Shopping in the north, worth your while?

Gal44

im heading to enniskillen soon and i want to get most of my christmas presents up there, will i save much or anything... thanks

foggy_lad

Gal44 wrote: »

im heading to enniskillen soon and i want to get most of my christmas presents up there, will i save much or anything... thanks

Leave the kids at hone and bring a van or estate car and a load of £Stg and you will save a lot. Get your money changed before you go as many of the shops can eat away at your savings with their own exchange rates.

dudara

Moved to Northern Ireland Bargain Alerts

dudara

skinny90

are the prices really so expensive that you would do all you xmas shopping in the north??also would you be the same person to blame the government for all the job losses and unemployment rates

Gal44

skinny90 wrote: »

are the prices really so expensive that you would do all you xmas shopping in the north??also would you be the same person to blame the government for all the job losses and unemployment rates

Eh no. and believe me i spend more than enough money on shopping here in the south.

but thanks a million for your very helpful answer to my question..

skinny90

i wasnt addressing it to you it was at foggy...it just annoys me to be honest.im from sligo and the amount of negitivity about job losses how sh*te and how well never recover bla bla bla.
but these same people will happily do all there shopping across the border.fair enough if certain retailers are just being plain greedy then yes shop elsewere but we have to remember there are gonna be costs involved to prices ie wage rates,tax etc

Slozer

I was in Enniskillen about a month ago. I didn't really do any shopping but anything I did buy I found it to be expensive. ie. pints were about the same price, petrol and diesel are more expensive, food was about the same.

Inflation is running high in the UK at the moment so if you shopped in the north last year you will find it more expensive this year.

Also do not get your money changed up there, they will accept euros but you will be ripped off.

gerrykiddy

Lots of things are cheaper but just now and I am delighted to say it Spirits are cheaper in the south. Tesco in Belfast 1l Jameson 25,50 sterling and in my local Tesco in Drogheda E25. Never thought I would see the day but why have we put up with it for so long.

The Assistinator

hi i be in the north a lot most things work out a bit cheaper but foodstuff tends to be slightly cheaper in south unless its the deals your after also clothes are a bit cheaper in the south aswell

RobitTV

VAT in ireland to increase, NI is back on the shopping destination's!!

TheGroove

It depends on the money your spending and on what goods.. Because you're going to be spending 40 euro minimum on petrol up and back so if you're doing a weekly shop it's not really that beneficial! But if you were spending a couple of thousand on christmas then maybe the additional costs would be a lower percentage to the total cost, thus giving you a greater saving...

TheGroove

But I mean there is a convenience aspect as well it takes a lot longer to go up the north, even with the new roads!

Ronin247

Gal44 wrote: »

im heading to enniskillen soon and i want to get most of my christmas presents up there, will i save much or anything... thanks

If I am up North I find the toiletries are waaaaaay cheaper.Go to the Asda or Tesco websites and check out the prices as some things are dearer in the north.
Electrical goods such as Kindle( £89) or digital cameras are cheaper and Asda do a load of 3 for £2 type of deals or things like 3 packets of jelly for £1.

Stores in the south have some very good deals on alcohol as previously mentioned so again.....check before you go.

Princess2011

Anyone that goes up the North shopping is a disgrace. I don't know whether it's a case of lack of intelligence or complete selfishness. If you sit for a minute and think about it, you'll realise that it's just going to come back and bite you in the ass. any money that you spend in the North is gone from our economy forever, (they're not coming back down here to spend it). People are loosing jobs, shops are closing everyday all over the country especially in counties near the border because people like you are spending your money in a different country. This means that councils aren't pulling in rates, governments aren't pulling in their revenues and therefore do not have enough money to pay PUBLIC SERVANTS wages, JOB SEEKERS ALLOWANCE, COLLEGE FEES and PENSIONS. You will be the very ones complaining bout any cuts in the budgets. Whatever cut you get is deserved! So if you're a teacher and you've just found out the teacher/pupil is increasing and you might lose your job, or if you're on the dole and it's going to be decreased by €10 on Tuesday, remember you only have yourself to blame. And a suggestion to those ignorant people-start watching Prime Time, Frontline etc.

skinny90

Princess2011 wrote: »

