# Tips for reducing my weekly shopping costs?



## HouseBuyer10 (1 Feb 2022)

Hi all
Just curious how much your grocery shopping costs you every week.
Any tips on how to reduce this? Do you shop local, free range or organic?
Two pieces of organic chicken breast are about €9 in Dunnes. A bit too expensive.
Thanks.


----------



## ClubMan (1 Feb 2022)

HouseBuyer10 said:


> Just curious how much your grocery shopping costs you every week.


Surely it's going to vary wildly making any comparison meaningless?
E.g. single person versus a couple versus a family with a gaggle of kids and a dog and a cat and granny in the granny flat?
Not to mention those who have specific needs or preferences that might inflate the cost of their basket of goods...


HouseBuyer10 said:


> Any tips on how to reduce this?


There are loads of existing tips for economising if you Google/search.


----------



## Baby boomer (1 Feb 2022)

Very vague question but the supermarket own brands can be *much* better value than branded products and are increasingly as good as or even better quality.


----------



## HouseBuyer10 (1 Feb 2022)

I should have been more specific, but I don’t want to miss all the scenarios people may want to share. There could be something to learn from big families when you’re a family of three or from a couple with pets when you’re a big family.


----------



## Ceist Beag (1 Feb 2022)

Have a read of this previous thread what is average family shop for 4 all over 18


----------



## Odea (1 Feb 2022)

There are two of us here.  We get the €5 off a €25 spend in Dunnes.  Sometimes we have difficulty in actually spending the €25 per week.

We cook everything from scratch. We buy the vegetables/meats on special offer. In fact we wait until something is on special offer and we stock up on a few items.

Living beside a Dunnes, Tesco, Lid, Aldi, M & S, and SuperValu has it's advantages of course. Lots of choice.


----------



## Roro999 (1 Feb 2022)

If near to all major supermarkets google search every week fruit and veg offers and shop around.


----------



## Peanuts20 (1 Feb 2022)

Married, 2 kids including one teenager and we get through around €80-100 a week.

Organic is a rip off to be honest and you don't need it if, for example, you are cooking a curry or a spag bol. 

Dunnes and Supervalue vouchers can help. We do one big shop weekly, with a list and that does help reduce spur of the moment buys. We both hate food waste as well so use up everything

Bulk buy things like Pasta if you can. Also if you see special offers, don't be afraid to buy some extra and stick it in the freezer if you can.


----------



## DK123 (1 Feb 2022)

Think buy healthy food perhaps,rather than cheap food."Your health is your wealth"


----------



## NoRegretsCoyote (1 Feb 2022)

Going to multiple shops to pick up the best deals seems to make sense.

But I read once that it can be counter-productive in that the more time you spend in shops the more likely you are to make impulse purchases.


----------



## fistophobia (1 Feb 2022)

E20 per week, single person.
I cook in batches, freeze meals.
I have about 50 meals stored.
Food price inflation is not such a big deal for me, and I can substitute food items.


----------



## Zenith63 (1 Feb 2022)

HouseBuyer10 said:


> in Dunnes


Single biggest thing you could do in my opinion is to stop shopping in Dunnes.  They have lovely produce and the experience of shopping there is great, but almost everything is more expensive than Lidl/Aldi and you're much more likely to pick-up a fancy bit of cheese, a nice cake, triple organic broad beans etc.  Do a weekly shop in Lidl/Aldi and go to Dunnes every month or two for those items you cannot get or for the fancy stuff at Christmas/birthdays etc.

Local Centra/SuperValu stores tend to be even more expensive than Dunnes, so if you find yourself doing top-up shops during the week you should brush up on your weekly shop game and cut those out.

For us (2 adults + young child) we spend about €100/week in Lidl.


----------



## 24601 (1 Feb 2022)

Couple, no kids. We do one "big" shop once a week in a Tesco/Lidl/Aldi or SuperValu which comes in at €60 - €75 but this is generally supplemented by a smaller top up shop once a week at €20 - €30, usually somewhere more expensive like a Dunnes or Spar as they are nearby. We don't pay particular attention to prices etc. so the cost does fluctuate. SuperValu tends to be that bit more expensive but I find the quality better.


----------



## Lambchops65 (1 Feb 2022)

Single person so don't really look at what I spend (maybe I should!).

Non meat eater last 25 years so that probably saves me a lot of €. 

Breakfasts are cheap - oats, eggs, yogurts etc

Lunches and dinners - I tend to make large batches of veggie dishes and freeze. Always have lots of pasta, rice, tinned lentils, beans etc so handy for casseroles.

Where I would tend to spend my money is on treats/snack items and fresh fruit and veggies. Frozen veggies and berries are just as good and much cheaper - Aldi and Lidl great for these. Also, download the apps and check out all the weekly specials.

I do 1 large food shop a month and top up locally with fresh produces, bread and milk..I shop in a range of stores but there's a massive price difference in Aldi/Lidl v other shops. Maybe try and do your main shop in either of those and then just few speciality bits in Tesco/Dunnes etc?


----------



## deanpark (1 Feb 2022)

I got  two sets of €280 vouchers/ gift cards from Dunnes and Supervalu in 2020 & 2021 for switching elec/ gas. Conbined with their 5/25 & 5/35 offers respectively this was a nice easy saving.

