ALDI's for Newbies

[Laura33]

So, thanks to the inspiration provided by this forum, I decided to try the ALDI's that recently opened up a few miles away and figured I'd do a quick good/bad/ugly review for those like me who are new to this place.  Primary caveat: the store is fairly small, so I can't say whether this is representative of all of them, or just mine.

The good:  The prices.  OMG.  I just got most of a week's shopping done for a family of 4 for under $70 (see attached receipt).  And that was plenty spendy -- I had DD with me and said yes to a number of treats (smoothie, box mac and cheese, tortellini); plus DH is doing low-carb, so there is a ton of meat in here.  29 cents for cucumbers?  19 cents for plantains?  WOW.  The receipt doesn't even tell half the story -- that $4.24 of chicken thighs was at 99 cents, and the breasts were $1.49; the braunschweiger for DH is half the price and 2-3 times the size of the stuff we normally get at Wegmans.  I can't remember the last time $70 worth of groceries filled my countertops.  If I were super-Mustachian, this would be my go-to grocery store, no question.

The bad:

You need to know the rules.  E.g., I didn't realize the carts required a 25 cent deposit and offered to take one off the hands of a guy who had finished offloading his groceries without realizing I was stiffing him.  And there are no bags (which made the trunk of my car look like the "after" shot from a car chase through a farmer's market).  Obviously, once you know the rules, you can plan, and you will be fine.

Iffy selections, especially if you care about name brands.  E.g., they had the dish detergent DH prefers but not his Diet Pepsi, so that will require another stop; they had regular flour (at an awesome price), but not the white whole what I prefer; the produce and meat sections were extremely well-priced but also extremely limited.  It is an awesome store if you are good at menu-planning on the fly (e.g., mangoes and cucumbers = looks like Asian week), not so great if you need to plan ahead and shop from a list.  I also ended up with some duplicates for this reason (e.g., cucumbers at 29 cents = tzatziki, but I couldn't remember if I had Greek yogurt at home so bought some, now I have two). 

Not everything is a deal.  E.g., the $2.99 strawberries I didn't realize DD had added to the cart until checkout were the same price as the ones I got at Wegmans last week.  This seems especially true with the prepackaged stuff (the Fiber One bars I saw were the same as the sale price at Wegmans).  So, like anywhere else, you need to pay attention.

The ugly: 

The setup.  They force you to walk in down a big long aisle of all of the prepackaged crap that I totally don't need, and all of the end caps around the checkout side are filled with donuts and cookies and crap.  If I still had toddlers, this alone might be enough to keep me out of the store unless I were truly desperate. :-)  The organization of the store is not really clear, and there is crap sprinkled throughout (e.g., oatmeal/cereal was right next to Goldfish), which again, forces you to walk up and down all of the aisles to find what you need, all the while being tempted by stuff you don't need.  And the fresh foods (meat/produce/dairy) were a really small portion of the store.  If I had impulse control issues and was trying to avoid prepackaged/"convenience" foods, I'm not sure I could trust myself here on a regular basis.

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[ForeignServiceWife]

I've been to Aldi once and wegman's once - trying to decide which one I like best and who has the best prices. I thought that wegman's beat aldi on a lot of their prices, esp the bulk meat at wegman's. I'll have to go back and compare again. But aldi definitely has the best deal on eggs and milk.

Did the one you go to have a good selection of whole wheat bread? That is a staple at our house and I don't have time to bake our own.

[Laura33]

I've been to Aldi once and wegman's once - trying to decide which one I like best and who has the best prices. I thought that wegman's beat aldi on a lot of their prices, esp the bulk meat at wegman's. I'll have to go back and compare again. But aldi definitely has the best deal on eggs and milk.

Did the one you go to have a good selection of whole wheat bread? That is a staple at our house and I don't have time to bake our own.

No -- well, first, it didn't have a "good selection" of anything (at most a couple of choices).  Since DH is doing low-carb, I didn't look closely, but what I saw looked like generic cheap commercial white bread, although I'd have to assume they'd at least have one version of generic cheap commercial wheat bread.

[Trifle]

Yes, our Aldi has whole wheat bread -- two different kinds.  They have naan, too, which we like.  Different Aldis do vary . . . We moved between states in the past year, and the Aldis in various areas are very different.   