Anyone that goes up the North shopping is a disgrace. I don't know whether it's a case of lack of intelligence or complete selfishness. If you sit for a minute and think about it, you'll realise that it's just going to come back and bite you in the ass. any money that you spend in the North is gone from our economy forever, (they're not coming back down here to spend it). People are loosing jobs, shops are closing everyday all over the country especially in counties near the border because people like you are spending your money in a different country. This means that councils aren't pulling in rates, governments aren't pulling in their revenues and therefore do not have enough money to pay PUBLIC SERVANTS wages, JOB SEEKERS ALLOWANCE, COLLEGE FEES and PENSIONS. You will be the very ones complaining bout any cuts in the budgets. Whatever cut you get is deserved! So if you're a teacher and you've just found out the teacher/pupil is increasing and you might lose your job, or if you're on the dole and it's going to be decreased by €10 on Tuesday, remember you only have yourself to blame. And a suggestion to those ignorant people-start watching Prime Time, Frontline etc.

im sure david cameron will pay ye all nice pension
thanks for the post i thought i was the only one with brains:rolleyes: ,it is a disgrace, for a saving of sweet feck people will continue to cross the border because of the perception of getting a bargin.its sad really because as you pointed out the same people will still moan and groan about blamming the government for all our problems.

skinny90

Ronin247 wrote: »

Electrical goods such as Kindle( £89)

thats roughly 103-104 euros, its currently 109.99 in ireland!!

Justin10

If people shop around down down south I think they will notice in the long term it is dearer up the north.
Try online shopping also, can work out very cheap with discount codes and cash back sites like fatcheese.

skinny90

also if you buy gifts or electrical goods you dont want to be going up the border to get stuff sorted

amacachi

Princess2011 wrote: »

Anyone that goes up the North shopping is a disgrace. I don't know whether it's a case of lack of intelligence or complete selfishness. If you sit for a minute and think about it, you'll realise that it's just going to come back and bite you in the ass. any money that you spend in the North is gone from our economy forever, (they're not coming back down here to spend it). People are loosing jobs, shops are closing everyday all over the country especially in counties near the border because people like you are spending your money in a different country. This means that councils aren't pulling in rates, governments aren't pulling in their revenues and therefore do not have enough money to pay PUBLIC SERVANTS wages, JOB SEEKERS ALLOWANCE, COLLEGE FEES and PENSIONS. You will be the very ones complaining bout any cuts in the budgets. Whatever cut you get is deserved! So if you're a teacher and you've just found out the teacher/pupil is increasing and you might lose your job, or if you're on the dole and it's going to be decreased by €10 on Tuesday, remember you only have yourself to blame. And a suggestion to those ignorant people-start watching Prime Time, Frontline etc.

Hope you've not bought anything made outside this country.



Anyway, looks like some items in border areas are getting towards sensible prices. Dunnes/Tesco have enough offers to keep me buying drink here this Christmas rather than crossing the border. That's all they had to do!

theblueirish

If you are going xmas shopping price the things in ROI and you will know if you are getting a bargain.

I do believe most things are cheaper in the north but not everything.

Here is a good Example

Lidl ROI
http://www.lidl.ie/cps/rde/xchg/lidl_ri_ie/hs.xsl/offerdate.htm?offerdate=16001

Lidl NI
http://www.lidl-ni.co.uk/cps/rde/xchg/lidl_ni_ie/hs.xsl/offerdate.htm?offerdate=15869

As you can see the camera would work out about €1.60 more buying it in NI but the graphics tablet is almost €15 cheaper to buy in NI.

If you are going, buying groceries, spirits etc you will cover the price of fuel.

Gal44

Thanks to everyone that gave me helpful feedback to my question ( i wasn't looking for a rant on the economy etc etc i suggest you start a new thread about that if you want to discuss that...) as my original post stated i was just interested in finding out would it make a difference to my savings to shop up north. i think some items will work out cheaper some not, i guess it all depends on what your buying.

skinny90

Gal44 wrote: »

Thanks to everyone that gave me helpful feedback to my question ( i wasn't looking for a rant on the economy etc etc i suggest you start a new thread about that if you want to discuss that...) as my original post stated i was just interested in finding out would it make a difference to my savings to shop up north. i think some items will work out cheaper some not, i guess it all depends on what your buying.

No worries I wasnt ranting about what you posted it was more against the responses that u got,ie leave the kids at home and fill the car when ur up there,which gives u the perception that ul save a fortune which is complete and utter nonsense(but unfortunitly too many people are doing it)taken Mr "i got a bargin" advice,as u can see further up with the kindle example,i will say that I did get carried away but as I said before I wasnt having a go at you.if you end up going up plan what u need to get,search the net,compare and then see if its worth the hassle and petrol.

