Shopping in Northern Ireland

DonJose · 07-11-2008 11:50pm

andyeire wrote: »

I have also found that you can save a fair bit of time getting to Asda eniskillen by coming in on the Dublin road rather than the Sligo road.As you dont have to cross the bridge and drive alongside river.The first time i went up it took 25 mins from the hill down to the bridge to Asda on the other side of Eniskillen.

Given your location I assume you drove via Cavan, where did you turn off onto the Dublin road?

andyeire · 08-11-2008 12:17am

DonJose wrote: »

Given your location I assume you drove via Cavan, where did you turn off onto the Dublin road?

took N54 outside of Cavan onto b533 then to A34

Satnav ftw

brettmirl · 08-11-2008 8:25pm

I headed up to Lisburn today. Much nicer Sainsburys there than the one in Newry.

Got up nice an early, so had the road and supermarket almost to myself!
Was on the road home again by 10!

Some stuff I picked up today:

Jameson 1lt - £19.99 (24.43 EUR)
Jameson 75cl - £14.00 (17.11 EUR)

Smirnoff 1lt - £14.00 (17.11 EUR)
Smirnoff 75cl - £11.00 (13.44 EUR)

Didn't spot a huge amount of beer specials, but did pick up 20 bottles of Miller and 20 bottles of Stella for £10 each. The bottle sizes are smaller than the ones here though.

Selection boxes were 2 for £4. There did seem to be a wider variety of selection boxes than ones available down here, like a Toblerone Selection Box.

2 tins of Quality Street for £10. They were priced at £8.99 each, so that's a big saving!

As another poster pointed out, you can stock up your medicine cabinet cheaply too! I got Sainsbury own brand ibuprofen or £1.25 and Paracetemol for 99p.

There were plenty of special offers at the end of each isle. Most of which were no interest to me, but I did pick up a 600g box of Rice Krispies for £1.24 (1.51 EUR).

Lots of things were cheaper than they are down here, but be careful as some items are cheaper at home.

Great thing about Lisburn is that the Sprucefield Centre is right across from the Sainsburys...so I popped over there and picked up the "2 can dine for £10". I know they do the same campaign in the stores down here, but overall, their is a much bigger variety on the shelves in the food hall there.
Didn't get time to look around the clothes or homeware sections of M&S but it was BIG!

At 10am-ish when i was heading Southbound the traffic was building going into Newry...another hour or so and I'd say it would have been at a standstill.

nc6000 · 08-11-2008 11:41pm

What are people doing about the loyalty cards like Nectar etc which require a UK postcode?

I think I've left quite a few Nectar points behind me in Sainsburys.

brettmirl · 08-11-2008 11:43pm

nc6000 wrote: »

What are people doing about the loyalty cards like Nectar etc which require a UK postcode?

I think I've left quite a few Nectar points behind me in Sainsburys.

Nothing!

The savings on everything else are enough to be worrying about loyalty points

Our man in Havana · 08-11-2008 11:44pm

I use my friends address on the mainland for Nectar points.

Tesco ones from the south work ok up north. As do cards from Dunnes.

nc6000 · 08-11-2008 11:46pm

mick_irl wrote: »

Nothing!

The savings on everything else are enough to be worrying about loyalty points

Being able to collect points would make the savings even more substantial!

www.mysupermarket.co.uk is well worth visiting before planning any shopping trips.

brettmirl · 08-11-2008 11:53pm

nc6000 wrote: »

Being able to collect points would make the savings even more substantial!

www.mysupermarket.co.uk is well worth visiting before planning any shopping trips.

Does it really though?

Collecting Value Club and Club Card points doesn't make a huge different to me to be honest.

andyeire · 09-11-2008 1:28am

Sainsbury in Newry were signing up people for Nectar cards using the store address last year .I presume they still will.

bmaxi · 09-11-2008 12:08pm

Bond-007 wrote: »

I use my friends address on the mainland for Nectar points.

You've just made a sworn enemy for life. A few years back I worked for a British company and one particular director would always refer to "procedures on the mainland". Where are we living, Rockall?:mad:

Aldee84 · 09-11-2008 10:57pm

Can we as southern shoppers get a loyalty card in Sainsburys as we are not UK residents?

neonitrix · 09-11-2008 11:36pm

Visited Sainsburys Newry today - spent close 80 sterling: some of the prices show just how badly were being ripped off in the south, would go more prepared next time as the store was abit mental today.

10 bottles wine mix red and white

best wine purchase was: Vino Maipo Sauvignon Blanc £3.49 sterling each - plus if you buy over six bottles 25% discount on all wine purchases.

Vino Maipo Sauvignon Blanc in Dunnes is €7.99 per bottle down from €9.99 euro.

I bought six bottles of above plus 4 various red wines. spent £36.10 sterling on wine and got the 25% discount so discount price for 10 bottles was £27.08
sterling

9 pack + 3 free andrex toilet roll price £5.14 sterling each North approx €6.32
Tesco Portlaoise price today is: €8.59each

Large head and shoulders shampoo 400ml price 2 for £5.00 sterling each North approx €6.15 for 2
Tesco Portlaoise price today is: €5.99each

large sure deodorant price 2 for £3.50 sterling North approx €4.30 for 2
Cheapest deal here is for smaller cans for €4.50 euro Eurospar

8 litre bags cat litter bags - price 1.60 sterling each North approx €2.00 per bag
Thomas Cat Litter €4.49 euro per 8 litre bag in Tesco & Dunnes

whiskas cat food price 2 for £5.00 sterling North approx €6.15 for 2 packs
Tesco Portlaoise price today is: €4.99 euro per box

plus bought drugs of various types own brand stuff for next to no money.

