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.

I have bought all my groceries in Waitrose, I have also bought them all in Aldi.

Everyone's financial situation is different.

How we all reached our financial situation is different for every single human. I sometimes wonder if it's because people are really asking what have I done or not done in life so I can afford to buy whatever xy and z are asking about on a thread.

Did we fail at school?
Did we marry badly, get divorced and it cost us?
Did we lose money on a poor investment?
Did we give up careers to look after children?
Do we have poor health?

Plus the other gazillion questions that lead us to where we are in life.
Could you make changes in your life so you could afford it op? I always knew I had no back up whatsoever so it made me a survivor and I have made some brutal decisions to survive. I was working at 13 so I could buy clothes and food for myself as my Mother didn't always bother to feed us.

i mostly do aldi and waitrose shopping. quite a few things are cheaper in waitrose than sainsbury, tesco or asda. asda basic stuff is mostly as good as any regular brand.

I think you save far more money by choosing what you buy than choosing where you shop. It's very easy to throw expensive ingredients into your trolley in Waitrose, but the difference between buying spaghetti bolognese ingredients in Asda and Waitrose isn't huge, and clearly many people can afford the difference. For fresh ingredients, if your closest shop is Waitrose and you take travel into account, there probably isn't much benefit in shopping elsewhere.

I did see a whole shelf of health supplements in the drinks aisle of Waitrose yesterday for about £7 each. (ginseng/acacia berry/chilli powder or something). I think they were for sprinkling on cereal. I'd love to know how many of those they shift.

It's not an odd question as many have answered it by saying they only buy certain stuff from WR.

I do a mix of Ocado/Waitrose & Tesco and DH gets a few bits from Sainsbury's as he works near one.
Pasta is v pricey in Waitrose but other than that it's not much more than Tesco if you shop carefully and don't get tempted by expensive stuff.
We're not on £150K by any stretch of the imagination.

It seems to me that Waitrose has certain niche products that you can't get anywhere else and they also have more convenience products. For example, my daughter really likes the fridge pack slices of apples but you don't need those specifically to get decent fruit.

As an aside - I agree that M&S are head and shoulders above everyone ends when it comes to fruit. The Duchy Strawberries in Waitrose can be vile.

If I walk into a Waitrose on the spur of the moment. I can easily overspend. Lots of lovely food and I can easily spend far more getting luxuries that I hadn't gone in for. I shop online so I don't do that. Also, I take advantage of their offers. Their meal deals are great value and I tend to buy items I can freeze. I also bulk buy items on offer like toothbrushes, toothpaste, fabric conditioner, kitchen rolls etc. Another tip is to keep in your favourites the luxuries you like and buy them when on offer.

I used to shop at Waitrose when I was a student as it was the only practical supermarket to get to in the bus and the other option was a Tesco Metro that was actually slightly more expensive. How I miss those days.

I like Waitrose because it's a pleasant shopping experience and the food is generally good quality but I can only afford to pop in for a few bits not do a whole shop.

I shop at Waitrose all the time. I buy their essentials range which costs no more than Tesco or Sainsbury. My local Waitrose has excellent quality fruit and veg and their food has always been high quality. And no I don't earn even 50k much less 150k! There's an Aldi near me, I went once, was SO disappointed. No idea why people rave about it.

We mainly use Ocado for food, but not Veg. We don't have a high income but prioritise quality food over other spending. Ocado sells good organic meat and milk from grass fed cows, most Waitrose brand, you notice the difference in the taste with that stuff. We don't have a car and their service for online shopping is much better than other supermarkets in my experience. I don't buy any non food items like washing powder and nappies from Ocado unless they are on offer as they are a lot more expensive. I tend to go to Lidl for nappies as they are cheap and decent quality. We also buy fruit and veg from the market mainly - cheaper than supermarkets by far & better quality. I guess it depends on your local provision but I'm surprised that you say markets are no good in the U.K.. I have lived in London and the countryside and always buy fruit & veg from markets. We live near a famous London market which is now rather overpriced for many things but fruit and veg remains good value, especially now my husband has built up a good rapport with one stall holder who gives him a really good deal .

I agree with those who've said how you shop is more important than where - when I switched to waitrose I also switched to doing 2-3 weekly shops from a list, ordered online to prevent impulse buys. Keeping an eye on the trolley as you put stuff in, and being more organised, bulk cooking etc to avoid left over ingredients (especially as I live alone), made my weekly shop SO much cheaper. And I agree that the essentials range is great, and very reasonable on prices.

I've never compared prices in different supermarkets.
The main reason I shop at our local Waitrose is because I like it. It's just the right size, big enough to have a good variety of stuff but not so vast that it takes ages to get around.
Tesco, Sainsbury and Aldi are all huge and it takes a lot longer to do a shop.

Yes YABU. It's price matched against lots of other supermarkets. If you buy standard stuff it can be cheaper! The only difference to say ASDA is that it stocks a huge range so you can get high end products not available elsewhere. Don't be so judgemental!

I have a waitrose 2 mins walk up the road but drive past it to the nearest Aldi which is a 20 min drive as the fruit and veg quality is so much better than waitrose. I suppose it depends what you buy and like but the price is 50% more and the only fruit that has been better (imho) at waitrose is their strawberries. I get all my meat delivered from Musclefood every 8 weeks and spend £150 for 2 adults and 4 kids, 3 whom eat like adults.

YABU, shopping is linked to preference as well as income. I do most of my shopping in Waitrose and DH and I have good but not massive incomes. We spend sensibly and like to eat quality food, it just comes down to how you chose to spend your money.

Only 2 branches (I believe) of Waitrose in the county I live in.

emwithme Lidle sell TROMBONES? heads off to nearest Lidl

OP, we shop regularly at Waitrose. My husband is a high earner. Our local store is lovely with s pleasant environment and friendly staff. But would you believe it, sometimes I go to Lidl for the quality! Love their chicken breast, chopped bacon, primes, deluxe crackers, and their fresh fruit and veg can be superior, especially the fruit. Waitrose is committed to having certain product lines no matter what, do you will always find certain fruit and veg at Waitrose no matter what. It may be expensive and a little under ripe, but it will be there. Lidl on the other hand seems to spot but when there is a glut, meaning it is both cheap and good.

I would shop at Waitrose a lot less, but my husband who earns a lot more than me, has it in his head that Waitrose is always better.

Loads of typos, sorry, typing on a phone!

trelawney I can guess your County because I live there too and yes you're correct, just the two.

I shopped at Waitrose even when back in the days where both DH and I were post docs.Post docs aren't high earners. Their essential range is quite affordable and I meal plan carefully.

I still shop in Waitrose and Ocado and we don't earn anywhere near £150k.

I buy the cheaper stuff separately, but love to shop for really nice ripe fruit at Waitrose as the quality is far better. I also spend a lot on tomatoes so I can get ones that actually taste like tomatoes! And good fresh sourdough bread.

But I'd rather get cheap loo roll and washing up liquid etc.

Ocado dont deliver to my address.

Could afford to shop in Waitrose (is there much difference, price wise, between Waitrose and Sainsbury, Tesco or M&S?), but am not a fan. Not really a fan of supermarkets, full stop, though I do do a full basic supermarket shop every month or two. I might do that in Sainsbury or Tesco, but actively avoid Waitrose and Asda (not keen on either for different reasons).

Otherwise, I buy all fruit and veg in the nearest farmers market (much cheaper and much better), meat from the farmers market or village butcher (bit more expensive than supermarket, but much better, and you get exactly what you ask for) and day-to-day bits and bobs from village shop.