Come and talk to me about lidl...

[perfectview]

I am a total newbie to lidl and am feeling a bit daunted.

What do I need to know/ take?

What do you recommend?

I get a lot of fruit and veg there as its very cheap as is the bread and some of the tins. Also some of the "fake" biscuits ie the not McVities chocolate digestives and the not Tunnocks caramel wafers. Have tried some of the fish and meat too and its all been fine.

Took me a while to get used to it but I love it now and the total at the till is ALWAYS a pleasant surprise.

Love it though prefer Aldi. The massive tubs of yoghurt are good. I have not been disappointed with anything from there.

Passata, tinned tomatoes, olive oil, tomato puree, pasta all good as are rice, tinned chick peas, jars of sundried tomatoes, peppers etc.

Large tubs of yoghurt.

I am always pleased with the fruit and veg, cooked meats, cheese.

Kids have their cereal and like it.

Biscuits are nice!

I buy a lot of stuff in Lidl.

Fruit and veg
butter, cheese, greek yogurt and milk
frozen pizzas - lovely and thin
pasta
chicken and beef sometimes
biscuits/cakes if we are having a treat
multi pack of own brand crisps for the DC
cereal bars
The Really Nutty muesli - that is THE nicest muesli ever
sometimes beer and wine
Eggs

and more.

I prefer Aldi too but certain things are better/only available at Lidl

My Lidl preferences are

baby leaf salad (has rocket in it - Aldi's is milder)
wholewheat loaf
pork belly slices (they have rind on, for crackling)
Doussy sensitive fabric rinse (the white one, which has the loveliest smell, but they don't always have it in - this week it's all blue, yellow & green)
multi-packs of choc bars eg fake Snickers
paper napkins
those one-clove bulbs of garlic in the little basket
24-roll Charmin & Branston beans (ideally when on offer)
Red Leicester (Aldi's is rubbery)
oven chips (59p for 1kg & they are usually really nice)
frozen peas
at the moment they're selling 5kg of charcoal briquettes for £1.44 - I assume it's an end-of-season clear-out

There is more but my brain froze

Look out for their Deluxe range too. The coconut spread is to die for but sadly they don't often have it. The fresh bakery items are good too and a fraction of the price of Tesco. Mature cheddar is excellent at £1.99 for 350g. All the wine I have bought there has been very drinkable not that I am that fussy or know much about wine and I was behind a very posh sounding gentleman at the checkout yesterday who spent £246 just on wine, so it can't be too bad!

Thanks everyone. We went this afternoon and I was really pleased with the price even though I didn't rein myself in as much as I normally do.

My daughter was so excited!

Is everyone else's lidl REALLY chilled out and peaceful?

Lidl nappies are brilliant

Take shopping bags (they charge for carriers) & £1/token for a trolley

Please don't try to pack as you go at the checkout (unless you only have a basket, as they don't let you take those through) - put your shopping back in your trolley & pack it at your leisure on the shelf at the back. I much prefer to do it that way anyway now.

A lot of people at my local Lidl seem to take a weird pleasure in treating it like Sainsburys, chat to the checkout person & take their time over packing at the checkout, even when there is only one open & a massive queue is forming, because they feel they have the right to do what they like - for some reason the staff don't stop them or try educate them on the way Lidl is supposed to operate. Makes me very cross (can you tell? )

It's a food shop.

There's no need to feel daunted. It works pretty much like all the other shops you go to.

It's really not a big deal.

Wow now I feel like I must have pissed everyone off for packing at the till- surely just as quick to pack into a waiting carrier bag as to pack into the trolley?

Was daunted cos I had heard stories of surly staff and the weird packing... Just copied the person in front of me.

Ours is chilled out and peaceful too. It's brand new and spotless. I love it.

surely just as quick to pack into a waiting carrier bag as to pack into the trolley?

As someone who has waited impatiently behind pack-as-you-goers, no it isn't! (Unless you have very large bags & throw everything in regardless of weight & squashability)

They're able to offer such low prices partly because they work on a skeleton staff with the minimum possible number of checkouts open, & that's possible because of the packing shelf at the back

If everybody insists on packing as they go they'll have to employ more staff & increase prices accordingly...

We're getting Aldi in my middle-class super-entitled town soon - I can't wait to see how they deal with the checkout-packers

I might carry on driving 8 miles to the one where people follow the rules (they actually have notices up to tell you how to do it!)