Are these 'cheaper' shops really cheaper?

I shop in that shop and find the quality to be very good and contents to be no less than any other supermarket.
One well known brand that has 57 varieties has reduced the contents of their tins over the last year or two, especially the soups.

A lot of shops seem to be reducing the size of packets of food items rather than putting the prices up.
Pitta bread for one. My vegetarian sausages and a good few motre items.

I shopped in Aldi recently, buying a tin of tomatoes and some hand soap. When I got home, I found I'd been charged twice for the soap and when I opened the tin, there were precisely one and a half tomatoes in it.

I did get a cute wooden airport for my GS, though, and their craft things are good.

It's a 40 mile round trip for me to go there so it's not high on my must-visit shop list.

Well A can be Aldi or Asda not sure which you are talking about ( I thought you meant a pound shop when you called it a cheap shop) I don’t think the amount of things in packets is any different in those shops than in other supermarkets I think all the food in general has increased in money or decreased in size with the political situation over the last year I don’t think it’s just Aldi
I like Aldi’s goods although Lidl is closer to me so they get my custom and just as good
I also buy some food in B and M if I m there for instance their Bovril jars are about £2 cheaper than any supermarkets I do know that on the few times I ve done a full shop in a different supermarket to Aldi and Lidl my bill has been nearly twice as much

I love Lidl- definitely cheaper, but you can't get everything there- choice is more limited. (I expect Aldi is similar- we just don't have one near).

It’s not wise to assume that these cut price supermarkets are always cheaper on every item. Where you can save money is because there is much less choice so less temptation to by things you don’t necessarily need. Personally I find shopping cannily at almost any supermarket is the way to go.

X-posts Leticia

Buy not by.

Not just about cheapness I think the fruit and veg in Aldi and Lidl are really good quality and I don’t know if all have the same but our Lidl has a fantastic baked on the premises bakery area

I love the freshly baked Lidl bread.
I love their selection of Christmas food.

Fruit and veg is a very reasonable price.

Has anybody else noticed that Large eggs aren't as large as they used to be?
A boiled large egg slips right down in our egg cups now instead of sitting at the top.

On the whole I’ve been disappointed when I have tried Lidl or Aldi. Fruit and veg look good but don’t keep well. The tomatoes I bought released lots of tiny black flies when the pack was opened. Add the fact I still have to go to another supermarket for things I can’t get . Not a fan apart from W5 washing up liquid, far better than the best selling brand.

Doing a very rough count as I shopped in Aldi, I expected to pay around £55 (based on approx Tesco prices) but my shopping came to £47.
Since then I've compared more accurately and there really is a big difference.
Granola 60p less. Toffypop biscuits for Dgc (but own brand is toffeeooze!) 40p less etc etc.
I like the different brands and find fruit and veg superior to Tesco.
I am definitely a convert!

I wonder that as well, oldgoat. I always thought that a large egg was supposed to weigh two ounces (hence ‘weight of eggs in flour’, etc ) and have weighed some of the ones that look a bit small (haven’t you got anything better to do, Gd??) and they are, indeed, two ounces. I don’t think it’s an exact science though ?!

We have shopped in Lidl and Aldi for a few years now and benefited from saving about £100 a month as a result. As with any supermarket there are best buys and things to avoid. Aldi fruit and veg does not have a very long shelf life compared to the big 4, but so much is SO much cheaper. My work takes me to Morrison's, Tesco's and Sainsbury's supermarkets too so I get the best of all worlds and buy my favourites from them.

Near to where I live, a fantastic new shopping combo of Aldi, M&S food shop and a Pound shop opened up recently. I often find that I have saved £s in Aldi/ the Pound shop and then treat myself to something special from M&S!

I d take those things back Ginny I ve only ever found very good fruit and veg at reasonable prices at Lidl Aldi perhaps it’s different in different towns I can only speak for mine
I bought some Asda grapes the other day as I was passing like eating vinegar although it said sweet and juicy

A large new Aldi has opened in the next road to me so could be called our corner shop. DH and I have tried 3 times to buy things in there but with only one checkout open the queue was enormous and no self checkout or baskets only. As for the good I wasn't impressed. Our neighbours often ask us in for a glass of wine which they get from Aldi, Last time it was the Prosecco - no taste at all.

I have to agree with Ginny that the fruit and veg bought in Lidl does not remain fresh for as long as that from other places.

Yes, they really are cheaper. The only issue I found is not going overboard and buying too much; particularly as the 'sell by' dates are sometimes short.

I shop at asda sainsbury and aldi. Certainly aldi is the cheapest by far, even compared with asda, generally quality is very good, ut they are smaller than the huge hyoermarkets which means sometimes i have to go eksewhere for the odd thing, but that's not too much of a problem.
I also get our walking boots and trainers at Aldi and find them comfortable and hardwearing and much cheaper than elsewhere,

Aldi have some very good wines, I have found.
Their meat is also excellent. No complaints from me.

Was just about to mention the wine ann. I got a few bottles this week. I buy fish there, had it last night, less than £3 for two decent pieces of cod.

A huge Lidl store opened about a mile away from us this time last year and we use it a lot. Yes, I agree they don't have the enormous choice that the big 4 supermarkets have, but we're lucky in that we have a Sainshury only a mile or so further on and Tesco and Asda are also within easy reach.
As for packets and tins having less in them, I think that's a practice that's been going on for years among manufacturers - reducing the size instead of increasing the price, and I doubt it's any more prevalent in Lidl/Aldi than elsewhere. Toblerone is a prime example of this!
I can't say I've found any difference in quality in their fruit and veg from that available elsewhere, and many of their bakery items are markedly cheaper.