Do you shop around for groceries?

snubbleste

Food inflation is 5% in the past year according to the Indo. The official inflation rate is 0.5%

Irish shoppers are actively looking for ways to cancel out price rises. People approach their weekly shop like a military operation, willing to take their time to ensure they get the best deal. Shopping around has become the norm, with people generally visiting four different retailers to make sure they get the best deal.

Do you follow Mary Harney's mantra and shop around? It's hard to do when all the supermarkets are matching each other's prices.
Do you plan what to buy, make meal plans? How are you beating the rise in grocery prices?

krudler

Depends really, I usually shop in Tesco, I dont really see the point in trekking from one place to another to save a few cents, you'd only spend it in fuel and the time of going from one busy supermarket to another isnt worth a couple of quid here and there. I often find Aldi and Lidl dont have stuff I want so just wind up getting a few small things and then going to Tesco anyway, they're great for party stuff/cleaning products/fruit and veg etc though.
There's a tesco all of 5 mins walk from me with a decent butchers in the same shopping centre if I wanted soemthing from there, the nearest lidl is a few mins drive, dunnes is right across town.

qo2cj1dsne8y4k

Grocery shop in dunnes cause our local tesco is massive full of tempting stuff I can't afford, and I just end up spending more money on absolute crap. Don't go to aldi/lidl. Don't see the point. I would just pick up rubbish, go to tesco (cause its closer) for the things aldi didn't have, and spend even more than I would just sticking to the one shop.

FatherLen

aldi all the way. The odd time I go to tesco if I miss aldi because it closes earlier and end up regretting it every time.
You're guaranteed to spend more in tesco, usually by a wide margin too.

Phill Ewinn

Tesco for most stuff. Don't see the point in wasting time.

M&S for looking at yummie mummies. Aldi the very odd time for random cr@p. Dunnes and Lidl is a total no go. Not into queueing for ages and being met by grumpy faces at the check out.

STEINBERG

I have aldi and dunnes just around the corner from my place,,, I usualy just go to aldi now, although the meat and poultry are similar in price to dunnes I find the quality in aldi much better.... the fruit and other things like rice, bread even the beer and wine are a he'll of slot cheaper in aldi. One complaint I have though is thery are limited in there selection of products.

If I want kitchen cleaner, toiletries and all that stuff, I go to dealzs in town €1.49 for most things while some protucts are hitting the €4 mark in dunnes and tesco is a no brained for me

dsmythy

Of course. Dunnes, Tesco, Super Valu, Aldi, Lidl, Iceland, Euro King, Dealz all within walking distance. Bits out of each.

Mr Benevolent

Aldi all the way. Stopped buying brand name spirits too as I don't drink them neat.

Green Diesel

Aldi for basics.

Tesco / Dunnes for anything they don't stock.

Lidl for the Inferno pizza.

All are 2 min walk from my place

SEPT 23 1989

Mary Harney's mantra

Eat all the cakes,Eat all the cakes,Eat all the cakes

mike65

Phill Ewinn wrote: »

Tesco for most stuff. Don't see the point in wasting time.

M&S for looking at yummie mummies. Aldi the very odd time for random cr@p. Dunnes and Lidl is a total no go. Not into queueing for ages and being met by grumpy faces at the check out.

Lidl and today I saw a very fine yummy mummie while in there. Anyone who is shoping in Tesco etc as their default destination might as well drive to the car park and burn a 20 euro note maybe 2 of them.

Aimeee

Aldi mostly for fruit, veg.
SuperValu for rest of stuff that I can't get in aldi.
get lovely organic stuff in local organic store when I can relax the budget a bit. Like to give them the business. Wish i could do it all the time, but money does not allow. Meat local butcher, not very often as other half is veggie. Fish from fishmongers.
Its easy enough for me to store hop as all nearby. However if I lived elsewhere I'm pretty sure I wouldn't do it especially if it meant driving/parking/unloading kids etc.

Vojera

I buy most of my groceries in Aldi. I buy my meat at the butchers. I buy toiletries in Dealz or Superdrug. Then I go to Tesco for anything I can't get elsewhere (e.g. Aldi's range of spices is fairly limited).

