Are there savings up north in Groceries?

alex73

Hi, Are there still savings up North. I mean after I pay 50 euros in petrol will I save that much? Friend went up and said the parking in Newry/Enniskillen was crazy a weekends.

Not interested in Alcohol. So would it pay me to go up there?

TheKBizzle

Depends what you need

Check out mysupermarket.co.uk for prices

Atlantic Dawn

You need to do your research before you go, price your groceries online from whatever supermarket you arfe going to. Main savings I see are toiletries.

91011

not that I see - and i'm up north every 3 weeks or so and haven't bothered doing any shopping there for ages.

and now with the drink price war down here, even alcohol is cheaper here.

dunnes = €15 for smirnoff, €17 for powers & €20 for hennessey & €18 for 24 pack miller/bud. Tesco are €27.50 for slab of carlsberg, guinness, bud, heineken & miller.

If you serch and stick with offers, you'll save, but the same can be done down here.

The great thing is every price can be checked on the relevant websites.

omahaid

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

You need to do your research before you go, price your groceries online from whatever supermarket you arfe going to. Main savings I see are toiletries.

Ya, I'd second that. The savings generally aren't as good anymore but if you do some research beforehand you can find some great bargains (e.g. pack of paracetamol for 9p) and buy your petrol down south

uncle cheekz

91011 wrote: »

not that I see - and i'm up north every 3 weeks or so and haven't bothered doing any shopping there for ages.

and now with the drink price war down here, even alcohol is cheaper here.

dunnes = €15 for smirnoff, €17 for powers & €20 for hennessey & €18 for 24 pack miller/bud. Tesco are €27.50 for slab of carlsberg, guinness, bud, heineken & miller.

If you serch and stick with offers, you'll save, but the same can be done down here.

The great thing is every price can be checked on the relevant websites.

Dunnes Castlebar had none of these at these prices last Saturday the 6th November! Surprising how the prices have gone up before the budget!

91011

uncle cheekz wrote: »

Dunnes Castlebar had none of these at these prices last Saturday the 6th November! Surprising how the prices have gone up before the budget!

prices quoted are from a full page advert in last Sunday's indo - so I assume it started Sunday then.

so its more a case of prices coming DOWN before a budget, but in reality its part of the annual "get them into the shop for christmas shopping" price war.
Be choosy and only buy special offers and you'll beat them at their own game!

ButtersSuki

On the North, am up there quite regularly with work and friends/family etc.

To me it's cheaper, but like anything depends on what you buy and the rate you're getting your sterling at (if you're paying cash). If you stick to the Special Offers you will save compared to down south, but I've never done a comparison on exactly like for like shop in the north v the south. Alcohol is definitely cheaper, both at full price and the offers (see my post a few weeks ago re. 3 for £10 wines and cases of 15 330ml Miller bottles for £6).

One thing I have noticed is the quality of the offer up north tends to be much better - for example, when things are price cut, the cut is deeper than in the south; when they are "Buy Two, Get One Free" in the south, the same product is often "Buy One, Get One Free" up north etc. etc. If you look for value you'll find it, but you have to look.

Cicero

Better value in wine in ROI with lots of "reduced from 15 euro - 7 euro" offers which pretty much gives you a great wine at a good price...bottles of beer are also on special offer right now if you have the money to stock up...so not really worth going to the north for that alone...

Things I find cheaper up North are Coffee, Washing powder (about 1/3 of the price), toiletries- so stocking up on dry goods like that could useful but I'd do the research before going...prices have come down in ROI so it's not totally bargain city...

the groutch

with shopping up north you've also got to put a value on your own time, eg. is it worth giving up most of your day off to save 50 quid odd?

also will it make you buy stuff that you don't really want/need?

91011

I'd love to see someone like Conor Pope or one of the people in the Consumer show to go to Sainsburys in Newry & Asda in Enniskillen and get the receipts from a random picked 20 people and then purchase the exact same items on the receipt in the South.

Then find out the exact amout charged in euro for the shopping in the northa and compare it with the same trolly of goods in the south.

I've heard people claim they've saved 50% on washing powder - but they compare it with a local mace shop to give them a feeling of more savings but forget that its on offer in their local tesco too. And then I had someone "round up" the conversion to 10% saying a £200 shop cost them €220 - they were a little shocked when I pointed out that same toys in Smyths catalog being over 10% cheaper than what she paid in Toy r us and that the conversion last Saturday was about 1.21 on her credit card.

