Shopping in Southern Ireland

pgroarke

I have a wife and 2 toddlers.
My weekly shopping bill in Dunnes in Dublin is about 120euro.
(Mainly own brand stuff)
I'm afraid I don't see the logic in spending my Saturday and 40euros on petrol travelling to Northern Ireland to save a few euros on my shopping bill.

What am I missing here ?
Are the people who are doing this shopping for scout troops ?
Or is it political - are they doing it to spite the revenue out of a few quid ?
Is there something I'm missing.

whatsupdoc?

You're wasting your time starting a ROI one, there'll still be 2 pages on it this time next month :rolleyes:

LeahBaby

I got my christmas beer up north the other day.

2 crates of bulmers and 15x 700ml bottles of smirnoff ice for €100.

2 crates of bulmers in tesco here is €112.80 15 bottles of smirnoff ice is €89.85.

Saved - 102.65.

Common sense

mike65

Shop Aldi/Lidl if you won't go north, keep coupons for the others, check the local press for special offers.

Victor McDade

mike65 wrote: »

Shop Aldi/Lidl if you won't go north, keep coupons for the others, check the local press for special offers.

This isnt bad, in Lidl at the moment, 18x284ml bottles of stella for €12

http://www.lidl.ie/ie/home.nsf/pages/c.o.wfo.p.StellaArtoisPremiumLager

mike65

Judging by the "characters" you see at 10 am in lidl with a 12 pack at the check outs, the prices must be competitive!

delly

As you have kids, I'll briefly mention some of the deals I get (roughly), and in saying this I haven't been up in a while with the current exchange rate.

SMA Progress ROI €12.85 - NI €8.50
Bonjela ROI €5.80 - NI €2.60
Calpol ROI €6 - NI €3

If you stockpile on 5 of each of the above, you've already saved about 50 bucks.

I live in Drogheda myself, so its just as easy to head up there as it is to go to the likes of Liffey Valley or Dundrum. I'm not sure what neck of the woods you live in, but €40 would be about 450kms of driving and as the M1 is motorway i'd guess it might actually cost you €20 there and back if you live in Dublin.

inforfun

pgroarke wrote: »

I have a wife and 2 toddlers.
My weekly shopping bill in Dunnes in Dublin is about 120euro.
(Mainly own brand stuff)
I'm afraid I don't see the logic in spending my Saturday and 40euros on petrol travelling to Northern Ireland to save a few euros on my shopping bill.

What am I missing here ?
Are the people who are doing this shopping for scout troops ?
Or is it political - are they doing it to spite the revenue out of a few quid ?
Is there something I'm missing.

Buy a more economic car. €40 on pretrol for Dublin - Newry v.v seems a bit much.

More serious, i dont think going up north for weekly shopping makes much sense. But once a month/every 6 weeks for the stuff that doesnt expire in 2 weeks makes sense.

You can only spend every €1 once so if going up north means you can get much more for your €1.....

totoal

savemejebas wrote: »

This isnt bad, in Lidl at the moment, 18x284ml bottles of stella for €12

http://www.lidl.ie/ie/home.nsf/pages/c.o.wfo.p.StellaArtoisPremiumLager

Tiss £6.99(~€7.85) in the north [url] http://www.lidl.ie/ie/home_ni.nsf/pages/c.o.pc.p.StellaArtoisPremiumLager[/url]

Cionád

Bulmers / Magners in Lidl

http://www.lidl.ie/ie/home_ni.nsf/pages/c.o.pc.p.MagnersCider

http://www.lidl.ie/ie/home.nsf/pages/c.o.wfo.p.BulmersCider

Also bottle of Smirnoff Vodka in NI is £8.99 == ~10 euro!

Greener

nice one! I'll be drinking Magners this Christmas!

leex

Was in Enniskillen recently. Spent 900euro - definitely saved 400euro.

