AIBU to think I will save money by going to aldi??

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A new aldi has opened near my work and I am really looking forward to shopping there and saving money on my weekly food shop.
I already have a lidl near my work but I just cannot bear going there as the queues are so long and also I don't find it to be much cheaper than tescos?
I normally spend about 250 pounds a month on groceries in tescos / sainsburys
To any one that shops in aldi, are the queues aa bad as lidl? In my lidl they only have about four tills open at a time, hence the queues? Is aldi the same?
Also what foods are good to buy from aldi and what should I avoid???

A few years ago, when I wasn’t working, I had all the time in the world but very little money. Our nearest big town has a long road with a Lidl at one end, a Waitrose at the other and a Sainsburys between the 2. So, without spending a single penny extra on petrol, I could take my weekly list and go into Lidl & buy everything on it that they had, then move to Sainsburys next and then finish off in Waitrose if there was a more obscure ingredient that I hadn’t got yet. It took most of a morning but saved a lot of money.
I love Aldi too & agree with a previous poster that Aldi manages queues much better than Lidl. At Lidl you just stand around for as long as it takes, at Aldi they constantly open/close extra checkouts.
Aldi’s Formil laundry detergent is as good as Ariel.

They do throw things though. One of my avocados ended up near the packing shelf, the guy just shrugged.

I find I spend more money at Aldi than at Tesco. I think it's because it harder to plan. You'll go in with a meal plan, but then they won't do several crucial ingredients. You are then left with a choice to either scrap those items on the meal plan (which costs more) or get those bits from another Supermarket. Because Aldi is way out of the way to me, its not worth the hassle or petrol costs. (It's worth noting that I don't buy branded food, and often get the Tesco fake farm produce (the new Tesco Everyday Value).

I do my monthly shop at Aldi, £150 last night for me and my daughter which included meat, fruit, packed lunches for school and work, toiletries and a few bits from the baby range that I’ll keep for my friends’ children for Christmas. A Lidl is coming nearer to me next year so I’ll alternate between them then.

Oh... and I’m a bit of a laundry snob but their fabric conditioner is lovely! Especially the pink and peach ones

I too associated aldi with cheap and horrible until last Xmas when I couldn,t get to a large asda or tesco. I bought my Xmas shopping from aldi and was very pleasantly surprised that the mince pies cakes etc were lovely. The trifle was absolutely gorgeous and much cheaper than the one I used to buy in tesco.

I love Aldi, we save money and get better quality food. The meat is especially good. It can take a few trips to get used to the tills, but once you are used it - no going back.

No going back to Tesco's I mean...... cut my food bill in half, and we have nicer food in the house.

Love Aldi and Lidl but most recent experience at Lidl was at a new store with a giant area for shopping to gather once it was through the till. This meant the cashier could chuck my shopping through as quickly as possible and it all ended up in a giant heap. I wasn’t able to sort it at all and found it v stressful. I’ve been using Lidl and Aldi for years and never had a problem packing but these new design tills are a nightmare for anyone who is buying a lot of shopping.

I get online delivery which is a really good way of keeping costs down.No specials or "just fancy that" bits that add up.
I top up at Lidl or Aldi for cheese,Greek yogurt and juice ( ok and wine).Much much cheaper and better tasting than supermarket equivalents.

I find Waitrose stressful. Some things are pointlessly expensive (bagged salad, fruit and veg ), poor quality ( hommus and baked beans) and the till queues are ridiculous.

Worra the Aldis up her in the north east don’t have a fresh bakery, but they do a lush malted bloomer. I bloody love Lidl’s fresh bakery though, especially if I can get there for opening time!

I love Aldi. Its quick, focused and has 99% of what we need day to day. I've not had problems with vegetables/freshness. At the checkouts you are meant to pack back into your trolley, I don't mind this but bizarrely some people cannot cope with a different system. Its just like Lidl really but depends on the sort of things you buy whether it will be cheaper and how close it is to travel.

I tried Lidl one week and Aldi the next. Lidl loved the bread and baked stuff.

Our Lidl Lidl very grim.

Local Aldi a bit further away but much nicer instead, only does plastic bread which is not so great.

I spent more in Aldi somehow ?

I don't want to do top up shops so that ruined it for me. I'd spent the saving on topping up the things you can't buy.

We've now swapped from Sainsbury’s to Tesco and are saving money. We've always got own brands or offers and use vouchers etc. We do self scan.

Perhaps they vary from place to place but I never get why people think Aldi and Lidl are so wonderful. I get food there every now and then if I'm nearby but the fruit and veg never lasts as long as Tesco, the chicken isn't free range so I don't buy and the frozen food is mostly awful. While some things are cheaper many things are about the same price or even more, especially considering that Tescos etc have things on offer all the time. There also isn't much variety so usually end up going to Tescos or Sainsburys to get more stuff anyway.

If you go to Asda you will save money compared to shopping at Tesco/Sainsburys! If I ever end up having to shop in Tesco, I know it will end up more expensive compared to what I spend at Asda!

So true. We alternate between Tesco and Lidl for the fact that you can't get everything you want from Lidl and we love the scan & shop at Tesco (plus the clubcard point but even these aren't as enticing compared to the money you save in Lidl)

However now Asda have introduced scan & shop, I go there so much more. I haven't found anything that is more expensive than Tesco (think at least 50p cheaper for a lot of things) and we can still be in and out without faffing at the tills. Brilliant!

Never been to Aldi - so can someone explain this ‘all goes straight into the trolley’ thing? Is this a) you put stuff in the trolley, b) the cashier does it, or c) it’s automated (can’t be that!)?

Are there signs about this or are people just in the know?

I like Aldi. The thing I find is because I can't get everything there I have to do a top up shop which ends up wiping out some savings..
Cured meats and cheeses are nicer than Tesco and more affordable.

The thing I hate about Aldi is that there's always crates and staff wheeling massive things around so it's almost impossible in places to get past because half the aisle has a crate on it and then someone is blocking the other half as they spend 5 minutes perusing the 2 types of tinned tomatoes.

I love it. I actually now like the fact you can go pack elsewhere.

I went to asda last week and it was awful. Took ages i spent more the quality was worse and i threw anything into any bag as i was conscious of holding people up. Never again!

They do throw things though. One of my avocados ended up near the packing shelf, the guy just shrugged

Sorry, this made me Such a MN problem! (Bloody annoying though!)

Love the idea that shopping in Waitrose is quieter and somehow more civilised Our local one is like a zoo, full of pushy rude bastards shoving each other out of the way to make sure they get the last artisanal spelt loaf. And they've increased the number of self service checkouts so that you're doing the work for them. Aldi is much nicer and using the packing bench is actually easier I find than trying to keep all your bags upright on the little bit at the end of the till in most supermarkets while the person on the checkout shovels stuff down at you.

I keep trying bits and bobs from Aldi. Some are good but others are poor quality. I tend to stick to a lot of brands for allergy purposes, most of Aldi stuff is unsuitable for us.
I only buy a basket full and it annoys me that there's no where except the floor to put a basket at the till.
Can't stand Lidl though. The bakery reeks, it gives me a migraine.

Also must vary from place to place as i am sure the chicken in our aldi is free range!

Aldi do sell free range chicken. We are having one tonight for tea.

I also buy organic potatoes, carrots and onions from Aldi.

Yep ours has organic veg too!