  I hate Aldi and Lidl apart from the odd item here and there - queues at checkouts in Lidl are awful.


----------



## Cervelo (1 Feb 2022)

Eat less!!


----------



## fistophobia (1 Feb 2022)

Beware of the latte effect... Impulsive purchases.
I worked with a guy who spent e20 a day just on snacks.


----------



## Pinoy adventure (1 Feb 2022)

Leave any kids at home if going shopping as it saves a fortune


----------



## Monbretia (1 Feb 2022)

I shop mainly in Dunnes because of the vouchers but only buy the stuff I know is the same price everywhere, butter/milk/sugar/flour/toilet paper, that sort of thing mainly plus some of their meat, I really like Dunnes mince for example and it's competitively priced and good quality so I'll bump up the spend to 50 to use the voucher with meat I can freeze if I don't need other stuff.   I will usually go elsewhere for certain stuff, for example Tesco has a range of own brand spices/herbs etc that Dunnes doesn't have and you'd have to buy branded in Dunnes for 4 times the price!  

I am a spending diary user though and pretty much will know the prices of most things I buy in most shops so other than the Dunnes shop I will usually give one of the other a visit once a month for the random bits that are cheaper there, a shop I have really come to like is Iceland, you get some great fish there which is handy again for the freezer.


----------



## DublinHead54 (1 Feb 2022)

Couple young child, probably average 125 a week in aldi and then probably spend another 50 euro on pick up items and 50 euro on takeaways. I am not sure how people do it much cheaper! We tend to buy fresh produce, although I've recently gone mostly vegan which has cut down on meat costs.


----------



## Gordon Gekko (1 Feb 2022)

2 Adults, 2 Children…about €300 a week in SuperValu plus another circa €50 in specialist shops


----------



## odyssey06 (1 Feb 2022)

HouseBuyer10 said:


> Hi all
> Just curious how much your grocery shopping costs you every week.
> Any tips on how to reduce this? Do you shop local, free range or organic?
> Two pieces of organic chicken breast are about €9 in Dunnes. A bit too expensive.
> Thanks.


If you are up to jointing the chicken, it usually works out a lot cheaper buying the whole bird, whether free range or organic.
Tesco have a free range whole chicken for €5, or organic for €8.50.
Their organic vegetables are very nice, and while more expensive than the standard versions, have more flavour.

We do Tesco click and collect (free) for the staples. In the time it'd take you to find car park space, trolley and get into the store ... the shopping is in the boot of the car. You can do your order in the week before online while listening to the radio or half watching tv.
The Tesco Extra stores with proper pickup locations are the ones to use, some of the other are a bit ad-hoc.
Especially during lockdowns, where we were doing 1 run a week, Tesco had the best selection and click collect setup - of the full variety of branded products and its own brand items are cheaper than Dunnes.
It also encouraged creativity with leftovers recipes on what to do with whole chicken 
As it's cheaper buying a bigger chicken, or more beef mince or whatever, than different dishes every night - batch cooking will work out cheaper too.

Now that things have opened up, we're still not really doing lunches or dinners out. So for variety we'll have one dinner a week where we pickup something on special in LIDL or Supervalu, or a particular dish with ingredients from butchers or fishmongers, or take out.


----------



## Thirsty (1 Feb 2022)

Porridge for breakfast for everyone
At least three meals per week are fully vegetarian
Make soup at least once at week from the 49c veg display at the front of the store
Bake a pound cake once a week
Plant a fruit tree in your garden (apple or plum)
Learn to make puddings such as rice pudding / apple crumble etc
Frozen veg and fruit can often be better value than fresh
Buy big tubs of plain yogurt and add your own flavours - pureed frozen fruit / lemon curd / honey all work well
Jarred sauces (tomato sauce, curry sauces) are not good value for money.
Check the cost per kg or cost per litre on everything you buy.  Pricing is done to make you believe you are getting a bargain, often you are not.
Don't buy crisps / fizzy drinks / chocolate etc
Cleaning products: use half the quantity of washing machine stuff and aside from dishwasher tabs, bleach and washing up liquid is all you need


----------



## deanpark (1 Feb 2022)

Get two "gos" from a Barrys Red teabag - grand for a second free mug. 

Buy 69c french sticks in Dunnes and cut up into 5 or 6 pieces / put in freezer. Pop in the micro/ lovely baguette all the time.


----------



## ArthurMcB (1 Feb 2022)

2 adults 3 children. 

Approx €150 pw aldi 
Approx €50 pw on random bits in dunnes/tesco
Approx €50 pw on takeaway

Aldi is good value and the produce in most cases as good as anywhere and sometimes better eg aldi's gruyere is so much better than dunnes.

Staples are same same across stores i find.

Free range chicken, which we always buy, is pricey everywhere incl aldi.

We buy fresh produce. We eat a lot!!!


----------



## Firefly (1 Feb 2022)

I shop in Lidl and have a sheet with all of the things I usually buy. I print it off and do a quick stock-take before heading out. I find this way my shop is a lot quicker and don't end up buying stuff we already have and ditto for impulse buys. I try to keep the blinkers on when going down the middle isles, but always manage a peep!


