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

Cornucopia

maman said:

I regularly buy the ham offcuts from Aldi. Obviously they vary in size. This week I had particularly large slices of smoked ham. Similarly, they do chicken and occasionally beef.

Unfortunately  the offcuts don't keep as well as the breaded ham slices @Cornucopia but worth a look if you have a plan to eat them quickly. 

Thanks - I had a look the other week, but they say they aren't suitable for home freezing and must be consumed within 48 hours, so I passed.   It does often look like a better quality product than the standard thin deli slices, though.

Doc_N

Cornucopia said:

maman said:

I regularly buy the ham offcuts from Aldi. Obviously they vary in size. This week I had particularly large slices of smoked ham. Similarly, they do chicken and occasionally beef.

Unfortunately  the offcuts don't keep as well as the breaded ham slices @Cornucopia but worth a look if you have a plan to eat them quickly. 

Thanks - I had a look the other week, but they say they aren't suitable for home freezing and must be consumed within 48 hours, so I passed.   It does often look like a better quality product than the standard thin deli slices, though.

I can thoroughly recommend that ham too, provided you can use it quickly.

Katiehound

maman said:

I regularly buy the ham offcuts from Aldi. Obviously they vary in size. This week I had particularly large slices of smoked ham. Similarly, they do chicken and occasionally beef.

Unfortunately  the offcuts don't keep as well as the breaded ham slices @Cornucopia but worth a look if you have a plan to eat them quickly. 

My friend has bought the beef which is in stock sometimes and said she re heated it with veg & gravy like a roast meal and it was very tasty. 

dealyboy

I have to declare an interest, I am a Money Scraping Expert meaning I really only buy own labels and the supermarket brand names.

I generally find Aldi and Lidl no cheaper or better quality than the other supermarkets:
- 200g tomato puree in a tube: Aldi 49p Lidl 55p Sainsbury's 50p
- sardines in tomato sauce: Aldi 45p Lidl 55p Sainsbury's 60p Asda 39p
- whisky 1litre: Sainsbury's Crag & Glen £16.30 Lidl Balmuir £15.99 (very smooth)
- large eggs x 10: Home Bargains £1.65, Lidl £1.79
- chicken thighs (skin on): Sainsbury's 2kg £4.30 Lidl 1.6kg £4.29
- bacon off cuts: B&M £1.50 907g Lidl £1.70 1kg
- extra mature cheddar: Waitrose £4.75 750g

- bread, produce, tinned veg similarly priced

I would buy chocolate and beer / cider from Lidl but not spirits, wine or other alcoholic drinks from Lidl or Aldi with better prices at other supermarkets for known brands. Tesco is better for toiletries.

YoungBlueEyes

The Aldi ham offcuts - I've bought them once and they're better quality pieces of ham than the packs of sandwich slices. You do have to use them quickly though, you can't freeze them and they really do go off in a couple of days.

If you can use quite a lot of ham/beef/chicken quickly I definitely recommend them.

northwalesd

I've used the ham offcuts to make chicken (or turkey) and ham pies in the past.

Doc_N

dealyboy said:

I have to declare an interest, I am a Money Scraping Expert meaning I really only buy own labels and the supermarket brand names.

I generally find Aldi and Lidl no cheaper or better quality than the other supermarkets:
- 200g tomato puree in a tube: Aldi 49p Lidl 55p Sainsbury's 50p
- sardines in tomato sauce: Aldi 45p Lidl 55p Sainsbury's 60p Asda 39p
- whisky 1litre: Sainsbury's Crag & Glen £16.30 Lidl Balmuir £15.99 (very smooth)
- large eggs x 10: Home Bargains £1.65, Lidl £1.79
- chicken thighs (skin on): Sainsbury's 2kg £4.30 Lidl 1.6kg £4.29
- bacon off cuts: B&M £1.50 907g Lidl £1.70 1kg
- extra mature cheddar: Waitrose £4.75 750g

- bread, produce, tinned veg similarly priced

I would buy chocolate and beer / cider from Lidl but not spirits, wine or other alcoholic drinks from Lidl or Aldi with better prices at other supermarkets for known brands. Tesco is better for toiletries.

