Sainsbury vs Lidl - OH MY GOD!!

[Stargazing]

Just did my first Lidl shop after years of shopping at Sainso's and being increasingly terrified by hundreds of pounds of groceries disappearing in a matter of days, despite regular supplementation (is that a word?) from the local shops.

Our household -

DH, works odd hours so often not home for dinner, never takes lunch with him, manages to wolf a bowl fo cornflakes in the morning.

Me - very health conscious, weight conscious etc - vegan, wheat-free, dairy-free, all round pain in the a*se dinner guest

DD - not quite 2, good appetite, eats all her veg and fruit, likes meat, 3 solid meals a day plus 1 or 2 snacks, mostly of the dried fruit variety.

DS - just over 6 months, has been on purees for 2 months, has just started eating fish/ meat/ chicken as well as veg, lentils etc.

Today at Lidl I spent .... £74.18

In the interests of being a TOTAL geek, I did the same shop online at Sainso's and it came to... £122.99

I tried to get weights. sizes, etc the same, only chose the basic brand stuff etc etc .. and it still came out nearly £50 more expensive!!!! Am in total shock. Granted, it was not nearly so pleasant a shopping experience (had to do it myself, for one thing, with the infants, rather than having some delivery man bring it round, and was accosted by someone wanting 'just a few pence for a hot meal' in the car park ... ) but OH MY GOD - am sooo converted.

Just seen the 2008 thing

The only problem is that the Aldi/Lidl stuff goes off before its Best Before date, so you end up wasting money on spoiled food you need to throw away :/

including Branston beans which are actually the best

They actually are. You should also try Co-op own brand beans which are my daughter's favourite but which I actually suspect are made by Branstons anyway.

Mine doesn't

Very little has changed in 9 years it seems

Indeed, I read the OP and thought 'where has she been for the last 10/15 years' but it turns out that she was actually still there.

I agree with Fontella about shopping around. You don't have to go to more shops than you normally do each week, but for non perishables at least, just go every once in a while to Sainsbury's or wherever is convenient to you, if there's things you can't get in Aldi/Lidl but have one nearby. Most people do top up shops anyway, so just do that at a different supermarket.

Anytime people discuss Aldi/Lidl, a lot of people say 'I can't shop there as I can't get everything I need' as if they think that it's the law that you must use the same supermarket every week and are only allowed to go once.

I used to love shopping at Aldi, spent hardly anything on the weekly shop. Then we moved and don't have an aldi here. Shopped at Lidl a couple times but the fruit was mouldy on the shelves! What wasn't already mouldy didn't last long once home. Now I generally shop at Sainsburys but compare the weekly shop online and get it delivered from where it's cheapest.

ZOMBIE THREAD FROM 2008

Just seen the 2008 thing

Bugger, not the thread to be skiving on then.

Slinks off to find another one to write a load of shite on

Only thing I find though is they don't have very good baby stuff? And other stuff they randomly don't have so you have to go to another shop anyway.

What the heck do you eat btw!?

A vagrant in the car park? I only ever see expensive cars in my local Lidl car park! I agree with the price savings, much cheaper and very good quality.