FYI -- I learned that Aldi listens to customer feedback.  If there is something you want but don't see, you can request that they start carrying it.  And we've seen their inventory change significantly in the past few years.

When we first started shopping at Aldi, there were maybe ten things we wanted that they didn't have, and we had to buy elsewhere.  Now the Aldi has started carrying them, and we're down to two things.   Dental floss.  Go figure.  But we just buy that once or twice per year in bulk, so it's not a huge deal.  And the second thing we still don't buy at Aldi is bacon.  For ethical reasons we buy pastured meat, and while our Aldi has 100% grass-fed ground beef, so far they do not carry pastured pork/bacon.   We don't buy chicken, so I don't know for sure but I assume Aldi carries 'conventional'/non-pastured chicken meat only.

But overall -- we love Aldi.  Is it as nice a shopping experience as Wegmans?  No -- nothing is. :)  But do you leave there spending way less money?  Yes. 

[FIRE me]

Thanks for posting, Laura33.

I have an Aldi's close to me. I tried it 8 or 9 years ago and I did not like the lack of name brands, the 25 cent shopping cart fee, and especially the no bagging of groceries for the customer.

Now I am a lot more Mustachian, and price sensitive. So your review is the kick in the pants that I have been needing to try Aldi again.

[Trifle]

Thanks for posting, Laura33.

I have an Aldi's close to me. I tried it 8 or 9 years ago and I did not like the lack of name brands, the 25 cent shopping cart fee, and especially the no bagging of groceries for the customer.

Now I am a lot more Mustachian, and price sensitive. So your review is the kick in the pants that I have been needing to try Aldi again.

I've noticed over the past 5 years that the quality of Aldi's store brand products has steadily improved.  They are sourcing their products very well.  In all cases with the things we buy I think the Aldi store brand is equal to or superior to the name brand we used to buy. (In some cases it IS the exact same product we used to buy, just rebranded).  One example where I think the Aldi product is better -- their store brand "Cheerios" have no added sugar, whereas namebrand Cheerios do. 

[soccerluvof4]

Aldis might not have "name brands" but what difference does it make when most of their foods are made by those name brand companies. We do both, Meal plan and some weeks just shop for the best deals and plan from that. In either case once your learn the store you will find most of everything you need to get is there you just gotta give your self time to learn the lay of the land. I go to another store once a week to get a few items they dont have but no biggie for the savings I get at Aldi's. Also yes you walk in and its all the chips and etc...BUT as you said yourself the store is small so your still in and around it much quicker than somewhere else. I would say give it a few chances, learn there produce items of the week because they change them twice a week like your strawberries will be down to a 1$ its always changing. I agree Woodmans is another great option but for us a Family of 6 Aldi's blows away the competition but it did take a bit to figure it all out.

[Cranky]

Aldi's carries a lot more "fancy stuff" than it used to, so you do have to exercise some self control. But their store brands are at least as good, and often actually better than the name brand.

I shop at Aldi every week, and now that I know exactly what they carry regularly and where everything is, I can plan around that. They do have seasonal items and I know that if it's something that we really like, we should stock up because it won't be there forever.

Also, I like smelly jar candles, and Aldi's are actually nicer than Yankee Candles, IMO, though they only carry 3 scents in any particular round of candles.

[Johnez]

Aldi is mainly great for staples.

Produce I use often (onions, bell peppers, bananas, etc.)
Meat (B/S chicken breast, ground beef)
Milk and eggs

Not too many frills though, you won't be finding a ton of spices or huge selection of seafood.

Although their packaged stuff is front and center, I'm glad they haven't devoted massive floor space to beer and wine like some other grocery stores and even discount stores...

[Rewdoalb]

We transfer our grocery list to google keep on the phone which lets you re-arrange items and check them off as complete. Then DW arranges the items in order of the Aldi "loop" so that I don't have to backtrack in the store because I forgot the peanut butter, etc.

You can bring your own bags but aldi also encourages you to use their boxes that the food comes in. When a box is almost empty, set the last couple items on the next box and use them for your "grocery bags"

[pianomom]

I love Aldis and shop there weekly. One of the best benefits is that it's so small which is great for me as a slow, indecisive shopper. When I go to a larger store like Krogers I find myself lost in the aisles and then debating what brand to buy for all of my items. Since Aldis just has one brand for most things, it's easy to choose what to buy because there's only one brand.

