Tescos profits are down again

Can honestly say I'm an Aldi convert, I think many people who like me avoided shops like Aldi and Liddle either through snobbery or the stigma of being seen walking out of a poor mans shop. Only when I started to read readers comments in the daily mail about some of the quality of the products did I eventually enter Aldi's. Fresh fruit and veg, fresh meat usually at around half the price of the main supermarkets, the Aldi's I go to is generally packed, 4 years ago it was just a few people inside. It's not just about the cost or the quality of the products it's the customer service as well. I think many people have caught on to the scam of buy 2 and get 1 free and the club card points. Getting 100 points for spending £100 only to have to spend them points in the same shop. 

We're guilty of being lazy shoppers, and tend to do the weekly shop at Tescos.

But the missus went in Aldi's recently for the first time, mainly as Barney says from reviews and friends comments, after refusing to darken their cheap and tat door, as was genuinely surprised.

She said the fruit and veg looked very good, and things like a big jar of Nescafe Gold were a fiver compared to about £8 in Tescos. Also the alcohol was a lot cheaper apparently  So the plan now is to start getting some of the stuff from Aldi and start shopping a bit smarter.

At this rate, we may even consider stepping over the threshold of a pound shop  Obviously we'll take our Marks and Sparks carrier bags with us...

Tesco points wise, since they started the fuel promotion last month, I've been saving nearly £14 off a full tank of diesel which is pretty good, plus we also tend to convert them into tickets for family days out which tends to be better value than using as straight points.

But certainly pays to shop smarter, especially with the current price wars going on between the supermarkets.

I loved this article from the BBC, and the headline summed it up:

"Tesco is like a juggernaut with a puncture and a worrying rattle in the engine. It's still a pretty big lorry of course - let's not forget that it made £3.3bn of profits last year (admittedly down 6%) and still accounts for 29% of all supermarket trade in the UK (down from over 30%)."

www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-27693501

Anyone got any spanners?