Good and Bad Buying at Lidl and Aldi (***Please don't expire***)

Stompa

maman said:

Ken68 said:

Other people are doing my shopping now, appalled at some of the prices... though grateful for the help. 

You're right. You can't really insist that they stick to Lidl or Aldi. I was horrified by how much I had to pay for eggs in Waitrose and porage oats in the little Coop when they were in short supply a few weeks back. It was more than double what I pay in Aldi. 

Agreed. I've taken to doing online shopping with Tesco and Asda, both of which are clearly still significantly more expensive than Aldi.

harz99

I was doing online with Asda, but an awful lot of short dated fresh stuff sent back, academic now because since they shortened the booking window to 7 days I can never get a slot! I now go once a week to Mr T Ex at 0700, round the corner for Aldi at 0730 which gives me 30 minutes to shop in peace until the tills and doors open at 8, out the door by 0805 and on the way home, sorted! 

Doc_N

Which? March 2020
Aldi was the cheapest supermarket in March. A trolley full of 108 groceries and household essentials cost £111 at the budget supermarket –- just £2 less than at Lidl, its closest rival. Of the larger supermarkets, Asda was cheapest, with shoppers paying £123 for an equivalent trolley of goods. Sainsbury’s came in third-most-expensive for the month. Customers’ shopping would have cost £144 there; however, this was only slightly more than at Tesco (£140) and Morrisons (£143). Waitrose was by far the most expensive supermarket, charging £175 for an equivalent selection of goods – a whopping £64 more than Aldi.

Says it all, really, doesn’t it?  It’s only when you’re obliged to shop with the other supermarkets that you remember just how expensive they still are. Waitrose, where we used to shop, pre-Aldi, is just ridiculous.  And none of them provide any better quality than Aldi and Lidl on most products.

Cornucopia

I used to buy the more expensive soft cheese (c. 80p) from Lidl occasionally, and was initially disappointed to see that they'd dropped it.   (This is the difference between proper, thick cream cheese and the rather gloopy, gelatinous stuff).  

Faced with a lockdown choice of Lidl or Lidl, I decided to try the cheaper cheese, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that they had replaced the cheap cheese with the cream cheese, but kept the old packaging and the old price (c. 55p).   An absolute bargain.

I also tried the "new recipe" Muffins (bready ones, not cakes).  I'm usually a bit sceptical about "new recipe" claims - either the change is imperceptible or it's an excuse for cheaper ingredients.   In this case, again, pleasantly surprised as they have managed to make a Muffin with a crusty outside and a softer fluffy interior.   And, another bargain at 42p for 4.

New product at Lidl:   "Sun Bites" equivalent snacks with Ready Salted flavouring.   Not so sure about these.  Probably okay as a home bar snack, but otherwise a bit too salty for me.

Rosa_Damascena

Bought some Persil washing up liquid during lockdown in desperation.

Its nowhere near as good as Aldi's Magnum, or even Lidl's standard brand - both of which are much better value - so don't even bother.

203846930

Cornucopia said:

I used to buy the more expensive soft cheese (c. 80p) from Lidl occasionally, and was initially disappointed to see that they'd dropped it.   (This is the difference between proper, thick cream cheese and the rather gloopy, gelatinous stuff).  

Faced with a lockdown choice of Lidl or Lidl, I decided to try the cheaper cheese, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that they had replaced the cheap cheese with the cream cheese, but kept the old packaging and the old price (c. 55p).   An absolute bargain.

What was the brand name of the cheese? It might be the stuff that I am already getting and like you I was really surprised how rich it is, even the low fat one.
*Goldessa*

molerat

Rosa_Damascena said:

Bought some Persil washing up liquid during lockdown in desperation.

Its nowhere near as good as Aldi's Magnum, or even Lidl's standard brand - both of which are much better value - so don't even bother.

Persil has been rubbish for a few years now.

Space_Captain

Rosa_Damascena said:

Bought some Persil washing up liquid during lockdown in desperation.

Its nowhere near as good as Aldi's Magnum, or even Lidl's standard brand - both of which are much better value - so don't even bother.

We switched to Formil at Lidl and it's been fine. Just a shame that the bottle is a bit small. 

Cornucopia

duncanthedog said:

Cornucopia said:

I used to buy the more expensive soft cheese (c. 80p) from Lidl occasionally, and was initially disappointed to see that they'd dropped it.   (This is the difference between proper, thick cream cheese and the rather gloopy, gelatinous stuff).  

Faced with a lockdown choice of Lidl or Lidl, I decided to try the cheaper cheese, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that they had replaced the cheap cheese with the cream cheese, but kept the old packaging and the old price (c. 55p).   An absolute bargain.

What was the brand name of the cheese? It might be the stuff that I am already getting and like you I was really surprised how rich it is, even the low fat one.
*Goldessa*

Yes, that's the one - I have the "Herb" variety.

Unfortunately, now reading the nutritional info, it has quite a bit of Saturated Fat (though, that's not too surprising).  If there's a low fat option, I will give that a try.

pumpkin89

Doc_N said:

Says it all, really, doesn’t it?  It’s only when you’re obliged to shop with the other supermarkets that you remember just how expensive they still are. Waitrose, where we used to shop, pre-Aldi, is just ridiculous.  And none of them provide any better quality than Aldi and Lidl on most products.

Many Waitrose products don't have an equivalent in Aldi or Lidl.  I normally shop in Waitrose and am not able to do a full shop in either of them, though there are select bargains to be had.  If you're doing it the other way round, i.e. trying to buy your usual Aldi/Lidl shopping in Waitrose, yes it will seem expensive.