It's not like I waste tonnes of time going between them. I go to Aldi weekly, the butchers monthly, I probably only buy toiletries once every two to three months as I tend to stock up, and then tesco is just when needed. It could be every week for three weeks and then I wouldn't need to go again for a month.

anncoates

For supermarkets: about 70% Aldi and Lidl and the rest at Tesco.

Also do a monthly shop at a local oriental wholesaler and wholesale butcher.

Looking to save money isn't penny-pinching. We have a fairly OK household income but what mug willingly goes and spends extra money for the same product unless they haven't got a choice?

cherryghost

Mixture of Lidl and Tesco. Go to a butchers for all my meat though.

Shenshen

Aldi and Lidl.
Luckily, they're just across the road from each other, and we've got a list of what items are better or cheaper in either shop.

I don't do weekly shops, as I find I end up buying way to much and throwing too much away afterwards. I usually buy enough fresh produce (fruit and veg, bread) for a day or two, and replace the pantry essentials (tins, pasta, rice, spices, etc.) as and when I run out.

The only time I'd actually go to Tescos is when I need baking ingredients such as yeast, for example.

I've started keeping track on our food shopping, we spent a total of just over €160 last month.

And I don't have to stand in queues for ages while someone faffs about packing their stuff as I would in Tescos or Dunnes.

Win-win.

krudler

SEPT 23 1989 wrote: »

Mary Harney's mantra

Eat all the cakes,Eat all the cakes,Eat all the cakes

"Bring me Solo and the Wookie!"

anncoates

Phill Ewinn wrote: »

Tesco for most stuff. Don't see the point in wasting time.

M&S for looking at yummie mummies. Aldi the very odd time for random cr@p. Dunnes and Lidl is a total no go. Not into queueing for ages and being met by grumpy faces at the check out.

Tesco and M&S consumer analysts probably have a in-house derogatory shopper code for people like you that provokes gales of laugher at weekly performance meetings : something like Mug123 or SuperQuiinSausageFanatic.

NothingMan

I got enough food for a weeks worth of breakfasts,dinners and lunches in Aldi for €26 yesterday. That included chicken for a curry and meat for a pasta dish. Even treated myself to a fancy pack of cookies. If I went to tesco for one dinner I'd have paid probably €8. Aldi all the way. I don't find I need to get anything in Tesco anymore.

Saying that, I'm not usually a smart shopper and have been buying lunches for the last 3 weeks.

secondrowgal

I wouldn't touch Tesco with a 10 foot barge pole and a bottle of Domestos. I used to live in the UK and avoided them like the plague there, too. Bad quality, bad service, and (I know this is "market forces") a concerted effort to open shops/pharmacies/petrol stations in every small town and squeeze out all the local shops, hence killing the town centre.

I will admit to having a vested interest, since my sister runs a small shop, but even before that I shopped localyl where I can - butchers, fruit and veg (for sure), electricals, etc. Except for some minor big purchases, most smaller outlets are good value, and they will always be there to sort out the problems. Ever try bringing something back to Tesco?? Good luck with that.

My main supermarket is Dunnes, I suppose. We have a Superquinn which I like for some of the nicer bits. Aldi >> Lidl imo.

Phill Ewinn

mike65 wrote: »

Lidl and today I saw a very fine yummy mummie while in there. Anyone who is shoping in Tesco etc as their default destination might as well drive to the car park and burn a 20 euro note maybe 2 of them.

A yummie mummie, as in one? Tesco do label stuff yellow when it gets cheaper, on special offer etc. Lidl are cheaper for some stuff only. The choice for your next few dinners is either a range of discounted special offers from Tesco or frozen pizza and chicken from lidl.

Clearence section plus half price roast chickens just before closing. Can't lose.

snubbleste

snubbleste wrote: »

Do you plan what to buy, make meal plans? How are you beating the rise in grocery prices?

Yes - I have been improving my cooking skills for some years now and take it quite seriously - and as such I know exactly what I need each week and I ensure I plan meals where everything I buy is used and some ingredients are shared among meals. Learning to cook with healthy filling but cheap things like lentils and so forth helps a lot too.

I also try and grow / catch my own food where possible. Veg - herbs - fish - wild rabbit - have chickens for eggs and so forth. Also geese for Christmas.

mike65

Phill Ewinn wrote: »

A yummie mummie, as in one? Tesco do label stuff yellow when it gets cheaper, on special offer etc. Lidl are cheaper for some stuff only. The choice for your next few dinners is either a range of discounted special offers from Tesco or frozen pizza and chicken from lidl.

