LIDL - what's worth buying and what's a load of old tosh?

[ImBarryScott]

I'm reviewing how much we spend on food at the moment as it seems to be a crazy amount for just me, DH, and DD. My nearest cheapo supermarket is Lidl. I've yet to venture in. Is it worth bothering, and if so, what are the real gems? Ta!

nappies! Used them for DS since he was born
no leaks at all - they are really good value

We are seriously impressed with lidl, having previously thought it would be rubbish.

Their fruit and veg is fantastic, far better quality than any other supermarket. All their other products we have found to be comparable in terms of quality, except the meats (eg pate, sliced ham, chicken etc) which are far better! I'm not sure that their toiletries are particularly brilliant but they are good enough for us . If you like a lot of "branded" stuff (eg only Andrex loo roll, only Heinz baked beans) then you may struggle a bit - they do have some branded goods but not for everything. However I find the quality of the stuff they do stock is so good that it's not a problem for us.

Also, may not be the same everywhere, but at our lidls they don't have trolley seats for small babies, only toddlers - so if I go with ds2 I have to take him in the sling.

Really, really worth a try (don't forget to take your own bags with you though - or do what we did and invest in some strong Lidl bags at £1 each - they last forever and you can fit loads in!)

Well we went to Lidl a few weeks ago, because we were on a "cutting down our spending" phase,and spent over £100! Which is far more than I spend in Tesco or Asda. Their fresh pizzas are lovely, fruit and veg is great and their cold meats.
We taek some of those bags for life and fill them at the car, much easier

Oh, another Blonde question: do they Lidl take plastic? I remember when I was a student KwikSave (RIP) were cash only.

Cleaning products are great and the loo roll is better than Andrex no fluffy bits!

I also like a nose around the non-food aisles. I have recently bought dd wellies for £2.99, a kitchen fire extinquisher for £5.99, a car first aid kit for £5.99 and scales for £2.99 (B & Q had exactly the same set for £10!)

Yes they take plastic!

Good:
Parmesan
Mozarella
Cheddar
Tomatoes on the vine
Onions
Salad potatoes
Garlic
Avocadoes
Mangoes (currently 39p each)
Canned chopped tomatoes
Canned whole tomatoes
Passata
Tubs of tomato pureeCanned soups
Basmati Rice
Tagliatelle
Bars of 74% Plain chocolate (for cooking of course
Double cream
Mini formage frais
Mini Cartons of apple juice - only 89p
Mini Cartons of mixed juice with vitamins (ds prefers these) - £1.29
Multi packs of crisps
Cava (perefectly respectable) - currently £3.78 (and dh is studying to be a Master of Wine )
Chablis - ditto - c £5.49
Frozen leg of lamb
Forzoen oven chips
Frozen peas
Frozen chicken nuggets (real breast meat, but the shapes are a bit irregular)
Frozen tuna steaks
Frozen king prawns
Wafer thin ham
Crumpets
Muffins
Raspberry Jam
Nutella
Cereals (we buy Conrflakes and varying chocolate type ones, but Iam told their Luxury Muesli is also excellent)
Ad hoc offers, eg TVs, bike bags, children's walking shoes, plants

Not so good/need to check:
Grapes - vary in quality
Frozen chicken kiev - didn't like them
Packs of chicken thighs - good value, but watch the Sell By date

Is that enought to be going on with?

i love you prettybird

nappies are great

Nappies here too, special K type cereal, fruit and vegetables always nice and fresh. DP likes their bourbon , cheaper than Jack Daniels though I guess!

Sandwich meat is not startlingly cheap but well worth the price quality wise.

Cottage cheese, aloe vera toilet rolls, rubber gloves, Jcloth things, kitchen rolls, most fruit and veg. And the fitted sheets made of T shirt stuff are good. Plants are hit and miss. Garden equipment has been good.

Oh, more good things:

ginger nuts
Rich tea iscuit
Their version of jaffa cakes (IMHO, better than the real thing )
Tins of salted almonds or cashews (far too more-ish though)
Keelte crisps (atlhugh the plain ones are sometimes very good and sometimes a bit fatty/tasteless)
Fresh or frozen Chicken Tikka Massala or Chicken Korma (the forzen is actually better value)
Frozen Indian snacks
EV Olive Oil

I remember to keep strong plastic bags in the boot of the car and take them in with me. It has also helped me to get into the habit of re-using them even when I go to Sainbury's (which I still go to once a ofrtnight, to get the "luxuries" like Freshly squeezed orange juice, free range chicken, fancy dips, some of the more esotreci herbs and spices etc

juices are nice (apple orange pineapple etc..)
fresh pizzas lovely,
potato salad the best,
sandwich meats lovely,
watch their tinned stuff for loads of salt, don't sell skimmed milk in 4 pts,

