Vocal Voices

Where do you shop?

I am starting to really change where I shop.

I have nearly always gone to Sainsburys - simply because it is the closest supermarket to me. In the town closest to us (a 5 minute drive away) we have a Sainsburys (quite big but not massive - it only has a few clothes, home stuff, etc), a Co-op and an Iceland. We have a rubbish market that I rarely go to although the fruit and veg stall is quite good. Oh and a Wilkos.

I always used to go shopping in an evening - just nip to Sainsburys to get all my basic stuff (excluding meat and fruit and veg - I always get them from the butchers and the market). But things are getting so expensive in there so I have started to shop during the day going to different shops.

I go to the market for all my fruit and veg (or have the veggie bags), the butchers for my meat and now go to Wilkos for my cleaning stuff and shampoo, etc. Then I nip into Iceland for basics like bread, cereal, biscuits,etc and Co-op for anything that I can't get anywhere else.

I need to go to Sainsburys now and again as there are certain things I want that I can't get in any of the other shops - marinated anchovies, stuffed peppers, etc.

This weekend when I took my mum and dad to the hospital I went shopping in B&M Bargains and then onto Lidl. I was really surprised that I was able to get almost everything I needed from the two shops and it was so much cheaper than Sainsburys (although I did bump the cost up buying buying 4 bottles of vodka!!). They are both brilliant for snacks - both of my girls take a snack to school as well as a packed lunch and Mick and I also take packed lunches. Lidl was especially good for biscuits and I bought an enormous tub of Greek yoghurt for less than £1.

It is further to drive to get to Lidl and B&M Bargains but I think I might start making the effort to go there for a while. There is another B&M Bargains a little closer but no Lidl there - although they do have an Aldi (I've never been to an Aldi - I assume it is similar to Lidl) so I might try there this week.

I really begrudge giving the big supermarkets my money - which is why I refuse to shop at Tescos!!!!! Not that my not shopping there is having any effect on their profits!

For quite a long time I was a Tesco shopper, then about four years ago I decided to do a sample shop in Lidl, and since then I've been doing my main shop there. Their fruit and veg are excellent, lovely bread/rolls/scones etc., good quality chicken and mince, Mr. Osc loves the yogurts and cheeses. There is very little that I don't get there - cholesterol drinks, my goat yogurts and my soya milk, don't like their soya milk, and they don't sell Bold washing powder. I know where everything is, it's considerably cheaper than anywhere else (and I read recently that they are even cheaper in the UK) - when we had the flu a while back, I discovered how much it costs to shop locally

Debih, I was talking to a woman in Lidl last week, she had shopped in Aldi for a couple of week and this was only her second time in Lidl, but she said Lidl is much better and she won't be going back to Aldi.

Thanks Osc. I will stick to Lidl then!

It's funny you should say that Osc. It seems to depend upon the town as to which of them is better. In our town, and in the general area, Aldi is much much better than Lidl. Aldi is always heaving whereas Lidl is quite quiet usually.

Yet like you, other people in other areas find it the other way round.

I have no loyalty any more, with the exception of Home Bargains, but that is for household cleaning products and shampoos and personal care.

The market is good for fruit and veg, and sometimes meat, but not always. The two main supermarkets near enough are Asda and Morrison's, but there's not much to choose between them. Eggs, and sometimes specialist sausages, come from the farm shop.

I usually go to Sainsbury's - we have a massive one within walking distance - but I was in the Asda in town yesterday and I noticed just how much cheaper everything is there! I like Sainsbury's, I like their products, it has a calm atmosphere, I like having a cuppa in the café and a slow wander round the nice wide aisles - Asda is in a rough part of town, it would mean taking my trolley on the bus, and it is crowded with narrow aisles and very noisy, but I could probably save quite a lot of money every week....................Hmmmmm

It all depends on who has cat food on offer as I tend to spend more on that, than on my own food

But I'm really lucky as I have all of the larger supermarkets not too far away

Tesco is a 5 minute drive from the station so I will go there after work
Waitrose I pass on my way so will use that for top-up shopping
Asda I sort of pass on my way home and it's next to Pets at Home
Morrisons I use if I am meeting my sister-in-law in town (Woking) as it's the closest from there
Sainsbury's I'll use if I am visiting my brother and his family as it's closest to them and sort of on the way

From home - door to door, all the above are no more than 15 minutes by car; whereas Lidl and Aldi very unfortunately are about 35 minutes or more and totally out of my way.