Another thing that makes Aldis easy for me is that I use a phone app called Grocery IQ that I preput all of the grocery prices for the main items I buy (flour, milk, eggs, fruit, snacks for kids, etc), and then I arrange it by aisle. When it's time to menu plan, I look through my favorites list (items I frequently buy and then star within the app) and add them to my Aldis list. It's make menu planning and shopping very easy.

There are some things that I can't buy at Aldis and will have to go to other stores. And Aldis doesn't typically carry the best prices on meat (unless it's Wed which is a hard day for me to shop). So sometimes I'll go to other stores to pick up sales on meat, produce, or items Aldis doesn't carry.

Even though Aldis takes some getting used to, it has saved me lots of money throughout the years.

[pxpaulx]

The quarter for the cart isn't a fee, it is so you put it back! That way they don't need to pay someone to go outside and gather the carts. If you leave it, someone else will be happy to pick it up and bring it back for you ☺

If you forget your bags, there is always a cage around with empty boxes...two or three will hold all your groceries better than a bag will.  Or just take boxes off the shelf, I'm sure the employees will appreciate it.

The only thing bad about aldi is that it isn't as great as the European version with regards to selection!

[Cherry Lane]

There are some things that I can't buy at Aldis and will have to go to other stores. And Aldis doesn't typically carry the best prices on meat (unless it's Wed which is a hard day for me to shop). So sometimes I'll go to other stores to pick up sales on meat, produce, or items Aldis doesn't carry.

Does Aldi discount meat on Wednesdays?  Everywhere? One opened near my work, and I've been shopping there a lot on my way home.  So far I haven't bought much meat there, because the prices aren't as good as I can get other places.  But I don't go to the office on Wednesdays, so I'm wondering if I've been missing out on good meat prices. 

[Megma]

I'm another Aldi fan. I will happily bag my own groceries for the much lower prices there vs harris teeter (my other local store). Like others have said, they don't have everything but you'll quickly learn what they don't have our are unlikely to have. The seasonal options are usually great. Aldi makes lots of things that i want affordable and wouldn't buy regularly otherwise.

Stuff i love from aldi:
Goat cheese 1.99 ($4 at harris teeter)
Fresh pineapple 1.99 always
Berries $1 often in the summer on sale and like 2.50 normally
Almonds, cashews - great when we do low carb
Avocados .88 on sale or $1 normally
Mixed peppers 1.99
Cheese - aldi is normally cheaper than sale prices other places

And lots more! I do agree that if you're picky about organic or grass fed they don't have it all, but it's been getting better and better I've noticed. I occasionally go to another store and get these things i want like cage free eggs or some other meat type also doesn't carry. I don't buy a lot of name brand stuff anyway so that doesn't bother me.

[VladTheImpaler]

I'm admittedly late to the party, but the savings is evident already.

Started shopping at ALDI's ~ March 2016

2015:
Groceries = $3116/year ($260/month)
Eating out = $1024/year ($85/month)

2016:
Groceries = $2176/year ($181/month)
Eating out = $493/year ($41/month)

Grocery savings = $940/year ($79/month)

[Tris Prior]

We have started doing as much of our shopping as possible at Aldi and it's made a huge difference in our food budget. Usually we come in under $40 for two people; yesterday we were at $49 because we also got a huge cube of TP and a couple of treats that I admit were not necessary.

There are definitely pluses and minuses, though. I agree with OP about the store layout, my Aldi is terribly organized, the aisles are narrow, and it can be difficult to find what you need without walking up and down every aisle and scanning every shelf. Which leads to people blocking the aisles with their cart, as they try and find what they need. Because you can't get more than 1 cart down the aisle. I went there yesterday and came out ready to kill people, because it took so long just to get around all the other shoppers.

We've found Aldi to be excellent for dairy (especially cheap tasty fancy cheese), the almond milk I put in my oatmeal every day and staples. Seriously, the few times that we've needed to do our shopping at a "regular" grocery store, we've had total sticker shock over how much things like yogurt and oatmeal cost there. The produce at my Aldi is hit or miss; we've found that sometimes it spoils really fast or just plain doesn't taste good. (I've yet to figure out how they get their bananas to be both green and brown at the same time, on the same banana....) But sometimes it's fine. You just have to look at it closely.