I have started going there alot then popping to Tesco to top up

My bug bear is they do baby trolleys but with only 1 seat and I have 5 mth dts and a 3.7 year old. So have to fit in going with 1 or less children

Have been saving a fortune and most of the food is lovely

nappies and wipes

their face wash, moisturiser, shampoo etc also good..in fact toiletries from there are great ! cheap and cheerful, and perfectly good quality

half price fruit and veg offers on a regular basis, including organic

also stock some fairtrade stuff

great for stocking up on tinned stuff

thanks everyone
trolley babyseat thing not an issue as I don't drive, so dd rides the buggy whilst i cripple myself carrying an overful basket . and we always take our own bags.

so i guess there's no reason not to try it.

Operation lidl will commence weds am!

Easier to list the things worth avoiding, tbh.

Their wholegrain mustard is profoundly, disgustingly weird.
They have a whole cereal range called 'Flakers' which should be avoided like the plague. All other cereals are excellent though, including their weetabix, cornflakes and shreddies ripoffs. Their fruit muesli is fab.
Their veg is fine but doesn't always keep as well as some other brands, so have a plan for when you're going to use it by.
Opinions are divided on their Kettle Chips ripoffs -- some like, some don't.
The basmati rice is fine, the other stuff seems to go from underdone to soggy in about 0.3 seconds.
The pasta tends to take longer to cook than mainstream brands, and is perhaps slightly heavier. The tagliatelle is great, though.

Aaah - you might have a wee problem then, as they don't have baskets!

They only have trolleys - or you can use one of their empty "packing" boxes (eg the ones that fruit juces are stacked in) - which might be difficult to balance with a buggy.

They do get upset if you use plastic bags - I did that to start with, until I got my act together with my £1 coin for the trolley, but got my fingers wrapped.

good:

handwash
hayfever tablets
plasters
dishwasher powder
parmesan (fantastic)
feta
mozarella
tinned toms
jars of roasted peppers
anything cleaning related
german cured meats
bin bags

Tip: kidney research (and other charities) do a keyring which has a detachable poud coin size tag to use in trolleys

I've just copied and pasted all these onto my 'all-new' shopping list - thanks

I forgot about the feta - it is good.

I have a charity token - not sure whose it is as I swapped it for my Sainbury's token.

Lidl do take credit cards (or debit if you are more conformtable with that).

Their Spanish red wines are also good - and if you want to splash out, their "ordinary" Champagne is actually better than their Premier Cru (£8.99 instead of £14.99)

They also do free range eggs (medium - so I use them for cooking, as opposed to baking, where I prefer large eggs).

Sugar is also dead cheap - I bought 8kg on Satruday, but should actually have bought more, as we are making shed loads of plum and pear jam from the trees in our garden (so haven't actually bought their raspberry jam for ages!)

deli stuff- cooked meats
if you get brave try their german sausages- ( good for cutting up nd doing on barbque)

juices- apple/pineapple/orange/grape all available- 100% juice which we water down

fabbo cheese-
emmental,mozarella,feta yum yum
I even like the cheese slices ( admission)!- when usually wouldn't ever eat anything like that- but good quality
parmesan
they have great antipasta

olive oil
pasta all good quality
tins of tomatos ( some don't like their beans but we have become used too as less sweet)

I love Lidl- doesn't pretend to be anything it isn't.
Love the special offers and rumaging around wellie boots and tool kits.
They have themed weeks. I have friends who buy horsey kit there as cut price.

oh and also buy their clothes washing liquid and conditioner, which seems to be very good.

www.moneysavingexpert.com/shopping/are-cheap-supermarkets-good

Notice on that web site that not all Lidl stores take credit cards - aonly some Scottish stores (which must be the ones I use! )

Also remided me that their Aluminium foil is crap (the only total failure so far): despite claiming to be extra strong, I couldn't get it to wrap a have carved roast chicken - tore at the slightest contact.

Their cling film is OK, although I find Sainsbury's bran more "clingy".

the Masdaamer and Emmenthale cheeses are doo - so is the brie.

I've found since I started Lidl, the cost of my weekly shopping has decreased by at least a third. it'sporbably helped by the fact that I now do menus for the week and am therefore more organised with my shopping. I also make sure to go to Lidl first before going to Sainbury's (which I only go to rtngihtly now anyway).

it's like shopping the old fashioned way (showing my age): supermarkets used to all be like Lidl - and not much bigger, and you go what you could get in them.

Had no problems with the foil myself. But they don't do extra wide stuff, irritatingly.