----------



## DublinHead54 (1 Feb 2022)

My weekly shop in Aldi this week was 145 euro because they had a garden leaf blower/vacuum on sale from 44.99 to 24.99.....how could anybody resist that!


----------



## nest egg (1 Feb 2022)

Family of 4 (2 adults, 2 young kids), averaged €1,100 / month in 2021.

The big revelation during the pandemic was online / home delivery. Huge time saver with two full-time working parents. Added benefit, reduced impulse buys, and of course, no kids pestering you for stuff as you roam the aisles, magic.


----------



## lucky23 (1 Feb 2022)

2 adults and 3 kids under 10 - approx €160 pw in Dunnes - €200 total then €40 off with the vouchers. Sort of feel locked into getting it to the 200 mark each week so its clever on their part. We used to do the weekly shop in Aldi, which came to around €120,, but Mrs. Lucky would always end up in the M&S next door to top up on some fancy items for the freezer so it worked out reasonably similar. Shopping in Aldi was so much easier than Dunnes i found due to the difference in product range between them, but no issues with quality - both are equal in my opinion. Dunnes is just a lot more convenient to where we live.


----------



## michaelm (1 Feb 2022)

Firefly said:


> I find this way my shop is a lot quicker


Do you perchance have the items listed in sequential order of where you'll find them as you snake through the shop?  I tend to do that.


----------



## Firefly (1 Feb 2022)

michaelm said:


> Do you perchance have the items listed in sequential order of where you'll find them as you snake through the shop?  I tend to do that.


I don't, but that's a good idea!


----------



## Ceist Beag (1 Feb 2022)

michaelm said:


> Do you perchance have the items listed in sequential order of where you'll find them as you snake through the shop?  I tend to do that.


Same here, makes it much quicker and easier to get what you need without straying down aisles with temptations...


----------



## Steven Barrett (1 Feb 2022)

HouseBuyer10 said:


> Hi all
> Just curious how much your grocery shopping costs you every week.
> *Any tips on how to reduce this? *Do you shop local, free range or organic?
> Two pieces of organic chicken breast are about €9 in Dunnes. A bit too expensive.
> Thanks.


Prepare your meals in advance. Write up a list for everything you need. If somethings on the list won't used up e.g. veg, come up with something else that will, so you don't waste. If you don't eat much bread, stick it in the freezer and take out what you need. 

Organic is very expensive and unless it is important to you, skip it. I get 10 large chicken breasts for €11 in my butchers. 


From the guy who is in Dunnes every day


----------



## T McGibney (1 Feb 2022)

Steven Barrett said:


> Prepare your meals in advance. Write up a list for everything you need. If somethings on the list won't used up e.g. veg, come up with something else that will, so you don't waste. If you don't eat much bread, stick it in the freezer and take out what you need.
> 
> Organic is very expensive and unless it is important to you, skip it. I get 10 large chicken breasts for €11 in my butchers.


Very good tips here especially the bit about buying from the butchers.


----------



## Thirsty (1 Feb 2022)

Steven Barrett said:


> Organic is very expensive and unless it is important to you,


Horses for courses.

For me its more about the environmental impact; honey from a glass jar doesn't taste any different to honey from a plastic container, but the glass can be recycled.

It's the same with free range chicken / organic veg - I don't think the taste or health benefit is any better. But I'm prepared to buy them to support that element of food production.

What is vexing though, it how easy it is for manufactuers to weasel out of label regulations.


----------



## shweeney (1 Feb 2022)

2 adults, 3 teens. I'd say about €200 a week, mostly Tesco and Lidl (Lidl have some good own-brand products but their fruit and veg is poor IMO, and lately their shelves have been like a Moscow supermarket circa 1991). I've come to the conclusion that trying to plan and then buy everything for a full week for (effectively) 5 adults is too much work and so tend to shop for just the next 3/4 days at a time when buying food.

My money saving tip - bulk buy household stuff like loo roll, detergent, toothpaste etc when it's on special offer - also things like teabags, olive oil, basically anything that will keep and that you won't just consume faster because it's in the house (or buy the own-brand version if you can find one that's good). Conversely don't buy 3 boxes of crunchy nut cornflakes just because they're "3for2" - your teenagers will just eat even more massive bowls of them and you'll run out of milk.


----------



## ClubMan (1 Feb 2022)

Thirsty said:


> Horses for courses.


Not the Liffey Meats/Silvercrest Foods thing again...? 


Thirsty said:


> honey from a glass jar doesn't taste any different to honey from a plastic container, but the glass can be recycled.


So can the plastic.


----------



## Thirsty (1 Feb 2022)

ClubMan said:


> So can the plastic


I'm wondering if you are rebutting for the sake of it, or do you truly believe that plastic is recycled in the same way and at the same rate as glass?


----------



## Baby boomer (1 Feb 2022)

michaelm said:


> Do you perchance have the items listed in sequential order of where you'll find them as you snake through the shop?  I tend to do that.


So do I.  The supermarkets are onto us though!  Every so often they deliberately rearrange the store aisles forcing us to hunt down our favourite products in unfamiliar locations.  The theory is we'll see new products and maybe toss them into the trolley as we go along. 

