Food, my biggest expense....

gizmo111

I am interested what everyone says about Aldi. Our nearest one is 20 miles away so I do wonder if it would be worth a trip through occasionally. What sort of things are best bought from Aldi then?

I go about once every three months
Tins tomatoes, beans, spaghetti, kidney beans
Biscuits
Cereals
Cakes
Hot choc sachets (for college and work)
Crisps
Fish
Pizza
Ribs
Chorizo/Salami
Flour,
Sugar
Raisins
Cleaning stuff
Toilet and kitchen rolls
Aldi equivalent Cheez Dippers
Cheese spread/Triangles
Fruit Juice & Cordial
Pitta/naan bread and tortillas
Rice
Pasta
And bound to be other stuff I get there

Not keen on their fruit and veg or their normal packs of meat - turkeys and chickens ar OK though
This comes to about £120

I go to Makro about once every three months
This comes to about £140

Washing Powder
Chicken Breast
Steak
Leg of lamb
Pork Chops
bacon
Gammon
Washing Powder
Potatoes Sack
Frozen pots (hash brown/curly chips)
Prawns
Tray of tomatoes & Mushrooms (for cooking and making soup)
Eggs
Cheese
Fizzy drinks

I go to Tesco on line about once every six weeks usually costs about £150 for everything else except for fresh fruit and veg and milk/yoghurts etc whch is about £25 per week.

Averages out around £275 per month and feeds 1 adult and 2 very health consious teenagers who eat huge amounts of salad and veg. We eat 3 times a day in cluding a decent packed lunch and hot evening meal, we never run out of anything. I budget £300 per month so there is always a fair amount for birthday and xmas treats left over.
Freezer is always full of a selection of HM ready meals and in January we have a clear out of the freezer and see how little we can spend - last year I spent £100 in the first 6 weeks of the year and hope to match that again this year.
We do a meal plan first sunday of each month after dinner.
I realise I am lucky having access to Makro as I dont think the supermarket meat or buthcers are good value.

batch cooking and meal planning are key to savign though however you do it.

pennies_from_Heaven

Aldi has been a massive part of our saving money on our groceries too. I find the quality is better than supermarket own brand and some branded, and we're always happily surprised at the checkout at the cost! We noticed this last time some very well to do people shopping in there, and high end newish cars in the car park, one very posh lady exclaiming loudly in joy at the frozen quail on sale!:rotfl:We batch cook, buy local eggs and have a veg box delivery, never go short and have some excellent meals.
Our children also love aldi, the kids cereal is a big hit with my 2 fussy youngsters, and a hit with me too at a third of the cost of branded .
The only thing that is poor in my opinion is the handwash and toiletries, these are Mr T or Boots when on offer :)

HappyMJ

FireWyrm wrote: »

I only buy the blocks of pastry now, pre-rolled is £1.50 but a block is £1...:p

I figure I can manage 10 seconds to roll it out myself and save the 50p.

They have sausage in them. You are paying more to make a dozen yet you can buy 50 sausage rolls for £1.50.

FireWyrm

HappyMJ wrote: »

They have sausage in them. You are paying more to make a dozen yet you can buy 50 sausage rolls for £1.50.

I have my doubts about the quality of the sausage meat at that price. What is the net weight?

HappyMJ

FireWyrm wrote: »

I have my doubts about the quality of the sausage meat at that price. What is the net weight?

800 grams. Probably not much better than sausage meat purchased for £1.16 a pound (£2.55/kg). 100% pork sausage meat should cost around £5.00 per kg.

penelopedee_2

I spend £100 a week easily on 2 adults and an 11 and 15 yr old (that eat for England). DH is at home and cooks most meals virtually from scratch with the aid of a couple of jars of sauce a week. This includes lunch money for the eldest and sandwich lunches for everyone else. Actually this includes toiletries and cleaning products, and food for 4 cats too.

