Lidl, Aldi, Netto...are they any good?

[busybee123]

I really have to start saving some money. I usually get my shopping delivered through tescos online ever week and its always comes to about £120!!! OUCH, but to be honest I have also noticed recently that they are getting really rubbish, even sending me out of date and mouldy produce. Either that or I have loads of things missing ( and its always the important stuff!!) So I was thinking about going to Aldi, Lidl or Netto. Anyone know of they are any good? price and products wise? I have never been to any of them before. TIA

i've been to netto in the past but just for booze really! if you use a lot of tins etc i ithink it could be ok but i dont think the fruit veg is v good. i dont buy meat but i do know people who wont buy it from netto. then again thats only one store so i suppose you would have to actually go and see what your local store is like!

depending on where you live morrissons ime is fab. really cheap and really good quality.

Oh my kind of thread . I use Lidl a lot - would use Aldi as well except not so handy. They are very good (and I think Aldi is slightly better) for fresh fruit and veg, booze, pasta, basmati rice, passata, cold meats, Weetabix and Hovis Granary (half the price of Tesco for the latter), coleslaw, juice, bottled water (25p for 2 litres), jams and biscuits. Oh, lots more but the range is not so varied or 'luxurious' and is the same week after week. I'm spoilt because I have a Morrisons on my doorstep which is very good and cheap and much nicer than ASDA but I can come out of Lidl with a box of fresh veg , pasta or rice and juice which will last me a week for £10 to £12. It's just liek being on holiday on Germany and going to a German supermarkert. Nothing to be afraid of.

Never been to Netto but that's Swedish so could be interesting.

what are tinned things like? some shops cheap beans etc are hard no matter how much you cook them. the only thing i don't like to compromise on is washing powder as we all have sensitive skin but i buy tescos own non bio and its 3.97 for a big box that lasts me 2 weeks with me dh and 3 kids. aldi is next door to tescos so maybe i should try there and then if i cant get everthing then i can get the rest from tescos.

Agree with tinker, the basics are great from Aldi/Netto. But for things like raw and cooked meat and fresh fish, I use Asda or Tesco (or the market if I am organised enough).

Netto often have special offers on branded goods. I bought an enormous box of Fairy non bio powder for £7.99, large dolmio sauces for 89p. There is always a 'bargain' counter where you can rummage through - sometimes loads of rubbish, but often a gem or two. I found single duvet cover sets in there once for £1 each ! they were Dorma brand I think - good quality.

tinned toms v cheap, bread - terrible, fruit not always good quality but the veg is good if you get there on the morning it is delivered.

Yup, I love Netto!!

what are they like for household stuff? washing up liquid, cleaning stuff etc?

busybee, they are BRILL, I was about to post that an hour ago but I had to go out.

Another Lidl fan here (though there is an Aldi just up the road from the one I go to, I really should give it a try) and I always get bin liners, light bulbs, batteries, shampoo, conditioner, shower stuff, washing up liquid, anti-bacterial wipes...can't think of any more at the mo. I don't use their detergent (sensitive skin here too) and cleaning products - tried the dishwasher tablets and thought they were a bit harsh.

Things like tinned tomatoes are v good, also fish (like herring in sauce, DH likes weird food) and fruit juice, esp the small cartons for lunch boxes.

The Netto I used to go to got burnt down by a teenage arsonist () it has been rebuilt and reopened but I got out of the habit of going. IIRC it has a lot more recognisable brands.

Oh, and chocolate puddings...mmmmm....we fight over those.

oh Janh i am SUPPOSED to be on a diet!!! are they a lot cheaper than tescos then? just wondering how much i could cut my bill by?! at tescos it costs me about 120 a week?!?

Hi busybee123, I used Netto almost exclusively for 7 years when I lived in Denmark and found them to be great for basics but lousy at fresh produce. Also as GingerBear said, the bargin counter can be fantastic but if you see something good buy it then and there because you'll never see it again (TBH I think some of it fell of the back of a lorry)

the meat I have got from Alsi on the odd occasion we have shopped there has been excellent, the only prob with fruit and beg is that you are stuck with what they have in stock, they do not carry as much variety as the big supermarkets.
But on the whole we have ben pretty pleased with their stuff
DP doens;t like it as he cannot use his credit card, he is collecting airmiles by putting the weekly shop on his cc...

i only use really basic stuff anyway so sounds like i will be ok there. piff, can you not use credit card at aldi??? what about cheques? is it the same with netto and lidl??

You can use cheques and your debit card just not credit cards.

I use Lidl (on my way to Safeway, just about next door).