For the same reason, the basic staples are never alongside each other, but instead are interspersed with more luxury items.   Thus maximizing customer exposure to high margin products.


----------



## ClubMan (1 Feb 2022)

Thirsty said:


> I'm wondering if you are rebutting for the sake of it, or do you truly believe that plastic is recycled in the same way and at the same rate as glass?


Obviously not exactly the same way.
But both materials can be recycled by, in simple terms, being melted down and reused to create new receptacles.


----------



## Leper (1 Feb 2022)

Baby boomer said:


> So do I.  The supermarkets are onto us though!  Every so often they deliberately rearrange the store aisles forcing us to hunt down our favourite products in unfamiliar locations.  The theory is we'll see new products and maybe toss them into the trolley as we go along.
> 
> For the same reason, the basic staples are never alongside each other, but instead are interspersed with more luxury items.   Thus maximizing customer exposure to high margin products.


Supermarkets have been doing this since they first began. You'll see that staple foods are seldom at eye height. That's where they hope your eye will look at a product (you don't need) and your brain says "But it." 

Most contributors on AAM would already know this. So make out your shopping list of needs and stick to it.


----------



## Thirsty (1 Feb 2022)

ClubMan said:


> Obviously not exactly the same way.
> But both materials can be recycled by, in simple terms, being melted down and reused to create new receptacles.


I think you know that is, at best, inaccurate.


----------



## Silversurfer (1 Feb 2022)

Thirsty said:


> Horses for courses.
> 
> For me its more about the environmental impact; honey from a glass jar doesn't taste any different to honey from a plastic container, but the glass can be recycled.
> 
> ...


As a BK my advice is to read the labels on the jars of honey. Most of the honey on supermarket shelves is sourced outside the EU and is sugar water.


----------



## fayf (2 Feb 2022)

Theres a good few euro to be saved by shopping around etc, thats very true, but the biggest savings you will make, will be in cooking more often, buying less processed food/ready to eat meals, and doing a little more, meal “planning”, not everything, but maybe plan for 4 or 5 meals a week. This results in way less waste, (a huge problem out there)as most items are bought, with a meal in mind.

One Example- buy a decent sized chicken, we get 2 dinners, and a lunch out of it, 1)roast chicken dinner, followed by 2)chicken curry dinner or a chicken stir fry, or a chicken salad, and we make chicken stock from remaining left overs/bones, and it makes an excellent soup, adding veg.  Not only is the food way better, but it also works out way cheaper, and waste is minimised. Granted it also takes more time, we have two older teenagers, so we have that time. This will also mean less waste in your bins.

It all takes a bit more time, appreciate, some don’t have that, are too busy with smaller kids, but its good to tick the - better meals, and cheaper costs boxes, at the same time.

Our average 4 x weekly shops totals about €450, it varies over and under €115 per week, mainly due to non food & cleaning items that we buy monthly rather than weekly, but thats about the average, for 2 adults and two teenagers. We shop in multiple places as some shops are better than others for certain items, we shop in Dunnes, Supervalu& Lidl mainly, local fish shop & butchers also. Bread only bought in local bakery, ya its twice the price, but its 10 times better, than the average supermarket loaf.
We pick up a very small number of items outside of weekly shop, like bananas, bread, without a doubt, the more you visit supermarkets, the more you will spend.

One other thing we do, is stock up on the long shelflife items, we always buy, like Lavazza ground coffee, its on special a few times a year, about a third off, thats when we buy several packs at a time, we had a nespresso machine years ago, but got rid of it after tasting coffee from a Bialetti with Lavazza ground- its way better and less than half the cost per cup, stock up on pasta when on offer, but only the good stuff- like Barilla, De Cecco, Rummo, i find the own brand pasta, awful. When theres offers, we stock up on non food items.

we don’t skimp on basic ingredients like milk, never own brand milk for us- find it very watery, Avonmore supermilk only, way nicer & froths way better in coffee too ! , butter, veg. We don’t buy frozen chips, we chip our own, par boil, & into oven, again- way nicer when done right.

_Final tip- never do your weekly shop without a detailed list. Which of  course you will have made, after the meal planning !_


----------



## Thirsty (2 Feb 2022)

Silversurfer said:


> As a BK my advice is to read the labels on the jars of honey. Most of the honey on supermarket shelves is sourced outside the EU and is sugar water.


Agreed. I've stopped buying any honey that's not single source.


----------



## elcato (2 Feb 2022)

As a singleton, in my case. buying a chicken does not equate into two dinners as the aroma and taste is too much to only eat half. The remainder is usually used for lunch the next day but not a dinner. Same with all meat really.
I make my own brown bread though but not sure not how cheaper that is. Usually brown buns by 4 which last 3 days (Day 1 with the smell and still hot sees 2 eaten). You just need Brown and some white flour, buttermilk, baking soda and salt. Cheaper for me cos I would throw half of a sliced pan out after a few days.


----------



## ClubMan (2 Feb 2022)

Silversurfer said:


> As a BK my advice is to read the labels on the jars of honey. Most of the honey on supermarket shelves is sourced outside the EU *and is sugar water*.


