Cheaper food shop - online or Aldi/Lidl?

[Jackjack]

Currently I shop online with Tesco or Sainsburys which means I can see exactly how much I spend and trim it a bit if going over budget. I'm just wondering if Aldi/ Lidl would be cheaper taking petrol and my time into account.

For me Aldi is the cheaper. Online shopping almost always results in "top up shops" at the local expensive coop.

But I have to meal plan and write a list. -and avoid the aisle of wonder -

Aldi/Lidl without a doubt. The prices there are so low. Most people need to do a 'top up' shop every now and then (depending on what they're topping up) somewhere else for things you can't get there but in general you'll save a fortune.

I live close by a Sainsbury's, but take every opportunity to shop at Lidl which is 6 miles away.
Fantastic quality. Great range of meats and cheeses. Interesting frozen stuff.
Almost everything is 20% cheaper, if not more. I tend to use bagged salads and yoghurt as my price indicators !
You do need to understand the layout of the store and random nature of seasonal goods in the middle aisles thing. So have a dummy run first before you go for a big shop, armed with a list !

It really depends on what you eat, and how you eat it. We eat mostly veggie and vegan meals, so the price difference on meats, cheeses and other dairy foods doesn't matter to us. I buy pretty much the same things every week. so I have a list I tick off on my Tesco online shop and usually hover around the £50-£60 mark for a weekly shop. We have a Lildl just down the road, and we do manage to have a nose around there at the weekend, but only for interesting things (lots of yummy Christmas treats) or possibly a few more bananas.

Lidl and Aldi don't have dried beans/lentils or pasta in the variety that I prefer. I find that when I shop online I do stick to budget better, and can price check between products easier. When I shop in person, I get fed up halfway and am not good at sticking to the list....

Online. It must depend what type of food you buy but I found Lidl and aldi rarely have more than half of what i would buy.

Aldi currently has parsnips, carrots, potatoes, sprouts and broccoli for 19p a bag, you can't beat them on price

If you use mysupermarket.co.uk you can compare prices for the big supermarkets and Aldi too, not sure if Lidl is on there yet. It will give you an idea of any savings you might make. Generally I find Aldi and Lidl cheaper.

We cook pretty much everything from scratch and find that most things are stocked in Lidl/Aldi. The choice of grains/pulses aren't great but they are easily and cheaply bought elsewhere. Things like passata, cooking oils, pasta, fruit, veg etc are very cheap.

Aldi & Lidl cheapest. In Lidl today I bought 1kg caster sugar 99p. £1.50 in Sainsburys and unsalted butter 95p, £1.10 in Sainsburys. Offers on a bag of sprouts, shallots, and parsnips 29p each.

Mysupermarket comparisons can be tricky as you can't do like for like. Eg it will compare Value ham with the Aldi stuff, which is actually comparable to better ranges in other supermarkets.

Thanks for the comments, I'll give it a go in the new year
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