Clearence section plus half price roast chickens just before closing. Can't lose.

I can cook so this kind of thing is not familiar to me.

(oh and she was lovely brunette)

The Backwards Man

Factoring in diesel costs, I still save about twenty euro or thereabouts on my weekly groceries by shopping around.

jam_mac_jam

I buy my basics in Lidl and other stuff (ham, cheese, sausages, rashers) in Superquinn. Mostly fruit and veg in Lidl and stuff like cleaning and tins of tomatoes in Lidl. I don't like Tesco as their fruit and veg is not great and more expensive then Lidl or Aldi. I cook most of my own food though, I don't really eat pre made/ processed food at all so it doesnt make such of a difference.

ScumLord

I don't have the patients for shopping around, I go to supervalu because it's convenient, it's not a pain in the hole to get in and out of like the Lidl, it has a proper range of alcoholic beverages and a proper range of Irish brands.

I don't shop in Tescos because I don't like their business model.

Shenshen

Phill Ewinn wrote: »

A yummie mummie, as in one? Tesco do label stuff yellow when it gets cheaper, on special offer etc. Lidl are cheaper for some stuff only. The choice for your next few dinners is either a range of discounted special offers from Tesco or frozen pizza and chicken from lidl.

Clearence section plus half price roast chickens just before closing. Can't lose.

I can't comment on the contents of your shopping trolley, but Lidl and Aldi are considerably cheaper on the things we buy regularly. Less than half the price in most cases.

I used to sometimes get fruit and veg from Tescos but I remember one day having a receipt from Tescos and one from Lidl for the same products - I was paying nearly 3 times the price in Tescos.
Haven't been back since.

Ush1

Aldi for everything except Koka noodles. Spend a little, live a lot as they say. I even buy venison steaks from them.

Irish Guitarist

I only buy a few things at a time every day or two. Aldi is almost right beside Tesco here so it's handy enough to go to both. Aldi only have a few things I want. They have a crap selection of fruit and vegetables and I don't eat meat. They do have some nice cereal, big bags of oven chips for about 80 cent and a two kg bag of pasta for about 95 cent though.

What I hate about it is there's always someone speeding around with a pallet trolley or asking you to get out of their way. There's no organisation in the way the shelves are packed either. I used to buy cola there and the diet and standard cola were all stacked in crates on top of each other. You would often have to lift up the top crate of diet cola to get to the standard one. Sometimes there would be three or four crates of diet cola on top. That's just an example. There's loads of items that are just to hard to get go.

homemadecider

I make a meal plan for the week ahead which sets out what Iplan on eating for each meal per day. Then I can easily work out whatingredients I need and therefore make a tailored, very specific shopping list.I stick to the list and don’t buy anything that isn’t required. This keeps costs down, reduces waste and ensures there is never junk food in the house

Example: Breakfast – Yogurt, sunflower seeds,raspberries. Lunch – Eggs and salad. Dinner – Refried beans, rice, spinach.Snacks – Apple, banana

Shopping list would then be

Natural yogurt
Sunflower seeds
Raspberries
Eggs
Lettuce
Cucumber
Tomato
Red onion
Tin of butter beans/ kidney beans/ cannellinibeans
Onions
Garlic
Mushrooms
Beef stock
Chillis
Spinach
Long grain rice
Apples
Bananas

The rest of the week is planned to use up all the veg I’vebought so there is zero waste at the end of the week. We do almost all of ourshopping in Lidl (all meat is from the butcher) and once a month get a deliveryfrom Tesco to supplement this. I think we spend about €80 a week between the two of us; it could be cheaper but we like to eat well and I don't mind spending money on good food.

Thwip!

Aldi or Lidl for me. Miles cheaper. It's the sign of a bad month if I break 100 euro for a month's shopping in Aldi/Lidl. Any other supermarket I could break that in one or two trips

Chucken

Oh how attitudes have changed about Aldi/Lidl

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=2274846&postcount=33

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=1566616&postcount=29

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=3399745&postcount=14

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=50601160&postcount=10

snubbleste

I've observed that 12 pack basic toilet roll has fallen from €2.79 to €2.69 Praise the lord.
Also milk has gone up 10c a litre recently but not in Aldi or Dunnes.