To ask people that do their normal shop at waitrose how they afford it?

[jdoe8]

After spending a few days with a family member that does and doing an aldi shop, the quality is very stark. As much as the super 6 look good, the apples are very powdery and the oranges pithy and not that sweet. It makes me feel a bit poor. In other countries you would have market stuff that is good, but obviously not in the UK.

I feel like I would have to earn 150k to afford it. I like it for the rare treat, but unless you live on cheap stodge im not sure how so many people afford it.

Send your children to work there and you can get a discount on your shopping!

Have to sing the praises of Waitrose! I am a complete convert; and it is not more expensive at all if you're savvy; here are the tips:-

1. In store; register online with them and get 20% off up to ten key core items every time you shop; they do this on lines like Weetabix and allsorts; there's a vast choice
2. You also get a free cuppa and newspaper if you spend over £10
3. Their bargain shelf at Leeds is immense; always lots of meats etc which you can freeze all at cutdown prices
4. They do a half price event twice a year; amazing!
5. Register online and they give you something like 20% off an £80 shop, amazing; sign up to Ocado too and you'll get £15 off £60 shop
6. Santander and HSBC also do 5% cashback periodically at Waitrose so extra savings there too Waitrose is comparable anyway in terms of price to Asda and Sainsbury's, eg meats 3 for £10

But the thing is that the differential cost really isn't important to lots of people - they're not value shoppers so they don't bother comparing price. I used to shop at Waitrose and now I shop at Tesco- I know it's cheaper but I don't notice the savings. I have no idea how much things cost at different supermarkets. I would be better off if I did care, I suppose, but the savings don't seem important enough for me to take the time to bother about.

Scholes - do you know how much the discount is?

I'm just being nosy...

Their essentials line is price matched to tesco own brand.
And there are brilliant markets fur fruit and veg in Rhys country! It can't just be where I live?

I do almost all my shopping in Waitrose. If you use the my supermarket you will find that they are often far cheaper for some brands (Nutella is cheaper than Aldi). I find their fruit and veg keep better so there's less wastage, their meat is not pumped full of water and fat so I need less and their own brand stuff is amazing. I love their squash, and their tea bags for example, so I buy fewer brands. They also have amazing reductions on meat which I know I can freeze safely. Sometimes their counter stuff has a few days on it even when it's reduced. I'm also a member of MyWaitrose so I get 20% off ten items I buy regularly. I also find that I tend not to buy impulse stuff because they don't generally stock it. I can easily spend over £150 in Sainsburys or Tesco but most of my Waitrose shops are under £100 a week with no top up shops.

Enko, have you tried Aldi's Specially Selected 18 month extra mature crunchy Cheddar? Best Cheddar I've ever tasted!
I'm not really an Aldi shopper but I take my mum there fortnightly and have discovered a few of their things I like but they use palm oil in a lot of their products and I prefer not to buy things that use that. I scan some branded products on my Tesco app, quite often they're about the same price but you get points from Tesco.
I do find their fruit and veg doesn't last as long though. My OH delivers and collects for M&S and they have specific requirements for strawberries (I'm not sure about other fruit) the ones that don't make the cut are distributed to other, not as fussy, supermarkets. Maybe Waitrose has a similar brief for its fruit and veg

I buy a little bit most days. I go to Waitrose once a week and spend about £50 there. I get the rest in Sainsbury's and a few things in Marks and Spencer. The other day, we went to Asda and branded things are a lot cheaper. You can buy cheaply in Waitrose but it is also easy to spend too much. I find Marks has the best fruit and salad. Waitrose is great for prepared things like quiches, desserts etc and veg. Sainsbury's is far superior for meat. It is best to shop around a bit. Some things are only available in some shops.

Pmsl at the posters rushing to point out of how filthy rich they are! I can"t believe we are the only family with a household income nowhere near £150,000 who regularly shops at Waitrose

I avoid Sainsbury's because of the quality of their meat, I can never find high welfare free range there.