I’d certainly agree with you that by shopping around you can match Aldi and Lidl on price, and sometimes on quality.

That takes time though, and for consistently good quality and low prices across the board,with a reasonable range of goods, fresh, frozen and otherwise, Aldi and Lidl are pretty well unbeatable.

dealyboy

@Doc_N said:

dealyboy said:

I have to declare an interest, I am a Money Scraping Expert meaning I really only buy own labels and the supermarket brand names.

I generally find Aldi and Lidl no cheaper or better quality than the other supermarkets:
- 200g tomato puree in a tube: Aldi 49p Lidl 55p Sainsbury's 50p
- sardines in tomato sauce: Aldi 45p Lidl 55p Sainsbury's 60p Asda 39p
- whisky 1litre: Sainsbury's Crag & Glen £16.30 Lidl Balmuir £15.99 (very smooth)
- large eggs x 10: Home Bargains £1.65, Lidl £1.79
- chicken thighs (skin on): Sainsbury's 2kg £4.30 Lidl 1.6kg £4.29
- bacon off cuts: B&M £1.50 907g Lidl £1.70 1kg
- extra mature cheddar: Waitrose £4.75 750g

- bread, produce, tinned veg similarly priced

I would buy chocolate and beer / cider from Lidl but not spirits, wine or other alcoholic drinks from Lidl or Aldi with better prices at other supermarkets for known brands. Tesco is better for toiletries.

I’d certainly agree with you that by shopping around you can match Aldi and Lidl on price, and sometimes on quality.

That takes time though, and for consistently good quality and low prices across the board,with a reasonable range of goods, fresh, frozen and otherwise, Aldi and Lidl are pretty well unbeatable.

Good points ... my closest Lidl doesn't have freezers and it's not a small one, the Aldi a few hundred yards away, similar size, does I think, I forgot to check yesterday when I was in there. I've been looking for frozen fish for the cat at a reasonable price, and have only found unreasonable prices without discounts recently.

Clowance

YoungBlueEyes said:

The Aldi ham offcuts - I've bought them once and they're better quality pieces of ham than the packs of sandwich slices. You do have to use them quickly though, you can't freeze them and they really do go off in a couple of days.

 I buy the ham offcuts and split them into about 5 plastic bags and freeze them. Have done this for years, get one out at a time for a couple of days sarnis. Hasn't made us ill yet.

Pollycat

Doc_N said:

dealyboy said:

I have to declare an interest, I am a Money Scraping Expert meaning I really only buy own labels and the supermarket brand names.

I generally find Aldi and Lidl no cheaper or better quality than the other supermarkets:
- 200g tomato puree in a tube: Aldi 49p Lidl 55p Sainsbury's 50p
- sardines in tomato sauce: Aldi 45p Lidl 55p Sainsbury's 60p Asda 39p
- whisky 1litre: Sainsbury's Crag & Glen £16.30 Lidl Balmuir £15.99 (very smooth)
- large eggs x 10: Home Bargains £1.65, Lidl £1.79
- chicken thighs (skin on): Sainsbury's 2kg £4.30 Lidl 1.6kg £4.29
- bacon off cuts: B&M £1.50 907g Lidl £1.70 1kg
- extra mature cheddar: Waitrose £4.75 750g

- bread, produce, tinned veg similarly priced

I would buy chocolate and beer / cider from Lidl but not spirits, wine or other alcoholic drinks from Lidl or Aldi with better prices at other supermarkets for known brands. Tesco is better for toiletries.

I’d certainly agree with you that by shopping around you can match Aldi and Lidl on price, and sometimes on quality.

That takes time though, and for consistently good quality and low prices across the board,with a reasonable range of goods, fresh, frozen and otherwise, Aldi and Lidl are pretty well unbeatable.

When you do shop around, you need to take fuel costs into account. And time.
I wouldn't want to spend time shopping in Aldi, Lidl, ASDA, Waitrose, Sainsbury's AND Home bargains.