Weekly Shop Cheaper in Aldi?

[PancakePenelope]

Just looking for some tips really!
I currently get most of our grocery/ household shopping from Asda and I am pretty careful with spending. There are some things that I like / are cheaper from Aldi and I go there to stock up on these once a month.
I am always hearing people say that they do all their shopping at Aldi to save money, but when I have done a weekly shop in Adi I perceive that the total is more expensive. Granted - I usually do this online and click and collect, so I might not be seeing all of the deals?
We are a household of three adults (fairly strong appetite) and a toddler. We eat very cheap lunches during the week (at work) but like nice food in the evenings. Vegetarian dinners are absolutely not an option - we are very meat and fish heavy (and I don't really want to hear about the impact this has on the planet / health etc. Plus I do understand that meat costs significantly more than vegetables).
Please give me your tips for shopping cheaply at Aldi!

Aldi shopper here. I wonder how your managing to spend more in Aldi than Asda.

I do my main shops in Aldi. Toiletries and cleaning stuff from Poundland. ALDI can be samey I find so I get things like ready made meals in M&S and other weekend treats sometimes.

We use Aldi and try to create reasonably priced meals for a family of 5.

The better value foods I guess will be the ones that are better value most places like whole chickens, beef mince, pork shoulder etc…

Breaded chicken steaks are nice with salad and about £2.20 for four.

Big bag of jacket potatoes are good.

The big paella ready meal thing is nice between 2 and I think it’s about £4.50. I know it’s probably possible to cook your own for less but I’m not very good at cooking and it’s so quick and easy, it just goes in the microwave for 8 mins and is comparatively cheaper than a takeaway.

I also like the toiletries and cleaning products. Hand soaps of all kinds are nice (I like the Jo Malone dupes but they do also do cheaper ones), spray deodorant is good, washing up liquid, dishwasher tablets, fabric softener is all fine.

I agree that the household products and toiletries are really good.
I always stock up on the store cupboard basics - beans, tinned tomatoes, rice, cereals, oats etc because they're better quality than the cheap supermarket brands.

I think it depends so much in your local stores. My local Aldi is very hit and miss. Sometimes I can go there and buy all I need, other times I still end up having to go elsewhere to finish shopping.
I’ve been sticking with Tesco lately. Not a fan of Asda.

I really don’t like the household stuff. Wilko are good for those near me.

If you're spending more in Aldi, it's possible you're not comparing like with like, because many items (apart from key known cost items, like bread and milk, which are often the same in every shop) are usually cheaper than Asda, even though the latter is probably the cheapest mainstream supermarket.

Are you buying more or getting the luxury versions in Aldi? Have you actually looked at the cost of the items you're buying and how much they are in each shop?

Or you can compare online using www.trolley.co.uk/

Yes ALDI can be samey. I'm lucky to have access to a lot of ethic food shops and veg market to supplement the aldi/lidl shop, can you do this?

I don't have aldi where I am but I do have lidl and we do all our shops there now. Its considerably cheaper. We don't tend to do weekly as I work quite long hours and we will buy fresh every few days but in lidl we would spend £30-40 whereas the same in tesco is upwards of £60. I don't eat dairy and I think there being less crap for me to buy in lidl does play into it, but even the fresh food is a good bit cheaper.

Thanks for the advice so far!
It might help if I list the things I already buy from Aldi regularly:

• Pasta sauce
• Nutrigrain bar dupes
• Baby wipes
• Toddler cereal bars
• Washing up liquid
• Hand soaps
• Loreal dupe shampoo
• Bin bags
• Cleaning products (disinfectant, spray, toilet blocks and bleach)
• Laundry detergent

I stock up on those items about once a month, so I don't need to get them from Asda (generally speaking) some are significantly cheaper than Asda / branded alternative but others are the same price and I just prefer them (Aldi washing up liquid is just the best!) . So the vast bulk of my Asda shop is fresh food / nappies and loo rolls (I buy some of these from Aldi too but don't have space at home for a whole month's worth of loo rolls!!)

We mainly have fresh meat and vegetables, rather than ready made stuff - although I have switched to using jars / packets over the last couple of years for convenience and because it is often cheaper than making things from scratch!

Aldi dishwasher tablets are great and excellent value if you have a dishwasher.

I find cheese and yogurts are far cheaper.