Princess2011

amacachi wrote: »

Hope you've not bought anything made outside this country.

That is such a unrealistic comment. Of course I buy stuff that isn't made in this country. Over 50% of the products in Irish shops are made in other countries. If we all went with your logic, we wouldn't be able to buy cars, tvs, bananas etc. I buy local, when I can't get an item I need I go to Dublin to get it, I don't think I've ever had to resort to sourcing things online or from another country. I'd rather spend an extra €10 that helps private and public sector people keep their jobs.

As for BlueIrish' comment, I suggest you have a look at the programme that was on TV3 the other night bout buying up north. They did the same list of shopping either side of the border and it worked out €3 more expensive down here and that wasn't even taking petrol into consideration. So that blows your argument out of the water.

For those who think I'm ranting- think of it as an education. Just think if the €400 million that was spent up North last year by Irish people was spent down here we would be facing less cuts on Tues. Hope I've been able to convince at least one person not to cross this border this year.

stimpson

Princess2011 wrote: »

That is such a unrealistic comment. Of course I buy stuff that isn't made in this country. Over 50% of the products in Irish shops are made in other countries. If we all went with your logic, we wouldn't be able to buy cars, tvs, bananas etc. I buy local, when I can't get an item I need I go to Dublin to get it, I don't think I've ever had to resort to sourcing things online or from another country. I'd rather spend an extra €10 that helps private and public sector people keep their jobs.

As for BlueIrish' comment, I suggest you have a look at the programme that was on TV3 the other night bout buying up north. They did the same list of shopping either side of the border and it worked out €3 more expensive down here and that wasn't even taking petrol into consideration. So that blows your argument out of the water.

For those who think I'm ranting- think of it as an education. Just think if the €400 million that was spent up North last year by Irish people was spent down here we would be facing less cuts on Tues. Hope I've been able to convince at least one person not to cross this border this year.

Sorry - but you're ignoring the economic realities. People need to stretch their euro as far as possible. If that means converting to Sterling and shopping in NI, then so be it - that's simple economics. We need more competitive pricing this side of the border - thats the only thing that will get people shopping at home.

While I agree you may not save much on a standard shop, anyone with half a brain won't do a standard shop. I drove to Asda in Belfast last year - €28 in diesel and tolls. I saved twice that much on buying non perishable items in bulk. 10 each of these more than makes up the saving:

Deodorant - €3 vs £1
Toothpaste - €3 vs £1
Toothbrushes €3 vs 2 for £1.50
Shower Gel €3 vs £1

Anything else was icing on the cake. I'm considering going back up again next week as I'm starting to run low on toothpaste.

Princess2011

stimpson wrote: »

Sorry - but you're ignoring the economic realities. People need to stretch their euro as far as possible. If that means converting to Sterling and shopping in NI, then so be it - that's simple economics. We need more competitive pricing this side of the border - thats the only thing that will get people shopping at home.

While I agree you may not save much on a standard shop, anyone with half a brain won't do a standard shop. I drove to Asda in Belfast last year - €28 in diesel and tolls. I saved twice that much on buying non perishable items in bulk. 10 each of these more than makes up the saving:

Deodorant - €3 vs £1
Toothpaste - €3 vs £1
Toothbrushes €3 vs 2 for £1.50
Shower Gel €3 vs £1

Anything else was icing on the cake. I'm considering going back up again next week as I'm starting to run low on toothpaste.

Are you being serious? Economic realities are that it may work out better for you in the short term but in the long term it won't. Because you spent your money up there last year, it's now effecting this years budget. It baffles me how you can't comprehend that. If everyone had that view, ireland would be in a far worse state. Thank God everyone isn't that selfish. Perhaps you should move up there and you'd be able to avail from the lower wages and benefits. Before you go this year, have a look in your local boots or pound shop. I'm sure they have just as good value minus the petrol cost.

stimpson

Princess2011 wrote: »

Are you being serious? Economic realities are that it may work out better for you in the short term but in the long term it won't. Because you spent your money up there last year, it's now effecting this years budget. It baffles me how you can't comprehend that. If everyone had that view, ireland would be in a far worse state. Thank God everyone isn't that selfish. Perhaps you should move up there and you'd be able to avail from the lower wages and benefits. Before you go this year, have a look in your local boots or pound shop. I'm sure they have just as good value minus the petrol cost.

