The Urban75 Thrift Thread

[Wolveryeti]

Stay away from Lidl, Netto and Aldi if you can afford to - IMHO the influx of better off people only encourages those shops to put the prices up.

I seriously doubt Lidl Audi or Netto conduct exit polls of people who use their stores to see how well-off they are.

Their business plan is 'pile-em high, sell 'em cheap' - so I don't really reckon they care about who buys what as long as they shift enough. The location of their stores (mostly in poorer neighbourhoods) stops them from being able to up their prices by too much anyway.

 

[Wolveryeti]

My top tip is sauces. Staples will fill you up but are very boring Bust your ass one evening doing a really nice tomato sauce from fresh stuff you've got at the market. Store this in the fridge and it will spice up anything - potatoes, rice, pasta.

Lidl are great, especially for tinned stuff, booze, dairy stuff and some frozen. Shopping at your local market is always lots cheaper than the big 3 supermarkets, although you have to be a bit sensible about how much you are actually going to eat. My classic mistake is buying too much, and ending up with a fridge full of rotting crap.

 

[Pip]

My classic mistake is buying too much, and ending up with a fridge full of rotting crap.

Yeah, I do this all the fucking time. I think somewhere deep down I think there'll be food shortages
I also buy ready meals because they've been reduced (usually by about 8p ) when normally I wouldn't touch them with a shitty stick.
I'm getting better though.

 

[Gromit]

Top money saving tip:

Order your supermarket good via online delivery.

You find that you order a lot less of the unnecessary stuff you tend to pick up in store.

Lidl's is a top store, i care not about price but the fact many of their copies are better than the brands themselves. Their jaffa cakes are better than McVittees for example (which ceased tasting orangey years ago).

Their turkey joints are good value if you wrap one with some streaky bacon to put the moisture back into the meat.

 

[Hocus Eye.]

There isn't a Lidl near me, but I notice when I visit my mother who does have a Lidl within walking distance, that picking up a few items that that I would buy in Sainsbury's and getting to the till is a very rewarding and surprising experience.

I hope that Lidl doesn't destroy the market stalls and independent butchers, bakers and candlestick makers though. The race to the bottom on prices is not always best for the consumer in the long run when the big corporations can make their savings by bulk purchase and bullying their smaller suppliers.

American business practice which is beginning to influence European management style at the moment is to go for market share in the short term. In the long term, having wiped out the opposition, perhaps by accepting temporary profit cuts or even subsidising losses, they take over the majority or whole market in their product.

Starbucks step forward and accept the award.

 

[Greebo]

Given that the nearest independant greengrocer, butcher, and bakers are in Herne Hill and charge Herne Hill high prices, they never had my regular custom to start with. Even allowing for the extra bus fare to get to Tesco, Iceland, or Lidl, it's still cheaper than going to those so-called local shops. As for the market, don't get me wrong, IMHO Brixton market's okay for some things, but the fruit & veg is a bit hit & miss on quality.

 

[Maggot]

Stay away from Lidl, Netto and Aldi if you can afford to - IMHO the influx of better off people only encourages those shops to put the prices up.

What a load of bollocks. As DDD said, they have no way of telling how well off their customers are. If they put their prices up then people will go elsewhere.

 

[kalidarkone]

My mother has just presented me with 'Make Do and Mend' to go with 'Eat for Victory', which are modern compilations of advice leaflets given out during WWII.

Theres some brilliant ones in 'Make Do and Mend'. My wife is looking forward to making some slippers out of carpet as her ones have flapping soles. I am also interested in the tips for letting out kids clothes, as we have a babber on the way.


Funky Monks - Skinflinting for Britain.

Baby clothes are really cheap and easy to get from charity shops or freecycle!

 

[kalidarkone]

My top tip is to scrap stuff as the price of scrap is quite high at the moment- I scrapped my fiesta the other day (failed mot) and I got £110 for it which is great as it only cos t£200 and my new car also only cost £200