And needs to be said; most of my shopping I try and do at Tesco because their rewards system is very good

Asda Minworth Superstore dominates everything in this area, and we live about a mile from it. It's almost like a second home ... we do the weekly (occassionally twice weekly) shop there, by car, get our petrol there, and I occassionally pop down on the bus for free. However, it can get quite rammed, despite around 40 checkout lanes, so we try and pick our times ... it's open 24/6 (Sunday trading restrictions), and I have been known to shop there late evening.

Interesting reading Kaz's post though, we feel that Asda prices have risen fairly sharply in the last 18 months or so, so I do watch for the bargains. I'll not buy chopped / peeled plum tomatoes unless they're 50p a tin (currently 75p .... but we currently have a tomato tin can mountain in the garage ), similarly canned soups I'll only buy in bulk when they are 5 for £3, similarly Hunger Breaks All Day Breakfasts (fancy beans 'n' sausage), I bulk buy when they are £1 a can and ignore them when they are off offer and at £1.31 or similar. And I check my till receipts against the Asda 10% Price Guarantee thingy regularly and often get vouchers between £2 and £5. Every little helps, as it's said .....

We do tend to buy "brand" names rather than Asda Smart Price though as the quality of the latter can, to our tastebuds, sometimes be a little bit iffy .....

I use the local Co-ops (there are two within walking distance) for any emergencies or top-ups, i.e fresh veg and milk, but I regard them as expensive unless you can find a bargain. Very occasionally, I visit Aldi or Waitrose in the local town but only for selected brand purchases. Our local M&S foodhall is too expensive by comparision, their checkouts are too crowded and their self-service machines incomprehensible, so it's very rare I buy from there.

There are two local Sainsburys, a bit further away than Asda; one, we have only visited once and found the parking a nightmare and the assistants incredibly rude, and vowed never to visit again. The second store is much nicer and Mrs.O occassionally goes there if we want anything out of the ordinary.

We have a local farm shop which sells fresh and frozen meats, and we do buy our joints from there, but of late, the cuts have got smaller and the prices have gone up, so they're a little bit under review. There are no independant local butchers or bakers in our area now.

When I have my shopping delivered which is about three weekly I use Tesco, simply because it is cheaper than Sainsbury and Morrisons don't deliver, but I wish they did.

I tend to use Morrisons when I do a proper shop, but pop to Aldi. We are another place where Aldi is better than Lidl.

Neither Aldi nor Lidl do enough fresh stuff for the guinea pigs, so I end up popping to Morrisons for their food and the Felix Senior for the cats. Like Ria I wish these animals could do their own shopping

I will have to spend a day touring the Aldi and Lidl's near me I think!

I would usually go to the Lidl at Chesterfield which is quite near the B&M Bargains. There is an Aldi, a Lidl and a B&M Bargains at Alfreton which is a similar distance away.

Our closest B&M Bargains is right next door to a Morrisons but last time I went in Morrisons I spent an absolute fortune - the novelty of going to a different supermarket I think! I do love Morrisons though - almost as much as Asda.

I wish we could have deliveries as it would save so much money - I would only buy what was on my list as there would be no browsing up and down the aisles. But they can't get their van up our lane so if we have it delivered we have to go and meet them in the railway station car park - which isn't a massive problem but they can't give you a time in advance, they just slot you into that window you book for delivery so you then spend your time hanging around waiting for them to ring to say they are there! When I used to have it delivered and meet them in the car park (when the girls were small) the Tesco delivery man was horrible but Sainsburys were lovely and we used to get a free bottle of wine or a box of chocolates for our inconvenience of going out to fetch it from them!