I don't eat meat but Boyfriend says their chicken and pork were awful. So we don't get meat there any more. And there are random things that we can't find there; like, yesterday I wanted tofu and chili paste and failed on both counts.

In my experience the packaged junk food is kind of gross and tastes artificial, but we mostly avoid that stuff anyway.

I always assumed the 25-cent cart fee was because here, homeless people take grocery carts all the time. Doesn't matter to us since we don't have a car so are always toting our granny-cart to put our stuff in.

Also, I have to admit that our Aldi is kind of dirty and dark (and on a block that's known for violent crime) and it is not really enjoyable to shop there at all. At first this was hard to get over and I had many moments of "I hate being so poor that we have to shop in this shithole instead of going to Nice Grocery Store Where Things Cost Twice As Much." But I've gotten over that as I've seen our bill go way down and realized that most of the food tastes just fine.

[lizzzi]

Had an interesting experience yesterday, after four years of using an Aldi in Ohio. Tried the one in my upstate NY town for the first time. Guess what?!  It was laid out exactly like the Ohio store! I was in and out of there like a shot.

I always try to shop Aldi first, and get as much as I can there. Then I can always stop at the Regular Grocery Store or the Gentrified Quaint But Expensive as All Hell Store if I can't find my item(s) at Aldi.

As others have said, the 25 cents is not a fee. It just means that to get your quarter back, you have to return the cart, so the parking lot does not fill up with carts all over the place. No biggie. Keep a couple quarters in your car. And Aldi always sells bags--just buy some if you forget yours or don't have any. They last quite a while. I've never had much luck grabbing boxes...but I see others doing it all the time. Doing your own bagging is not a big deal. You will find quite quickly that you get it down to a system, and don't even think about it.

[lizzzi]

Some Aldis are starting to take credit cards, but it is likely to be either a debit card or cash. Find out before you go, or just be prepared with your cards or cash.

[boarder42]

Aldi is great

I'm of the opinion you should never go to a store with exact recipes in mind and buy for that you'll overspend. I walk into a store and I have a pretty good mortgage of what things cost and I build menus based on what is on sale. 

Right now is the begining of avocado season so they are 59c each and will slowly drop to 29c over the next month or two then slowly rise again

[Reacher]

Very similar experience to OP here in Mass. It was a 25 min drive, but worth it. Easily a week of decent-good food for $56. Lots of fish fruits/veges/meats.

Will go again.

[With This Herring]

There are some things that I can't buy at Aldis and will have to go to other stores. And Aldis doesn't typically carry the best prices on meat (unless it's Wed which is a hard day for me to shop). So sometimes I'll go to other stores to pick up sales on meat, produce, or items Aldis doesn't carry.

Does Aldi discount meat on Wednesdays?  Everywhere? One opened near my work, and I've been shopping there a lot on my way home.  So far I haven't bought much meat there, because the prices aren't as good as I can get other places.  But I don't go to the office on Wednesdays, so I'm wondering if I've been missing out on good meat prices.

The normal sale cycle is Sunday to Saturday.  However, Aldi also has a "Wednesday Weekly Fresh Meat Special Buys" where certain meat items arrive at the store and go on sale on Wednesday.  The sale lasts as long as those meat items do, so that could mean that the 8AM (or whenever) shipment lasts until it is sold out Thursday night or maybe just a few hours until Wednesday at 11AM.  Aldi doesn't do rainchecks.  I don't buy meat, but the other specials are a similar idea - you can get them at that price if the store has not run out of stock.

You can find your local Aldi flyer at https://www.aldi.us/ .

Aldi has been great for my grocery bill!  I was never a name-brand shopper to start, so it was an easy transition.

[Pizzabrewer]

One of the best things about Aldi is they import a number of items from Germany a few times per year.  Bratwurst (I've never seen brats imported from Germany anywhere else, and they're better than anything made in the US), cheese, cookies, that wonderful dense German rye/sunflower seed/pumpernickel bread, sauerkraut (cheaper and better than most grocery store kraut), frozen strudels (amazingly good), chocolates, marzipan, etc etc etc.

And although not super-cheap these items are not expensive.  Far less than you'd expect to pay for imported foods.