Cicero

91011 wrote: »

I've heard people claim they've saved 50% on washing powder - but they compare it with a local mace shop to give them a feeling of more savings but forget that its on offer in their local tesco too.

How bout £4 Sainsburys Vs EUR 16 in Supervalue?:)

91011

Cicero wrote: »

How bout £4 Sainsburys Vs EUR 16 in Supervalue?:)

but you're probably comparing a special offer to a full price item - this is a false comparison as the offer won't be available the following week or a different brand is on offer in supervalue. = e.g. a few weeks ago the 54 wash persil liquid was on offer in super value for €5 - it was €13 in Dunnes and its £12 in tesco uk. (I bought 4 of them!!!:D)

But I don't shout that supervalue is less than half the price of asda as the offer would be over the next week.

Here's todays prices courtesy of tesco.ie & mysupermarket.com - tesco ire price first

Persil 1.89l €12.99 / £12.00 (€14.4)
Persil 1L €7.99 / £6.30 (€7.56)
Persil Capsules 20 wash €7.79 / £5.50 (€6.60)
Persil Tablets 24s €6.32 / £5.85 (€7.02)


That's 2 cheaper in North & 2 cheaper in south.

All prices correct as of 9am today!

RoyalMarine

i found mega savings last christmas in asda in strabane.

i was travelling home from letterkenny, so it was no extra charge on petrol.

i bought about 50 - 60 bottles of lynx shower gel. irish price 3.84 give or take. price in strabane, £1.

lynx deodorant, i bought 80 cans. irish price, 3.50 give or take. price in strabane, £1

colgate tooth paste, multi pack, irish price 4.50. price in strabane, £1.50. i bought 30 tubes.

filled the rest of the car with bottles of miller which were 15 bottles for £7.

prices are last year. as i remember making out the savings when i got home. dont think i did too bad.

groceries, i found very similiar in price, and only benefits you to buy them up there if you live close, or your going for other items like beer / toiletries.

91011

last year's prices are, well last year's! - There have been a lot of changes in pricing since on both sides.

On toiletries there are always 2 for 1 or half price offers. Only those who have brand loyalty get caught on higher prices.

daisyduck2010

Hi, does anyone know if smyths in newry are doing euro for pound??? Or if it would be worth going up to newry to do christmas shopping ?? Is there many places that take euro for pound ??

wmpdd3

RoyalMarineComm wrote: »

i found mega savings last christmas in asda in strabane.

i was travelling home from letterkenny, so it was no extra charge on petrol.

i bought about 50 - 60 bottles of lynx shower gel. irish price 3.84 give or take. price in strabane, £1.

lynx deodorant, i bought 80 cans. irish price, 3.50 give or take. price in strabane, £1

colgate tooth paste, multi pack, irish price 4.50. price in strabane, £1.50. i bought 30 tubes.

filled the rest of the car with bottles of miller which were 15 bottles for £7.

prices are last year. as i remember making out the savings when i got home. dont think i did too bad.

groceries, i found very similiar in price, and only benefits you to buy them up there if you live close, or your going for other items like beer / toiletries.[/QUOTE/

Thats a briliant price for Lynx, its more than €1.30 wholesale price per can.

diarmuid05

Had planned on heading up this weekend.... looks unlikely at this stage with the snow and all...

tempotom

asda enniskillen and Strababe are the very good value for mens toiletries. In addition to Asda you can get great value in Erneside Shopping Centre in the Semi Chem shop. I f you walk 5 mins up up to the toen centre there are great bargains in
B&M bargains and Gordons chemists.

Bean_Counter

Newry is definitely still crazy at the weekends. There's a huge new Lidl though at fiveways (beside B&Q) and a new independent Nisa Supermarket opposite this too with plenty of new parking.

Has anyone tried either of these yet?

bmarley

There are definately savings to be made by shopping in the north. I go up every few week and stock up on everything. Iceland is great value for frozen products. Asda much cheaper for toiletries. Wines 3 bottles for 10 pound definately works out cheaper than what you can get in any supermarket here.

tatabubbly

I got to college in the north so it's easy to shop there as i don't pay any extra on petrol. Boyfriends mum works in the north, gets paid sterling so i get it off her.


Any washing powder, medicines, beauty products are most definitely a hell of a lot cheaper up there. Dog food is also, but i got a special deal on my james wellbeloved south so it suits me. Clothing can be hit or miss, i find topshop, river island etc. a hell of a lot cheaper in Derry.