It's great for canned tomatoes, mini fruit juices for ds, cheap coke for ds (rare treat!) - 39p/bottle, cheap crisps for ds (although dh steals them!)(£1.75 for 24 bags), tomatoes on the vine, cherry tomaotes, Emmenthalle cheese (big slabs for peanuts), and other cheeses that look interesting (like Masdaam, a Dutch cheese) mozarella, bacon, mince, 75% chocolate for cooking and Jaffa cakes that are better than the "real" thing. Milk is oalso 4p cheaper for the 4 (?) pint contanier - 99p instead of £1.03 at Safeway.

It doesn't (for me) substitute for Safeway - I use the two together, getting waht I can at Lidl before going on to Safeway. I porbably won't try their washing powder, but have currently using the Lidl fabric conditioner.

But combined with having started to produce menus for the week before I go shopping, I have now nearly halved my weekly food shop bill.

You can use a debit card but not a credit card.

busybee123, £120 a week is a big grocery bill! I don't know how many are in your family. My family is 2 adults, 2 kids plus 3 pets and our weekly bill is nowhere near that. (And I use tesco.com). Please feel free to tell me to * off and mind my own business but I would be looking at what your buying and why, as well as looking for a cheaper supermarket. IME, Lidl, etc, are great for certain things, crp for others - try it and see!

busybee123 our supermarket tesco online bill is just the same as yours, never under £100, but we always have lots of stuff in the fridge/freezer/cupboards as a result. however, if we only need fresh stuff (fruit, veg, meat, fish) i just nip down to the local supermarket and spend about £30-40 for that week. i agree with the previous message though, we need better planing for the shopping list. well, one day...

My weekly grocery bill used to be £120 for four of us, but since dp moved out it's gone down to about £60!

So my money saving tip is ... get rid of DH/DP

i really do but only what we need...we have set menus on a 2 week rota, so i think i am organised enough like that. There are 2 adults and 3 kids in our house, though only just started weaning ds2 so dont think he really counts, though i do make my own baby food for him!! and i use washable nappies. DH eats a tremendous amount though!!! his sunday dinner consists of a huge piece of meat/half a chicken or 3 chicken breasts, 4-5 yorkshire puddings, 6 roast potatoes, a small packet of stuffing, 8 whole boiled potatoes, lots and lots of vegetables. For his lunch at work he takes sandwiches made with 8 pieces of bread, 3 boiled eggs, 3 apples, 2 bananas, a yogurt or mullerrice, a huge bowl of pasta salad, 2 small bottles of energy drink like lucozade, 3 litres of water!!! So yes.....i do need to buy a lot!!! i just need to save on it. (oh and he doenst put any weight on either!!!

DO you have Farmfoods near you? They are good too for frozen things - often half the price for the same branded stuff that they have in Tesco.

no LunarSea we dont. we have iceland in the next town but thats it. whatever i do i have to travel about 20 miles to get to a supermarket

Spacemonkey! Know what you mean! When ex. p**d off many years ago I went down to DSS as was then and collected my giro, cashed it and went straight to Aldis. I fed two kids, one dog and myself for £30 for the week! But those were the days when the check-out girls had to remember the price of everything .

I still like Aldis. Last New Years Eve I was putting a buffet on. When I went to Aldis at 4pm on the Saturday before NY, there must have been 5 customers in at the most. It was bliss! And the bill including booze and extras for the rest of week came to just over £50! The 'Temptation' range is excellent.

As for Lidls, you can't beat their chocolate.

I'm a Lidl convert.

Went for the first time after reading a similar thread & was quite inmpressed.I even saw the man who runs our corner shop in there,getting his groceries.

DH can reccomend the beer & chorizo & also the huge chocolate & marshmellow cakes,called 'Choco softees'.

The only bad thing was that a high proportion of the shoppers in there seemed to have a bad B.O problem-it stank!Will have to take a clothes peg next time.

I personally go to asda i think its great. But i do use lidls for odd things or farm foods to fill up my freezer which are very cheap and not value stuff either. I don't like lidls fruit and veg it goes off to quickly.

Aldi foods and other groceries are very good - they regularly come top in comsumer tests, when compared with top-name brands. The quality is much better than asda, imho. Their fruit & veg range is a bit limited, though, but they do a really good selection of very nice frozen foods, yummy ice cream, fish dishes etc.

We've got an Aldi near us and I quite like it.

Their milk is fine, low fat yoghurt, fruit & veg (as long as you are careful and have a good look at it first, have almost bought squidgy peppers in the past), temptations biscuits (yum, but I'm not allowed any ), Malt loaf (Soreen loaf copy), any wine I have tried has been good, cold meats are great and a fraction of the price of the big supermarkets, lovely steaks, mince, sausages etc and their higher quality brand (can't remember what they call it) bacon is really nice, thick slices that don't shrivel up to nothing under the grill, their parmesan, mozzerella is also very good. The only thing I have tried that I don't like from Aldi is their bread.