I shopped at Aldi for the first time today! With the economy the way it's going and not looking too promising in the near future, I've decided I need to make sure we are cutting excessive costs and using our resources in the best possible way. I have a friend that shops at Aldi all the time and she's been encouraging me to try it...so, today I did. My husband is used to name-brand products, so I thought it might be a bit hard, but we're going to try.
Here are some things I learned while shopping at Aldi:
1. Milk was the best savings: $1.99 a gallon!!
2. There are not very many choices -- maybe 2 types of chips, ~4 different cereals, 1 brand of pasta salad, 2 choices of cheese slices, etc. At first I was a bit nervous about the limited choices, but it really made shopping easier and less time consuming.
3. Aldi actually has more than I expected: cereal (some name-brands), fruit snacks, granola bars, baking supplies, hams, turkeys, lunch meat, cheese, yogurt, frozen breakfast items, canned goods, fresh produce, holiday toys and even some clothes! I wasn't expecting to find so much!
4. They only take cash or debit cards. Today was the first day I used my debit card -- it took me three tries to get my PIN number correct!!
5. You bag your own groceries and pay a quarter for your shopping cart (that you get back when you return it to the store), so my canvass bags from Dominick's came in handy!
6. The only disappointment I had was that the money savings wasn't as much as I was hoping it to be...you see, I'm a very frugal shopper as it is and I shop sales at the 'big box' stores. I don't necessarily look at the ads every week and make my list and go from store to store, but when I need milk and eggs and I go to the 'big box' store, I look around at the sale items and if it's something we usually use/eat, I will stock up if it's a good sale, even if we don't need the item. So, the prices at Aldi were actually similar, if not the same, as the sales at the bigger stores.
I do think I'll try it again, my fear though is that I've heard that every week it's different items in stock than the week before. So, if I go expecting to find something, I might be a bit disappointed. We'll see. It's definitely worth trying....even if it's saving $10 a month - that's enough for me!
8 comments:
Oooh I think after 3 incorrect tries your debit card would have locked. That happened to me once.
I've been going back to Aldi as well. I've noticed a big difference in our budget. I'm trying more of their brands (their spaghetti sauce isn't bad). I also am ordering most of my meats from Jacob's school market day. Great quality food at a great price!
I've been shopping at ALDI for a long time now, and I definitely see the savings (and less impulse buying!). Ours has a LOT more cereal & cheese options, so you should come here to shop! :)
I think I know who this "friend" is. I think their third child will be named Aldi.
BTW, aldi has jalepeno cheese filled frozen hamburgers. I would advise against these.
Tyler, I'm sure you know who the friend is...she's an Aldi pro!
I don't think those burgers even sounds tasty...a bit scary to me!
I went to Aldi a while back and had no idea you had to pay for a cart. I was so overwhelmed by the whole thing that I had to leave without buying anything. At least I know for the future. I keep saying I need to go back there, but never do. I usually just shop at WalMart now for the convenience of it.
I have been using Aldi for years. I find that having only 1 or 2 choices is fabulous. I know that I can be in and out of the store, with enough groceries for a week, for about $60 for a family of 5, in under 45 minutes.
The only down-side is the staffing. They usually have 3-4 people total working in the store doing everything from cleaning and stocking to cashier. So the lines can be long if you get there as work is letting out.
I just shopped at our Aldi's this past week....went in with a short list (5 items) and came out $80 down! You can be an impulse shopper WHEREVER you shop!!!
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