To think Aldi isn't actually that much cheaper?

[Allhallowseve]

I've been an Aldi convert for a while now .
However today I need to pick things up and was close by a Sainsbury's so decided to go there instead of across town to Aldi.
I was shocked that there was hardly any difference in price .
Plus it was a much nicer experience. I always feel like an inconvenience to the staff in Aldi .... either in their way while they are trying to stack shelves or not quick enough at checkout.
I also picked up some pretty good deals in Sainsbury's with meat etc that had been marked down.
So aibu or is it really not that cheap anymore?
Has anyone gone back after being an Aldi convert?

We switched to Aldi for six weeks earlier this year, previously having home deliveries from Sainsburys. They didn't sell half of what we needed and most of the fruit and veg was mouldy within a few days. Factor in that and the time it took me to go, plus a visit to another supermarket at least a 15 minutes drive away because I wasn't spending enough to get a home delivery, it just wasn't worth it. Never tried the meat from there as we go to a local butcher for that.
So many people think Sainsburys is expensive but it really does boil down to how you shop. We get loads of basics and own branded stuff whereas other supermarkets own brands just don't compare and I end up buying branded. The fruit and veg lasts over a week, I've had potatoes still ok a month later. Didn't get that from Aldi.

Yep I switched to tesco as I was spending the same amount and wanted the convenience of delivery!

i love aldi

we started shopping there when we had 2 babies and the recession hit. Saved a fortune. a FORTUNE

I love that i can walk in and buy whatever the fuck I want.

I love that I don't have to peer at a wall of marmalade to pick out the cheapest one, or do complex long division to TRY and figure out which are the best value bananas.

We buy everything there at this stage to be honest. No going back here!

The only reason Aldi and Lidl are cheap for me is because they never have the bloody food I need, and Sainsbury's costs me a fortune because they know how to entice me to buy stuff.

Tesco and Asda are too far away, although I should start doing online shops again.

Big Lidl fans here.

I don't particularly aim to spend any less cos I'm a greedy fat fucker- but we just get more, and much nicer, food for what I'd spend in Tesco or the Co-op.

Yanbu

By the time I've thrown away and replaced all the fruit and veg that barely survived the journey home, gone to another supermarket to get the ever increasing amount of stuff they stopped stocking and thrown out the stuff that tasted like crap it's actually more expensive than if I'd just gone to Tesco.

The prices have went up in the last couple of years.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-40530700

Some interesting points of view about food prices here.

Lidl is the much cheaper one

I can do a full shop in Aldi or Lidl, I wish they did home delivery but when I'm organised i can go every Saturday and spend £50 on a full shop for 6, when I do this at Tesco it costs considerably more, especially now they've binned most their value range.
It does vary withAldi though, we, have 2 near us, one is not so great it's messy and the parking is awful, the shiny new one however is a dream.

I bought a load of fruit and veg in Aldi recently then went strsight to Sainsburys for all the stuff Aldi don't sell so I got the receipt out and compared prices - virtually no difference and Sainsburys is much better quality.

I also dislike the fact that Aldi has such limited ranges, a lot of the stuff we've bought there hasn't been very nice (crisps, biscuits, cereals, bakery stuff, ice cream, cheese spread, yogurts), and the queues are so long. I'm sticking to Sainsburys.

The price differential is getting smaller.

They are European. The proud is falling.

I have stopped going to Aldi as I found that I could get my weeks shopping for just as cheap in asda but I could actually get everything I wanted in one go

Agree Delilah. Sainsbury' s also let me order up to 11pm at night. I hate the checkout rush at Aldi & Lidl too.

Nearly everytime I do a comparison on mysupermarket Morrisons comes out cheaper for me, occasionally Aldi but then half the basket is unavailable and I never buy their fruit and veg it's so crap. Asda sometimes but I hate Asda so wouldn't shop there.

When we first moved to an area with a Lidl, Aldi and Tesco all in walking distance I made a spreadsheet (I know) of the main things I buy and because I normally get Tesco Value or Tesco own brand stuff Tesco came out cheaper. I do nip to Lidl for their bakery items though, their cheesy bread is amazing.

Hmm. I did a shop in Aldi the other day and was told not to use my bags but to put my shopping in the trolley and bag it up over there. My bag was a big blue from Ikea so yes I used it. There were 2 customers after me in the queue and no other queues and she started scanning the next customer before she had even handed me my receipt. I didn't like that at all.

I'm a relatively recent (few months back) expat in Australia.
Per month my shopping in Woolworths for myself and DD runs to around $180 with weekly top ups of $30 (bread/milk/fruit/yogurts/snacks).
I'm a recent Aldi convert here too (was back home too lol, but my woolies is closer here so I did it out of convenience)
My big monthly shop was
$120, and my weekly top ups vary between $15 and $23 so far.
So they're pretty good here.
Back in the Uk I was spending £90 a month (just for myself dd was a young baby and I'm not counting her formula).
In Asda or tescos this bought me everything I needed and at basics or next brand up price level.

In Aldi this bought me everything I needed plus a sweet treat, fudge brownie milk (a carton a week, I miss the stuff so much I haven't found it here) and some extras.

Make what you will of that, but I couldn't tell you about any changes in the last 6 months or so in the UK.

Depends what you buy. When you cook 100 per cent from scratch Aldi works out way more expensive than Sainsburys/Asda/Waitrose. I can get nearly 2kg of loose fruit/veg from Waitrose for 40-60p and it lasts ages.

I wish they did home delivery. Presuming the reason they don't is because the middle aisle of wonder brings in a lot of the profits?

Also, I absolutely love the packing. Anything that gets me in and out quicker. I find it really hard in other supermarkets now.

Aldi is great if you suddenly want to take up arc-welding, but if you want to buy some basic foodstuffs like flour, eggs with more than 2 days left or veg that wont turn to compost on the short journey home it's not so good.

That's just not true though. I never buy stuff from their random aisle (t's not compulsory), they do sell flour and the eggs, fruit and veg I buy from Aldi last no less long than from Tesco or Sainsbury.

I was in the states for a few months 2016-17 and I noticed when I came back lots of the prices had gone up 20%-30%.

Thanks to brexit again

Eolian I can assure it is true. I went there last week and there was no plain flour and the only eggs were two days off being out of code. I also find that there will be stuff on sale for a few weeks, and then it disappears & I'm not talking about their themed stuff, I mean basic groceries like non bio washing powder, tinned tomatoes etc.

I love Aldi, we can do a full shop for about £35 there rather than about £55 in Tesco (2 adults, 1 toddler)

We then go to Tesco/sainsburies to buy the few bits you can't get/we don't like from Aldi (nappies, margarine etc) and accidentally spend £20.

We bought DSs playpen from the Aldi middle aisle of wonder, and loads of baby stuff from the Lidl middle aisle of wonder. DH tries to steer me away from it now!