Choose you're stuff on need not want ie I know it's premium so I only get what I need, and know it's good quality ethically sound and crucially good variety of allergy friendly stuff- they don't bulk out their own stuff with nasties either
I only shop at Sainsburys waitrose or coop now
Last aldi shop cost similar and quality whilst generally ok didn't stay fresh as long, and their meat and fish pretty vague about heritage (lots of descriptions about farms but no actual specifics unlike sains and waitrose which were v clear)
Like someone else said I'd take less of better quality
Aldi however still worth a trip for face cream 😂

M&S definitely have the best fruit and vegetables. I prefer M&S, husband prefers Waitrose. If he does the shopping it's Waitrose (other than fruit).if I do it's M&S.

Waitrose probably pips M&S for cheese, although we often get cheese from a local cheesemonger.

M&S beats everyone hands down on quality of flowers.

I can"t believe we are the only family with a household income nowhere near £150,000 who regularly shops at Waitrose

I do a lot of home baking. I wouldn't scrimp on butter and eggs but flour, sugar etc really makes no difference. I assumed Sainsbury's would be cheaper for these sorts of items but they weren't.

Do green groces exist in the UK any more? Is there anywhere to buy fresh fruit and veg other than the supermarket? Local markets I guess? Anywhere else?

INeedNewShoes its 25% discount plus in John Lewis too, you have to work there for 3 months first.

I think what this thread shows is that a lot depends on how your local store is run. We have two Lidls in town, and one is decidedly better than the other, even though ostensibly, they are the same. I assume this is down to management and handling of free produce and cleaning / tidying. The Lidls near to work in the next town is half way between our two, in terms of standards. I'd rather drive to big Sainsbury's than go to the small one I can walk to, because it's a nicer shopping experience. Although for the last 18 months I've had Waitrose between me and the Sainsbury's I can walk to, so that's the main reason I mostly shop at Waitrose. But anyway, they're not all run as efficiently as each other, even when they're meant to be, which partly accounts for different experiences, even of the same chain.

A disabled person’s perspective: long post.

I get around with a stick, sometimes needing two, but legally, I can’t walk. So I can’t go and do a supermarket shop. I shop online, getting a big delivery once a month. I’m single and retired, and rarely buy processed food. Cakes, biscuits, pastry and sometimes bread, I make myself. I don’t eat salty and oversweet processed stuff, I can taste it and it’s disgusting. I have time to make what I want. I’ve learned to cook late in life and I like it. My friends seem to like it too.

I plan my meals, cook it, freeze what I need, eat it.

Currently, I prefer Waitrose, but I’ll be moving to a bigger town 100 miles away in a few weeks. I might explore what other supermarket chains have to offer in that area, or I might stick with Waitrose. I checked the postcode for Waitrose deliveries, along with broadband coverage and flood risk before I put in the offer on the house. I particularly like certain of Waitrose’s own-brand stuff, especially the pasta. I always check the offers and have favourites marked.

The quality of shopping online is inconsistent between different branches of the same company, like bricks and mortar branches of the same company vary. Waitrose gives me a far better online shopping experience than Sainsbury’s (consistently bad, wrong items delivered, fail to make delivery on the day at all, too often); Tesco (far too many own-brand only choices). Neither Aldi nor Lidl do online grocery shopping; online is a very recent invention by Morrisons but what I’ve bought in store when a friend has taken me there, hasn’t persuaded me to try it. Maybe I’ll give them another chance when I move. I won’t shop at Asda, ever, because I don’t like the hugely exploitative way the Walmart outfit operate globally.

Waitrose are consistently excellent in prompt delivery, more expensive substitutes (rarely necessary) are only charged at the price of what I actually ordered; availability of branded products if I want them or their own brand are usually excellent – baked beans are highly recommended! Deliveries are on time but they phone me if they’re going to be late for bad weather or something like that. I’ve tried branches of each supermarket in the three areas I’ve lived in while online shopping has been available.

I have two freezers so I can freeze as much as I want. Milk and other dairy stuff, and bread, freeze well. I just wish Waitrose had a butcher that delivers marrowbones (for stock, not a dog), but you need a proper butcher locally for those. Fruit and veg are the only things I need to get out of the house for between deliveries, plus the occasional thing I might have run out of and not anticipated needing just then.

The upshot of all this is that, for me, Waitrose is no more expensive than any other accessible supermarket although I’ll always go to a real butcher for good meat if there’s one locally.

I find supermarket shops impossible working, with two young children, so it's online only for me.

