Unwritten Rules of Shopping in Aldi or Lidl
There are some unwritten rules of shopping in Aldi or Lidl, read on I will try to explain them!
I’ve been shopping in Aldi and Lidl for a couple of years. In the last few months I’ve noticed just how busy it’s getting. They used to be a fairly quiet place to shop. I think it’s fabulous that so many people have now discovered the treasures that they hold. But I also chuckle to myself every time I go in the shop and see someone who has clearly never been before. New shoppers stand out by a mile!
Shopping at Aldi and Lidl is unlike any other supermarkets experience. There is an unspoken and unwritten set of rules to follow when shopping there. If you’ve never been there before it can be quite daunting at first. So long as you grasp the rules quickly you will soon be fitting in like the rest of us! The planning starts before you leave the house too so don’t just expect to turn up!
The Rules (The unwritten rules!)
1) Bags – As with all shops now you’ll need to take your own bags, while they do sell them at the till for emergencies what you really need is some nice wide bottomed hessian type bags. They are perfect for packing up everything at the end, so you can see when you get home where everything is. I did see the other day someone in there with some fab bags that clip onto the shopping trolley and sort of line it. They looked fab and perfect for shopping there. I’ll be on the look out for those. Also make sure you take more bags than you think you’ll need. Trust me you always need the extra ones! No one ever goes to Aldi or Lidl and leaves with just an item or two!
2) £1 coin or a shopping trolley token. The trolleys always need them and even though you might think you can get away with a basket for just a few items, you never leave with just a few. Once you’re inside you’ll end up wanting to buy more than a basket full! Always have your coin or token ready for the trolleys.
3) The aisles won’t look anything like you are used to, theres way less choice which is a good thing. Believe me when theres only one type of baked beans it takes seconds to pick them up. Last time I went to Tesco to buy beans there was nearly a whole aisle of them, it took me ages to make my choice.
Although all the different beans looked great you’ll waste no time picking beans in Aldi, just pick them up! Although there are some branded goods most of the brands are their own and having tried most of them you probably won’t notice any difference between your usual brand and the Aldi or Lidl one. So just take a punt and try them, your purse will thank you!
4) The middle of the store is usually reserved for a variety of household goods stored in metal cage type storage bins which change on a regular basis. Each week new things are added. Try not to block the aisle hanging around the items though! If you want to know the price of something just look up, its usually there somewhere!
5) Wine – Don’t overlook it, you may be in a budget supermarket however both Aldi and Lidl sell some really great award winning wines. At great prices, the prosecco is fabulous! They usually have descriptions up as well as any awards, have a good look at them all. This is one of my favourite unwritten rules!
6) Checkouts – If you have a trolley full of shopping go against your instincts and pick the longest queue! Why you might ask? Well you need as much time as possible to remove all your shopping from the trolley and put it onto the belt before the cashier starts putting it through the till. If you spot someone with just a few items always ask if they want to go before you. Not only will they be grateful for getting through quicker but it buys you more time to get all the shopping on the belt.
7) Once all the shopping is loaded onto the belt get ready to whizz your trolley round to the other side of the cashier. There is no space to pack your bags there. I will say this only once…..
DO NOT TRY TO PACK YOUR BAGS AT THE TILL!
As soon as the item is scanned get it in the trolley. The lovely workers of Aldi and Lidl are the fastest scanners I know. The shopping will be coming towards you in a blur. If you get behind with putting things back in the trolley just do the one arm sweeper movement to get the shopping in the trolley, so long as there’s no eggs already scanned through you’ll probably be ok! If you want the shopping in any order in the trolley then you have to plan ahead and put it on the belt in that order. Don’t try to do it as its coming at you at 90mph through the till!
8) Once you’ve paid your bill (and got over how much you’ve saved!) quickly move away from the till to the packing bench. If its full and it tends to get like that at the weekend then just wait for a spot. Get your bags out and start to pack up, replacing the bags in the trolley as room is made for them. Once you’re packed you’re pretty much done. On the way out pick up a leaflet for next weeks special offers, it’ll save you time looking next week and stop you looking like a newbie!
If you have any more tips to add please do let me know!
February is almost at a close (how did it happen so quickly?) and I seem to have run out of time to get a whole family shot. So that’s my first learning point. So this months ‘Me and Mine’ is going to be made of lots of photos of us as a family.
