Please tell me what to buy from Aldi and what to buy from Lidl

[StealthPolarBear]

I am going to give both a try. Trouble is in my mind they are the same, so I know we have one in one town and one near where I used to work but can't remember which is which. I also see people on here saying things are good (washing powder?) but can't remember which.

So I need a definitive list, please. Two children, no babies, no pets (though I'm happy for that stuff to go on for reference :))

I went to Aldi this week as I haven't been since the cashiers had to memorise all of the prices

I was shocked that I could actually do a 'big' shop (household detergents, toilets rolls, meats etc) as I assumed I'd have to go to Morrisons for the majority afterwards. We saved around £50-60 compared to if we'd have gone to Asda/Tesco/Morrisons.

I bought the Lacura day cream in the pump and the night cream and I'm vey impressed, will be going back for some of the serums and make up ASAP!

Aldi- chocolate a big bar containing 6 small bars of posh stuff 99p
Running gear is excellent
Meatballs yum
Free range chicken
Fruit n veg
Tinned tomatoes
Cereal
Brioche
Ham
Oj
Homous

Love Aldi !
The chocolate seashells are gorgeous just like Guylian and also the MMMM fromage frais with fruit - 27p each and the chocolate desserts with vanilla custard swirled in them -25p
I chuck a whole tray of each in my trolley when I go
Also Pink Lady apples- £1.69 ish for 6 .
Prefer their teabags - tried the sainsburys basics ones and they were vile!

OK well all in all I was impressed. Spent £60 but will have to top up during the week as hadn't had time to meal plan really.
However, got dishwasher tabs, cheese, cooked meat (hope DH says it's nice), milk (£1 for 4pts!!), fruit and veg which looked lovely (apples bruised but not sire if I did that). eggs which were dirt cheap, and loads and loads of chocolate.
My only concerns - the coleslaw, didn;t look very nice, and possibly the meat if DH doesn't like it. Also, wasn't sure about the fresh orange so got tropicana - can anyone recommend it?
I was also impressed by how calm and quiet it was in there, and because the store isn't huge I got round really quickly. Managed to do the shop, with a 5yo and a 2yo, in 90 mins or so (and it takes 15/20 mins to get there!)

I would like to do a full weekly shop, then I'll be convinced. But I'm definitely giving it another go. We also stocked up on chocolate which is fantatsic

oh and their tissues! ALso got marmite, honey and horseradish

That sounds like a horrible sandwich :)

oh do get their juice next time Stealth, chilled juice is one of the Which recommendations at Aldi - better than Tropicana

& we've had loads of meat & it's all been excellent

did you go today? ours wasn't calm & quiet, it was a zoo, & they said it had been all day! (I also went last Tuesday, that was blissful)

Shame we have no Aldi nearby - some of this sounds good
I go to Lidl specifically for:
Toilet paper (recycled) the v. cheap for upstairs and the slightly more expensive for downstairs.
Kitchen roll (I get the cheapest that they sell)
'Goody' Fruit & Nut Muesli - if there's too much fruit in it for you then add a handful of plain oats.
W5 'All in 1' Dishwasher tablets - brilliant
W5 stain remover in a tub like Vanish but cheaper and better from my experience

and I can also recommend:
Mini fruit juices
The mini magnum type ice creams
The egg pasta spaghetti - tasted as good as De Cecco
Stollen at christmas (esp the mini stollen)
Lots of the chocolate (their cheap xmas and easter stuff is better than some of M&S)
Had great champagne at xmas for 12.99 - a Which best buy
Jars of fruit
Fruit and veg which in our store is always quite good (esp the growing salads)
and finally my husband had some excellent sandals for 2.99 Euros in Italy - will be looking out for similar in the summer.

It was Lidl I went to Ponders
Coincidentally, we picked up (courtesy of DS) some of the mini magnums - it started to snow on the way home :o

Oh and who mentioned berries? We bought strawberries, blueberries and grapes, all of which looked really good. Strawberries have already gone and were very popular

mmmm schogetten (the bars of choc that come already broken up)

oh sorry, you did say earlier it was Lidl, didn't you

I thought it was aldi till I pulled up ouside!

I started using Lidl more, too. Only ever been to Aldi about 3 times, so still exploring.

These are my usual suspects from Lidl:

• Goody Special Muesli 750g (beats any luxury brand in quality and in price!) - my favourite is the blue pack
• Floralys embossed 3-ply kitchen towels (best ever)
• Crownfields Special Flakes
• Sensitive baby wipes
• Nappies
• Panty liners
• kids toothbrush
• Gerkins / roasted peppers
• Wafer thin ham pack (no added water)
• tinned butter beans / mixed salad beans / kidney beans
• tinned chopped tomato
• garlic (each garlic is one big whole clove, beautiful when roasted)
• brie

oh I've started getting that garlic, phonix - though it comes from China so the food miles are a bit dodgy

but it's soooo garlicky, & really easy to peel

Those garlics used to come in boxes twice the size for the same price up until a few months ago...

literally - just a bulb of garlic? How good can they be??

apparently the beef was lovely

\link{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solo_garlic\solo garlic} - it looks just like the pic & Lidl sell about 5-6 bulbs (or cloves!) in a dinky little netted basket

tastes lovely

Ooh, that sounds nice. I might end up near a lidl today, which will no doubt turn out to be aldi!

I have been watching this thread with interest and getting rather overexcited about my trip to Aldi. Today was the big day, and what a day it was! £50 spent, got tons of food including whole free range chicken, 2decent looking bottles of red that seem to have won prizes (3.99 each), extra virgin olive oil, fair trade coffee, hams, pizzas, cheese, & much more. It was great, can't wait to try everything. Good thing I don't have car otherwise I would have bought waaaay too much

no aldi here

What do you mean no Aldi? Aldi is next to Tesco at Dragonville. Lidl is at Langley Moor or the Arnison.

Oh and Lidl at the moment have 1l bottles of extra virgin olive oil for £2.99.

And no I am not stalking you I'm just bored and posting everywhere because dd is off nursery again and keeps screaming at me if I try to interact with her.