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?

There's a new one opening 5 minutes from my house on Thursday!
Will it affect the property prices?

I do my shopping at a local market and butcher and then top up at Aldi.
Im not sure Id want to shop there for everything but wine ,cheese, ham, chocolate and yoghurts are fabulous.
DH loves the central aisles

I spentthe shockingly large amount of £70 there last week. I think that this was because as well as normal food, cleaning stuff etc. I got scallops, not-Baileys, red wine, a wooden marble run and 2 chocolate reindeer.

£5 off voucher in the mirror this Thursday.

Sauvignon, I think you are confusing Waitrose and Aldi re. the effect on property prices. Easy mistake to make though!

I was worried they might go down Rattitude.

No, no, no, Sauvignon, it is highly desirable to have an Aldi nearby these days. I feel I am truly blessed as I have three in a radius of less 2.5 m, and the houseprices have not gone down.... probably because they were super low to start with.

How very reassuring, thank you!
We're getting a large Waitrose within walking distance next year so I should be quids in.

I have an Aldi 15 minutes walk in one direction and a Waitrose 15 minutes walk in the other direction. My Aldi is pretty middle-class though as when I go it is mostly full of friends facing in to buy triathlon suits and skiing gear and patents from the Steiner school in the next street dashing in to buy healthy fruit snacks and German baked goods.

I have just checked and my nearest Waitrose is 16 miles away. I have 20 (yes, 20!) Aldi stores within an 11 mile radius.

I think that Waitrose may be missing a trick in my area...

tried again today. Managed to spend £40. I was so happy. Later realised I forgot bananas and orange juice, so sent dh to local Asda to get them. He ended up getting £26 of stuff we didn't need, taking the total shop to £66 again. Really not happy and disappointed.

I've started Aldi shopping. Spent £47 today for a week for 3 of us, including 2 bottles of wine. Put through mysupermarket.com and Tesco (my usual supermarket) came in at £68. Waitrose was £85!!!

Thank you op! No way can I shop in aldi. Always come out with loads of sweet stuff, some strange meat that no one will eat and a skiing jacket!

I have really changed the way I shop now. as menu planning does not work for us either. Now I get a large fruit n veg box and make sure I use it all. I have 1 small food cupboard and small fridge-freezer and never stock pile, batch cook, or bulk buy. I plan the meals for the day quickly every morning (or night before) based on the days leftovers and what needs using up. I never buy biscuits or crisps, but might make cakes occasionally if the veg box dictates.
As I usually only need 1 or two things, I pick them up during the day from wherever is convenient and this also includes household stuff like washing powder, toothpaste etc.

I only do a supermarket splurge now when we have visitors, or its a special occasion.

It seems to be working in that I am spending and wasting less than I ever did.

How do you know what to buy though if none of it is branded? I mean obviously a carrot is a carrot but presumably their baked beans are different etc. Don't you end up making huge costly mistakes?

I'm a Waitrose gal through and through but I do spend an appalling amount of money on food every month and could do with cutting back.

Is it true they don't take credit cards and just read that you don't pack at the till, any other tips?

Belize, no, they do not take credit cards in the UK. I pack at the till... but I put a huge bag in the trolley and just throw things into it as I would in the trolley.

Most of their tinned produce is good. Even if you don't like some of the produce, you will find that it won't have been a costly mistake as their goods are cheap.

Just ease yourself into it and don't buy 5 tins of something until you are sure you are ok with it.

There are plenty of Aldi threads outlining what is good/great and what should be avoided.

The baked beans do annoy me though. I usually buy the low salt and sugar version from whichever supermarket I am at, but aldi don't offer that, and I usually spend ages looking at labels to choose the healthiest versions, but the lack of choice at aldi means I can't do that anymore.

Went again today and was just throwing whatever into the trolley on top of what I needed for the rough meal plan I was putting together while going around, came in at just under £83 so we have saved around £100 in two weeks! My cupboards and fridge are bursting. I can add what I bought if anyone wants to see it.

Can highly recommend the Roasted veg pizza I got in there last week, it is amazing and I bought two this week! Everything we have tried up to now has been lovely inc the beans and beans & sausage (used to get the Asda own brand and Aldi's are just as nice), the lean mince and meatballs are really nice (and much better than Asda's) and the butchers choice sausages, we didn't use the pork joint last week (forgot that the older three weren't here so didn't bother making a roast) but looking forward to it this Sunday. The pasta sauce was quite tangy but I think that was only because I usually make my own and put butternut squash in it which sweetens it and takes the tang out of the tomatoes. It tasted closer to homemade than others I've tried though and everyone enjoyed it.

I could easily cut the shopping bill down a lot further because both weeks I did buy a lot more treats than usual (the kids love the different flavour custard creams!) but I'm very happy with the massive savings and food quality and will be sticking to shopping there

I can't work out why it wasn't cheaper tho you can buy sustainable tuna sainburgs own cheaper than aldi but other stuff you listed should be cheaper. They say I so it is buy my aldi stuff which I know is cheaper such as eggs , flour, beans, super six and free range chicken then top up at other places for treats so we get treats too and our basics from aldi are cheap thus allowing room for manoeuvre to afford a goodie or too such as nice bread or snacks from m and s E c t

I swear by Aldi. I can't do my whole shop there though as they don't have everything I need so I do about 75% Aldi and 25% tesco but I started doing this around 6 months ago and believe I save around £20-30 per week. We do meal plan though and buy a lot of fresh produce as DH cooks from scratch - I think the fresh produce and meat is where you can really make a saving.

I don't see that you can be disappointed with Aldi because your DH then spent £26 on things in Asda?!

I lived in Germany for a while and was converted so now go there fairly often - cooked meats, cheeses, yogurts, biscuits, cereals. Still do most in Sainsburys/Waitrose especially for fruit & veg. My favourite part at Aldi is the "new this week" - awesomely cheap but good household bits, DIY stuff, fine wines, food themes - you can get a bi-weekly email telling you what's in store next. You can save a fortune on that stuff...

And I'm not joking but I've had some amazing frozen lobsters from there in the past for 4.99 each - livened up a meal or two!

Just had the best pandoro - cost £3.99, largest size - at Sainsbury's it £6.50.
No additives either.
Merry Christmas!

Belize yes they don't take credit cards and you have to be very quick at the checkout or it all goes in the trolley and you have to pack it later.

Jaded - you are very, very wrong.

Aldi is amazing.