Christmas 2013 - worth heading to NI?

athtrasna

Apologies..wasn't sure if this belongs in here or in Rip off Ireland or even somewhere completely different.

With Christmas fast approaching I'm contemplating heading up North to do a big grocery/gift shop. Part of it for prices, part of it for variety of stuff in Sainsburys/Asda. Haven't made the trip in a few years, and I know it's asking a very general question but is it worth the time and effort to cross the border (from Dublin) these days?

ChuckProphet

athtrasna wrote: »

Apologies..wasn't sure if this belongs in here or in Rip off Ireland or even somewhere completely different.

With Christmas fast approaching I'm contemplating heading up North to do a big grocery/gift shop. Part of it for prices, part of it for variety of stuff in Sainsburys/Asda. Haven't made the trip in a few years, and I know it's asking a very general question but is it worth the time and effort to cross the border (from Dublin) these days?

yeah sher it's a day out. Gonna go up meself for xmas wine...it's gotten expensive here now after the last couple of budgets

L1011

Proportionally drink has increased by more in NI than here.

Unless you are passing through NI or live in, say, Drogheda / Sligo / Letterkenny or closer to the border you will likely spend more on fuel and food than you save.

robbok

Agree with MYOB, was in Sainsburys Newry recently, very little cheaper than down South especially if you shop around or shop in Lidl/Aldi
Add in the petrol and time spent driving and you have an expensive day out imo

Skid X

There aren't huge savings to be made in the North at the moment, but there might be enough value and variety to make a trip worth your while (depending on what you are looking for)

Keep an eye on the Sainsburys and Asda websites to see what deals they have on drink. Sometimes you can make good savings there on certain products, even with the current exchange rate.

http://groceries.asda.com/asda-webstore/landing/home.shtml?cmpid=ahc-_-ghs-d1-_-asdacom-dsk-_-hp-a#/dept/1215166790691

http://www.sainsburys.co.uk/groceries/index.jsp?bmUID=1384880695143

rubadub

ChuckProphet wrote: »

yeah sher it's a day out.

Some would see it as an ordeal. I have made a few points about it before.

rubadub wrote: »

There is an easy hypothetical test to see if its worth your own time & effort.

Say you plan on going up to get booze, you have it worked out that you will save €100.

The test is you imagine your neighbour called in and said "will you drive up north this weekend for me and get me 10 cases of beer, here's €100 for your trouble & petrol, tolls etc, the catch is you are not allowed buy anything for yourself".

This sort of forces you to put a true value on your free time & effort and factor in the real potential costs. Too many people fool themselves and overestimate the savings and value.

rubadub wrote: »

The common "game" I see is people seeking out the most expensive shop here to exaggerate their savings. "I got cheap batteries in ASDA, in Weirs jewellers in dublin they costed 10 times as much". And do not even compare the same exact same product if not applicable -e.g. a lad in work buys whatever beer is on offer here, not in the slightest bit choosey, there are ALWAYS €1 bottles on offer. He goes up north and gets staropramen, maybe 60cent per bottle, he never heard of nor tasted the stuff before, buys it solely since it is cheap. Then goes into an offie and it is €2.60 here so reckons he saved €2 per bottle! completely ignoring the fact he would never have dreamt of paying over €1 per bottle here.

athtrasna

Skid X wrote: »

There aren't huge savings to be made in the North at the moment, but there might be enough value and variety to make a trip worth your while (depending on what you are looking for)

Keep an eye on the Sainsburys and Asda websites to see what deals they have on drink. Sometimes you can make good savings there on certain products, even with the current exchange rate.

http://groceries.asda.com/asda-webstore/landing/home.shtml?cmpid=ahc-_-ghs-d1-_-asdacom-dsk-_-hp-a#/dept/1215166790691

http://www.sainsburys.co.uk/groceries/index.jsp?bmUID=1384880695143

Doesn't look much (if any) cheaper. Part of the reason I was going to go was to stock up on Calgel teething gel for my Godson as it's not available here but I think I've got it sorted thanks to Parcel Motel.

dubstarr

I went to Belfast a few weeks ago and really nomuch in the difference.Only good thing i got was a litre of Baileys for a tenner.

L1011

ChuckProphet wrote: »

yeah sher it's a day outs

Missed this bit first time around.

Good jesus, if you idea of a day out includes the hour crawling down the hill in Newry followed by eight laps of Buttercrane for a parking space I'm not sure I'd ever want to hang around with you :pac:

MugMugs

robbok wrote: »

Agree with MYOB, was in Sainsburys Newry recently, very little cheaper than down South especially if you shop around or shop in Lidl/Aldi
Add in the petrol and time spent driving and you have an expensive day out imo

Sainsburys Newry was one of their most expensive chains during the good times.

Not sure if that's still the case! I always went further north to the outlet. Abundance of parking and more level pricing.

wmpdd3

Really the chemist stuff is where the big savings are esp as there are generics available in NI for Calpol / Nurofen / etc

L1011

wmpdd3 wrote: »

Really the chemist stuff is where the big savings are esp as there are generics available in NI for Calpol / Nurofen / etc

There's generics for Nurofen here - Easofen and Buplex and possibly others. Can only buy a limited number of packs at time in NI also. But it is cheaper to a hilarious level - 25p for 12 kind of money.

There's a lot of pharmacy only products (nurofen, arret, zantac etc) and prescription only products (nurofen gel, buscopan) that are available in supermarkets in NI; to the point that I've never even bothered with an actual chemist up there.

Other things that are noticeably cheaper are personal care items - razor blades, condoms, cosmetics; I was told nappies and baby food is too but zero experience there. But you still need to be buying a LOT of them for it to make financial sense. Generally you need to be buying in bulk, which itself means you need to have a fair bit of money to save any!

Lemlin

People are going to the wrong part of NI and wrong supermarket chain if they are going to Sainsburys. Asda in Enniskillen is alot cheaper than Sainburys.

That said, I don't think the savings would be worth driving far for. It suits me because I'm 45 minutes from it.

rubadub

Just check their online stores and see if its worthwhile.

http://groceries.asda.com/asda-webstore/pages/landing/home.shtml?cmpid=ahc-_-ghs-g3-_-asdacom-dsk-_-hp-a-_-banner-cc&#/dept/1215166790691

asda lists offers like smirnoff £18 per litre
absolut £15 per 700ml

in tesco here a litre of smirnoff is €25, 700ml absolut is €20.

Not that much savings, and remember to add on a few % if using XE as your exchange rate.

L1011

Litre of Smirnoff is 23 in my local newsagents. The cost difference in alcohol is all but gone.

Pubic Paddy

athtrasna wrote: »

Apologies..wasn't sure if this belongs in here or in Rip off Ireland or even somewhere completely different.

With Christmas fast approaching I'm contemplating heading up North to do a big grocery/gift shop. Part of it for prices, part of it for variety of stuff in Sainsburys/Asda. Haven't made the trip in a few years, and I know it's asking a very general question but is it worth the time and effort to cross the border (from Dublin) these days?

Depends - are you Catholic or Protestant?

Serious question.

byhookorbycrook

Drink certainly no cheaper. We were up North recently and hit the Outlet near Banbridge, good deals on gap for kids and Denby pottery.

wmpdd3

I'm so far south that its easier to give a list to someone going to Cardiff!

I usually get £20 worth of over the counter chemist stuff.

The Welsh chemist workers do not question the list at all, they are used to Irish people stocking up.

@MYOB. going to ask in the local chemist about that in the morning, that would be great if there was a cheaper alternative to 100ml Nurofen.