Drink on top would be more. And anything over us 4 such us kids round for tea or sleepovers or special events costs more.

mcculloch29

I lived in Germany during the 70s and 80s and Aldi was my saving grace - food in Germany was horrendously expensive.

Germans won't buy rubbish - Aldi has ALWAYS been acceptable quality, and in recent years the standards have become really high.

We've just had one open very locally, previously I was staggering home on public transport from a nearby town or asking my son nicely for lifts.
I can honestly say that there isn't a single thing that I've bought from Aldi that I wouldn't buy again.

Keep an eye out for their luxury muesli range which compares very well with one with the initials DC at well under half price. Many of the products have got Good Housekeeping or Which awards - the washing up liquid beat the market leader.

I like Aldi meat and fresh veg. personally speaking - the Super 6 fruit/veg prices are often 69p or 39p depending on what's available. Another advantage is that each store has the same layout and they don't tend to move things around too often.

The Specials (one off seasonal items, often household or clothing items) are great - and you can sign up on Aldi's website for an email newsletter that lets you know what the forthcoming ones are.

(I don't work for them, either....! )

YORKSHIRELASS

gizmo111 wrote: »

I go about once every three months
Tins tomatoes, beans, spaghetti, kidney beans
Biscuits
Cereals
Cakes
Hot choc sachets (for college and work)
Crisps
Fish
Pizza
Ribs
Chorizo/Salami
Flour,
Sugar
Raisins
Cleaning stuff
Toilet and kitchen rolls
Aldi equivalent Cheez Dippers
Cheese spread/Triangles
Fruit Juice & Cordial
Pitta/naan bread and tortillas
Rice
Pasta
And bound to be other stuff I get there

Not keen on their fruit and veg or their normal packs of meat - turkeys and chickens ar OK though
This comes to about £120

I go to Makro about once every three months
This comes to about £140

Washing Powder
Chicken Breast
Steak
Leg of lamb
Pork Chops
bacon
Gammon
Washing Powder
Potatoes Sack
Frozen pots (hash brown/curly chips)
Prawns
Tray of tomatoes & Mushrooms (for cooking and making soup)
Eggs
Cheese
Fizzy drinks

I go to Tesco on line about once every six weeks usually costs about £150 for everything else except for fresh fruit and veg and milk/yoghurts etc whch is about £25 per week.

Averages out around £275 per month and feeds 1 adult and 2 very health consious teenagers who eat huge amounts of salad and veg. We eat 3 times a day in cluding a decent packed lunch and hot evening meal, we never run out of anything. I budget £300 per month so there is always a fair amount for birthday and xmas treats left over.
Freezer is always full of a selection of HM ready meals and in January we have a clear out of the freezer and see how little we can spend - last year I spent £100 in the first 6 weeks of the year and hope to match that again this year.
We do a meal plan first sunday of each month after dinner.
I realise I am lucky having access to Makro as I dont think the supermarket meat or buthcers are good value.

batch cooking and meal planning are key to savign though however you do it.

Thats really helpful, thank you. Think I need to make a trip through and try some of those things.

Learning2Budget

I love aldi it cuts my bill down drastically. My kids love cereal and i would rather spend 89p on a box than £1:58 for something that we can't tell the difference on (and i am a cornflake freak!).
The only downside for me is distance so i often super stock on dry goods when i go. Have noticed a new fruit n Veg place in town so may start going there and teaming it with aldi.
My average spend a week was 100 but now i spend roughly £81:50 and that is per week including hot dinners at school for my eldest. Which i know is a luxury but she eats tons and its cheaper for a hot dinner than packups.

I meal plan and try to plan 8 meals instead of a week.

funnygirl_2

I love Aldi. My girls love the cereals and we buy most things from aldi. If they did Persil washing powder I wouldnt need to go anywhere else!

We buy some meat from there and all bread, milk etc and it dramatically cut our shopping bill.

We are looking at reducing it further so am reading this thread with interest.

Give Aldi a go as you will be surprised. :j