Best place for budget shopping - Tesco value or Lidl

richy4

Over last 18 months I've been shopping predominantly at Lidl with occasional top-ups at Tesco for stuff like toiletries etc...

However, I try to keep my weekly spend to as close in the region of £20-25 as possible. Over recent weeks its seemed more and more apparent that Tesco value range or alternative cheaper brands available within Tesco are cheaper than Lidl altogether.

For example, buying a few Tesco value ready meals are in region of £0.90 - £1.50 for the cheapest, and Lidl start at at least £1.50+

I know certain things will always be cheaper in certain places etc etc. but it is also striking the difference in price for stuff like frozen fruit and veg. Frozen fruit is hardly available in most local Lidl stores in my area, in Tesco a 1kg bag is around £1-1.50 and in Lidl a bag of any frozen veg is at least £1 and even though maybe slightly cheaper, it is of less selection, ie just frozen sweetcorn and the range is not great.

Just wanted to know others thoughts, as Lidl and the other cheaper priced supermarkets have the reputation however if you went for a big supermarket's budget range I reckon the selection is wider and the price overall is actually cheaper than a weekly shop at Lidl or Aldi!

dlusman

Probably

BUT
Money saving isnt always about diving to the cheapest options.

Lidl/Aldi "normal" lines are usually far better quality than other supermarkets value/budget ranges.
As everyone tastes are different the best thing to do is to try some blind taste tests

jon81uk

I would guess the £1.50 Lidl meals are closer in quality to a regular £2.50 Tesco one that an £1 Tesco Value meal. Taste both and see.

Mr_Singleton

jon81uk wrote: »

I would guess the £1.50 Lidl meals are closer in quality to a regular £2.50 Tesco one that an £1 Tesco Value meal

Lidl have no doubt spent huge sums trying to get people to believe that.

[Deleted User]

When Lidl opened a few years ago I took a shopping list around Lidl, Tesco, & Sainsbury's and found that Tesco were the cheapest. When Morrisons opened I did the same again, with the same result. I was only comparing non-perishables though, as Lidl is too far away to go regularly for items that you can't stock up on.

suki1964

I know from my own experience Lidl isn't as cheap as it once was

However saying that, I don't spend on ready meals so I can't compare those prices

What I do know is, in store bakery, the bread is much better quality in Lidl then tesco at the same price. Their granary is the same price as say hovis, but we like it more

Their meat is often cheaper. Not always. Yet once again the quality is better

Tinned toms are cheaper in tesco

Butter, ham and bacon, all cheaper in lidl

Veg is usually rubbish from lidl. Once again carrots bought Friday, removed from the bag and stored in the salad drawer have black spots on them. Onions turn within a week......


For me, I have tesco and lidl one either side of the road so for me it's not a problem shopping between the two. However the tesco stocks very few value brand items now, they stock very little own brand either.

Swings and roundabouts I think. Which is why I myself may shop in upto 3 places in a month

Cisco001

Personally don't ate value range ready meal. Not taste nice to me...

Another thing I won't buy on value range is mince. their fat content is too high.

buzzyzoe

I recently did a comparison on this as I wanted to see if it would be worth changing from Tesco to Lidl. I was expecting Lidl to be far cheaper but this wasn't what I found. It was cheaper for some things, particularly fresh fruit and veg, but for store cupboard items it was generally the same or more expensive than Tesco. Particularly with things like fabric conditioner and lots of frozen goods, I found Tesco came out much cheaper.

I can't really comment on the taste of any of the items as it was my first shop in Lidl, and it may be the case that things that are price comparable in Lidl with Tesco basics actually taste much better. I suppose the next step is a taste test!