Tesco/Sainsburys are not cheaper than Aldi

[Jac912]

I’ve shopped at Aldi for awhile now, and I believe it to be the cheapest supermarket.

Someone told me they stopped shopping in Aldi and went to Tesco/Sainsburys and now save £40-50 a WEEK on their food shop. So surely if you’re saving that much the items must be significantly cheaper compared to Aldi, right? But when pressed they couldn’t give me a single item that was cheaper than Aldi. It was all Club card/nectar deals which come and go.

I am not debating quality, we all know sometimes Aldi quality isn’t as good as other brands but personally I think Aldi quality is pretty good overall, there’s only a few things I wouldn’t buy from there. I am also not debating that many supermarkets sell items for the EXACT same price.

If you believe another supermarket is cheaper than Aldi then I would genuinely love to know what you buy because I really need to save on my food shop.

I normally shop at Aldi but don’t buy meat or fish there unless I’m using it the same day. A big shop comes to about £90 (not including alcohol).

The last two weeks I’ve done an Ocado shop. Pro’s - much nicer fruit, veg and fish and meat quality. Loads of choice but tempting to put too much in the basket (maybe that’s novelty value). Love the delivery at convenient times for me instead of the hell that is a Saturday visit to Aldi. Cons - obviously the cost. Things like basmati rice and olive oil are double the price. Spent £107 with delivery and will probably need to spend an additional £20 this week on top up shopping. Really liked the Ocado experience though and will probably do it more often for the convenience.

I mainly shop at Aldi, but I also take advantage of the Lidl offers, so I'll get their free coupon products on the app and when I get to £250 I get the 10% off voucher. So I then go back to Aldi and Sainsbury to get the things Lidl don't sell, build up a list of things I need from Lidl again, and get my 10% off from there. Then start again the next month.

There are items sold in Lidl which we much prefer such as their cured meats and cheese, and these do come in much cheaper than Tesco. However, we don't buy these weekly - I have switched from Lidl to Tesco again because I started doing direct comparisons of my Lidl receipt to an online Tesco basket and the difference was coming in at around £5 a shop, and that really fluctuates. This week Tesco has broccoli at 62p, its 90p in Lidl. Also like Lidls seeded sourdough bloomer, and their copies of popular lagers and ciders. Herbs and spices cheaper there too. I use it as a once in a while shop now - it's near to the office so good for calling in on a Friday lunchtime if we want something for the weekend, rather than for the everyday.

It depends on so many things though - like what you buy, in what quantities, how often you shop and how you travel to the shop.

I always remember buying some potatoes in Aldi and I spent absolutely ages cutting out black and green bits and about 50% went in the bin. I bought my next lot in Waitrose, which arguably were cheaper because there was no wastage and they took seconds to prepare.

Similarly, I remember buying some very cheap loo rolls in Tesco but they were so flimsy that I got through about a roll a day, so I think they ended up being expensive.

I do my main shop online at Sainsbury's for the same reasons others have mentioned - they offer me good deals on the products I like and as these are products I get often and I shop around when I can, I know these products are cheaper at Sainsbury's then they are anywhere else. The quality of the Sainsbury's own items is generally great.

It's quite far away, but sometimes I go to M&S because their fruit and veg quality is superb and some of their own brand staples are tasty and reasonably priced e.g baked beans at 45p or peanut butter at £1.70. I was thinking of trying Ocado one time.

I pop into Aldi and Lidl now and then, usually for a calorific baked item at the latter, but the days of them being much cheaper than other supermarkets are long gone. They're also not nice experiences to shop in - long queues, too many people and the aisles aren't spacious enough for me.

Definitely not for me, I find Lidl cheapest then Aldi then Tesco. I think it depends a little on what you buy but I can’t see how Tesco is cheaper unless they’re only buying value brands and clubcard deals.

I’ve switch to Aldi as both girls have started their own meal planning and like to come with me.

I spend around £80 a week - this week they chose;

chicken korma with naan - made with a jar of sauce
fish cakes with new potatoes and broccoli
pasta bake
cauliflower cheese (I’ll make it from scratch)
roast dinner ( have extra in freezer)
chicken Kiev
one ready meal lasagna

plus snacks, cheese, butter, milk, bread, tampons, shower gel, ‘Fanta’, ’ eggs, crumpets, frozen pancakes (don’t ask),

i still use Morrisons online - coming today with cat food, steak bakes (Aldi had none!) laundry stuff, £30

it does work out cheaper for us.

Oh cucumber, pineapple and strawberries as well - I agree some of the fruit isn’t as long lasting but it gets eaten quick and the veg always lasts the week.

I order from Amazon fresh weekly. I can get nice products from there that I can't anywhere else. And it's delivered within 2-3 hours free of charge.

Just done a shop, £60 and it will be delivered 2-4pm. Has everything I need for the week, using chatgpt to create a meal plan.