This month there has been lots going on for such a short month. I’ve never been keen on February. I guess maybe as its seems as far away from Christmas as you can get. January doesn’t count because it still seems part of it and it’s still fresh in our minds.
This month Flixster went to his first birthday party. A little boy that we know from breastfeeding group was turning one and invited a few of us along to a baby sensory circus themed party. It was lots of fun!
The boys have been growing together and are playing with each other more and more, which is lovely to see.
Flixster and I had a private consultation with a sling specialist to learn how to use the wrap for back carries. It was money very well spent as I now know how to safely put him up on my back.
We spent a lovely sunny Sunday in Lytham with my mum and dad which I wrote about in a previous post.
And I captured this shot of myself with the boys, we weren’t dressed up but we were having lovely cuddles.
{February 2015)
Mummy is currently enjoying:
Watching the new series of ‘House of Cards’
The view from the kitchen window now the front garden is complete
Looking forward to our Center Parcs trip
Daddy is currently enjoying:
Reading ‘Gone Girl’
Trying different teas from around the world
Playing ‘Halo – Master Chief Collection’ on Xbox
The boy is currently enjoying:
Watching ‘Twirlywoos’ on Cbeebies
Reading Biff, Chip and Kipper Books
Playing jigsaws – he did a 35 piece one all by himself
Flixster is currently enjoying:
Trying lots more foods
His first swimming lesson
Still trying to crawl – almost there!
Before I had children people would tell me that the tiredness is hard, the hardest thing of all. I thought I’d be fine. I thought it would just be similar to normal tiredness but a little worse, nothing a coffee wouldn’t sort out.
Boy was I wrong!
When the boy was a baby I didn’t cope with the tiredness well. I got snappy and short-tempered very easily. I resented having to get up to feed him. I hated it. The boy started sleeping through the night, and just to be clear by that I mean sleeping from 7pm until the morning (anytime after 5am) when he was 7/8 months. I couldn’t have been more thankful when it started to happen. Since then though he’s been a great sleeper. It’s rare for him to wake in the night.
This time around with Flixster I was much better prepared for the tiredness, I knew I’d be doing night feeds for a while. I secretly hoped he’d be a great sleeper from the off. It would have been amazing if he’d have slept through the night from the early weeks, but I know that frequent waking is natural and a protective factor against SIDS. This time though I’ve done things differently, and even though he is still feeding lots of in the night at 10 months I don’t feel as tired.
With Flixster I bed share to try to keep the night feeds simple and easy, something I didn’t do with the boy. I have always followed the safe bed sharing guidelines:
I do breastfeed
I never bed share if I’ve been drinking
I don’t take any drugs or medication so that rule is always followed (Don’t bed share if you do or have)
I don’t smoke
I keep pillows out-of-the-way and avoid blankets (Flixster kicks them off anyway!)
We have a firm mattress with no mattress topper or pillow top
Flixster wasn’t a small baby or pre-term
If I didn’t bedshare I don’t think I’d be the same mummy. We are trying very gently to encourage him to sleep in his cot. Each night sometime between 6pm and 7pm we get him ready for bed with his brother, give him one final feed and then put him down to sleep. It’s taken weeks and weeks of practise to get to the point where he doesn’t cry when we put him in the cot. We’ve been consistent in the approach so that he knows what to expect. We have never let him cry alone in the dark or cry in his cot. If you’d have asked me a fair few weeks ago I wouldn’t have been convinced we’d have even go to this point. However he does at the moment go down well in his cot a bedtime. Just a few months ago he would wake up every 30-45 minutes all evening and we’d forever be going up and down the stairs to try to re-settle him. So I know we’ve moved forward from that. Now he wakes anywhere between 8:30 and 2am for the first night feed. He’s only once gone through to 2am it’s by no means a regular thing (sadly!) So at his first wake up I take him into our bed for the night. I lie on my side to breastfeed him and he usually feeds and goes back to sleep. Sometimes he kicks around for a while not wanting to go back to sleep.I usually drift off too if and when he does.
He then wakes a few more times in the night and each time I feed him. For us its the easiest option. Mainly so I get the most amount of sleep possible. I never look at the time when he wakes, I never count the feeds. I think if I looked at the time I’d be calculating how much sleep I wasn’t getting and that would upset me. Instead I cope by just doing whats easy and gets us through. I know he won’t feed in the night forever. Of course I would rather get lots of sleep and not be interrupted, but I know for now it’s what he needs.
