Aldi, i just dont get it.

[feelathome]

I've heard so much great stuff about Aldi. So a few months ago decided to give it a try. We usually spend between £60-70 a week in Tesco or asda. Went to Aldi and spent....... £63. No saving at all. Decided to give it another try, after reading so many people on here manage to save so much money. So, went along today, found it v stressful as the till assistant practically threw the stuff at us down the conveyor belt. Finally git to pay and ........ £63 again. What am I doing wrong?

I have been going to aldi for nine years . So much cheaper on fruit and veg . The wine is too. It is better quality than value ranges.

I spend the same in Aldi as I would in Tesco because I buy more stuff. Because virtually everything is cheaper I get to buy extra things, which is great

You've already said that money supermarket priced the same shop more cheaply, so I'm struggling to understand why your dh is insisting it isn't

Apologies if I missed it but the "shopping chucked at me" thing bugs me - the whole point is that you quickly put all the shopping back in your trolley, then move to the side to pack it. This means the queues move faster and they can serve more people with less staff. Drives me potty when someone in front of me slowly packs each item into a bag while giving the shop assistant evils!

I find that for the majority of things I buy regularly (e.g soy milk, oats) the price for a Tesco/Asda value range is the same as Aldi.

But for more expensive items (e.g cheeses such as halloumi/parmesan) Aldi tends to be cheaper.

Meal planning would make your shop cheaper.

As would making more things from scratch (e.g buying potatoes and making your own wedges rather than buying ready made).

If you really want to get the cost down you could also drop the wine ()

The thing to remember is that to cut the cost you have to sacrifice time for things like meal planning and cooking from scratch. The extra money that you're spending is for the convenience of buying pre-made and picking shopping at random.

You have to decide which is really more important to you.

You need to meal plan, that's the issue.

Do you throw food out?

mother, I really didn't realise how you were supposed to pack your shopping until i read it on here this morning. I don't remember seeing any obvious places to move it from trolley to bag, perhaps I missed them. The assistant certainly didn't point it out to me.

I definately do not want to meal plan, wouldn't work for us, we often eat at different times and we like different foods. I know it works for some, just not us.

Im not getting aldi either - hated it when we went, i manage 50 a week in tesco, but remember as xmas comes the bill always creeps up

I find tesco cheaper tbh. Plus I can never get all that I want in lidl or aldi so then I have to go somewhere else which is a pain in my arse.

feel although it might not help with the pricing, once you understand the packing system it is a revelation, and much less stressful!
Be interested to hear whether you find the food better quality - we often buy same price things in Tesco and Aldi but it Aldi its noticeably better (e.g. the ham and other fresh stuff).

ArtandCo - loving the McCain crispy French fries nestling in amongst all your healthier stuff! Just like my Ocado list

I go to Aldi to get a few "bits" to supplement the Ocado shop with different stuff I can't get from them, or that I've worked out is cheaper than Ocado: Pouch yoghurts, free range roast chicken (whole normal chicken is £3.99 and free range either £4.99 or £5.99 I think), little lunchbox snacks, smoked salmon, apple juice, lined leather gloves for £6 was good last week and really warm! Flowers are great, bought a bunch that had one of those usually expensive cabbage thingies with chrysanthemum and gerberas in last week for £3 and they've outlasted some M&S roses given to me by a friend.

Generally though, I couldn't make it my weekly shop as the customer service is so nonchalant (I asked the manager there last week if she had any more large chickens as none on the shelf, to which she replied "well obviously not then" before turning away ) so it would piss me off to me giving them all my business.

Really had to fight to get them to put out baskets too, which they now have, so that's much better, but might explain the step up in business at our store...

I only come in here for the gin

Having read the threads on here this morning, we went to Aldi for our weekly shop. We planned out meals in advance and spent £38 for a week, including nappies. We couldn't get fresh ginger, apart from that we are pretty impressed. I am going to look on line at price comparisons but I reckon we saved about £20. I loved the speedy checkout.

Really hoping they are cheaper, they open up here this week (I think) and are almost on my doorstep, so if they were cheaper and closer I'd be so happy.

I agree with the comments up thread about it depending on what you buy, as to the amount that you save.
I like good ingredients so regularly buy Parmesan, Parma ham, chorizo, steak, fr chicken, fillet of pork, gammon joint etc. therefore my savings are huge! Also the wine, lots of award winning wine and fizz.

Op looking at your shopping list I would also buy less processed food if you want to save. Really you need to check like for like with a tesco shop for the true savings. I appreciate you not wanting to meal plan, batch cooking would be preferable maybe or working out ten fav recipes and always having those ingredients in the freezer / store cub.

Re the check out, take ikea bags line your trolley and there is no need to repack.

I do a meal plan and take a list, ticking off as I go. It really does cut my food bills, just keep to the list.

I don't like Aldi.

I hate the limited choice and, imo, poor quality of most of their stuff.

I had no choice but to shop there for 6 months when DP was between jobs and it made me miserable.

I want to be able to walk into a supermarket and get everything I want and need. I like brands. And lots of treats.

According to MN this makes me a snob but that's just fine with me

I would say go easy on the prosecco from Aldi, seems great at the time, tasty and cheap, but burns like buggery the next day! Heartburn city.

Aldi and Lidl are okay, but they're not the be all and end all that some seem to think. When you compare true like with like and price per kilogram rather than per unit, etc. you rapidly realise that they are much of a muchness with the own brand prices in the big three stores. Yes there are a handful of items that they are much better value on, but honestly? It's not enough to make me want to shop there - and I say that as someone on a very strict shopping budget.

funnyossity It was the increasingly ridiculous price of butter that started me off.

With Aldi/Lidl I think its the savings on a few things that makes the whole shop feel cheaper. The price of basic ingredients is roughly on par with the "normal" supermarkets, but the normals tend to have more offers. I also use a butchers, greengrocers, ethnic shop, poundland and amazon for good deals. If you shop in one place your spend will "even out". If you can shop around and pick up loss leaders from various places, then it will be cheaper. It's a habit now - I dash into places en route to somewhere else and check for my main items and any other outstanding deals. I do one large online supermarket shop a month and the rest is from a well-stocked staples cupboard and a weekly run to grocers/supermarket for veg/eggs/milk.

I love Aldi. I've cut my shopping bill by about 50% - seriously.

I still pop into Saisburys for my organic stuff,and Comfort fabric conditioner, but I'm about £300 a month better off than I used to be.

On the other hand, I'm no fan of Lidle.

Angi - Lidl is worse than Aldi?!

How is that even possible?

I find Lidle a bit dirty and messy, and I'm not convinced about the quality of the food, and it didn't seem that cheap, but maybe that was becuase we were on holiday.

I think Aldi comes as a pleasant surprise to people who usually buy branded products in the main supermarkets. They wouldn't dream of down-branding usually, but going to Aldi and not recognising anything sort of pushes them out of their comfort zone into trying the cheaper brands. So their shop is cheaper than usual and they are surprised that the food is comparable with their usual shop.

However, for families who are already down-branding, looking out for reductions and offers, the savings aren't as big and the food is much the same as usual. So these families don't "get" why Aldi is any different from any other tightly budgeted shop.

I agree with you there about the branded goods brigade.

But NEVER buy their worcestershire sauce, their tartare sauce and their ketchup.

Tins of tomatoes, store cupboard stuff, biscuits and bread, meat, drinks are all fine but they really fall down where they TRY to copy branded goods. Never works.