I've stopped shopping at Lidl/ Aldi because their quality is shocking in comparison to the likes of Morrisons, Tesco or Asda.
If 1/3 of the food is pumped up with water (meat) is rotten within days (fruit & veg) or simply consists of tiny off cuts (frozen stuff) then you have to question if it is actually cheaper or if you are literally paying for air & water.

"they just don't have anything"??

God knows how I'm managing to spend £80 a week in there then 😁

In all seriousness though - I'm buying, in Lidl:

• fresh meat (minimal but usually inc a free-range chicken and some sausages), white fish, salami
• Cheddar, goats cheese, parmesan, milk, cream, butter, ready-made puff pastry
• freshly-baked bread plus fresh croissants, sandwich barms, bagels and par-baked baguettes
• variety of tinned beans, tomatoes, sweetcorn, lentils etc and stuff such as olive oil, tomato puree, mayo, chutney, herbs and spices, vinegars, mustard
• dried goods like rice, red lentils, wholemeal pasta, tea and coffee
• fresh fruit and veg
• nuts and seeds, sultanas, flour, yeast, eggs, honey, peanut butter, jam
• all the cereals
• household stuff like bleach, foil, greaseproof, loo roll etc
• frozen peas, green beans, hash browns, ice cream, sometimes pizzas

I get the more random pulses from our local health food shop. The only other things I can think that people might be buying which I'm not are ready meals, and I just don't use them - they're there, if you want them (although not the nice Charlie Bingham's type!).

Literally millions of people do their family shop at Lidl every week!

We used to do Aldi with a bit of Asda for a few bits we dont like in Aldi (like toiletries and coffee). With the odd convenience Tesco top ups. Tesco pricing is nuts - £3.50 for gravy granules. I now go to the newsagent for some things as they are cheaper there.

We did go to Asda for a couple of full shops and I think the quality is a bit better for some things, but we did not get a full fridge like we usually do at Aldi, so we are going back there now.

It's getting expensive everywhere though now.

I will add that I freeze all of my meat and fish unless it is eaten that day or the next, but I've always done that wherever I shop.

I think they’re all comparable as you’ll shop according to deals. I miss Aldi as it was though, quality of veg, meat and milk there is terrible in our local ones. Weirdly I find lidl to be the most expensive

But if it is worse quality then I'd argue it isn't like for like.

Yes you can buy cheaper in Aldi but in my experience there is more waste to me thata not a saving. Due to this I may shop for.that day in Aldi but I go elsewhere for the weekly foodshop.

I realise you are trying to claim. That for 2 chicken breasts its cheaper my argument is that the better quality of other supermarkets makes you fuller and less in need of additional later on in the day. I know you likely will disagree but to me this is comparing good quality with poor quality and calling it even.i expect lesser quality to cost less. Doesnt make it better equal.or even cheaper in the long run

I agree with you regarding collecting points , I shop at tesco and the points are collected without any effort on my part.
A added bonus is the club card challenge where you can collect even more points.
They have a really long date on them too so you don't have to rush to use them up.

I tend to think of it as , if you were going yo walk / drive past a certain point on your way to work and cash would appear in your bank account each time you did , why would you go a different way.

Everyone seems to have e shit Aldis???

Our veggies last absolutely fine. The meat we buy is "whole meat" no additives to be found... and has never fine rotten in just a few days.

The supermarkets are getting their meats from the same places.

Maybe people are storing them incorrectly or something. We've never had issues like that over around 8 different Aldis/Lidl.

Weird.

Wird post, are you working for them?

Honestly most supermarket meat is of very poor quality. It's pumped full of water it's not on the ingredients list as water occurs naturally so win/ win for the supermarket! I get my mest from an organic farm, they slaughter themselves. You simply cannot compare the 2!

I don’t have any issues doing my shop in Aldi but I’m a fairly plain(?) eater - as in I don’t cook fancy stuff!
I go to Sainsbury’s for their gherkins and Tesco for their chipotle and umami paste
Amazon for toilet rolls and washing powder
everything else is Aldi and no problems with the quality of stuff

But the price is very different…
you can’t compare that, but you can compare Tesco meat to Sainsburys meat
if I could afford that I would but I can’t so Aldi it is

Our shop is always cheaper at Tesco so we do tend to stick with them, I think it just depends what you buy.

I live near a massive Sainsbury’s and just shop there because of the huge range and I CBA with shopping at multiple shops. I’d do the same if it was a massive Asda/Tesco etc. Just can’t be fecked with trying to get everything including toiletries etc at Aldi/Lidl.

I also like the scan & shop thingie at Sainsbo’s where you can scan & pack your shopping as you go and get all my petrol from there (full tank a week) so the nectar points soon mount up. And there’s clothes/an Argos. Just so convenient.

We shop almost exclusively at Sainsbury’s with some M&S and Tesco. I wouldn’t say it was cheaper than Aldi or Lidl but it’s definitely not more expensive. And for us, it’s much better quality.

I loathe Aldi and Lidls, just feels so horrible in either shop can't bear to eat food from either. I would rather a pay a premium to shop elsewhere but I don't think there is really much of a price difference these days most places price match on basics.