Drove from Galway. Petrol cost me maybe 27euro which was cancelled out alone by the saving on one pair of shoes which I had seen the week before in Athlone for 120euro. Got the same ones in Enniskillen for 93.40euro. Ignoring the shoes, I also paid for my petrol with the savings on 5 boxes of Baby Formula. I could go on....

anotherlostie

Is this thread really appropriate for bargain alerts? So far it is mainly people proving that shopping in the North is a bargain, and we already have a thread for that.

bk

Basically you head up there every few months and stock pile non perishable goods.

You could then use lidl and aldi for your weekly shop of perishable goods.

ch750536

Ripoff Ireland eh, don't get me started.

Nursery Fees
UK = £141 Ire = €45 (Source

Child Allowance
UK =£81 Ire = €166 (Source

Council Tax
UK = £1300 Ire = €340 (bins) Source

Paye tax & NIC
UK = £11,659.40 Ire = €4,894 Source 1 Source 2

Minimum Wage
UK = £5.52 Ire = €8.65 Source 1 Source 2

Unemployment Benefit
UK = £60.50 Ire = €197.80 Source 1 Source 2

Won't be long before the wages of ireland and the excellent tax system start to bring people over the border in larger numbers for work.

People who go shopping in the north on a regular basis should be the first to give up their jobs.

Support your local economy, especially when times are bad and your local economy will support you.

End of derail.

Cionád

ch750536 wrote: »

People who go shopping in the north on a regular basis should be the first to give up their jobs.

So should anyone who regularly goes on holiday abroad. :rolleyes:

ch750536

Cionád wrote: »

So should anyone who regularly goes on holiday abroad. :rolleyes:

A bit harsh, why?

delly

ch750536 wrote: »

Ripoff Ireland eh, don't get me started.

Nursery Fees
UK = £141 Ire = €45 (Source

€45, what, per day? You only have the UK source. Here's a source that quotes a weekly cost of €173.65 in Ireland.

I didn't see you do a comparison for new car prices either, or are you only referencing the comparisons that look favourably on the Irish side?

You can pick comparisons A, B and C, but it pretty means feck all in the grand scale of things unless it directly affects you. Ethier way this thread is gone wayyyyy off-topic and probably needs to be moved or locked imho.

Cionád

ch750536 wrote: »

A bit harsh, why?

Sarcastic smiley.

ch750536

delly wrote: »

€45, what, per day? You only have the UK source. Here's a source that quotes a weekly cost of €173.65 in Ireland.

I didn't see you do a comparison for new car prices either, or are you only referencing the comparisons that look favourably on the Irish side?

You can pick comparisons A, B and C, but it pretty means feck all in the grand scale of things unless it directly affects you. Ethier way this thread is gone wayyyyy off-topic and probably needs to be moved or locked imho.

I pay €45 a week, 4 hrs a day or 75 a week 8 hrs a day for 5 days.
Friends in the UK cant afford a nursery.

Cant remember the last time I bought a car.

compared the 10 highest costs for my family, have it in a spreadsheet if you would like it.

Ireland was 15k better than the UK.

veryangryman

delly wrote: »

€45, what, per day? You only have the UK source. Here's a source that quotes a weekly cost of €173.65 in Ireland.

I didn't see you do a comparison for new car prices either, or are you only referencing the comparisons that look favourably on the Irish side?

You can pick comparisons A, B and C, but it pretty means feck all in the grand scale of things unless it directly affects you. Ethier way this thread is gone wayyyyy off-topic and probably needs to be moved or locked imho.

Who cares what the living standards are like up there? We only go up to shop and then head home to our better paid jobs. If i was living there, twud be different story, but i dont.

Yeah i know im pissing the mods off by going off topic further, but I find thuis topic interesting, so sometimes it is good to go outside the box :pac:

ch750536

Cionád wrote: »

Sarcastic smiley.

Oh, clever.

ch750536

veryangryman wrote: »

Who cares what the living standards are like up there? We only go up to shop and then head home to our better paid jobs. If i was living there, twud be different story, but i dont.

Yeah i know im pissing the mods off by going off topic further, but I find thuis topic interesting, so sometimes it is good to go outside the box :pac:

If you keep spending all your cash up there it puts the shopworkers down here out of a job.

They may spend money where you work. More likely than someone from Newry anyway.

