Aldi and Lidl are popular budget supermarkets but with the addition of their middle aisles, a little trip for essentials to either usually results in spending more than you planned to.
The middle aisle is home to weird and wonderful items – some you never knew you needed.
So it’s no surprise that while popping in for ‘a few bits’, you can leave the supermarkets with a random assortment of things, including inflatable kayaks, paddleboards, power tools and more.
Users on Reddit have shared some of the items they and their family members have walked out with, having only mean to buy bits for the fridge.
Random items Aldi and Lidl shoppers have bought from the middle aisles
The thread began with one user asking: “What’s your worst example of ” Just popped into Aldi for one item and left with half the middle aisle”?”
They added that they might have “left my brain at the door”: “I know it’s a cliche, but I once went into Aldi just to buy some drinks, during a work day and left having spent £119.
“Being a bloke, I was perusing the tools in the middle aisle. I left with an angle grinder a drill, a multi tool and a sander, then of course I had to buy batteries and a charger. Then randomly, I bought a bedspread. I think I left my brain at the door.
“What’s your worst example of not intending to, but getting carried away with the Aldi, or even Lidl, middle aisle?”
In reply to the question, one Reddit user said: “I went to Lidl to buy some pastries and ended up buying a stand-up paddle board. Then I bought another. And another. Total cost about £600 (plus the pastries).”
They added that the purchase is “glorious and some of the best money I’ve ever spent.”
Another shared the time their mother couldn’t resist buying something unnecessary: “My mum did the classic thing of going to her local Lidl for “a few bits” and coming back with a 2-man inflatable kayak. She has never previously been in a kayak and does not live near an obviously navigable body of water. But it was on offer, and she cannot resist a bargain.”
One also said: “My mum bought a full set of men’s motorbike leathers, she’s single, never ridden and always opposed the very concept of motorbikes, but BARGAIN”.
This person described Aldi’s middle aisle as a “trap”: “Got a similar story. Went for milk and bread, ended up with a pressure washer, garden gnome, and three types of cheese. Aldi middle aisle is basically a trap designed to empty wallets.”
The discussion continued with one shopper commenting: ““Went to Lidl and came out with a Karcher jet wash for something like £165
“I proceeded to enjoy jetwashing the driveway to an unreasonable degree.”
Another surprising purchase was a TV with one Reddit user saying: “My late Father in Law went to Aldi for a tin of custard and came back with a large (for the time) TV”.
One user said they bought a range of tools, despite not being a keen DIYer: “Last time i went in to lidl to get a dessert just before new year. Came out with
-
high temperature spray paint,
-
aluminium zinc spray paint,
-
combination pliers,
-
long nose pliers,
-
extra long pliers,
-
two types of super glue,
-
heat shrink,
-
grey workwear hoodie,
-
blue workwear trousers
-
cordless screwdriver (with detachable head that swaps for a cardboard cutter).
“I do very little DIY”.
Someone else said: “I was in the queue for the checkout and the woman in front of me suddenly abandoned her trolley and ran back into the aisles, like she had forgotten to grab something important on her way round. She came back dragging a flat packed trampoline!”
Another person bought a trampoline when they didn’t expect to: “Went for bread, came home with a trampoline.”
A person replied in an attempt to jokily defend the purchase: “I think I could jump and eat bread at the same time.”
Others defended their wacky purchases with one saying: “I brought a petrol brush cutter and strimmer, cause why wouldn’t you with the weekly shop?
How to save money
“It was the absolute best purchase ever. It lasted about 10 years and everything I’ve bought since has been absolutely s***.”
Another commented: “Went it for milk, came out with two metal shelving units, and a multi-layered pizza tray. TBF the shelves are superb, went in the old garage perfectly & now fit the shed.”
Recommended reading:
One person joked: “Could I suggest you never go to Costco?”
Others disagreed that the unnecessary purchases were actually bargains, arguing: “All the customers I see buy shite like that think they’re getting a bargain.
“Do you need it? No? Then it’s not a bargain.”
What middle aisle item did you buy at Aldi or Lidl without planning to? Let us know in the comments.