anyone recently swapped weekly shop to LIDLS? Is it realistic to do so?

[mad4mybaby]

There is only me, DH and ds (plus ds2 on way) im vegetarian so obv buy vege mince etc and ds has goats products due to allergies, DH is very fussy with meat and wont let me buy 'cheap' meat. Am currently shopping in morrisions and now set a budget to stick to. Lidls is opposite and i only popped in there once to look around and everything seems very chaotic, not organised and mainly 'boxed' stuff. Can you seriously do normal weeks shop here? Also would i actually save anything between the 2?

I do all my "supermarket" shopping in Lidl, but I get an organic meat box and organic fruit and veg box delivered, so only fresh stuff I buy there is dairy (which is very good)

I swapped for one week only originally as an experiment. I spent £36 for a fairly basic weekly shop (obv no meat or veg) came home and put the same stuff into Tesco's web site. I'd saved £8 - that's what nearly 25%?! I haven't been back to Tesco since. Not sure you'll be able to get goats milk etc though.

so can you not buy fruit and veg there>

mad4mybaby, yeah you can get fruit and veg there. Lidl have a more exciting selection than netto do usually and it's very reasonably priced.

I love the middle aisles with all the 'random' stuff in them, just don't get sucked into a bargain you'll never use!

I don't know what morrisons is like though to compare their own stuff but lidl stuff is fine imo, no different to any other own brand type stuff, we used to do all our shopping there when we lived just up the road from it.

Not sure what the veggie selection would be like but may be worth 'experimenting' like whatdayisit to see if it's worth it for you

Lidl is Ok for fruit and veg, but limited organic and it doesn't keep as well as Tesco, so you need to buy what you need. I get a box because I like that system, rather than because I can't get it at Lidl iyswim.

Hey, Lidl is brilliant, I've been a fan for years. Fruit and veg. can go off a bit more quickly than Tescos, say, but I put that down to the fact that it's not sprayed in as many dodgy chemicals. Best to get an organic box and get all the stuff like pasta, rice, FAB cheeses and FAB chocs from Lidl - not to mention the surprise in every middle aisle! PS Fab beer too.

You won't be able to do your entire shop there, but get as much as you can and top up either in Morrisons or order an organic box.

You will save as you'll find products like loo paper much cheaper in Lidl. I wouldn't buy uncooked meat there though as I don't think the quality is very good.

We had lamb from Morrisons today which was excellent quality and reasonably priced, but when I can I shop at the local butcher and get an organic box every couple of weeks.

Dh and I have an arrangement where he gets a weekly shop in LIDL and I get a weekly Superquinn shop (Irish equivalent of Sainsburys/Waitrose) I give dh a list but often LIDL will have run out of things like broccoli or courgettes which I then add to the Superquinn list,
non-perishable things are excellent value but fresh meat and veg can be hi and miss.

DH and I have just switched to Lidl and have no negative comments to make about it at all!

we had a dinner party last night which included crayfish and avocado, poached pears and strawberry sorbet and all the ingredients came from Lidl.

The crab meat we ate was from the fishmonger and the meat was from the butcher though.

We started with prosecco and canapes - Lidl.
Crab starter.
Turbot fish course - Lidl
Lamb, (mixed bean cassoulet - Lidl)
Dessert - Lidl

Twas Fab!

We have only just switched but it is well worth it imo.

I have started to buy my food shopping in Lidl again recently. It is entirely possible to buy a weekly shop for a family for 4 for 40 quid. I went yesterday and spent 90 quid - but my trolley was over flowing.

The week before I went to Sainsbos and got 6 bags of shopping for 120 notes. I was Not Amused.

I am using Lidl again - There is never anyone in our local one so I can be in and out in under 20 mins.

I have bought meat from there before and find it better then Tesco

Their fruit and veg is nicer imho too.

Chipmonkey - your post nearly made me sob. There is no Irish equivalent of Waitrose and I'm going to miss it so much when I move back.

I don't think I would be able to do a full shop at Lidl, but they do have some good stuff once you get used to it and it's much cheaper. I guess the thing to do if you want to change would be to resign yourself to doing two shops for at least a few weeks to give yourself a chance to try different things at Lidl but still make up any shortfall at your usual supermarket.

When I lived in Berlin (where all the supermarkets are Lidl-style) I used to shop at several different supermarkets and fruit and veg shops every week. It seemed to be how most people shopped there, so one supermarket would have the cereal that I liked, another would have good cold meat and another would be good for canned goods. It's actually just as easy to shop that way as to do it all in one place when you get used to it.

Superquinn are trying very hard to be waitrose, though! The even stocked waitrose ready meals for a while.

I do a Lidl shop now and again but I always end up with too much choc, crisps and biscuits. I like all their herring and fish in sauce. The massive bucket of vanilla yoghurt doesn't last long here and my boys also love the ice lollies in the mixed pack.

I like Lidl, and find the meat is good especially the lamb. They don't do organic or free range meat though, but I figure lamb IS free range anyway, IYKWIM. I find the cooked meats, antipasto, cheeses, yogurts etc at Lidls are excellent, and my kids even like the breakfast cereal. They usually have quite a long shelf life too. I am not so keen on some things - like for example their meusli bars are very high in sugar. So I usually shop in Lidls only every couple of weeks and go somewhere else for the fresh bread, meats etc - my local co-op is great. My main problem is that my nearest Lidls is 19 miles away so that's a lot of petrol unless I'm going there anyway for something else. I am always at the size of the bill when I occasionally venture to Sainsbos.

Actually, I find ready meals to be one of Waitrose's weakest points. But then I've really gone off ready meals since ds arrived. It's more the range and quality of Waitrose raw ingredients that set them apart from the others. I hope that Superquinn are going upmarket, I'm dreading having to choose between Tesco and Dunnes as I have moral issues with Tesco and Dunnes just don't have the range (although they are much improved from when I last live in Ireland).

MehgaLegs I read somewhere (on MN most likely) that Lidl biscuits and cakes are full of hydrogenated fat.

What I do is once a firtnight stick up at Lidl on all non perishable and longer life stuff such as breakfast cereals, rice, pasta, all paper products, cleaning stuff, dairy products, wine, pet food, frozen foods and whatever randon items they have on that week, and top up at Tesco or local supermarket as appropropriate depending on what is on the menu that week. I would say I save at least £20 - £30 a week since I have switched to Lidl. It can be a bit hit and miss and you may well find there are things you don't like etc but quickly you will know what you like and end up as I do doing a different list for each shop. It is well worth it!

You could buy yams in SQ last time I checked And the fish counter is brilliant, much, much better than Dunnes or Tescos

You're making me feel so much better about moving back to Ireland chipmonkey (well you and the drastically falling house prices).

Yes, we're all fast losing our millionaire status!