That's simply untrue and an attempt at spreading FUD.





						Honey | Food Products - Animal Origin  | Food Legislation | Legislation | The Food Safety Authority of Ireland
					

Welcome to the Food Safety Authority of Ireland website. Here you can get food industry information, find food legislation, check for FSAI latest news or make an online complaint.




					www.fsai.ie


----------



## ATC110 (2 Feb 2022)

ArthurMcB said:


> Approx €50 pw on takeaway





Gordon Gekko said:


> 2 Adults, 2 Children…about €300 a week in SuperValu plus another circa €50 in specialist shops


OP I'm not sure if you've come to the right place for economising advice 



HouseBuyer10 said:


> Hi all
> Just curious how much your grocery shopping costs you every week.
> Any tips on how to reduce this? Do you shop local, free range or organic?
> Two pieces of organic chicken breast are about €9 in Dunnes. A bit too expensive.
> Thanks.


Get to know the prices of particular products and shop selectively where they're cheapest.
"Organic" could be classified as greenwashing and is of debatable value.
Take a trip to Northern Ireland occasionally and do a bulk shop for non-perishables, OTC pharmaceuticals et al.
Try to get all nutrients from whole foods rather than expensive supplements (apart from vitamin D)


----------



## Thirsty (2 Feb 2022)

ClubMan said:


> That's simply untrue
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Labelling is one thing: accurately reflecting the contents is another.









						The Toxic Impact of Honey Adulteration: A Review
					

Honey is characterized as a natural and raw foodstuff that can be consumed not only as a sweetener but also as medicine due to its therapeutic impact on human health. It is prone to adulterants caused by humans that manipulate the quality of honey. Although ...




					www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
				




"The addition of sugar to honey is the common fraud in honey adulteration."

"Concerning the above information, CODEX and INTERGOVERNMENTAL [14] reported that 14% of honey from EU and non-EU was considered adulterated by sugar."

and finally

"Therefore, the detection of these adulterants have proved difficult, and scientists have to discover new methods to distinguish the differences between pure and adulterated honey [32]."

Given the above, I no longer buy Honey that is labelled as being 'blended'.


----------



## Silversurfer (2 Feb 2022)

ClubMan said:


> That's simply untrue and an attempt at spreading FUD.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


There is nothing in this legislation to contradict what I said. Identifying the components of honey does not identify the primary source for the bees. Nor does it identify chemicals used on the vegetation. FYI in August after the honey is taken from the hives (after August the only food available is ivy) most BK will feed their bees fondant so that they will have food for the winter. The bees will store this as honey.


----------



## becky (2 Feb 2022)

elcato said:


> As a singleton, in my case. buying a chicken does not equate into two dinners as the aroma and taste is too much to only eat half. The remainder is usually used for lunch the next day but not a dinner. Same with all meat really.
> I make my own brown bread though but not sure not how cheaper that is. Usually brown buns by 4 which last 3 days (Day 1 with the smell and still hot sees 2 eaten). You just need Brown and some white flour, buttermilk, baking soda and salt. Cheaper for me cos I would throw half of a sliced pan out after a few days.


That's probably a small chicken 1.2k, a 2k chicken will yield a lot more. 

Soda bread/scones is a good tip, nó kneeding, prooving or starters. It's very cost effective, a small soda bread will get you three loafs from a 1k bag. Mix natural yogurt with milk if you don't have buttermilk or add vinegar to milk.


----------



## ClubMan (2 Feb 2022)

The blended honey that I've tasted from Lidl/Aldi tastes fine to me. I don't buy into the honey conspiracy theories.


----------



## Thirsty (2 Feb 2022)

Of course it tastes 'fine'. 

If it was easy to detect by taste alone; it would be a relatively simple audit process to ensure correct labelling.

Buy and eat whatever you like, no one is stopping you.

But it's curious that you dismissed peer reviewed published research as "conspiracy theories".


----------



## Deiseblue (2 Feb 2022)

deanpark said:


> I got  two sets of €280 vouchers/ gift cards from Dunnes and Supervalu in 2020 & 2021 for switching elec/ gas. Conbined with their 5/25 & 5/35 offers respectively this was a nice easy saving.
> 
> I hate Aldi and Lidl apart from the odd item here and there - queues at checkouts in Lidl are awful.


I remember the story in Waterford Whispers - dozens injured in stampede as second queue opens in Lidl which was then reported as fact by Germany's focus magazine !


----------



## argentina (2 Feb 2022)

Sign up for the Lidl Plus app, there are weekly discounts plus scratcards for each visit to the store (this entitles you to a free Lidl product ) - can be anything incl chocolate, tissues, green tea, still water etc.
Boots can be good value for basic toiletries e.g. soap , toothpaste & shower gel. The Boots Advantage card gives a 4% return v the Dunnes/Tesco 1%.

I shop in Dunnes every other week and spend €150, so costs €120 with vouchers. I am in a loop with the vouchers and have been for some time.

I avoid Super Valu as I find it dearer than Tesco/Dunnes.

Like a previous poster said, stock up on staples when they are on special e.g cereals, tea bags etc.
Look at the online leaflets for Aldi/Lidl etc and plan what to buy.


