Tell me about lidl!!

newlywed

jet77 wrote: »

My local one accepts visa

Ours takes cash or Visa Debit cards only (not visa credit cards).

newlywed

In Lidl I buy:-

Gammon steaks (but look for less fatty packs)
Smoked wafer thin ham with no water added
Sliced cheese (lazy I know)
Olive oil
Passata
Tins of Kidney beans, sweetcorn, butterbeans etc
Roasted red peppers in a jar
Olives
Biscuits
Bread/wraps
Frozen peas and cauliflower, etc
Frozen salmon and tuna steaks
Ice cream in summer.
Dishwasher tablets - 5in 1 about £3 for 40 I think

Ophie

davetrousers wrote: »

They take DEBIT cards not Credit cards.

They usually have empty boxes somewhere in the store that you can use instead of carrier bags, just help yourself.

I'm sure I have been with someone who used a credit card and it was accepted with no problem. But if you say it only accepts debit cards then I have no reason to disagree.

Yes, there are sometimes boxes in my local one, but infrequently. We have a vast number of Polish, Kosovan etc imigrants in our town and the boxes have normally been used to stock up on gerkins and pickles, so by the time I get there if I have popped in there are no boxes.

belfastgirl23

On the plus side, Lidl can be amazingly cheap. I can't believe it when a full trolley load of stuff is rung up and it comes to £20! Some of their stuff is as good as or better than other supermarkets - in particular cheese, chocolate, oatcakes, tinned tomatoes and dishwashing tablets are all cheaper and better than in tesco etc. The F&V is okay as long as you're using it pretty fast, except for the potatos which I would avoid.

But the downside is that it isn't a pleasant shopping experience a lot of the time. There are nearly always long queues, you need £1 for the trolley and you have to take your own bags. And I always find that people are p***d off at you if you have a big trolleyload and keep trying to push past if they only have a few items. Ranges are limited so you might well end up in tesco etc anyway and it takes willpower to only buy the few extras you need. And sometimes they have hardly any F&V. Some lidls are also much better than others (I drive an extra mile or two to go a good one).

I do a compromise now where I go once a month or once every couple of months and do a big stock up on the stuff I like from there...

champys

I save most when shopping in Lidls when I leave OH at home! This is a little difficult, because we only go 'to town' once a week, and he also likes the outing. But he can't get around the 'specials' they have each week, and usually picks something up which is such a bargain....etc. So the food bill is small and great value, but there is often some not-so-necessary non-food added.
I do agree with Seakay's comment that a smaller range saves time. After a while you know exactly which items you like from Lidls, and the fruit/veg is mostly seasonal so it takes stress out of supermarket shopping.

Olliebeak

I would say that the fruit juices are really good value - the cartons are often one and half litre or two litre sizes.

What I've found with the cooked meats is that many of them are smoked flavour - and personally I can't stand that. Much of the stuff is to a bit more of a 'continental taste' than some of us are used to - but that does mean that they have many unusual Christmas goodies. My OH loves their ice cream!

adandem

newlywed wrote: »

In Lidl I buy:-

Gammon steaks (but look for less fatty packs)
Smoked wafer thin ham with no water added
Sliced cheese (lazy I know)
Olive oil
Passata
Tins of Kidney beans, sweetcorn, butterbeans etc
Roasted red peppers in a jar
Olives
Biscuits
Bread/wraps
Frozen peas and cauliflower, etc
Frozen salmon and tuna steaks
Ice cream in summer.
Dishwasher tablets - 5in 1 about £3 for 40 I think

Are the DW tablets okay? I have bought Asda/Wilko home brands and ended up throwing them away.

Pooky

Lidl black refuse sacks are great - really thick and 20 for around 79p which is less than the "value" version in other shops that rip as soon as you look at them.

We also use their dishwasher powder - it's about £4 but does us around 3 months (at least one wash per day).

Just started to try their female sanitary range too and very impressed so far.

It really is hit and miss with the fruit and veg though and we normally only buy what we know we can use or blanch within the next day or so......but each store will differ so it's trial and error.

newlywed

adandem wrote: »

Are the DW tablets okay? I have bought Asda/Wilko home brands and ended up throwing them away.

I read lots of posts on here about DW tablet and the general vote seemed to be that the 5 in 1 version were the best ones to get from Lidl.

I think they aren't quite as good with the rinse for glasses as the finish 5 in 1 but certainly as good as the finish 3 in 1 or 4 in 1 tablets. They get all the muck off everything really well, just sometimes leave a streaky white residue bit on the tumblers. Nothing on anything else though.

I still use salt and rinse aid with it. Not bought finish tablets since

belfastgirl23

I really like the bogstandard £1.99 DW tablets. They get everything nice and clean and dissolve properly at low temp. They can also be broken in half. One 30 tab box does me for the best part of 2 months. But maybe it also depends on what suits your DW and your water area (we have soft water). I suppose the other thing is that we're veggie so no meat juices etc to clean, altho we do use a fair bit of oil for salad dressings etc...

BTW I never use salt or rinse aid, no need...