If you have spent more than a few moments in Cathays thinking about cooking your dinner in an IKEA student starter pack frying pan, you know that the Lidl on Maindy Road (the one closest to the ASSL, the Woodville, and Cathays) is a hellhole. You only needed a can of tomatoes but they're out. Students have flooded the aisles. It will take you a few hours versus a few minutes to get everything you need and get out. The Lidl bag; be yours to hold it high.
Yet there is a better way, and that is, unfortunately, scheduling. You go on a day (not Wednesday), around noon or 1pm, and no student will be there. If you go on a Thursday before noon, you'll be the only student soul in that Lidl. If you go on a Saturday before noon, you'll be the only soul in that Lidl. When others are having hangovers, you can get the ingredients to that pavlova that you swore you would finally make.
You have to think — students make up a gigantic amount of Cardiff's population, so plan around their chaotic sleep schedules and their desperate need for pesto pasta and ready meals? You'll be able to waltz right into Lidl, pick up exactly what you need, and be out in less than ten minutes. No longer will a cheeky trip to Lidl eat into your evening “study” time.