----------



## gianni (2 Feb 2022)

deanpark said:


> I got  two sets of €280 vouchers/ gift cards from Dunnes and Supervalu in 2020 & 2021 for switching elec/ gas. Conbined with their 5/25 & 5/35 offers respectively this was a nice easy saving.
> 
> I hate Aldi and Lidl apart from the odd item here and there - queues at checkouts in Lidl are awful.


I couldn't disagree more about the queues at Lidl. They are the most proactive of all the stores for opening additional tills when demand increases. 

They also lash through the groceries very fast for you to fling into your trolley and get out of the way for the next shopper. There are some dim wit shoppers that try and pack into bags at the till but they are few and far between. They are usually the same ones that can't figure out that the trolley needs to be turned a certain way to fit at the end of the till.


----------



## deanpark (2 Feb 2022)

gianni said:


> I couldn't disagree more about the queues at Lidl. They are the most proactive of all the stores for opening additional tills when demand increases.
> 
> They also lash through the groceries very fast for you to fling into your trolley and get out of the way for the next shopper. There are some dim wit shoppers that try and pack into bags at the till but they are few and far between. They are usually the same ones that can't figure out that the trolley needs to be turned a certain way to fit at the end of the till.


Balderdash - I'm not imagining it. Dunnes etc don't have to open/close/open/ close checkouts because they're staffed adequately unlike Lidl.

Also very few/ no staff on the floor in Lidl to answer questions or point towards where stuff is. Poor experience. I can afford to shop in a nicer environment which isn't miserable and utilitarian and delighted to be in a position to do so.


----------



## misemoi (2 Feb 2022)

For any dunnes shoppers, if you can avail of online delivery they automatically add & track the vouchers as you shop, I find this feature really handy as I can add in some non perishables to get me over the line !


----------



## gianni (2 Feb 2022)

deanpark said:


> Balderdash - I'm not imagining it. Dunnes etc don't have to open/close/open/ close checkouts because they're staffed adequately unlike Lidl.
> 
> Also very few/ no staff on the floor in Lidl to answer questions or point towards where stuff is. Poor experience. I can afford to shop in a nicer environment which isn't miserable and utilitarian and delighted to be in a position to do so.


I can afford to shop in a more expensive shop too. But I don't. I'm not really there for the experience. I've no need for interaction with staff other than at the tills. I don't have problems with finding things and don't ever have questions for employees. Do you frequently have questions?

I like the products and prices in Lidl. And most of all, I like their efficient tills which I find much better than those in Tesco/Dunnes/SuperValu.


----------



## niceoneted (3 Feb 2022)

I get my shopping delivered with Tesco. I only buy what I need. We go through a lot of fruit veg salad stuff. We don’t scrimp on anything. Cook from scratch. Always but what is on regular specials when they are on special. 2 adults 1 teenager and 2 kids - 6 about 800 a month. Includes wine/beer.


----------



## Leo (3 Feb 2022)

deanpark said:


> Balderdash - I'm not imagining it. Dunnes etc don't have to open/close/open/ close checkouts because they're staffed adequately unlike Lidl.


I'm sure it likely varies from region to region with better local management fostering a better environment and happier staff. Back in my previous home I passed Lidl, SuperValu and a Dunnes on my way home from work. Lidl was consistently the quickest in terms of getting through the checkouts, followed by SuperValu and then Dunnes, where every now and then the staff would stop for a chat before even acknowledging I was standing there waiting for service. I found the staff in Lidl were generally a lot less grumpy than the other two.


----------



## bstop (3 Feb 2022)

I find the Lidl staff to be very friendly. They always say hello to every customer. They are also very fast. Even the customers in Lidl are extra friendly. I can't count the number of times that customers in front of me in the queue with large amounts of groceries wave me through to the top of the line as I usually have just a few items in my arms. Fast in fast out it's a very good place to shop.


----------



## IsleOfMan (4 Feb 2022)

I was in Dunnes and a woman was spending €41.  The cashier told the woman to go off and spend another €9 so she could then avail of the €10 off a €50 spend.  The rest of us were gobsmacked that we had to stand there while this customer went off to do her second shop. We could move but the guy with his groceries already out on the belt could not.
It really should be up to the customer to have done the tot before approaching the cashier.


----------



## odyssey06 (4 Feb 2022)

IsleOfMan said:


> I was in Dunnes and a woman was spending €41.  The cashier told the woman to go off and spend another €9 so she could then avail of the €10 off a €50 spend.  The rest of us were gobsmacked that we had to stand there while this customer went off to do her second shop. We could move but the guy with his groceries already out on the belt could not.
> It really should be up to the customer to have done the tot before approaching the cashier.


They usually have a bunch of stuff at the checkout for this reason... if short a few euros buy a soft drink, snacks, mints, gum or killeen bags.
Should have just made it up from that.


----------



## Ceist Beag (4 Feb 2022)

IsleOfMan said:


> I was in Dunnes and a woman was spending €41.  The cashier told the woman to go off and spend another €9 so she could then avail of the €10 off a €50 spend.  The rest of us were gobsmacked that we had to stand there while this customer went off to do her second shop. We could move but the guy with his groceries already out on the belt could not.
> It really should be up to the customer to have done the tot before approaching the cashier.


