Lidl - just managed to use them for a full shop
Discussion
You know as I read the subject I'm cringing a little because it's not as if I've climbed f
king Everest here but.. I've always tended to use Waitrose for "nice" stuff and pick up the odd bit and bob at random supermarkets i.e. Lidl for pastries and crisps etc.
I've just managed to do a full shop there for the next few days - maybe it's me but the biggest challenge seems to be simply finding stuff - OK it's familiarity but everything seems to be just thrown around the place in a semi-random order.
Also it's bizarre just how many things you buy based off what the box looks like - and the supermarkets bloody know this.
Lurpak, Coco Pops, Frosties, just about everything looks exactly like the mainstream brands but with a deformed monkey or Tony the.. Jaguar or whatever they do to make it look a little different.
Hoping I'll survive the ready meal curry, meat seems cheap enough, "fresh" (Vitalife) Orange Juice is 99p vs. £3 for a bottle of Innocent, everything seems cheaper enough to make a significant difference there just isn't the choice.
Parking is also easier
king Everest here but.. I've always tended to use Waitrose for "nice" stuff and pick up the odd bit and bob at random supermarkets i.e. Lidl for pastries and crisps etc.I've just managed to do a full shop there for the next few days - maybe it's me but the biggest challenge seems to be simply finding stuff - OK it's familiarity but everything seems to be just thrown around the place in a semi-random order.
Also it's bizarre just how many things you buy based off what the box looks like - and the supermarkets bloody know this.
Lurpak, Coco Pops, Frosties, just about everything looks exactly like the mainstream brands but with a deformed monkey or Tony the.. Jaguar or whatever they do to make it look a little different.
Hoping I'll survive the ready meal curry, meat seems cheap enough, "fresh" (Vitalife) Orange Juice is 99p vs. £3 for a bottle of Innocent, everything seems cheaper enough to make a significant difference there just isn't the choice.
Parking is also easier
I tend to use Aldi for the weekly shop now. Sometimes there's something you can't find but generally it seems to be ok. It's easy enough to drop by another shop if there's something exotic on the list.
It's not perfect but the quality is good and you soon realise that the brands you've been buying for years aren't really worth the extra 30%.
I would estimate that switching to Aldi has reduced our weekly shopping bill from £80 to £55.
It's not perfect but the quality is good and you soon realise that the brands you've been buying for years aren't really worth the extra 30%.
I would estimate that switching to Aldi has reduced our weekly shopping bill from £80 to £55.
The lack of choice is the biggest drawback I can see - you want Naan breads you're having the one type they've got etc.
The breakfast cereals look a little ropey too but again I wonder how much of that is being so used to seeing Tony and Coco the Monkey beaming out at you that you're judging the artwork rather than the product - if that makes sense.
Let me put it this way, there was nothing at all where I thought to myself "Christ that looks ropey I'm not touching that".
If I suddenly stop posting you'll know the chicken breasts did for me
The breakfast cereals look a little ropey too but again I wonder how much of that is being so used to seeing Tony and Coco the Monkey beaming out at you that you're judging the artwork rather than the product - if that makes sense.
Let me put it this way, there was nothing at all where I thought to myself "Christ that looks ropey I'm not touching that".
If I suddenly stop posting you'll know the chicken breasts did for me
bhstewie said:
hstewie said: The lack of choice is the biggest drawback I can see - you want Naan breads you're having the one type they've got etc.
If I suddenly stop posting you'll know the chicken breasts did for me
I know what you mean. You have to learn not to be fussy and just accept what they've got. I was actually discussing this very thing with my wife last night and in most circumstances what they have will do just fine. However, sometimes you will need to go elsewhere to get that special item.If I suddenly stop posting you'll know the chicken breasts did for me
For years the superstores have been winning with the 'bigger is better' mantra but Lidl and Aldi with their stores that are one third of the size, seem to be gaining a foothold now. One good thing to come from the rise of these stores is the reduction in supermarket snobbery. Seems to me like there's almost an inverse-snobbery thing going on now with lots of wealthy people boasting about how much they saved by going to Lidl.
mcbook said:
I tend to use Aldi for the weekly shop now. Sometimes there's something you can't find but generally it seems to be ok. It's easy enough to drop by another shop if there's something exotic on the list.
It's not perfect but the quality is good and you soon realise that the brands you've been buying for years aren't really worth the extra 30%.
I would estimate that switching to Aldi has reduced our weekly shopping bill from £80 to £55.
Same here plus reduced shopping time by 20 minutes smaller shop and less choice means it's so much quicker! We still pop to a mainstream shop for bits and bobs maybe every other week but the main shop is Aldi and about £50 a week. It's not perfect but the quality is good and you soon realise that the brands you've been buying for years aren't really worth the extra 30%.
I would estimate that switching to Aldi has reduced our weekly shopping bill from £80 to £55.
I was curious so:
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/nov/27/where...
Now that's not to say that all the chicken is equal, but I'll admit to also being a little wary with stuff such as meat and poultry.
Of course, read some of the articles linked off that one and you'd probably never eat another chicken again.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/nov/27/where...
Now that's not to say that all the chicken is equal, but I'll admit to also being a little wary with stuff such as meat and poultry.
Of course, read some of the articles linked off that one and you'd probably never eat another chicken again.
We used to use Lidl and Aldi for the weekly shop and they were always fine for pretty much everything, just needed Tesco for occasional things. The problem now is that our local Lidl and Aldi are small and now we have a baby, getting the pram and a trolley around the shop (they don't have the trolleys that have a car seat holder at our local shops) would be a pain, so Asda and Tesco at the moment.
bhstewie said:
hstewie said: The lack of choice is the biggest drawback I can see - you want Naan breads you're having the one type they've got etc.
You're missing the point, that's the best thing. I went for an interview with Lidl many years ago and their approach was to find the 'best' of every product and stock only that one. One tomato ketchup, one baked beans, one haggis etc. Obviously we can argue about the 'best' but that was the idea. I think now they sometimes have a couple to choose from e.g. unknown brand v famous brand.
In Tesco there are about 10 types of ketchup ffs. More choice means more time to choose, more space to stock and higher prices.
Smaller stores and less choice means quicker shopping, better prices and less tat you didn't go in for but got sucked into buying anyway.
bhstewie said:
hstewie said: Naan breads
My wife would be most upset if I didn't say anything. Naan is a type of bread that shouldn't be explained as bread, if you know what I mean. It's like saying, 'bread breads'.
It's the same as roti/chapati, paratha, puri, etc...
Edited by Asterix on Tuesday 12th May 09:59
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