Neonitrix

okidoki987 · 10-11-2008 12:02am

Was on the road home again by 10!

OMG :eek:
Do they not have a time before which it is illegal to sell booze up North?

Our man in Havana · 10-11-2008 12:07am

Aldee84 wrote: »

Can we as southern shoppers get a loyalty card in Sainsburys as we are not UK residents?

Simply use a friends address in the UK. No other way.

Tabitharose · 10-11-2008 12:31am

Bond-007 wrote: »

No other way.

I've had one for well over 2 years now -Sainsburys in Newry register them for you....

Our man in Havana · 10-11-2008 12:43am

How do you redeem the points?

DonJose · 10-11-2008 1:31am

mick_irl wrote: »

I headed up to Lisburn today. Much nicer Sainsburys there than the one in Newry.

Got up nice an early, so had the road and supermarket almost to myself!
Was on the road home again by 10!

Some stuff I picked up today:

Jameson 1lt - £19.99 (24.43 EUR)
Jameson 75cl - £14.00 (17.11 EUR)

Smirnoff 1lt - £14.00 (17.11 EUR)
Smirnoff 75cl - £11.00 (13.44 EUR)

Check out Asda, they have some great deals.

Jameson 1lt - £17.98
Smirnoff 1lt - £13.00
2 x Absolut Vodka 70cl - £18

aquascrotum · 10-11-2008 11:04am

Bond-007 wrote: »

How do you redeem the points?

Think you can redeem them at checkout in Sainsburys, 500pts = £3 off or something? Something in that order anyway. Considering my typical shop gets in the region of 500pts thats a free bottle of wine every second trip

josh59 · 10-11-2008 11:14am

Dont forget when your're in Newry to take a look down the town - you have Superdrug there who are always great for reasonably price generic medicines - last year I bought all my anti-histamines for my hayfever for £0.99 a packet (the branded ones cost €5 a pack here).

Also Woolworths are great for stocking fillers - chocolcate coins for the kids etc etc

brettmirl · 10-11-2008 11:42am

okidoki987 wrote: »

OMG :eek:
Do they not have a time before which it is illegal to sell booze up North?

Nope!

I was able to start booze shopping just after 8am!

hellboy99 · 10-11-2008 3:29pm

€1 = £0.82p

Our man in Havana · 10-11-2008 3:39pm

Are sainsburys offering that rate?

You are best advised to use sterling from an ATM to get the very best available rate.

JohnCleary · 10-11-2008 3:42pm

Just to confirm, I can pay with Euro in Asda in Enniskillen? So I just go to the checkout as normal with my Euro? Do they have 2 figures when they ring up the total or what? (1 Sterling price, 1 Euro price?)

I know it could change between now and then, but is it the opinion of the thread that Asda probably give a better exchange rate than the bank? (BOI) So i'd be better off paying in Euro instead of going to the ATM and getting Sterling out?

smashey · 10-11-2008 3:44pm

ASDA were gallowing 80.6 in Strabane yesterday.

Our man in Havana · 10-11-2008 3:53pm

JohnCleary wrote: »

Just to confirm, I can pay with Euro in Asda in Enniskillen? So I just go to the checkout as normal with my Euro? Do they have 2 figures when they ring up the total or what? (1 Sterling price, 1 Euro price?)

I know it could change between now and then, but is it the opinion of the thread that Asda probably give a better exchange rate than the bank? (BOI) So i'd be better off paying in Euro instead of going to the ATM and getting Sterling out?

I have found that the rates offered by the shops particularly in Newry are worse than the bank rates. 2 weeks ago I was getting 80.5p to the euro from the ATM whereas Sainsburys were offering 77.5p and Argos 75p.

JohnCleary · 10-11-2008 4:35pm

Thanks Bond

Tipsy Mac · 10-11-2008 7:07pm

In my experience the most cash efficient way to purchase is to pay with your credit card at the till and tell them you want to pay in euro amount, this avoids the foreign currency conversion and also avoids having to get your change back in sterling notes and coins from the euros you handed in.

Our man in Havana · 10-11-2008 7:13pm

Don't think that will work in Sainsburys.

DublinWriter · 10-11-2008 8:32pm

Tipsy Mac wrote: »

In my experience the most cash efficient way to purchase is to pay with your credit card at the till and tell them you want to pay in euro amount, this avoids the foreign currency conversion and also avoids having to get your change back in sterling notes and coins from the euros you handed in.

Nooooo.....you will be at the mercy of the shop's exchange rates!

In fairness, a lot of places up there offer decent exchange rates, but do be careful when doing this. There have been some sharp practices of late.

I usually just take my chances with the FX rate on the day and make sure that I'm charged in GBP.

irishguy · 10-11-2008 8:36pm

Which shops allow you to use your credit card with euro up north? The rates you get could also be worse as the card acquirer (the terminal provider) will charge a commission to do the conversion, swings and roundabouts.

Shopping in Northern Ireland

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