Aldi and Lidl - what do you think of them?

[agora1]

We are overspending every month and it is mainly due to food shopping. We currently shop at Asda but wondered if we would save much if I switched to Aldi or Lidl for our big shop but still went to Asda midweek to top up on the things we may not find in Aldi/Lidl.

I would be interested to hear what your experience has been.

daisydoodoo that is a huge saving! We're spending £70-90 a week on a big shop and then more in between at the moment. That's for 2 adults and 2dc 3 and 2.

To add to earlier post - we are 2 adults and 2 DC (7 and 3). DP and DC love meat, we go through lots of fruit and veg and I stay away from processed food. Just for comparisson's sake.

Have halved our food bill I'd say through shopping at both Lidl and Aldi .I too have easy access to both and shop in both-like some stuff from Lidl better than Aldi and vice versa.For example:
Lidl better for loo rolls,kitchen paper,washing liquid,dishwasher tabs,beer,wine,sanitary products,jars curry sauce/pasta sauce,teabags,coffee,

Aldi better for face creams(brilliant),lipsticks,shower creme(like Dove),cold meats,cheeses,yoghurts,meat/chicken,dog food,bread,cakes,biscuits,

Both equally good for frozen veg,fresh veg/fruit,milk,eggs,sugar,butter,veg.oil,shampoo/conditioner,baking products,crackers,frozen icecreams/icelollies,chips,wedges,waffles,condiments,mayonnaise,salad dressings
This is from my experience in our local branches-may not be the same everywhere.

I love Aldi and buy most of weekly groceries here. The frozen garlic baguettes 2 pack for 59p are the best from any supermarket including all the extra special ranges. Teabags great, coked meats and fresh mince and chicken fillets all really good value and usually really great use by dates. Butchers choice sausages 8 for 99p are fab too. pepperoni just 79p for good size pack - we use to add to basic cheese pizza.Prawn crackers are delicious. fresh del RIvo orange juice just as nice as tropicana.all basics like rice and pasta can't go wrong. Biscuits all delicious... I am a shortbread fan and shortbread is gorgeous. Moser Roth chocolate 5 mini bars just about a quid is the best chocolate I have ever tasted, except or Lindt which is too dear most of the time. I hope this has been useful . PS I don't work for Aldi , I'm just a fan. emember to take own bags though as they do charge for using theirs.

Aldi is the only place I can shop without feeling swizzed.

Thank you for all of your responses, they have all been very helpful and have convinced me, but not my snob of a husband. He has decided he doesn't want us to shop in Aldi/Lidl. To keep the peace I shopped in asda over the weekend and by buying whoops items and own brand managed to reduce our bill to £62, however this was a week I didn't need to buy nappies which always adds a huge whack to the bill.

I intend to try Aldi midweek and ease my husband into the process. He's such an idiot sometimes, but he's my idiot so I'll just need to work round him

Aldi and Lidl all the way. We find a lot of the foods much cheaper in these stores compared to the regular big supermarkets. Sometimes the food is of better quality too. Especially the chocolate!!!!!!!!!!!!

I do a weekly shop at Aldi which generally costs c £65 (depending on which specials I can't resist ) & gets us through the week pretty much.

That's for 3 adults & includes 3 or 4 lots of meat (eg free-range chicken breasts, small beef joint, mince, sausages), 8 pints of milk, 3 or 4 cartons of juice, 2 loaves, various fruit & veg (inc 3-4 packs of lovely vine cherry toms, which DD1 eats like smarties, & 1 or 2 bags of extremely good maris pipers), 6-12 eggs, some wine, & assorted groceries, non-food & frozen stuff.

They also have special offers on meat every 2-3 weeks, eg pork shoulder steaks, 21-day aged ribeye steak & pork belly joints.

Aldi is 7-8 miles away but I save way more than the cost in fuel; I definitely spend far less now than when I used to drop into local Tesco or Sainsburys every couple of days.

We have Lidl locally & I usually go there every other week for staples like Welsh butter, bagged salad, peanut butter, nice bacon & chilled curries (no preservatives & really good quality)

Hi Agora. I totally understand about your DH. Mine had the same attitude until I just stopped telling him which food came from which shop. I do all the cooking anyway so he never noticed any changes or any packaging when I stopped getting stuff from ASDA and got it from ALDI instead. I found it hilarious when he commented on how he really liked something and I could actually say " ha ha well it's actually from ALDI". I did a blind test on the Teabags cos all he ever had was Typhoo which I hate and he preferred the ALDI tea! I do still have to get certain branded stuff from main supermarkets like Dolmio but all in all most comes from ALDI and has saved us a fortune. Start with stuff that won't be easily spotted like cheese and go from there. . .Good luck!

I took my DH to aldi and he loved it.

We find the best thing is the cereal. I dont like the meat much - at least lidl does free range whole chicken.

