My month at Aldi experiment

[Pippioddstocking]

So after reading so many threads on here about Aldi I decided for a month to swap from my usual combination of asda and waitrose to Just Aldi . I brought all my usual things and have just done my final shop for the month .
It's been AMAZING . I've saved nearly 250 pounds and quite frankly I think the food has been nicer and better quality . I'm a total convert .

Anyone else found this ? I just can't get how the other supermarkets get away with charging so much more ?

My husband loves their individual ice cream sundaes. 1.99 for four, probably one of the most expensive things we get there. My 1.99 treat is the breaded camembert.

Other than those, we buy pretty much nothing but household goods, unprocessed food and deli meats, so nothing expensive at all.

i tried to shop in aldi a couple of times just could not get on with it. felt a bit disappointed because people have said how great it is. I find it hard to do a full shop as well. someone told me its because i buy smart price so thats why im not finding it any cheaper.

I love Lidl, although I wish they still did their big pretzels in the bakery. The fizzy water is worth going for alone if you get through as much of the stuff as we do. I prefer their veg to our local Aldi (although that might just be our store), and I've found the themed weeks such as French week, Italian week etc excellent value. We switched after I went to lidl as an experiemnt while Dh was with DS1 at his swimming lesson. I took ds2 to keep him amused and now every Saturday morning we go.

There are some things I still prefer to get at Waitrose (our previous standard shop), which is mainly particular meats (veal, happy pig, particular cuts of beef etc) and odd storecupboard stuff like herbs and spices (although the recent offer on saffron at Lidl was amazing), but then our Waitrose is far bigger than our nearesy Lidl. There are bigger Lidl nearby but they aren't near my's son's swimming pool.

Oh we consume fizzy water by the gallon!

Dishwasher tabs are excellent too

YY to the dishwasher tabs!

I do love Aldi, The big problem I find is that the fresh meat goes off very quickly, way before the sell by date. I guess it is being stored badly.

No we don't buy smartprice stuff, I do do my ASDA shop online though so am quite careful. I just can't get what I want. Maybe I'm just a brand whore...

I think Asda is as cheap as Aldi.

I don't get the Aldi love on MN.

I thought the same usualsuspect333, but this month I did a big shop in Asda at the beginning of the month then used Aldi and I have £90 left in the house keeping where as I would have used the £400 and would need another £100.

Having said that I think my local Asda has got expensive as it doesn't have any direct competition as we only have a Asda and a Sainsburys the other side of town.

i don't like Aldi either.
We get though tons of fruit and and i found Aldi fruit goes out of date within a day or two of being bought and even the kids have turned their noses up at the own brand cereals and crisps.

I only go in to other supermarkets now if I take my mum hopping or I'm passing and need to pop in to get bread or milk. I can't believe how expensive they are. I think my mum is fed up with me wandering around with her telling her how cheap the Aldi equivalent is when she's choosing her shopping.

I also like the fact that I can be in and out in under 30 mins. I take huge IKEA bags with me so I don't have to repack. It's so quick and easy.

I do admit that the fruit and veg doesn't last as long as some other supermarkets but we get through so much that nothing goes to waste in our house.

I couldn't do a big shop in Aldi.

It's ok for a few bits, but not a big shop.

I agree with usual. Asda all the way, plus no 'square of tat' to negotiate. I get milk and bread from Aldi if I am passing.

I have tried, really I have but I just don't get it.

I don't spend £250 a month on supermarket shopping so I don't think the savings are going to entice me as much as those that do bigger shops.
I do a combination of Morrisons, sainsbury's, butchers, market & specialist shops (cheese/wine)
Aldi & Lidl put me off because the ones near us don't seem to be that good & the access/car parking is terrible.

I buy toilet roll. Kitchen roll, cleaning products, washing liquid and dishwasher tabs. I buy their brioche, sliced loaves, sometimes milk. I avoid the veg as it goes off too soon. Don't like the cheese there or the meat, although their freedom food sausages are good value.

I do the rest of my shop at sainsburys or Waitrose.

I don't seem to save much in Aldi at all, and I don't usually get smartprice stuff - I usually get a Tesco delivery. No idea what I'm doing wrong, but there again I need to do two chickens for a meal here I can't get 50 meals out of one like most on MN can with their magic chicken!

I do my main shop at Aldi ( sometimes Lidl )
Every week I buy
Steak
Mince
Whole chicken
Sausages
Bacon
Pork/lamb joint
15 eggs
Loads of fruit and veg
Tinned tomatoes
An entire tray of fruit layered yoghurts, all four of us like them and no matter how many I buy we always run out
Mature cheddar
Mozzarella
Sliced ham/chicken/ pastrami
Milk
Tin foil
Clingfilm
Toilet roll
Kitchen roll
Washing powder
Fabric conditioner
Washing up liquid
Dishwasher tablets
Shower spray
Bubble bath ( to use as hand wash )
Cotton pads and cotton buds

Oh and chocolate....at least two different types of chocolate each week. At the minute my favourites are the dark chocolate with sea salt and the milk chocolate with caramel. They come in individually wrapped portions which ( usually ) makes it last longer as I don't sit and eat the entire bar at once.

I love aldi too.

Sometimes there is the occasional thing I will need (eg something odd for a recipe) that I will go to one of the big 3 for but usually I can get everything I need in there. I don't tend to buy particular brands anyway and cook from scratch with basic ingredients.

I got a nice big crate of sweet clementines last weekend and they are SOO yummy! I find the fresh fruit, veg and meat lasts really well - it must vary store to store?

Their washing up liquid is good, the cooked meats, fresh meat, cheap bread loaf for toast, cereals, kids yoghurts, I like it all!

Our weekly shop is so much quicker too which DS appreciates.

I love how quick I can get through my shop in there, and how much cheaper it is at the end. For 5 people I only spend between £40-50 per week and that includes all packed lunch food too. My treat is the breaded goats cheese, it's lovely.

I like it when people come on Aldi threads and say they don't get it, or they're not saving money. Good work, guys - my local Aldi is getting far too busy, queues for car park etc. Very annoying.

(Just did a full shop today for four of us, £57, inc meals for the week, chocolate, wine and a big pack of luxury bog roll, shhhhh )

Another aldi lover here. I haven't had time the last three weeks to get to the other side of town so have done online shops with three different stores to use the first time discount codes and even with those codes the bill has been a lot more. Cheapest (wait rose) was £45 more than my £75 aldi shop.

There are 5 of us and I get a jam packed full trolley for that £75. Never had a problem with the fruit veg or fresh meat. That's 2 adults 2 teens and an 8yr old. I usually get a bottle of wine or prose co as well.

See now I feel frivolous with these people only spending £50 for 5. I've paid half of our summer holiday with the savings so far.

You are welcome to Aldi.

Ours is bloody depressing.

I tried a shop at Aldi, just a smallish one but still saved £13.

But the anti-pasti (olives and peppers) were horrible, as was the coleslaw and the fake Special K.

I'm going to try lidl instead I think.