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

Rosa_Damascena

Doc_N said:

Rosa_Damascena said:

Brie said:

OK not Lidl or Aldi but I thought I would slip this in here.....Sainsbugs has a new line of Indian food in their Taste the Difference range.  Very expensive!!  BUT they're having a meal deal.

So 2 mains and 2 sides for £15.  One of the mains we've picked up is a half tandoori chicken which RRP is £10, there's a beef dish for £12 and then some nice looking naans and bhajis, again all above  the normal price you might pay for things.  So about £30 normal price for the lot but costing half that.  And frankly I think it will do us for 2 dinners or 1 dinner and a couple of lunches.   

I did somewhat wonder when we picked it up whether the till would say that the £10 half chicken counted as 2 mains but it didn't.  

They also had their mango lassi on special at £2.50 for a litre.  Saves me having to make my own.

Food prices are crazy, yet the supermarkets know there is a demographic that are still ready to spend silly money on convenience - have you seen the prices of M&S Christmas food? Charlie Bigham has also introduced a £30 ready meal, nuts!!

There’s a review in The Times today of these latest Bigham ready meals. Ties up with the experience I’ve had of their pies - not good. Anyone who reads the full review would be very unlikely to buy one! It concludes:

“Bigham, like them, is gambling that people will look at the cost of eating in a pub and conclude that one of his meals is far cheaper. Dishes to light a candle for? I’d turn out the lights.”

I did read this - up until the point he insisted his meals are not ready meals. The guy has truly bought into hid own marketing!!

robrymond

Have all Aldi stores now started to put the reduced items in a specific chiller after the salads and before the meat? It is really annoying because now all the vultures just grab stuff whereas before you would find stuff if you wanted a particular meal or meat.

The other negative is that there are no prices because the red sticker just says the discount amount so you don't know what the original price is anyway! Terrible system but presumably done to just get rid of stuff.

maman

My Aldi store does a bit of both @robrymond. There is that 'new: section with multiple offers but there are still other items dotted around such as the fish section, some cold meats and bread. 

robrymond

maman said:

My Aldi store does a bit of both @robrymond. There is that 'new: section with multiple offers but there are still other items dotted around such as the fish section, some cold meats and bread. 

I think bread products and cakes are still in the respective sections, it's just all the chilled veg, fruit, meats, fish and ready meals. It has a whole fridge with loads of reduced to clear ESP signs right next to the special meats/weekly offers. Not got anything cheap since they introduced this.

Rosa_Damascena

Brie said:

itsthelittlethings said:

Might take a trip to Lidl this evening to see if those tuna pasta salads are still on cheap and pick one up for tomorrow.

I'll be looking for Rosa's black cherry & sloe jam!!!

I tried this on a piece of toast earlier. Undeniably sweet but unfortunately tasteless.

Brie

Anyone else tried Lidl pay like @molerat?

Lidl Pay - What A Faff — MoneySavingExpert Forum

Rosa_Damascena

Brie said:

Anyone else tried Lidl pay like @molerat?

Lidl Pay - What A Faff — MoneySavingExpert Forum

I wish I had! I got there yesterday soaked to the skin like a seal to discover that I left my cards at home!! Luckily, it was one of the few occasions I had cash so I cancelled the transaction and went to a human till.

Cornucopia

I had the Lidl American style ice cream (Fantastic Fish flavour) this week.    Very nice - chocolate ice cream with chocolate and white chocolate sauces, and a number of chocolate fish.   I assume it's intended to mimic Ben & Jerry's Fish Food.

Good VFM at £1.99, even better at the voucher price of £1.59.  

HouseMartin567

My favourite non-traditional mince pies are back in Aldi: caramelised apple crumble, and Millionaire’s crumble.

If I recall correctly, last year they were £2.50 for 6 (41.6p each). Now they are £2.29 for 4 (57.2p each). A 37.5% increase is galling. Not galling enough to invoke abstinence, but enough to limit my intake - so not necessarily a bad thing!

Rosa_Damascena

HouseMartin567 said:

My favourite non-traditional mince pies are back in Aldi: caramelised apple crumble, and Millionaire’s crumble.

If I recall correctly, last year they were £2.50 for 6 (41.6p each). Now they are £2.29 for 4 (57.2p each). A 37.5% increase is galling. Not galling enough to invoke abstinence, but enough to limit my intake - so not necessarily a bad thing!

Abstinence for me - once a Christmas staple, as of 2023 the decent ones became too pricey (I think I bought 2 packs of brown butter ones from Waitrose and that was it, a marked departure from my December diet of mince pies and Baileys!). Then last year I just went off them which is just as well because they are a big luxury now.