Sunday 29 January 2012

Grocery Shopping - Price Comparison

Whilst I sometimes post about my grocery shopping highlights, I never normally show you everything I buy. This morning, however, I was so shocked by how much we spent that I decided to show all. We have two main choices for supermarkets in our town - Lidl and Waitrose. We always go to Lidl first for the bulk of our shopping (I find the quality of their fruit & veg is better than Waitrose, but they don't always stock such a wide range) and then to Waitrose for anything we haven't been able to get in Lidl.

So first up, here's what we bought in Lidl.

Bready stuff - part-bake rolls and bread are usual purchases, plus I made the mistake of letting Toby choose something for breakfast (waffles), so then Izzy (scones) and Liam (scotch pancakes) had to choose something as well of course! ;)


Vegetables - carrots, peppers, broccoli, tomatoes, mange tout and cucumber:


Fruit - bananas, grapes, strawberries, blueberries x2 and a red grapefruit:


Fresh stuff - full fat milk for the others, skimmed milk for me, ham for Liam & Izzy's sandwiches and little yoghurts for Izzy & Toby:


Tomatoes - lots and lots of tomatoes!! I don't like fresh tomatoes at all (those are for Izzy's packed lunches) but get through loads of chopped tomatoes and passata in meals!


Random stuff - biscuits for Liam, lemon juice and yeast (this was only 25p so I thought I'd give it a try - will it be any good for making your bread recipes Maria?)


And free range eggs, on their own because I forgot about them until I'd packed everything else away...


Total for the Lidl shop: £24.66

I was really impressed by how much we got for that amount of money. Unfortunately that's when things started going wrong - I only had a "few" things to buy in Waitrose but a) their stuff is so much more expensive and b) Liam had had enough of shopping by then so he took the kids for a walk whilst I went round the shop on my own - bliss! Here's what ended up in the trolley...

Frozen - peas, blueberries & raspberries. I could have bought these in Lidl but I was worried about them defrosting, and that's also a good excuse to buy the nicer raspberries - when I make smoothies with the Lidl ones they end up full of seeds, but then these raspberries look almost too perfect to blitz up!!


Fresh - 2x cheddar (on offer), 2x 0% Greek yoghurt, Quorn "chicken" ham (not sure I'll like this - it looks like plastic - but I thought I'd give it a try!), sesame smoked tofu (I also love the basil one but I still have some of that in the fridge) and chocolate cheesecake for Liam & Izzy (they're under strict instructions not to give me any!!!)


Savoury Dry Goods - noodles, wholewheat spaghetti and curry powder (Lidl didn't have any of these), plus a couple of tins of soup for Liam to take to work on the days Izzy has school lunches:


Sweet Dry Goods - instant coffee, ground coffee, cocoa powder, chocolate chunks (to make biscuits later) and Bear granola nibbles:


Random - asparagus and the Waitrose magazines:


and a cute mug that I, again, forgot to photograph until the rest of the shopping was packed away. This was "only" £2.50 so I figure it can be my equivalent of Liam & Izzy's cheesecake!!! ;)


Total for Waitrose shop: £47.24

Yikes! I think we bought many more things in Lidl than we did in Waitrose, for almost half the price! I suppose we do tend to get the harder to get, and therefore more expensive, things in Waitrose and more branded products as well, but still. Definitely glad we only shop at Waitrose once a fortnight now - when I worked there I used to pick up things after work most days!!

Which shops do you do your grocery shopping at? Do you notice a difference in price between the different shops? & are you any good at sticking to a shopping list? When I go to Lidl during the week I'm great at sticking to my list - I rush around (with Toby trying to climb out of his pushchair) and only get what I need - in and out as quickly as possible. Taking Liam and Izzy shopping with me is a bad idea though - even in Lidl, we wouldn't have got grapes or ham or all the breakfast breads if they hadn't been there. The extras in Waitrose are down to me though - going there is a bit of a "treat" now so I tend to get drawn into buying too many things!!

16 comments:

  1. In my town we have a Lidl, an Aldi, a small Asda and a Iceland. I tend do go to Lidl for fruit and veg an other bits, Aldi for any fruit and veg I can't get in Lidl, and then Asda fir everything else. I've only ever been to Iceland once, but I really should remember that its a good place for frizen fruit and veg! I sm guilty if going to Asda whenever I need a few things when really I could go to Lidl, but Im scared they won't have what I need and don't want to go traipsing around town! In the town I work in they have a Morrisons which I go to in my lunch break ir after wirk, and I find them wuite resonable, esoecially for fruit and veg! There is a Waitrose twenty minutes away which I try and avoid as it is soooo expensive! I go there sometimes to get tofu and nice pitta breads, but generally end up soending £20 on not much!

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    Replies
    1. Do you find Lidl better than Aldi then? (as you go there first) I've always heard that Aldi is better than Lidl but we don't have one locally so I've never been. I like Lidl though, I think it probably varies from store to store but the quality of the fruit & veg in our one is great :)

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  2. I think we are spoilt for choice- where we live we have an Asda (hardly ever go there) a massive Tesco (too big and I never find Tesco that cheap) and an Aldi (but it is not a big one, so I do not think I could do a weekly shop there, plus I have never found their fresh fruit and veg that nice). Then in the next town (which is about 2 miles away or something) a big new Sainsbury's (we got there at the mo when they send us £8 off a £40 shop vouchers!) and a Waitrose, which is my weakness! We tend to get shopping online because I then only stick to the list, but at the moment we are going shopping as we cancelled our Ocado delivery pass- I am spending more I am sure. If I shop alone I go waaaaay off list, but with Andy I tend to only stick to the list, and the same with online.
    And yes, that yeast is perfect for bread making- I use quick yeast but I get the Dove's Farm packet because it works out much cheaper- 99p for a big packet instead of however much for the sachets. But yes, that is what I use. You can add it straight to the flour, but I find it much better to add it to the warm water first and leave to bubble for a bit before adding the flour. Have fun :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oooh, I'm jealous of your Sainsbury's! That used to be our most-used supermarket when I was growing up in Surrey, and when I lived in Winchester. Having said that I think a Sainsbury's has opened up in a town about 20 minutes away, but as I don't/won't drive we've never got round to trying it out at a weekend.

      Brill, I will aim to make bread soon then. I saw a recipe for cinnamon rolls the other day which I'm also quite tempted by, but maybe I should try a "normal" bread recipe first!

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  3. PS- I find the whole price comparison thing really interesting- Tesco always thinks it is a cheap shop but when we shopped there for a bit I found it more expensive than Sainsbury's- they even had to withdraw their cashback for price match things because it turned out they weren't cheaper. Sainsbury's now compare the prices for you on your receipt, and if was cheaper elsewhere you get a voucher for the difference off your next shop, but generally it tells you it was cheaper. I think some things can be a false economy, so I would rather spend a bit more and get something good quality or something that will last longer. Like those frozen fruits I suppose. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's interesting about Tesco vs Sainsbury's and price match thing. I know with online, Tesco (used to at least) price match their substitutes - so if they sub what you order for something that's more expensive you only pay the cheaper price. Sainsbury's don't do that, something I only found out when I first did an online order with them...I haven't used them again since! I do miss Sainsbury's frozen cherries though, I haven't found them anywhere else.

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