Aldi is just too draining; I get panicky at the till when my stuff isn't lined up just how they like it for the mad flinging scanning race. Their cheese and meats are FANTASTIC though.

Tesco was fine but their app is just so infuriating. Things were misspelt so couldn't be found if you typed the correct spelling. They didn't know what was out of stock until the day of the delivery. Constantly missing really important things (wine and chocs guys, the vitals, just bung in any old substitute!).
Ocado app is sooooo good. Delivery drivers are much more helpful round here (probably better paid, who knows). I spend £80 every 5 days (cannot keep the family fed on a 7-day shopping cycle, we run out of fruit and veg by day 4).
Combined family income is £75k so comfortable but not 'rich'. BUT we drive a boring car, don't do foreign holidays, so I guess we're prioritising nice food over everything else, which is an entirely personal decision.

Waitrose for me most weeks. I started because it was the only local supermarket with a flat carpark (I hate multi-storeys). I meal plan every week, and generally spend about £120 for 4 of us. Occasionally I get some stuff from Morrisons - we have two locally, one dismal, one pretty good - because Morrisons do some things Waitrose don't (and vice versa). I've tried Tescos, but apart from the hugeness of the place the emphasis on own brand and the short lifespan of the fruit & veg make it unattractive. Sainsburys is multi-storey, so I very very rarely buy anything there (it's a 1 1/2 mile walk). There's no local Aldi, and Lidl is about 2 miles away with a tiny carpark.

As I know the local Waitrose so well, I can do my usual weekly shop, and check out, in under 30 minutes.

In short, my choice is about convenience and access, and I can shop to budget, so long as I resist the temptation to buy lovely looking delicatessen type things. Waitrose also does some nice English and German wines, which I prefer as they are usually low in alcohol content (8-12%).

I'm a single person, salary around £20k per year. I shop at Waitrose a fair bit. It's by far the nicest supermarket in town - large aisles, very bright, fabulous staff - and for what I term every day stuff (Heinz baked beans, branded cereal, branded washing powder, milk), I don't find them any more expensive than Tesco or Sainsbury's or Morrisons in the same town unless there are offers on. Their meat is more expensive and I must admit I generally get that at Sainsbury's.

I will shop everywhere but I do quite a few regular shops at M&S. I prefer them to Waitrose. I'm sensible with money so I can afford a few treats a week.

I don't find waitrose more expensive tbh. All supermarket fruit and veg is expensive and a waste of time to eat, if you can even catch it in that 3second golden window between unripe and rotten.....i go to grocer's and markets for that and buy meat direct from the farm via mail order.

Like others I cook from scratch, plan every meal, snacking doesn't really exist in this house, freeze stuff to make good use of gluts of cheap things....that all helps us have a good diet on an extremely tight and strict budget (£80/wk for three).

Depends on what you cook or use it for, I can afford to shop there but choose not to, only for some items such as eg smoked salmon, breads, different types of yogurts, variety of non dairy milks, otherwise it's usual supermarket and local grocers.

If you buy ready meals or some meats perhaps yes it's better, it's good for certain items, but other things are a total rip off and are no different to what you can get elsewhere. It's the brand and packaging more than anything, not taken in by it personally but seems a lot of people seem to think it's really special to say you only shop in Waitrose/M&S. If you look you can find good great produce elsewhere for a lot less price wise.

I don't know why someone even starts a thread like this tbh!

It's the same as asking why someone bothers to buy an Omega or P Patek watch when a Timex would do the job.

It's a lifestyle choice.

It depends on loads of factors including which supermarkets are on your doorstep.

I have the choice of Waitrose, Sains, and a small Aldi.
I find WR meat and fish the best quality. At this stage of our lives we can afford not to count the pennies of every single thing and if that means shopping at a nice store, wide aisles, good quality food , then so be it.

I do an online Tesco shop now and again using Delivery Saver but the minimum spend is £40. As the most expensive items are always meat and fish, I'd struggle to spend £40 a week on the rest of what we eat.

I've costed it all out before:

Waitrose is about 10% pricier overall. In a year, shopping at Tesco would save me around £400. That's not to be sniffed at, but it has to be measured against not being able to choose the produce (meat and fish) and not having such a range of choice for a lot of what we eat.