Ruu_Old

Moved from Bargain Alerts, majority of the content of the thread isn't suitable.

delly

ch750536 wrote: »

I pay €45 a week, 4 hrs a day or 75 a week 8 hrs a day for 5 days.

Mind if I ask if this is a premises that is subjected to the HSE creche inspection reports and similarly a member of the National Children's Nurseries Association?

veryangryman

ch750536 wrote: »

If you keep spending all your cash up there it puts the shopworkers down here out of a job.

They may spend money where you work. More likely than someone from Newry anyway.

Thankfully im not a retailer, so no cash is directed this office's way, but yes I do get your point.

Lads the fact is that were all paying tax through the roof here for little or nothing. Examples include the Motor Tax that despite being a ripoff still requires us to pay tolls, Stamp Duty, CC duty etc

The whole thing would drive me to drink, but wait...what about Alcohol duty

What do we get back? Bugger all. If im going to spend money that wont be reinvested in anything of benefit to me then why not just spend less up north.

Its a competitive world and the country has got to start catching up to that notion. As far as the average Joe Public is concerned, he has got to start tightening up. If it means feeding the British Exchequer or the German (in the case of using LIDL/ALDI) then so be it.

Patriotism should not stand in the way of common sense.

Off topic again, but its Republic Of Ireland, not Southern Ireland. Hence why the country includes the most northern point of the island. But i believe there is a seperate thread on that drivel... :pac:

run_Forrest_run

does anyone actually buy beer for the taste and enjoyment or do they just whore themselves around on the latest free urine available and convince themselves they are getting a bargain?
Some very immature attitudes to drinking around here.

RiverWilde

veryangryman wrote: »

Lads the fact is that were all paying tax through the roof here for little or nothing. Examples include the Motor Tax that despite being a ripoff still requires us to pay tolls, Stamp Duty, CC duty etc

The whole thing would drive me to drink, but wait...what about Alcohol duty

What do we get back? Bugger all. If im going to spend money that wont be reinvested in anything of benefit to me then why not just spend less up north.

Its a competitive world and the country has got to start catching up to that notion. As far as the average Joe Public is concerned, he has got to start tightening up. If it means feeding the British Exchequer or the German (in the case of using LIDL/ALDI) then so be it.

Patriotism should not stand in the way of common sense.

I have to agree with the sentiments expressed here. Where I live the roads are well not exactly fantastic, there are bugger all facilities for children that do not require payment etc etc the list is quite extensive.
If I can feed my family for a whole lot less or buy a public servant a nice steak for his dinner I know what I'll do with my few quid.

This shower of eejits in office have had ten years of boom times to fix the problems in our society, from homelessness, to hospital overcrowding etc etc and they've done bugger all to solve these issues. If anything they've made them worse.

Riv

veryangryman

run_Forrest_run wrote: »

does anyone actually buy beer for the taste and enjoyment or do they just whore themselves around on the latest free urine available and convince themselves they are getting a bargain?
Some very immature attitudes to drinking around here.

Its more for the losing your inhibitions end of things i guess that gets people excited.

For guys, its the giving you the confidence to chat up anyone out of your league
For girls, its the excuse for the "I was drunk and cant remember anything" line that we've all come to know and love

Long story short, people like to escape reality, regardless of taste. Hence the popularity of Buckfast

Back to topic. Republic dear. North cheap

ch750536

delly wrote: »

Mind if I ask if this is a premises that is subjected to the HSE creche inspection reports and similarly a member of the National Children's Nurseries Association?

Not at all.

Its an excellent place that came strongly recommended. I inspected myself and made 2 visits before sending the kids.

I don't know about the inspections or reports you refer too as I feel personal inspection and reference is far better, but I an not saying they dont have them.

delly

ch750536 wrote: »

Not at all.

Its an excellent place that came strongly recommended. I inspected myself and made 2 visits before sending the kids.

I don't know about the inspections or reports you refer too as I feel personal inspection and reference is far better, but I an not saying they dont have them.

well it was more so to know if it was a purpose built premises, or somebody looking after kids in there home. The cost of running one versus the other could explain the price your getting.