Veg can be good value and meat and chicken, especially their weekly deals.

Pasta is good value and far nicer than the cheapest value brands in other supermarkets.

Household stuff is fine, except for washing up liquid where i am ever loyal to Fairy.

@EducatingArti
Sadly no dishwasher

They do offer of the week vegetables usually, so it always helps to plan meals around those. For example spring onions that can 69p usually are 50p on special offers.

only issue i have with aldi is their fresh produce doesnt last long.

Their thai curry kits are amazing and much cheaper than the blue dragon brand. Great with chicken/prawns

As is their indian jar sauces.

Like others have said it can be samet but i find that keeps me on a better budget as i know if i go into asda or something i’ll always be tempted by all the stuff 🤣

I go to Lidl (but much of a much) and top up at Tesco (only options nearby). However my tip is essentially meal plan and avoid the random aisle. If I just get what's on my list it's definitely cheaper than Tesco (maybe not Asda) but as soon as I stray that's when the price increases.

However I find their dairy very good value and for treats/mixing it up a bit I enjoy their xyz week, usually the week after when it's reduced a little bit.

only issue i have with aldi is their fresh produce doesnt last long

People always say things like this and it's never been my experience and I've shopped regularly in Aldi for decades, long before it was socially acceptable to do so.

Aldi nappies are supposed to be very good, so possibly another thing to stock up on monthly. I'm sure cheese and cooked meats are cheaper in Aldi and the dates will often mean you can buy for the month, or at least alternate one week Aldi, the next Asda - that might be another way to do it?

Their yoghurts are good especially the Greek style
Extra Mature cheddar cheese
Marmite dupe
Swiss style muesli. Both the nutty and Berries and cherries. Used to buy Dorset until I tried these
Frozen Haddock/Cod in Breadcrumbs
Pork mince
Pork loin chops
Chilled sourdough pizzas

I can't do a full shop there, end up in Sainsbury's anyway so it's not cost or time effective.

Asda is better imo, Morrisons occassionally. I can't get a descent shop at Aldi and it's not close to us either.

I get toilet roll, bin bags, dishwasher tablets, laundry stuff and a few other bits in bulk from Costco every couple of months rather than using supermarket. Well worth the membership fee.

I genuinely don't find Aldi cheaper by the time you've factored in going to other shops, either a bigger supermarket or faffing about in B and M etc.
Yes Aldi is cheap, but I can only get about 70% of what I want, so I end up in other shops buying stuff I don't need. Plus I work my time out to be my hourly rate at work and if I factor that in, Aldi is definitely a loser.
The individual goods are cheap at Aldi, but if you can't complete your shop there it's a false economy.

@Covetthee
Interesting example - I pay 40p for spring onions from Asda, every week.
It's funny because I find it difficult not to be tempted by extras from Aldi - so we are total opposites!

@Lyricallie

Good tips thank you - do you meal plan before you go, or do you go into the shop, find the offers and plan from there? I am a strict meal planner, but can only seem to manage it when I am online shopping! In store I find that I will blunder and when I get home I have missed key ingredients somewhere along the way. I should mention that I have a very vocal 3YO with me when I shop (hence the preference for click and collect!)

How much money does everyone actually save by going to Aldi? Is it a few £s a week or more?

I go to Lidl as its closest but we went to Asda at Xmas thinking we'd do the big Xmas shop there. I walked out with nothing after seeing the prices - you'll save a fortune at Lidl or Aldi, but it does vary depending on what you're cooking.

OP - shopping at several stores is a better way to maximise your budget than sticking to 1 store, as different shops charge higher/lower for different things

They all tend to benchmark a certain 'basket' (usually milk/cheddar/beans/chicken/bananas - 10-12 items) which tend to be v similar prices everywhere

IME Aldi is great for cleaning/laundry products, yogurts, store cupboard foods. I also like their pies (higgidy dupes), chocolate

If you are prepared to shop in a few different stores (rotating 3-4) you are likely to make good savings: however understandably many people just don't think its worth their time

I find both Aldi and Lidl offer better quality at a lower price. Eg Torchon ham is a similar price to other supermarkets’ far more budget ham offer. So you sometimes need to dig a bit deeper on what is being compared. I can buy the posh ranges in Aldi and Lidl and still not pay a lot.