Who does shop at Lidls and buys value products?

moanymoany

I watched 'Credit Crash Britain' yesterday. It was about the 'discount' supermarkets Lidl and Aldi.

The implication was that only 'poor' people shop there, also that the value and 'discount' lines in Tesco etc are only bought by 'poor' people.

I'm not poor - probably because I buy value! We don't have a Lidl or Aldi near enough to make it worth the regular 'pop' in. If we had one I would certainly use it.

My question is could you 'afford' to buy branded goods, shop at Waitrose and M&S on a regular basis if you wanted to? What is the biggest benefit you get from buying discount and value goods?


I'm pretty sure that I save about £2,000 a year - well worth the 'shame' that some of those on the programme seemed to experience.

I would be interested in comments about the programme - available on iplayer. For Old Stylers the subject is 'home ground'.

Linda32

moanymoany wrote: »

My question is could you 'afford' to buy branded goods, shop at Waitrose and M&S on a regular basis if you wanted to? What is the biggest benefit you get from buying discount and value goods?

I've never been inside a Waitrose, we don't have one locally. M&S is just OTT as far as prices go and there isn't any choice, most of the things are ready prepared and thats coming from someone who hardly ever cooks from scratch. :eek: :rolleyes: We could possibly afford it but I'm not prepared to pay those sorts of prices.

Biggest benefit from buying discounted brands is saving our hard earned cash :T and not being able to tell the difference in alot of cases.

Off topic but I'm off to grocery challenge since we've just spent £80.00 a week over 4 weeks for the two of us :eek: that includes wine, yes I can see where the problem lies

tessie_bear

i buy mostly value and dont feel ashamed..........neither am i ashamed that this was one of the strategies we used to pay off our mortgage after 4 years ill have to watch that programme

Pink.

Hi moanymoany,

As this is a shopping thread I've moved it over to the Shop but don't Drop board (and left a redirect on Old Style) so you'll get input from the shopping experts there as well.

Pink

Lalaladybird

I used to feel a bit embarresed about going into discount shops or having a trolley full of value products but now I don't (just grown up a bit since becoming a mother:rolleyes:). My friends laugh at my penny pinching ways but I doubt I'd buy the more expensive branded products now even if we could afford it. I don't shop in Lidl or Aldi because they don't stock everything I need and if I go into more than one supermarket I do end up spending more so I get everything in Tesco and most of it is value stuff.... I feel quite annoyed if they have run out of something and I have to buy the next level up :mad: There are 3 of us and we spend about £70 a week in Tesco. I'd love to reduce that figure but I can't work out how to because I buy mostly value stuff anyway, eat porridge for brekkie, everything is HM and we don't buy alcohol

lynzpower

I do buy some value products, but also some finest/ poshest products. I buy from all the main supermarkets, with the exception generally of asda ( not too impressed, although will do if I need something & passing) and netto ( not one local )

I never do a full shop anywhere, just dot in and out of all of them and cherry pick the best offers. Often get the M&S dine in for a tenner deal with the chicken, as they are generally the best and biggest. ( get a lot out of them) The sticky toffee pudding for example will do us for 2 nights ( 2 adults) Reductions in waitrose are really good IME.

I try to buy as much organic & fairtrade as I can, and Im pleased to see the credit crunch has brought the prices of these almost to the same point. organic rice was only 4p more than normal the other day in tescos, likewise the organic tinned toms ( much richer than value) only 6p more. Ive recently dropped down to value loo roll as the quality is better than it used to be since I used it a few years ago, and its now recycled. ( dropped down from nouvelle) Ive started buying the organic dog food from pets at home as this works out cheaper than the non organic own brand or cesar type trays she was having before due to much bigger packs.

Some value products have FEWER nasties in than own or labelled brands ( curry sauce one that springs to mind) Sains basics has no undiscernable E-nos in while other branded ones do.

