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Original poster

Is Aldi/Lidl actually cheaper?

177 replies

CPHB2021 · 26/05/2022 11:22

Hello! Thinking of ways to cut our costs each month. Usually spend about £100 per week in Tesco/asda. Family of 4. Don't drink alcohol. Do you think Aldi or Lidl are genuinely cheaper and ok quality?

OP posts:
ancientgran · 27/05/2022 21:41

Sorry I meant Lidl not Aldi.

Manekinek0 · 27/05/2022 21:46

Yes far cheaper and the quality is always good at Lidl. You can download their app and view the weekly leaflets to see what deals are on. I meal plan around these deals and it's far cheaper than anywhere else.

OnlyFoolsnMothers · 27/05/2022 21:47

Yes cheaper- the Aldi’s around us are great- the lidls aren’t as nice.

Furrbabymama87 · 27/05/2022 21:50

Yes it's well cheaper. I only do my big food shops in Lidl and Aldi and do top ups in the Asda.

DotBall · 27/05/2022 21:51

Prefer Lidl to Aldi and even though prices have gone up, they are definitely cheaper than Sainsbury’s and Lidl quality is better than Asda or Tesco’s basics. Since Lidl has got its act together on breakfast cereal (used to be like cardboard but their weetabix and fruit n fibre are better than the famous brands) they are now my main shop.

BourbonBiscuits20 · 27/05/2022 21:51

I'm always interested by this topic, people swear by certain Aldi/lidl items saying they are as good. I used to buy from lidl and did not find the fresh stuff to last well especially the fruit.
The one that always baffles me is people saying the nappies are so cheap and actually better than eg pampers...I just don't understand this?! They are cheaper but so thin, I had to change my LO so much more frequently or they would leak. I'm not a snob with it happily use them but I just don't understand people swearing down they're as good/better

swapcicles · 27/05/2022 21:52

Yes it is generally.
The issue you can get is if you buy the same products week in week out at Tesco/asda then a lot of those items will be pricier than if you shop around.
I have price points for most of my shopping and I won't go over that so switch brands or will buy elsewhere if it's over that, even just not buy a particular item that week.
Works for me and a few friends I've spoken to.
Doesn't work for all I respect that and have been car less with only one supermarket in easy reach before but currently it works and generally for a .big shop Aldi is on the whole cheaper

PuppyMonkey · 27/05/2022 21:53

It’s the law that any MN Aldi thread has to have someone claiming fruit and veg were literally full of maggots, it’s that bad. In my local store, it’s exactly the same but cheaper.

theemmadilemma · 27/05/2022 21:56

It's much cheaper in lots of cases for better quality. Sliced ham is one we noticed for a start. I've found the meat fine (Aldi).

The only slight annoyance is having to get a few bits at another shop where I want a specific brand (cat litter and food). Otherwise I've found most of their alternatives very good.

bellamountain · 27/05/2022 21:57

It's cheaper to do your shopping online with Tesco as you save petrol and hassle and can keep tabs on your basket total.

Goawayangryman · 27/05/2022 21:57

Loads cheaper if you cook from scratch. Dairy, bread, fruit and veg, all much cheaper than competitors. Deli meats too, as well as basic like oil, flour, eggs, sugar, coffee, washing powder and household cleaning items. Meat and fish are also loads cheaper if you buy their offers in bulk and freeze.

NCTDN · 27/05/2022 21:59

I don't really find a difference tbh. At Tesco I can charge my car for free, and I use the Clubcard offers as much as possible. So overall the difference is truly negligible.

MyneighbourisTotoro · 27/05/2022 22:00

Not really, most of the stuff I buy in Aldi of Lidl I can purchase in tesco for a few pence more and the quality is better.
Ive done a few shops to compare and my overall saving is only £5-£10 but then I’m using extra fuel just to get to the supermarket whereas tesco is much closer so it wasn’t worth it for me.

JulyDreams · 27/05/2022 22:03

Cheaper but quality much lower

OddSocksSparklyDocsandDungaree · 27/05/2022 22:13

No. We found that with Aldi, the fruit and veg was lucky to last the journey home. If it did, it'd be mouldy the next day. The dates seem to be very short too!

Lidl, the quality is slightly better. However, the 'Middle of Lidl' aisles end up costing us money Grin and they never had everything that we needed.

