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.

It all depends on the manager. My local Waitrose is appalling and my local Aldi is wonderful - even the staff are friendly! Always check your veg for quality wherever you but it and keep an eye out for sell by dates. I've started using my local farm shop again.

I use ocado, spend on average £100/week for a family of 5. This includes nappies, baby food and formula for the childminder to use 3 days a week (baby is bf and eats mostly normal food when at home), and packed lunches for us all.

I sometimes top up elsewhere for things I know I can get cheaper but by meal planning, shopping the offers, and using own brand I don't really find it any more expensive than when I go to another supermarket.

I don't think waitrose is a lot more expensive than other supermarkets as long as you stick to their essential range and buy the things that are on offer. You get 20% off 10 items you choose via the pick your own offer. So in my house we eat a lot of their meat on 3 for £10, but also get 20% off on top of that. Quite often they have pasta at half price, 3 for 2 on fruit and veg, I stock up on coconut milk, rice, dishwasher tabs etc when its on offer.

I wish I had the choice. The nearest Waitrose or even Sainsburys is over two hours drive from us

I shop between Waitrose, Sainsbury and Lidl. Some brilliant quality fruit and veg at Lidl. Just pick and chose the best bits.

I usually do my shopping at Waitrose. It is the nearest supermarket and it is a fairly pleasant shop. I sometimes do online shopping with Sainsbury, don't find it any cheaper, but they have last minute delivery slots.

I get a weekly fruit and veg box from Able and Cole too. About once a month I will go to the local farmers market and stock up on sausages and bacon, much nicer than the supermarket, and freeze them.

I spend about 100 to 150 a week on food for two adults and one full time child. It can vary if dh is away for work, or school holidays etc. I also take lunch into work each day, and DD takes snacks to school.

Being able to afford something depends on a lot of things, income, outgoings and choice etc. Some people can afford things others can't. I don't go on lots of holidays for example. If I needed to save for something I would economise by not going out. My food shop would be the last place I would look to save money.

I shop at Ocado. I buy a lot of Waitrose stuff but Ocado own-brand when it comes up as it's normally much cheaper. I shop by looking at what's on offer and meal plan carefully, so I find I spend the same or less than if I went into any other supermarket and bought in a rush (I know other people are capable of calm shopping, I am not).

I seem to remember reading that M&S and Waitrose pay farmers more than the others for the best of the crops so they probably do have better fruit and veg. But you can counter this by buying fruit and veg in person. I usually have to do a top off mid-week after getting my online shop for fruit/veg/bread.

I do some of my shopping there for specific items, not all of it.

I dint find it overly expensive if I stick to the essential range. Thankfully for my bank balance I live too far away from both my nearest Waitrose's so only ever visit the main one when meeting my grandma.

Even the duchy milk isn't that expensive I find (60p for a pint here) and their full fat one is lovely in a proper cup of tea!

I've read a report, although it was a few years ago, that said M&S fruit had the highest levels of pesticide which was why their fruit looked the most perfect. Sometimes better to go for the ugly stuff as less pesticides I'm guessing - there was a big move for supermarkets not to get rid of the less perfect looking fruit and veg as there was nothing wrong with it. M&S therefore wouldn't be my first choice for fruit.

I'm single and on a part time public sector wage. I shop mostly at Lidl but there's a Waitrose right by my work so i pop in daily for a free coffee to check for yellow ticket discounted items or any good offers they have. I get a fair bit of dry packet stuff from their bargain bins to be honest - Muesli that's near is date, stuff that is end of line etc

Also sometimes i buy their offers like 20% off chicken kievs or whatever. I don't buy a lot but i like the shopping experience there

It's really not that expensive if you stick to basics and things in season. Own brand is like Sainsbury's prices.

I like Waitrose largely because it's a pleasant shopping experience. The meat is also really good quality, but other than that I don't think it's worth the higher prices tbh. I'd rather shop at a cheaper supermarket and then buy meat at the butcher's.

We, or I should say I, do most of our shopping at Waitrose. I don't find it much more, or at all more, expensive than equivalent Tesco or Sainsbury's products but in general I think the quality is better. It is just the two of us though and we both make good money. We sometimes use M&S, Sainsbury's or Tesco as there's a huge one nearby, and Aldi/Lidl occasionally as DP is slightly obsessed with looking for tools in their aisles of randomness, but 'proper shops' are mostly Waitrose. The Essentials range is well priced for the quality.

Like many other posters, I shop at Aldi, Watrose, Tesco, Sainsburys (not very often) and M&S. I buy fruit and salad, and nice stuff with discount or offer, usually in Waitrose and what I buy is CHEAPER than Tesco and Aldi. Tesco and M&S are very convenient and tend to be on foot pint of milk and newspaper shopping and any yellow stickers.
Booze, pet food, washing powder and basics are from Aldi. Veg for cooking comes from Aldi or Tesco unless on special offer.
I love Waitrose and am also a fan of Home Bargains.

I shop at aldi and ocado it's a mix really i just got rid of my smart pass (£2.99 a month anytime deliveries) and they've sent me free 3 month pass they're loads of really nice stuff in aldi I filled a trolly yesterday for under £60 to get the same quality at ocado would of been £100+.

I used to do all my shopping in Tesco but now I do a big shop at Tesco every couple of weeks and then smaller ones at Waitrose. I haven't found my food bill has increased because it isn't as big a store and I'm not tempted by as much as I am if I pop into Tesco. So the stuff I buy is nicer but I don't buy as many things. That doesn't seem right because I should be tempted by more in Waitrose but there just isn't the sheer variety of stock IYSWIM .

Forgot to add Meat in the 3 for £10 in Waitrose. I think I shop carefully and if you are disciplined Waities is brilliant.

People go to Waitrose because of the status associated with it

What a hilarious comment. 😂

The reason I shop at Waitrose is thst it's my closest supermarket and I can afford it. I also like the fact that my local store is a nice size, it's big enough but not too big. It's also friendly and clean.

I used to love Waitrose but we moved area and my local one is awful. The staff congregate in the aisles to have their briefing meetings, the quality of the food is poor and the customers are awful! I was waiting in my car the other day and the woman who'd parked next to me came back to her car and slammed her car door open so hard it hit my car door, the car shook and zoooom - before I could get out to shout at her she'd sped off. I hadn't parjed too close to her at all - my car was right over on the other line as much as I could get it (IYSWIm) to give her as much space as I could, but she still made no effort to open her door carefully. Woman in her 60s. Blue Audi, if anyone's interested. And yes, she dented my door. This isn't exactly Waitrose's fault but it's the final straw for me. I'm doing my main shop at Aldi and Tesco now

I used to LOVE Waitrose

'I agree that fruit is demonstrably better in M&S than in Tesco/Alid.
The strawberries, for example, this week, are huge and smell and taste amazing.'

The strawberries at M&S are always ten times nicer than those from any other shop.

Like Justanothernameonthepage I tend to cook from scratch and mostly rely on their essentials with a few treats. I don't find it much more expensive than Tesco and I like that it's very ethical in terms of how it treats its staff/suppliers.

Strange question. How can I afford to do my weekly shop at Waitrose?
Because I've got the money to pay for it

Husband drops by Waitrose early in the morning after the nursery run and gets the stuff they have out on discounts. Buys in bulk as and when and then freezes.