I have friends who finished night feeds within the first 10 weeks, other friends who still have toddlers of 3/4 years old waking in the night. There is no wrong or right age to ‘sleep through’.
How do you cope with night feeds? I’d love to hear about your experiences.
I’ve mentioned this before but we’d love to move home. We are already very lucky to live in a nice home, but it’s a home we bought when there was just the two of us and now there’s four! We never imagined when we bought our first house together that we’d have our children here. We both thought that this house would be a starter home and that we’d be moving on before children but with the economy the way it has been the chance to move has never presented itself.
However fast forward 9 years and we would love to move soon.
Our current house was a new build property and we have looked after it. We’ve recently been looking around at other new builds and today I think we may have seen the perfect place. Currently the sales office isn’t even open at the houses so we are watching and waiting, hoping to get in early when it does. I just hope that we’ll have enough deposit for a new place, but if we don’t then we’ll look for something else and accept that it wasn’t meant to be on this occasion and where ever we end up will be the path the universe wanted us to take.
If and when we do move I’ll be sad to say goodbye to the house that has given us so much. We got married here (well not married but we left one day as two people and returned the next day as a married couple). I laboured for most of my first birth at home as I wanted a home birth but it wasn’t meant to be. Flixster was born in our living room and that means that the house will always be special, this address is on his birth certificate as his place of birth. He will carry that with him for the rest of his life.
We’ve had many happy memories here, too many to mention but they are just that, memories. Memories to look back on and smile. As we look to the future though, I’m thinking and dreaming of all the memories we are yet to make as a family, and no matter where we live as long as we have each other we’ll be happy.
I know we’re already in February but I do feel like 2015 holds lots of promise for us as a family, I feel excited and happy to be looking forward to the future. We really hope to move house in the next few years too, so that certainly will be a big change. In order to move though we need to do a few odd jobs around the house first as well as a big de clutter. De cluttering is something I love doing but never seem to nail it. Even when I spend ages doing it, a mere few weeks later the house is always a mess again. So this time around I needed a different approach and as if by magic the solution may have presented itself. I was browsing around Amazon as you do and up popped a book suggestion that intrigued me. The title was “The Life Changing Magic of Tidying” by Marie Kondo.
I was interested immediately, how could tidying up be life changing? I’ve always been a tidy person. I love nothing more than coming home to a tidy house, I love the feeling of looking around and everywhere being clean and tidy with all my things in the places they should be! So I clicked on the book and headed straight to the reviews, somewhere I always looks before I buy things. Four and a half stars from over 200reviews, this looked promising! Without further ado I purchased it (in kindle form obviously as I didn’t need more clutter in my life!) and read it pretty quickly over a weekend. It’s not that long and an easy read. It’s main theme being that all the things you own in life should bring you joy, if they don’t then you don’t need them! It deals with how to get rid of things that you feel guilty about getting rid of. For example presents from loved ones that you don’t actually like! There are a few far out principles in the book, but on the whole I really enjoyed it and couldn’t wait to get started applying the principles. The book suggests that although the the process can happen quickly it would take an average of six months to complete a whole house, this timescale did surprise me but it didn’t put too much pressure on either. Within a few days I had already got rid of two bin bags of clothes (that’s just mine!) and a big box of other items. Things I’d held on to for years but that actually brought me no joy, things that I thought one day I may use but who knows when that day will come.
The book also describes how to fold you clothes in your draws, I had to read the description a couple of times to try and get the hang of it. I also went to youtube to try and find some info videos. There are a couple but I thought perhaps that I may also be able to do one now that I’ve got eh hang of folding. I didn’t take a picture of the draws before (something I should have done!) But heres a picture of how mine and hubbies draws look now that I’ve finished folding them.
I’ve also made a start in the boys room too, it already brings me pleasure to look inside and see exactly what we can choose from.
Back to the book, is it life changing? I’ve yet to be able to comment on that as I haven’t finished the process. The author describes the exact way you should go about tackling your house starting with your clothes as they are the easiest thing to part with. Followed by books. I can’t remember the exact order of the rest but I’ll refer back to it when I need to. I know that sentimental things such as photographs were last on the list. I’m still working my way through clothes. I’m due to tackle the underwear any day now and I know there will be lots of bras to get rid of. Whats the point in keeping the ones that are too big or too small? I do feel that the progress I have made though has been great and I get great pleasure from going into the bedroom and it felling a whole lot less cluttered already.
