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???

Did my aldi shop this morning (not a big shop this time) 36 items cost me less than 30 quid and about are multi pack items! I load into the conveyer, everything back into trolley and then straight into boxes in boot of car. Can't recommend highly enough!

I recently did a price comparison on 18 items in Tesco and Aldi, all store cupboard ingredients, no meat or fresh fruit or veg.

Aldi was massively cheaper on caster sugar, icing sugar, soft brown sugar.

It was also cheaper on rice, fusilli pasta, eggs, granulated sugar, tomato puree, some chocolate, plain flour and self raising flour.

However, it was the same price, or more expensive than Tesco on spaghetti, lasagne, butter, tinned tomatoes, passata, and basic chocolate.

And it did not sell bread flour or dried yeast at all.

These were just store cupboard ingredients I would always want to have in my cupboard. They might be a bit random to some of you, but I couldn't check everything.

My research left me unsure if Aldi would be cheaper enough to warrant the inconvenience of not being able to get everything there. Also, while I am not much of a brand shopper, some in my family are particular e.g. cereal. They only sell their own cereal and I don't know if that would be acceptable to some in my family.

I'm going to have to give it a go and see how it works, aren't I?

We tried switching to Aldi for our big shop and it didn't work. They didn't stock a lot of things we needed and very limited choice on many things so we ended up having to do a second trip to our usual supermarket to top up. Their fruit, veg and meat weren't great quality and went off very quickly. Their milk seemed to smell off before it went over the date. Some things were cheaper but not enough to make it worth the hassle.

The staff do scan the items very quickly yes, you just put it all in your trolley then pack at the packing area.

The till staff are on targets to scan X items per hour, which they have to meet.

This means that costs are kept down which helps keep prices low and also the queues move really quickly.

I love Aldi, even the toiletries are great, and so cheap.

Their fruit, veg and meat weren't great quality and went off very quickly. Their milk seemed to smell off before it went over the date.

Really? I find this very bizarre. I find their meat and fruit / veg great quality and have never had any issues with their milk or things going bad before the use by dates.

And it did not sell bread flour or dried yeast at all

I've been a regular aldi shopper for over 20 years and they sell both those things routinely (ie not specials).

Their range has increased massively over the past few years so if you think you can't get everything there, it might be worth looking again.

The staff in our Aldi are lovely. Luxury fruit and nut muesli £1.69 (in the blue pkt). Frozen goats cheese and spinach pizza £1.99

I like the fact that there aren't several versions of everything. It makes choosing easier. I do go to Waitrose just for a change sometimes.

@BarbaraofSevillle ours is only quite a smallish shop and it definitely did not have bread flour. I will look again of course, but I imagine it is a question of shelf space.

Love Aldi! The quality is amazing and the prices are keen. I found the till experience a bit stressful the first few times, but you soon get into the groove. Now the cashiers at Morrison's feel so slow in comparison! They aren't totally heartless though, and have helped me before when I've been struggling to manage a pram or a baby in a carrier!

We are aldi shoppees too!

Im always horrified when we have to go to Sainsbury's and compare the costs.

I think the biggest savings are if you buy ingredients not ready made foods

I've slashed 30% off my weekly bill by shopping at Aldi. I've been a customer for about 12 year - long before it was trendy.
I go really early and get 50% on their red sticker stuff and bung it in the freezer. 18p for a loaf, 15 packed lunches a week, works for me.

Aldi is worse for queuing but the do put things through very quickly.

My advice is to have several blue ikea bags to quickly put the shopping back in the trolly. You often dint get a relaxed packing at the checkout.

Vegetables are often not great but I've found the majority of other items are good.

God I love Aldi (Lidl too, I love them equal amounts).

I'm in Ireland. Here they are both better quality and cheaper than other supermarkets.

You save money in 2 ways. Firstly because things are just cheaper. Secondly because you don't get distracted by treaty stuff you don't need. Plus it's a far quicker shop. Win, win, win.

I do love the middle aisle of madness though. I need to be careful that I'm not spending all my savings on power tools.

My Aldi shop was £91 this week, including some little Christmas presents. The same stuff in Morrisons is usually about £110. I'll take my £80 a month to spend on fancy gin thanks!!!

Oh and I take my big bags and when I've loaded the belt, put them out in the trolley and pack as they scan.

I'd say Aldi is cheaper than Morrison's. They are next to each other here and I often go from one to the other so notice the difference.

Have been shopping at Aldi from when it was the kind of shop most people would never go in and often saw the police there. It's undergone an enormous change since those days but it still delivers good quality at cheap prices. As for the staff, ours are lovely, chatty and are sensitive to those who can't pack very quickly. They're also VERY reactive to queues and open another till as soon as they stretch more than one person beyond the end of the belt.

We also have a Sainsbury's and an M and S locally. This year the strawberries and avocados at Aldi were way beyond either of those in terms of quality, flavour and freshness. I can only assume the comments about quality are down to local variation.

Love Aldi. Love the middle aisles of madness! Now prefer high speed checkout, DD has her own bag for the bits and pieces she chooses, she loves the cured meats.
Waitrose seemed so slow last time I went in!!!

I like Aldi, but I always spend a fortune in there, so I can't say whether I'm saving money or not. I also go to Asda, Morrisons, Tesco, Iceland, Lidl, Home Bargains, B&M's.............

I stopped going Aldi as I noticed my weekly food shop went up and i was paying the same as I was in Asda.

After reading this thread I may give Aldi another go ...the fruit is shit though, goes off really quickly.

I am in Ireland so obviously the prices are different but I’d say Aldi would be about 60% the price of Tesco. (Which is very expensive here) That’s just my rough estimate!

To all the people that moan about the cashiers scanning the shopping too quickly, it’s no where near as bad as the cashiers in Asda who insist on chatting to each customer (for which feels like 15 mins) about the contents of their trolleys, which makes me want to scream after standing in the queue for the 15 minutes.

Thanks everyone for all your insight - very helpful! I will be going to aldi on Tuesday

I find that Lidl is cheapest/best for meat, with really good value, variety and long dates. But Aldi is by far the best for fruit and veg in my area. So I have started going to both. My combined shop for a family of 5 is coming in at around £60 for a week's worth of groceries, including household items such as washing up liquid, shampoo, etc. That is an enormous saving on our previous shopping bill, which would either come from Ocado, Sainsbury's, or local shops.