[boarder42]

All grocery stores in our area are Wednesday to Tuesday.  Pretty sure that's standard for everywhere in the us

[katscratch]

The first Aldi I shopped in blew my mind -- it was bigger than Whole Foods and had almost identical fancy cheeses, local apples, etc, but for pennies on the dollar.  I've since learned that store is not typical - it happens to be one of their highest grossing stores and they trial a lot of new products at the location. 

Closer to me, the Aldis vary a bit by location - the store closest to my house has less pork offerings and rarely carries organic chicken, where the Aldi west of me always has organic chicken and pork roasts. 

It did take me a couple months to figure out what the normal offerings are, but I've always shopped with a list - I just switched up my list to look at Aldi first.  I love the layout of the stores, because I just breeze right by the packaged junk and with the exception of that first Aldi I was in, they're all laid out the same so I can always find what I need. 

It's definitely a different experience the first time you're in one -- funnily enough, now I can't stand shopping in foofoo carpeted stores that smell like potpourri ;)  It's all what you're used to :)

[With This Herring]

All grocery stores in our area are Wednesday to Tuesday.  Pretty sure that's standard for everywhere in the us

Well, now you have me curious.  Everywhere in that I've lived (in NYS), grocery and pharmacy sales generally run Sunday to Saturday, so I had assumed that was normal.  There is a small, family-owned deli near me currently that runs sales Saturday to Friday, but I can't think of any others at the moment.

Here is a map of Aldi sales I just found:
http://reviewsforyoubyjenn.blogspot.com/2010/10/weekly-deals-for-aldi-101710.html

I can't find a similar map of general grocery store sale start days, but I did find this article that seems to indicate that Wednesday is the most common:
http://couponsinthenews.com/2013/02/19/what-day-do-your-grocery-sales-start-and-why-it-matters/

[VladTheImpaler]

All grocery stores in our area are Wednesday to Tuesday.  Pretty sure that's standard for everywhere in the us

Well, now you have me curious.  Everywhere in that I've lived (in NYS), grocery and pharmacy sales generally run Sunday to Saturday, so I had assumed that was normal. 

Can confirm weekly ad starts on Wed for the big chains. (Krogers, Albertsons, StopNShop, etc.)
When I worked in the grocery biz every Tuesday was "Ad Day" where we had to change the sales prices on the shelf to be ready for the new flyer on Wednesday.

[Laura33]

So, bringing this all full cycle, we hit Wegmans today to pick up the few extras I couldn't find at Aldi's - and I spent almost the same amount of money (within $0.10), for like half a cartful of stuff. 

Now, admittedly, it's not a fair comparison, because I was replenishing some stock items (kid juices, trash bags, DH's Diet Pepsi) -- and because I had DH with me, which resulted in the addition of several non-list items (all of which had been way cheaper at Aldi's had I known he wanted them, dammit!).  But, wow, the comparison was striking.  The kids loved the Aldi's maple sausage I had cooked up for breakfast, so I decided to pick up some more at Wegmans - but they were like $4.50 vs. $1.99, and I couldn't bring myself to buy them!  And I made the skirt steak and a bunch of the veg for dinner tonight, and it was all delicious -- I never even buy skirt steak because it's $10-12/lb, so this felt like a treat (and $5.49 to boot!).

I am sort of unreasonably excited about this.  I spent most of today cooking/prepping for the week, and my running mental commentary the whole day was the relative prices of the Aldi's stuff vs. the Wegmans/Giant stuff I was using.  I wish it were more convenient and in a better neighborhood, because then we might get some of the fun stuff mentioned in earlier comments, but, you know, to save that much on my grocery bill, I can suck up the teensiest bit of inconvenience.

[AmberTheCat]

hey laura33 - glad you like aldis!

i went to one years ago. I was grossed out by some major "plumbers butt" going on by some of the shoppers, and just didnt return until one was built near us this summer. It's so fun to go there now; and I love to get deals on food we eat everyday. (but like others i still have to go to large supermarkets for some things).

my spouse even likes going there for milk and cereal and fruit now! that's a big deal; he's as an efficient shopper and traveling a few miles out of the way for milk is huge.

i've heard they are owned by trader joes. Is that right? perhaps that's why there's so many gourmet/European items? ive had many compliments on a few things purchased there; including the humus.

we buy paper sacks at our aldis for 6 cents per piece; and then reuse those bags for holding our recyclables.  I heard some ladies talking about their membership to Costco; i dropped mine. I prefer Aldis any day and spend way less.