If you’d have asked me if I thought I’d be reading books in my 30’s about tidying up I’d have laughed a lot but here I am doing it and acting on its principles!
I will be going back to amazon to review the book as I think it’s always good to put your own review on if you rely yourself on reviews and I’d be giving it 5 stars and would recommend it if you seem to never be able to part with things or your life feels cluttered. I do want to mention also that I have no association with the author and I haven’t been paid to write about the book. I paid for my own copy after just coming across it, but I’m glad it found me and hopefully it really will be life changing!
As a family we are currently counting down the days to our much anticipated trip to Center Parcs. I can’t wait to spend precious time with my family and especially my husband as we rarely seem to get quality time together. The time we do have is spent tidying up or passing each other on the way to the gym or work. I’m really hoping that this trip will give us the break we need and time to reconnect.
We’ve had this trip booked for quite a long time, it was first booked for last April before we knew that Flixster was growing inside me so having realised the trip would coincide with his due date we had to rearrange. For a small admin fee thankfully it was no trouble so that put my mind at rest. So fast forward another year and we are now just weeks away from going.
Travelling with a young family is daunting, just the sheer amount of things I will need to take for only a few days seems like a mammoth effort! I’m thinking of doing a blog post just listing the things I need to take as a helpful guide to other families who may be travelling with small people for the first time. Now that Flixster is on complimentary food as well as breastmilk the list just gets longer!
I have been to Center Parcs before and so know roughly what to expect from our break, but of course having to small people in tow changes the focus of the holiday. Before my first visit to Center Parcs about 7 years ago I wasn’t sure if it would be for me but having been a few times now I can say that it most defiantly is. It’s a place for everyone. No matter what kind of group you are travelling in, all adults or adults and children you will be able to find something to do.
This trip we are taking my mum and dad too which will be nice. I am desperately hoping that I will be able to have some time away from my beautiful babies with my mum. I hope that we will be able to visit the spa and perhaps have a treatment there. Something which at the moment seems impossible! I’d love to spend some time with my mum as although I see her on an almost weekly basis she lives about an hour from me so going out in the evening together is pretty impossible even if I didn’t have the Flixster permanently stuck to me! Plus when I do see her we always have both the boy and Flixster so holding any kind of adult conversation is tricky as anyone who has a chatty preschooler will know all too well! I’m also hoping that perhaps one night the hubster and I can get out together to perhaps have a meal or just go for a swim. I’d love to get him in the spa but I’m not too sure if he’ll be up for that?!
I hope to that I can write a few blog post about our experience at Center Parcs so that anyone who has not been will be able to see why so many people rave about the place, and why when you have a young family it can be a great short break destination.
For this trip we are visiting the Whinfell situated in the Lake district, it’s about 90 minutes to 2 hours drive from us with no stops so I’m going to allow at least half a day for travel with frequent toilet and food stops!
So let the endless list making begin and the countdown start, Center Parcs here we come!
I’ve been officially back in work for three weeks now although it’s not so bad as I’m using my annual leave spread out meaning I’m only actually doing one day week. I decided to go back earlier than planned as I was getting a little bored at home. I’ve never been one to just sit around doing nothing and being on maternity pay meant that I didn’t have any spare cash to just go for coffees or meet friends for lunch. I love my boys to the moon and back but I’m also cut out to be mummy 24/7 I felt like I needed a little bit of space back, being in work has given me that. I have a lot of respect for mummies that stay at home all the time either though choice or circumstances. Being in work, gives me time to use my brain again and feel a bit more needed and that I’m actually helping. It also gives me a chance to have some adult conversation and selfishly a chance once a week to drink a cup of tea with two hands which is still hot while typing away! Of course it’s hard to think of my boys being in someone else’s care all day and especially for Flixster as he’s my little velcro baby and always by my side, but I’m blessed to have places for them at a nursery I really like. Their nursery is in a large old cottage and is still lived in by the owners, so it very much feels like a home away from home. The preschool room often have their evening stories read to them in the living room of the house which is nice. To me having that time away is also important to keep me sane too.