It's this kind of thinking that causes the government to think they can slap 2% onto VAT. Last time they increased VAT by 1% the total VAT take dropped. When they dropped the VAT rate again, the total VAT rate increased. It's human nature to seek the best value for my euro.

And my local Boots charge around the €3 rate for toiletries, because they know about the law of price equilibrium. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_equilibrium As long as people are prepared to pay €3, they won't drop their prices. If people vote with their feet they will be forced to drop their prices to be competitive.

It's people like you who are feeding inflation by paying their inflated prices. More of your money is going to Boots shareholders than is going to the Revenue. I'll do whatever it takes to survive the current situation regardless of misguided appeals to patriotism from people who don't know any better.

Princess2011

stimpson wrote: »

It's this kind of thinking that causes the government to think they can slap 2% onto VAT. Last time they increased VAT by 1% the total VAT take dropped. When they dropped the VAT rate again, the total VAT rate increased. It's human nature to seek the best value for my euro.

And my local Boots charge around the €3 rate for toiletries, because they know about the law of price equilibrium. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_equilibrium As long as people are prepared to pay €3, they won't drop their prices. If people vote with their feet they will be forced to drop their prices to be competitive.

It's people like you who are feeding inflation by paying their inflated prices. More of your money is going to Boots shareholders than is going to the Revenue. I'll do whatever it takes to survive the current situation regardless of misguided appeals to patriotism from people who don't know any better.[/QUOTE

Although money is going back to Boots shareholders, they provide thousands of jobs, pay rents to property owners, pay rates to county councils, pay electricity bills which is all stimulating money in our economy. And the goverment are forced to put the vat rate up. Neither retailers nor consumers like this but if you listened to the news the other night, retailers have said they're going to absorb the vat increase so it won't hurt consumers pockets- not that it would harm you anyway if you're going up the North. And I don't appeal to anyone's patriotism or human nature, I appeal to people's common sense. And don't quote the law of price equilibrium(I did economics in college), prices have never been so low here. As I said before it's all relative, we have higher wages and benefits here. Every retailer is fighting hard for every customer including multinationals.

stimpson

Princess2011 wrote: »

Although money is going back to Boots shareholders, they provide thousands of jobs, pay rents to property owners, pay rates to county councils, pay electricity bills which is all stimulating money in our economy. And the goverment are forced to put the vat rate up.

The government are not forced to put it up. The IMF/EU said they are flexible as long as the sums add up. It's going to raise less tax. The government are fools.

Neither retailers nor consumers like this but if you listened to the news the other night, retailers have said they're going to absorb the vat increase so it won't hurt consumers pockets- not that it would harm you anyway if you're going up the North.

If you believe that then there is no hope for you. It has never happened. Prices get rounded up, not down so it has a disproportionate effect on inflation. Everyone knows that most retailers have been gouging people in the republic for years, why should things be any different this time?

And I don't appeal to anyone's patriotism or human nature, I appeal to people's common sense. And don't quote the law of price equilibrium(I did economics in college), prices have never been so low here.

Don't make me laugh. We had a couple of years of deflation mainly caused by the bursting of the housing bubble, meanwhile the cost of food, clothes and healthcare continued to rise. Price inflation is currently at 2.8% while wages are at a standstill and there was a massive tax hike last year, so in real terms things are much more expensive.

As I said before it's all relative, we have higher wages and benefits here. Every retailer is fighting hard for every customer including multinationals.

We have higher unemployment here too. One reason for that is our lack of competitiveness. Retailers will have to try a lot harder to get my euro.

Princess2011

It's like arguing with a 5 year old who can't seem to grasp any reason. You're coming up with arguments to justify yourself and focusing on trivial things without seeing the bigger picture. Good luck up the north! And good luck on tuesday- I hope your dole is cut- it's too much anyway.

stimpson

Princess2011 wrote: »

It's like arguing with a 5 year old who can't seem to grasp any reason. You're coming up with arguments to justify yourself and focusing on trivial things without seeing the bigger picture. Good luck up the north! And good luck on tuesday- I hope your dole is cut- it's too much anyway.

Sorry for using facts to back up my arguments.

Thanks for your concern, but I hold down a full time job to support my family while my wife is studying for her postgrad. I pay income tax at the top rate too.

Princess2011

Well I hear they're prob going to bring down children's allowance, prob put up post grad fees, your car tax is definately going up(I just paid mine for the full year), as well as the vat and just imagine you helped get yourself get all those cuts from shopping in the North. And when you're driving up north to spend all your money there, think what cuts are instore for you for next christmas. That's karma