[boarder42]

Aldi sells juice and trash bags and pop.

[pbkmaine]

"I've heard they are owned by trader joes. Is that right?"

No, but there is a connection. Aldi was started by German brothers, the Albrechts. The store was split up into two groups in the 1960s, Aldi Nord and Aldi Süd. Theo Albrecht and family run Aldi Nord and Karl Albrecht and family run Aldi Süd. In the US, Aldi Nord owns and runs Trader Joe's, while Aldi Süd owns and runs Aldi. Aren't you glad you asked ?

[boarder42]

Also Aldi follows the model used in Europe. The trader Joe's version is unique to the states

[MrsPete]

Comments, some pro /some con:

- I always keep at least one quarter in the organizer in my car so I can stop at Aldi's
- Note that the store isn't open quite as many hours as other stores; one of their methods of efficiency is that they're only open during peak hours
- Yes, they have a lot of German brands; they're German-owned
- Yes, they have started accepting credit cards recently
- Great prices on fresh produce ... MOST of the time
- My kids are insane for their Almond Chicken salad
- Hate their frozen pizzas -- really, we ate a few bites and threw away the rest, and we never do that; I think the name brand is Mama Celeste -- but we like the oversized deli pizzas
- Always good prices on milk and eggs
- Though it's cheap, I don't buy their sliced bread; it's nothing but fluff
- Great cheese selection -- especially on fresh mozzarella -- but the goat cheese isn't good; it tastes like a goat smells, and my friend who makes it homemade says it's because the farmers allow the billies and the nannies to stay together
- Their seasonal stuff goes on great mark-downs (for example, pumpkin muffin mix, winter soup noodles, etc), but watch your bill closely -- OFTEN they haven't coded it in the computer correctly, and they'll charge you full price; they're pleasant about fixing it, but YOU have to ask
- I bought my kids' Easter candy at Aldi's last year, and it was especially good
- I really like bagging my own groceries; I'm more careful than the store people

[Laura33]

Aldi sells juice and trash bags and pop.

Correct.  DH has specific brand requirements for certain things.  It is a battle that is not worth it to me.

[lizzzi]

I've been getting some great organic sprouted wheat bread at Aldi, and also some good ciabatta rolls. When I have enough people around to help eat it up, I get the big Turano's Italian loaf--really good bread, also great for bread pudding and croutons. Yes, they have plenty of the foam rubber fluff bread, but they carry the good stuff, too. Also the dense German-made pumpernickel and whole wheat square, thin-sliced loaves. I found the same breads in both OH and NY.

[JimLahey]

I have done most of my grocery shopping at Aldi for the last two years or so, basically since I started becoming more frugal. People complain about having to bring bags and a quarter. That's so they dont have to pay someone to collect the carts and the lines move faster if you bag your own stuff. I keep a quarter and cloth bags in my car. I also utilize their empty boxes. On average I probably spend $50 a trip. Like others said, their produce and meat are hit or miss. But I can get most of the basics there. Mine accepts credit cards now. So now I save more via cashback.

[Trifle]

For the other posters whose Aldis only have crappy bread -- talk to the store manager -- and/or call Aldi Customer Support.  Our Aldi has a good bread selection -- two kinds of whole wheat, sourdough, naan, ciabatta, rye, pumpernickel, etc.  So I know your store can get it.  It's just a matter of letting the store know there's a demand.

A few years ago I asked our store to start carrying a few things (no high-fructose peanut butter, organic milk, maple syrup) and they did.   I noticed around the time they started carrying my requested stuff, they also started stocking some other new items like almond butter and unsalted roasted nuts.  I bet those were things requested by other customers.

[oldmannickels]

Aldi is great

I'm of the opinion you should never go to a store with exact recipes in mind and buy for that you'll overspend. I walk into a store and I have a pretty good mortgage of what things cost and I build menus based on what is on sale. 

Right now is the begining of avocado season so they are 59c each and will slowly drop to 29c over the next month or two then slowly rise again

Oh they joy I get when I start to see avocado prices dropping at Aldi. Also spaghetti squash at my Aldi were only $.99 this week. I went to whole foods on my way home last week to try to get one and it was $10.99.I left it on the counter and walked out!