Having returned to work much earlier this time though than I did with the boy I am breastfeeding more through the day so I’ve had to think about how I manage that. There is no way I’m stopping feeding him myself so in order to maintain my supply and make myself comfortable I take my breast pump to work. The maternity policy at my place of work mentions breastfeeding upon returning to work and the workplace manager taking this into account.
There is a really good information guide on the maternity action website about breastfeeding and returning to work which can be found here.
Before my return I informed my manager that I wanted to continue feeding and so would wish to pump milk a couple of times in the day. Thankfully my work had no problem with this at all. I can imagine that in some situations it may be difficult to ask work or mummies may feel embarrassed to even ask. I hope that’s not the case but I know speaking to a few mums at the breastfeeding group I volunteer at it can be, especially in situations where it may be difficult to find time to use a pump.
So once I’d got my head around pumping at work I needed to make sure I was organised. In the weeks leading up to returning to work I tried to take more notice of how often Flixster was feeding during the day. As he is in the process of complimentary feeding his milk feeds have dipped slightly. I always try to offer a feed before his meals but it depends on the situation as it was not always possible. He was however and still is feeding quite a lot throughout the night, which would remain unchanged as I’m still be there for him at night times.
So on his first day at nursery I sent in 3 bags of 4oz of my milk, when I picked him up, the nursery reported he’d drank just two lots of 1oz, the rest I presume was wasted ( I try not to dwell on all the lovely liquid gold going down the sink!) Unfortunately the whole day at work for me was spent with a painful blocked duct on one side, this was not due to Flixster being away as it had started the day before. I pumped a few times during the day after massaging the area quite heavily but nothing would work to clear it. Within 5 minutes of his first feed back on the breast it was almost eased completely. I was in awe once again at the power of a breastfeeding baby, after trying all day to clear it, it only took one feed! During the day at work I carefully placed my milk in the fridge to take home and freeze for the next week at nursery. The next two weeks at work I only had time to pump during the day which felt enough as I didn’t feel full and I was busy getting on with work. I was able to give lots of cuddles and feeds when I got home.
I think I’ve found a good compromise for now, I get to ease myself back into work while still being able to give breast milk to Flixster when he’s not with me!
Well that’s it’s now the application is in for my baby to go to school.
In the end I went with my heart rather than my head. The school we’ve applied for as our number 1 choice doesn’t have the best ofsted in our area but it does have a warm friendly atmosphere when you walk into the building. The staff seem genuinely friendly and welcoming and most importantly the children seem happy. I’ve been round the school a couple of times and both times the older year 6 children have been doing the tours rather than an adult which has been nice because you know you can ask them questions and get truthful answers. The school I thought may have been our number one choice there was no chance to ask the children what they thought. The open evening was mainly based in the hall with a group of the senior staff talking about how great the school was. I’m sure that’s true but I want to see the reality of everyday school life.
The school I have chosen as our number one choice is also our nearest by disgrace which is handy as I picture myself (on the days I’m not at work) walking to and from school for drop off and pick ups rather than having to use the car. I’m also helping the distance will help with getting a place.
In our area (I’m not sure if the same applies everywhere) you have to rank three schools in order of preference, you can choose less than three but three is the maximum. I have chosen three that I would be happy for the boy to attend, with my favourite being number 1 on the list. I now have to sit back and wait until April 16th before I know the outcome. I was talking to a friend the other day who said the results of the application tend to go on just after midnight so it looks like I won’t be getting any sleep that night!
When I thought about having children I didn’t think ahead to school time, I guess I never pictured them beyond babyhood really. It’s seems strange to think that I’ll be that mum on Facebook this year putting on school uniform pictures. I’ll be that mum walking him to school for the first time and walking away from the gate without him. Being an August baby he just seems so little still. Only just 4 when he goes thorough those gates for the first time in September. I hope he copes ok with the transition to school. He does go to nursery 3 days a week so he’s used to an environment filled with other peers. Lately however he’s started not wanting to go each morning. I hope this doesn’t carry through to school. I think he’ll cope ok with the day itself as it’s shorter than nursery. We gave up his afternoon nap almost a year ago so I also think he’ll be ok concentrating during the day. Although he often has a post lunch slump it’s never more than 10 minutes or so and its more than likely the food rather than his need for a nap. He truly is full of energy he really is.
So let the waiting begin, everything is out of my control right now, I just have to wait…..