Though i met a regional manager a few weeks ago and had a chat in the aisle-big changes are a foot in the meat apparently - more free range meat and better selection. Happening soon, someone may know more!

My favourite shop combination is aldi and waitrose for meat.

aldi does free range whole chicken too

& free range chicken breasts, & free range eggs, & their own brand mayo is made with free range eggs too now

I prefer aldi's meat to lidl's

Mine doesn't do free range at the moment - may there are geographic variations - hopefully they will soon!

I am with in walking distance of both Aldi amd Lidl and buy different things at both Lidl veg is slightly better and they have a bigger cheese selection.
I decant cereals into storage boxes and old brand name boxes and DP and eldest DC cannot tell the difference
Lidl beans are awful Aldi are better Aldi better priced for store cupboard pasta, rice, sauces etc
Wine in both are good Aldi do a lovely rose zinfadel wine which is nice on a summer afternoon
My shopping is one between Aldi, local butcher, lidl and farm shop in that order

every few weeks, generally just on a weekend, our Lidl has 4-packs of Branston beans for £1 (usually £2) - they are v nice beans & the stack disappears in a few hours. Worth looking out for

We get lots of things in Lidl here which are great. DD and the au pair both love "red ham" (serrano, parma, black forest - anything cured) and there are a few kinds that are quite cheap in Lidl. DD loves the salami, and I find the chorizo sausages great for the storecupboard (I have a few differnt things I use it for), and the double pack of bacon lardons (one pack is plenty to make plain mac'n'cheese into a meal that meat-eating DH will accept).

The fruit and veg tends to be good value and good quality. I get creme fraiche, lots of cheese, tinned tomatoes, passata, pasta etc. Apple juice is good, some biscuits are quite nice, and the individually wrapped pain au chocolate and criossants are great for weekend mornings. The higher quality loo roll is fine, and the kitchen towels are grand.

Some of the wines are nice - I like the Pinot Grigio, DH likes Australian Merlot and South African Shiraz. And the Belgian and German beers are nice too (we like that style anyway).

The pizzas are nice - and handy.

I found the nappies were great when DD was that small, and LOTS cheaper than pampers (and far less likely to leak). They had a small range of Heinz tins, but they were cheaper.

The heavy duty hand scrub stuff is GREAT for getting ground in dirt out (like after spending a morning weeding bare handed). I tend to prefer Fairy liquid for washup, but the liquid handwash soap is fine.

As for Aldi, I don't get there often but we do get F&V (especially "super 6") there too. I often get nice things for Christmas stocking fillers there too. The jams are not bad. But I can't think of anything else that I tend to get there offhand.

has anyone tried the Austin stuff from Aldi that is supposed to be as nice as pimms and if so is it?

Yep - pimms in all but name. However, It's always diluted with lemonade etc so I wouldn't know if it was similar if drunk any other way (is there another way??)

it has top marks in Good Housekeeping this month

oh good good, I wanted to try it as Pimms is quite a bit more expensive Im being a cheapskate but I didnt want to get it if it was clearly a lot worse. thanks.

Great thread! Just investigating Aldi too since DH's redundancy. Here's a question. On which items do you find that there isn't much saving to be made? Eg, we found the cheddar cheese was cheaper, but when you looked closely, there was 100g less in a packet, so in fact the saving wasn't that great. Any other examples?

I buy Red Leicester which is £1.49 a pack - have to admit I hadn't compared the weight, & I can't remember now how much it is in Tesco/Sains, except that it's always a buy-2 reduction & I DON'T WANT TO HAVE TO BUY TWO!!!

Aldi & Lidl tinned toms cost exactly the same as Tesco value (coincidence? I think not ) but the quality is better.

Hovis Best of Both is 99p at Aldi; you can usually get 2 or 3 at £1 each from T/S but again, I ONLY WANT ONE!

Freedom from the BOGOF tyranny is one of the biggest arguments in favour of Aldi/Lidl IMO

I think the fruit and veg lasts longer from aldi but maybe just our local store.

I love their cider amaretto and dark rum and as with the austins can't tell the difference!

I love most things from aldi including their skincare.

I recently discovered their specially selected (?) curry sauces which are a two stage sauce with spices and a sauce. I usually make curries from scratch but these sauces have a really nice flavour.

Agree ponder!

The only thing i get elsewhere is bread as i use burgen.

You do have to look closely ay? I'm furious with the Coop - bought a nice sized gammon over the weekend. It had a big red sticker with £5 plastered on it. Bargain I thought. Got home and realised I'd paid £8 something for it. The £5 related to the price per kilo! Bobbins.

I adore Aldi. I also have a few items that I buy at Lidl each week too. We buy salami the size of my forearm for £4 from Lidl, and they sell bread flour which Aldi doesn't.

I buy everything else from Aldi. Apart from baby wipes - Sainsbury's own, always.