Funny how we think differently. I view that as something really nice and helpful by the cashier and would be happy to wait a few minutes for this,


----------



## bstop (4 Feb 2022)

I was in Dunnes before Christmas and the customer at the checkout had their card rejected. The checkout operator agreed to let the person return home to get an alternative card. They said they lived close by. This was at a peak shopping time and every checkout was open with long queues. Everyone on the queue was left standing and fuming.


----------



## huskerdu (4 Feb 2022)

bstop said:


> I was in Dunnes before Christmas and the customer at the checkout had their card rejected. The checkout operator agreed to let the person return home to get an alternative card. They said they lived close by. This was at a peak shopping time and every checkout was open with long queues. Everyone on the queue was left standing and fuming.


This happened me in Lidl and the staff were very quick and efficient. My transaction was postponed, I moved my groceries to the back of the shop, no delay to the customers behind me. When I returned, my transaction was "saved" in the till and she was able to bring it back up and process the transaction with no hassle. Very efficient and no delays for anyone else in the queue.


----------



## EvenStevens (7 Feb 2022)

I spend about €30 a week for one person in Aldi. That feeds me for the week but I only have fish or meat once or twice a week. Meal planning is a game changer though I think.


----------



## T McGibney (7 Feb 2022)

huskerdu said:


> This happened me in Lidl and the staff were very quick and efficient. My transaction was postponed, I moved my groceries to the back of the shop, no delay to the customers behind me. When I returned, my transaction was "saved" in the till and she was able to bring it back up and process the transaction with no hassle. Very efficient and no delays for anyone else in the queue.


I was in Lidl last week. There were 3 tills open.  The person in front of me in the queue was returning a defective product for refund. The checkout operator couldn't manage to process the refund so had to get one of the others to help. She couldn't do it either and summoned the third to come to the first till. By the time the customer got their refund, all 3 checkouts were stalled. 

Lidl is great but the absence of customer service desks and self-service checkouts is unfortunate.


----------



## elcato (7 Feb 2022)

T McGibney said:


> Lidl is great but the absence of customer service desks and self-service checkouts is unfortunate.


They have 6 of them (Self Service tills) in my local Lidl store in Dublin. Only take cards which is an advantage as they tend not to be as busy as the tills. They regularly seem to break down though so wouldn't be unusual to have 2 or 3 closed at any given time.


----------



## Up Rovers (7 Feb 2022)

Before Christmas I bought quite a number of items in Lidl late at night and paid for them by credit card.  I checked my receipt after paying and found that I had been charged twice for one item.  I went back to the checkout operator but had to wait as there were a few customers in the queue.  There were at least 5 or 6 of them who paid by card and when asked they refused a receipt even though they had a number of items.  I see quite a lot of people doing this in many stores which seems to have come about since Covid and so many card payments.

I explained to the guy serving that I had been overcharged and showed him just the item.  He gave me a cash refund from the till without checking the receipt which I thought was rather strange.  It definitely pays to check your receipt.

Another odd thing that seems to happen a lot in both Aldi and Lidl is when you return something which has been paid for by card that they give you a cash refund which places like Dunnes and Tesco would never do.


----------



## Cervelo (7 Feb 2022)

Up Rovers said:


> There were at least 5 or 6 of them who paid by card and when asked they refused a receipt even though they had a number of items.  I see quite a lot of people doing this in many stores which seems to have come about since Covid and so many card payments.


It might be because they have the Lidl App and don't need a paper receipt as all you shopping is recorded on the App once you scan it at the till


----------



## ClubMan (7 Feb 2022)

Cervelo said:


> It might be because they have the Lidl App and don't need a paper receipt as all you shopping is recorded on the App once you scan it at the till


That's why I generally decline Lidl receipts - I get them on the app.
But they print them out anyway which is a bit of a waste.


----------



## losttheplot (7 Feb 2022)

After packing the shopping in the car, checked the receipt on the LIDL app as the bill seemed a little higher than usual. I was charged for 33 pineapples instead of 1. Went back to the same member of staff, he recalled the receipt on the till, fixed and gave a cash refund. Receipt on the app was also updated.


----------



## ClubMan (7 Feb 2022)

losttheplot said:


> After packing the shopping in the car, checked the receipt on the LIDL app as the bill seemed a little higher than usual. I was charged for 33 pineapples instead of 1. Went back to the same member of staff, he recalled the receipt on the till, fixed and gave a cash refund. Receipt on the app was also updated.


Thought you were going to say that he gave you the missing 32 pineapples...


----------



## Black_Knight (24 Jun 2022)

We used to only shop in Lidl for our big shop, then supervalu for mid week milk and the odd few bits. Found we were now spending ~€75 a week in Lidl Vs what used to be ~€50 a week in early 2021 or before. 

Moved to doing our big shop in Dunnes but being strict on the vouchers. We either spend just over €50 for €10 off or €75 to use the €5 and €10 vouchers to bring it to €60 (usually 2-3 euro over €60). We've always used a shopping list, but now I keep a mental or phone calculator track of our spend.
We still do a rare Lidl shop for things they do good which are over priced in Dunnes (toilet paper, kitchen paper, ice creams, pasta etc). 

