Aldi is so expensive - am I missing something?

Dormouse

I usually only go to Aldi for their fruit & veg, and even so, I've found it to be increasingly disaapointing in quality - maybe it's just my luck! Got a big bag of potatoes there the last time, and about half were bad.

I'm thinking of trying their skincare/makeup range though, as I've heard lots of positive things about it.

My current favourite is Home Bargains - we have a new one in my town, and some of the stuff I've got has been amazing value (Cadburys Snow Bites for 39p!)

We have a B&M as well but I find it very hit and miss. Ours has a very limited grocery section, it's mainly just sweets and biscuits, and drinks.

zagubov

angela110660 wrote: »

Never heard of B&M or Home Bargains - not in our neck of the woods it seems.

Hermia wrote: »

I have never heard of Home Bargain and B&M either! Are they just in one part of the country then? .

A lot of posters don't have B&M and Home Bargains nearby - I'm the same. Live in Surrey at the edge of London and pay top dollar for everything. I travel north a lot to visit family and found that outside London there's amazing chains that are household names everywhere else but Londoners and Southerners in general never hear about them.

B&M are Lancashire based and I think Home Bargains is a Liverpool-based chain - both mega-big across the UK but they haven't penetrated much south of the midlands. When I visit them I have to pinch myself to make sure I'm not dreaming the prices.

There's only one Home Bargains in the whole of London (Edmonton Green) and the nearest B&M is in Hemel Hempstead. I can only suppose London rents don't marry well with their frugal-friendly pricing policies. If I had to travel near one of these stores I'd make point of factoring in a planned visit and stock-up.

It's not groceries I know but another chain I miss is Slaters for clothing (esp gents suits etc.) They're everywhere else in Britain but the nearest one to London is in Crawley!

I suppose like many southeasterners I try to buy the bulk of my stuff in other parts of the country when I have to travel there.
If anyone knows of other sensibly-priced retail chains fairly close to London should we start a thread?

[Deleted User]

The thing with Aldi/Lidl/Netto is that they always push leaflets through my letterbox with their mega discounts on named brand stuff. When you go into one of their stores it's a different story. You never see the stuff advertised in the leaflet. Sometimes you do but you have to be there at opening time to get it. All a swizz.

I never been able to fill a whole trolley with Aldi before. Not that much choice.

jen_br

I buy my weetabix from aldi just for comparison (as i do supermarket comparison stuff for a living)

aldi = 4.1p PER weetabix..... Tesco .5p asda 4.5

this is based on todays prices using aldis weetabix, tesco OWN brand weetabix and ASDA own brand

and in fairness the tesco weetabix isn't as good or nearly as good as regualar weetabix... and my husband who is a weetabix snob rates aldis and says its the closest. if you compared aldis with weetabix you would find a 2-3p per biscuit difference.

kiwi07

jen_br wrote: »

I buy my weetabix from aldi just for comparison (as i do supermarket comparison stuff for a living)

aldi = 4.1p PER weetabix..... Tesco .5p asda 4.5

this is based on todays prices using aldis weetabix, tesco OWN brand weetabix and ASDA own brand

and in fairness the tesco weetabix isn't as good or nearly as good as regualar weetabix... and my husband who is a weetabix snob rates aldis and says its the closest. if you compared aldis with weetabix you would find a 2-3p per biscuit difference.

.

I still don't understand why do they call aldi "discount store". Everything seems so expensive then used to be a four or five years ago. Lidl is a little bit better.

Stompa

oki1875 wrote: »

I still don't understand why do they call aldi "discount store". Everything seems so expensive then used to be a four or five years ago.

Several years ago Aldi used to be a lot cheaper. However, the big supermarkets have been forced to fight back, consequently the differential is much less now. In my view it's still a fair bit cheaper than the likes of Tesco though.

jen_br

I Agree, I buy a lot of tin foil, plastic wrap etc that is really cheap! Canned good and i love how they have specialty weeks where you can buy some great goodies for not very much money!

I got my brussel sprouts there for 49p whereas asda was charging a lot more

I guess your bound to find something more expensive there.... but in the big picture of things they are cheaper on a lot of things and I do think their quality is better then supermarket own brands!!

Like every place it has its deals I picked up a cheap TV from there.

nicki_2

I have been shopping in Aldi for at least 20 years (I used to go with my mum & help her with the weekly shopping during the school holidays) and about 10 years ago I started shopping there for my weekly shop when I moved to my own place. It was reasonably cheap (£30 a week for 2 of us including treats) now I can't even do a full weeks shop in there as the product range has changed so much towards "gourmet", it's more expensive than the Asda (Asda being directly opposite it! Although I admit I mainly buy smartprice range) and the quality of the fruit & veg is so hit and miss I rarely bother with it. I'd rather pay the extra few pence and buy it from Asda.

We do go in there for specials, their stollen (much cheaper than Asdas ) and the bottled water we use for school/work (Luxury I know but it tastes so much nicer than the smartprice and is convenient - 12 bottles for £1.99 so lasts us about 2 weeks in theory). I can't believe how much it has changed, I used to like it, now I see it as more of a chore!

GhostWarrior

I like Aldi for certain things e.g. sundried tomatoes, olives etc. but it doesn't seem to be great for everyday shopping. I've used Tesco for the last 6/7 years now and I've always been pretty impressed with the quality and price despite the stick they get from some people in the papers (and on here, heh) etc.

Anyway, back to Aldi... unless you're shopping for very specific items, I've found it to be a bit of a let down.

jen_br

I do want to say I was in there today and they have their skiing range in I got some boots for 14.99 and a nice jacket and snow pants for my husband... theboots were REALLY nice!