Great What/What Not to Buy at Lidl, Aldi and Netto Hunt

Smiley_Mum

LIDL

DO BUY:

Chocolate Caramel Shortbread/Millionaire Shortbread

It's lovely, in a black wrapper, four pieces for 89p I think. Very good, and it also has a good digestive base, some big supermarkets make with a pastry base which I don't like.


Vanish type washing crystals

These are in a red cardboard box, usually only available when they have specials in, it's not available all the time. It was £1.15 a tub when I bought it recently. Very good and cheaper than Vanish or Oxy Action stuff.

Mary_Hartnell

Aldi & Lidl:

Buy their Red Bull substitute (as low as 38p a canstop press: currently 19p in lidl (01jan06)) and keep a can in the glove box of your car. I can't tell the difference, though I would not buy the stuff for recreational use, I think the taste of all of them is rank. HOWEVER IT MIGHT SAVE YOUR LIFE AND THE LIFE OF OTHERS BY KEEPING YOU AWAKE. (Go to sleep on a motorway and you still have your foot on the accelerator when you hit something).

Safe journey,

Mary.

HobGoblin

Some more good buys are:-

Aldreds low GI tin loaf and packs of 3 buns. These may be a local thing.
Both are good for the health concious, dieter and especially the diabetic.

Ocean Rise Mackerel fillets and Sardines
Alcafe Decaff coffee
Taurus strong dry cider
Fruit and Veg

anadin_2

Here's a tip if you're having a dinner party and don't fancy slaving for hours in the kitchen: Get a couple of jars of Lidl's Korma sauce and cook some diced chicken breast in it. Voila! It tastes like some kind of marvellous home made cuisine, full of almonds and fresh-tasting spices. Guaranteed to impress.

sleepless_saver

Lidl

I haven't seen any mention of their pots of herbs. These are a lot more hardy than the ones from other supermarkets as well as being cheaper. The two pots of (reduced) chives I bought there for 34p each a couple of months back are now large clumps in my garden.

Not to mention the Christmas spiced biscuits, marzipan, stollen, olive oil , parmesan, paprika crisps, jams, comté cheese, tubs of soft cheese (mix with the natural yoghurt for a great dip), passata, cloudy apply juice, black forest ham...

oly2c

Special offer electrical goods & tools at both Adi & Lidl - also computer accessories.Sign up for the online newsletters for specials

Lidl buys:
Targa Computers - great value and excellent support
Fruit and Veg if chosen properly
Ecuador chocolate
Tinned herring - various
Tuna salad - not really salad but a tasty snack - half the price of John West and better variety
Marinated turkey fillets
Dried fruit
Strong bread flour
Chocolate confectionary
Mushrooms
Tinned new potatoes
Cooked German and Italian meat
Frikadellen

Don't buy mushy peas

Aldi buys:
Outdoor wear
Decaff coffee granules
Wine - look for award labels on shelves
Frikadellen
Choc biscuits
Asian specialities

Be adventurous and try new things - it won't cost the earth.

Fraserca

oly2c wrote:

Lidl buys:
Targa Computers - great value and excellent support

Support ? - Like you get when you buy something from someone who actually knows what he is selling? I think not - you have a telephone helpline and a shop that really can only offer you money back.

Buy local from people who know. It needn't cost much more and if something goes wrong you have personal service.

newnhak

Hi

After reading this thread I thought I would go and try a small sample shop at LIDL's to see what I would save. Normally I have only gone in LIDL's for parmesan as it is significantly cheaper but I hadn't really seen anything else in there that looks loads cheaper. Anyway below I have listed my findings. I have compared each item to the one I usually buy in Tesco - some are value items some not (I will indicate where item is Tesco value). I haven't tried many of the LIDL items but as I like all of the things I buy from Tesco value range I am mainly looking for savings not as good or better tasting items for less.

Hopefully this will be of use to someone - if not apologies for the long post

LIDL Toilet rolls 10 for £1.25
I normally buy normal tesco 12 pack for £3.94, so much cheaper. The LIDL ones were not of similar quality - but looked better than the Tesco value rolls which are cheaper than LIDL's but rubbish imo . So this may be a worthwhile saving if the LIDL's ones are ok.

LIDL maxi nappies £5.29 for 50.
TESCO maxi nappies £6.61 for 58.
LIDL 10.5p per nappy. Tesco just over 11p. Not much saved here. BTW the Tesco value nappies are 9p each but leaked for me.

LIDL cornflakes - 750g 99p
TESCO cornflakes - 750g £1.09.
Again not much saving but this was the one thing where I wasn't so keen on the Tesco ones (I buy Kelloggs if I can afford) so if the LIDL's ones are nice these may be worth it.

LIDL diswasher salt - 79p for 2kg
Tesco - same

LIDL cheese & onion sandwich filler 250g for 98p (39p per 100g)
TESCO - 170g 87p (51p per 100g)
Worthwhile saving if LIDL one is nice!

LIDL - tinned chopped tomatoes 17p
TESCO VALUE - same

LIDL ketchup 560g 39p
TESCO VALUE 570g 40p
nothing in it.

LIDL - honey roast ham 113g (43p/100g)
TESCO - 125g 78p (62p/100g)
Each 10 slices so the Tesco ones are slightly bigger.

LIDL beef mince 800g £1.98 (24p/100g)
TESCO - 800g £1.92.(24.7/100g)
Again not much in it. TESCO VALUE only 19p per 100g but I don't like it.

LIDL - Hovis medium sliced loaf 71p
TESCO - Hovis 83p
Reasonable saving - however I can get cheaper good bread from my local newsagents so not worth it for me

LIDL - Cream crackers 300g 27p (9p/100g)
TESCO - 19p for 200g (10p/100g)

LIDL - peppered ham 79p 100g
Couldn't find this in Tesco to compare but sure this is much cheaper in LIDL's

LIDL - white bread flour 1.5kg 49p
TESCO - 1.5kg 51p

My conclusion?
There isn't as much saving to make as you think unless you are buying brand names from the supermarket and prepared to try the LIDL alternatives (Hovis is the exception but to be honest there aren't many known brand names in LIDL's). But if you wanted to cut down and were buying brand names would you not try the supermarket alternative first esp. if they are the same price as LIDL's?

I personally will be sticking to Tesco as it is easier to choose between value range for some items and not for others. I will stick to buying the parmesan at LIDL's and maybe a couple of other items (loo roll, cornflakes?) but it will only be worth me going in there once a month to buy in bulk and so that rules out the ham (not going in LIDL's every week just for ham!)

Karen

jobbingmusician

That was a really useful post, but please do post again when you've tried the Lidl stuff - I'm sure (from trying stuff myself - no axe to grind or vested interest) that you'll find Lidl stuff much better quality.

Stocked up in Lidl tonight - tomato puree, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, chicken, rice (MUCH cheaper for small quantities - 1kg - than anywhere else, especially Thai Jasmine rice).

Oooo - forgot to say and I don't think anyone else has mentioned it - BIG BARGAIN in Netto when you can get it is RED BULL! 59p a tin the last time I bought it - I stocked up (Hubby uses it when he is very low on energy).

shaggy

what Not to buy at Nettos: frozen chips. disgusting and very watery when friend

what to buy at Nettos:
Milk

veg: potatoes, tomatoes, cucumber
. generally of a better or similar quality to the mainstream supermarket stuff