.