The quality of our shop has gone up, but the price is pretty similar. €10 more a month by my expense tracking app. Given the inflation that's happened in the last 6 months since we switched that €10 a month difference is probably negligible.

SAV€R app is also decent enough for finding deals in shops.


----------



## Mocame (25 Jun 2022)

I have shopped online with Tesco for many year and I find it really convenient as well as a money saver.  I use their delivery saver package which means I pay €3 for delivery on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.  I find shopping online means I can easily keep track of spending and  I don't forget anything, because I just add something into the 'online basket' if I notice it is missing from the cupboard.  The Tesco site also allows you to order products from cheapest to dearest and compare price per gram or ml easily.  I like some of their own brand products which are very good value - particularly frozen veg - but I notice that they are often not in stock in recent months. 

My other tip is the BBC Good Food website.  They have super recipes and have a great section on cooking on a budget, tips for using up leftovers and cooking for the freezer - https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/feature/budget


----------



## Purple (3 Aug 2022)

When I was broke I could do the weeks shop for one adult and three children for €60 in Lidl. That involved lots of chicken thighs, special offers and mince.
Now I'm not broke I shop in Dunnes and spend around €120 a week after vouchers. I never buy any processed food or ready made sauces. 


Thirsty said:


> It's the same with free range chicken / organic veg - I don't think the taste or health benefit is any better. But I'm prepared to buy them to support that element of food production.


Free Range meat farming is the least environmentally friendly. If you want to reduce your carbon footprint reduce your meat intake and if you do buy it buy intensively farmed meat. 


ATC110 said:


> "Organic" could be classified as greenwashing and is of debatable value.


Yep.


----------



## vandriver (3 Aug 2022)

I must be an outlier amongst you frugal lot.
At least 100 a week in lidl,50 in dunnes,6 to the eggman,30 in the butcher and various irregular amounts in Aldi,super valu ,Asia market and little Italy.
I'd say on average 200 a week for 2 adults and 2 teenagers.


----------



## Purple (3 Aug 2022)

vandriver said:


> I must be an outlier amongst you frugal lot.
> At least 100 a week in lidl,50 in dunnes,6 to the eggman,30 in the butcher and various irregular amounts in Aldi,super valu ,Asia market and little Italy.
> I'd say on average 200 a week for 2 adults and 2 teenagers.


Oh I can spend €60-€100 in the fishmongers and I take a trip to Costless in Tallaght every few weeks for spices, medjool dates and whatever else takes my fancy. I've also been known to take a trip to The Brown Pig and spend just as much as in the fishmongers, but on a normal week, when I don't lose the run of myself, I shop as above. What others spend on takeaway I spend on nice ingredients.


----------



## Odea (4 Aug 2022)

We bought a €4 packet of mince in Dunnes this week.  Had a burger one day, spaghetti bolognese another day and a nice mince stew another day. Very little go withs, other than some powder, a few carrots, an onion, burger buns and potato.

I cannot understand how people are saying that they cannot afford to eat.


----------



## 24601 (4 Aug 2022)

Odea said:


> We bought a €4 packet of mince in Dunnes this week.  Had a burger one day, spaghetti bolognese another day and a nice mince stew another day. Very little go withs, other than some powder, a few carrots, an onion, burger buns and potato.
> 
> I cannot understand how people are saying that they cannot afford to eat.



You must be having rationed servings of mince. Fair play to you for making a pound of mince stretch to 3 meals for more than 1 person.


----------



## Purple (4 Aug 2022)

24601 said:


> You must be having rationed servings of mince. Fair play to you for making a pound of mince stretch to 3 meals for more than 1 person.


It's easy to make a stew with a small amount of mince, ditto for Chilli. It's an ingredient, a flavour, not the main bulk of the meal.

Chilli is easy to bulk out with pulses and lentils. You get the same sort of umami flavour from the mince, plenty of protein  but less fat.
The same goes for a bolognaise type sauce; plenty of veg, bake some aubergines and tomatoes first and add them to the sauce. 

I batch cook tomato sauces and freeze them in zip-lock freezer bags so they defrost quickly. They can be used for a myriad of meals. 

A curry made using a packet of chicken thighs (around €2.50-€3.00 per Kg) tastes better than one made using breast meat.
Make the base, when cooked remove the thighs, take off the skin and take the meat off the bones then add it back in. Use lots of onions, add cauliflower, potato, spinach etc. 10Kg bags of rice are cheap in Asian shops. It will feed 10 people at a portion cost of €0.50-€0.75.



Odea said:


> I cannot understand how people are saying that they cannot afford to eat.


I agree. 4 years ago I was feeding a family of 4 on €50 a week. It was easy. The secret is not to buy processed food, cook from scratch and use fresh ingredients. That's much cheaper. If someone is buying lots of processed food and complaining that they can't afford to eat properly they're either lazy or inadequate.


----------



## Odea (4 Aug 2022)

24601 said:


> You must be having rationed servings of mince. Fair play to you for making a pound of mince stretch to 3 meals for more than 1 person.


With Spag Bol you only need a flavouring of mince.....not the spaghetti swimming in it.


----------