Value veggies are the slightly smaller and can mean less waste- (eg peppers)

I try to keep our budget less than £200 a month. Using value products such as loo roll or plain flour means that I can spend a bit more on nicer meat for example.

champys

The discounters spend less on nice packaging, nice store lay-outs, staff, marketing, advertising and overheads - so ultimately you get more food for your money. We always start our shop in Lidl, then fill in the rest in the town's other supermarket. Saving on those basics means I can spend more on what I care about, such as for example organic beef from a local farmer.

oshoshitzu

Lidl is not cheaper on everything for example milk in Lidl is £1.49 for 4 pints whereas in Iceland it's £1.25

valk_scot

lynzpower wrote: »

I do buy some value products, but also some finest/ poshest products. I buy from all the main supermarkets, with the exception generally of asda ( not too impressed, although will do if I need something & passing) and netto ( not one local )

I never do a full shop anywhere, just dot in and out of all of them and cherry pick the best offers.

Yeah, what she said. I could afford to shop in Tesco and Sainsburys for everything but why should I when I can get better quality for less cash in Lidl? (These being the three stores I use most.) I divide my list between them on the basis of who does the best for least (it's surprising how good many Lidl products are, better than Finest in a lot of cases) and go for the offers of the week, wherever they are. Four of us plus two cats take a fair bit of feeding, but my grocery/household shop rarely goes above £80 per week, and that includes the butchers and greengrocers bills.

Anyone that shops exclusively in one shop just because of the name over the door must have money to burn. (Honorable exceptions made for these with only one local supermarket or time/transport constraints.)

Be ashamed to shop wisely? Bah. It's just common sense. It's wasting money that folk should be ashamed of.

barginunter

I'm a big Tesco fan mainly cos of the points (not many these days) but I've shopped in Lidl and Aldi for years. I was originally attracted by the specials and we've had tons of great stuff from both shops - my daughter wore Aldi skiwear for years, hubby got a Lidl ski helmet last year, this PC I'm on is brilliant and from Aldi. The food in these shops is usually very good quality. You can get lots of continental/mediterranean style food - Lidl chorizo is great as is the Serrano ham, both sell fantastic stollen this time of year. The ketchup in both shops is fine. I'm a bit of an anti-label junkie - even in Tesco I avoid the big name brands - they're such a rip off. I think people buy big brands because they're familiar and don't require too much thought when shopping and we've all been brain-washed by the marketing men to a certain extent. Most of the people I know don't shop in these places cos they can't see beyond the simplistic layouts and spot the good quality stuff to be had plus you can't really do all your shopping in these shops unlike in Tesco or Asda.

JoCJo2

I would love to be able to do all my shopping in one place!! I was used to shopping online (sainsburys as I despise Tesco) but found myself struggling to spend over the £40 you need for cheaper delivery. I ended up buying things when I didn't need them. Now don't get me wrong.... I spend more than £40 a week - there are 5 of us, 2 in nappies!!! I just never seem to be able to get a weeks worth in one go, so I top up shop quite a bit.

I often buy chicken and lean mince in Somerfield of late - £1.75 for 500g Finest lean mince and £3 for 3-4 chicken breasts (when on offer). I often get loo roll in there too (get 9 rolls of Andrex on 2 for £5 etc). Everything else there is expensive. Waitrose has recently been 'done up' and has since stopped selling everything I went in there for so have not been there for a while. M&S is v expensive and not very nice most of the time. Certainly far too expensive for our little family and even the Dine In for £10 doesn't strike me as a great bargain. I can feed 5 for £5, so why would I feed 2 for £10?

I buy NOTHING 'prepared' and no ready meals. I cook all from scratch. Fruit and meat are the most expensive things on my list, as well as household items such as washing powder/ dishwasher detergent etc.

I do buy value things - veg/ pasta/ rice (where they do it)/ cereals - and find them very acceptable. We have a Lidl but I hate it. I tried Aldi last week and was pleasantly surprised - didn't get very much at the time as I didn't need much, but would defo consider going back for a bigger shop. It is 20 mins drive though, which is annoying.

I can never work out which is better - to spend lots in one shop or spend lots travelling to loads of shops to get the bargains??!!