Morrisons costs us around £75 a week for 3 of us, the fruit lasts AGES and most of our meals are cooked from scratch too. That £75 includes nappies and toiletries too.

Kite22 · 27/05/2022 22:13

We don't have a Lidl near us, but when I switched to Aldi about 20 years ago our weekly bill dropped by 1/3.
Quality is excellent. There is little I can't get.

Zazdar · 27/05/2022 22:15

It’s the law that any MN Aldi thread has to have someone claiming fruit and veg were literally full of maggots, it’s that bad.

I wouldn’t go that far, but it definitely doesn’t last as long as fruit and veg bought in Tesco. If it did, I would buy it. As it stands, it’s a false economy.

I don’t live near a supermarket and I don’t shop every week, so that may make a difference.

OddSocksSparklyDocsandDungaree · 27/05/2022 22:16

BourbonBiscuits20 · 27/05/2022 21:51

I'm always interested by this topic, people swear by certain Aldi/lidl items saying they are as good. I used to buy from lidl and did not find the fresh stuff to last well especially the fruit.
The one that always baffles me is people saying the nappies are so cheap and actually better than eg pampers...I just don't understand this?! They are cheaper but so thin, I had to change my LO so much more frequently or they would leak. I'm not a snob with it happily use them but I just don't understand people swearing down they're as good/better

@BourbonBiscuits20 Everybody raves about Aldi nappies but I hated them! Like you, we had leaks. However, Lidl nappies worked really well for us :)

HappyHappyHermit · 27/05/2022 22:18

I have found Tesco to be cheaper for us, but we only buy own brand or ultra cheap brands generally.

BIWI · 27/05/2022 22:19

It's around 30% cheaper than Sainsbury - I did a very geeky comparison the first time I shopped in Aldi, comparing everything I'd bought with as close a like-for-like with Sainsbury as I could.

I haven't had anything yet where I've been unhappy with the quality, and haven't had any issues with fruit/veg.

I can buy most things there - but Sainsbury's is just round the corner so can get any other bits there.

Decafflatteplease · 27/05/2022 22:24

We are slowly trying to switch from ocado to Lidl. I did a small top up at Lidl and it was £56 then I out the equivalent or as close as I could get into ocado and it was £82 😱

Things like week in week out I buy a couple of packs of pain au chocolate for after school snacks, normally pay £1.95 on ocado. Lidl is something like 95p. That's a pound different. Every week. Ocado own brand shreddies £1.20, Lidl own brand 69p.

RosehipSyrupForDinner · 27/05/2022 22:25

The fruit and vegetables at our local Aldi last really well, better than our local Tesco.

childofthecorn · 27/05/2022 22:26

The fruit and veg comes straight off the same conveyor belt as M&S etc., Just had a different sticker on it! Maybe your perceptions of freshness coloured by the branding?

BiscoffSundae · 27/05/2022 22:26

Personally I would rather pay more and shop in Tesco’s, aldi and Lidl just don’t appeal to me at all, the food is vile, might be cheaper but it taste nasty. I don’t get why people rave about them so much , I could never shop there.

Pyri · 27/05/2022 22:29

BourbonBiscuits20 · 27/05/2022 21:51

I'm always interested by this topic, people swear by certain Aldi/lidl items saying they are as good. I used to buy from lidl and did not find the fresh stuff to last well especially the fruit.
The one that always baffles me is people saying the nappies are so cheap and actually better than eg pampers...I just don't understand this?! They are cheaper but so thin, I had to change my LO so much more frequently or they would leak. I'm not a snob with it happily use them but I just don't understand people swearing down they're as good/better

I agree the nappies are awful, as is the washing powder. It doesn’t actually make your clothes smell clean at all, I much prefer using Fairy Non-bio.

I found some stuff is cheaper but there is a lot of stuff that isn’t and you don’t have the choice. Like hotdogs in Aldi are about £3, in Tesco you have about 8 different options of hotdogs across all price points.

Ditto meat - more expensive in aldi than Tesco.

the fruit in the one near me is excellent though, huge punnets of strawberries for much cheaper than Tesco for eg.

I think overall if you buy budget brands then it’s just as cheap but if you’re used to buying big brands then aldi / Lidl will be cheaper

asda is the cheapest near me, a huge huge store so loads of options

i went to Waitrose recently for a top up shop and was horrified at the prices. Things like cold meet at £5.50 for 2 packs! So expensive!