[Cranky]

Aldi sells juice and trash bags and pop.

Correct.  DH has specific brand requirements for certain things.  It is a battle that is not worth it to me.

Make him try the aldi's trash bags - I think they are better than the name brand.

[boarder42]

Aldi sells juice and trash bags and pop.

Correct.  DH has specific brand requirements for certain things.  It is a battle that is not worth it to me.

Make him try the aldi's trash bags - I think they are better than the name brand.

better yet just keep the old box buy the aldi bags put in said box and see if he can tell.  also if he reallyhas to have name brand paper products make slickdeals alerts for them and youll get some great target or amazon deals on them ... buying trashbags a grocery store means you're paying a crazy markup. unless he's ok with aldi then you're fine.

[Laura33]

Aldi sells juice and trash bags and pop.

Correct.  DH has specific brand requirements for certain things.  It is a battle that is not worth it to me.

Make him try the aldi's trash bags - I think they are better than the name brand.

better yet just keep the old box buy the aldi bags put in said box and see if he can tell.  also if he reallyhas to have name brand paper products make slickdeals alerts for them and youll get some great target or amazon deals on them ... buying trashbags a grocery store means you're paying a crazy markup. unless he's ok with aldi then you're fine.

Yeah, ok, I was trying not to be as long-winded as usual.  The reason we went to Wegmans was Diet Pepsi, which is non-negotiable for him (he can tell the difference).  The trash bags and juice were things I didn't realize we needed until I was putting the Aldi's stuff away (I had dropped in when I found myself in the area, so I wasn't as prepared as usual).

The first few years of our marriage were generic girl vs. name-brand boy, so we did a whole series of blind tests.  So I basically have a specific list of things I don't mess with.

I do wish I had known Aldi's had boxes, though!!  Not an issue going forward, as I have reusable bags that just weren't in my car.  That's part of the reason I wrote the post -- everything is totally manageable, you just need to know what the "rules" are first, because it is much more European-style than Standard American Grocery Store.

[Cranky]

I am always surprised at how few people at my aldi's use their own bags - almost everyone buys bags, which just seems odd to me.

[JustDave]

We're an Aldi family. The major negative is that the produce can sometimes be questionable, but otherwise we're big fans.

Try the rosemary and olive oil generic Triscuits - you'll thank me.

[boarder42]

I am always surprised at how few people at my aldi's use their own bags - almost everyone buys bags, which just seems odd to me.

i know i see much lower income people (b/c the aldi's on my way home is in a low income neighborhood) buying bags every day.  and its the same people most of hte time...

1. you know you can reuse that right
2. you're obviously low income why are you buying junk food
3. you're obviously low income and you see me in this suit and tie using a box and bringing my own bags ... why not try that.

[boarder42]

We're an Aldi family. The major negative is that the produce can sometimes be questionable, but otherwise we're big fans.

Try the rosemary and olive oil generic Triscuits - you'll thank me.

the best part about it is if its an advertised deal you can get walmart to PM it.  Our aldi used to have ridiculously small avocados so i'd just get walmart to PM it.  also aldi avocaodos are typically not ripe
so if you need them for today walmart PM works well. plus with my work healthcare i get an additional 10% off at walmart for almost all produce.

[Trifle]

I'll throw this out there for those of you who may not know about it.  (Something to try once you nail down Aldi lol)  Many towns have at least one food reclamation grocery store, a/k/a discount grocery or "scratch n dent."   Grocery stores sell unsold or slightly damaged stock by the pallet to these stores, which then turn around and sell it at prices that are 25-50%+ off grocery store prices.  The products can be anything -- canned goods, boxed items, paper goods, baking supplies, olive oil, coffee, pet food, etc. -- but usually not produce.  The grocery stores are unloading the items for pennies on the dollar as an alternative to sending it to the landfill.  Sometimes the stock is nearing its printed expiration date.  The reclamation stores buying the pallets don't know ahead of time what they are going to get from the grocery reseller.  It's a grab bag for them.

These stores vary widely.  Some are very low end (shabby, carrying undesirable stock) and some are super nice (clean, bright, great stock).  We found a great one in our old hometown and went monthly. 

The pros -- unbelievable prices.  Most of the items sold are perfectly fine.  We're talking cans of name brand beef stew for $0.50, bags of Starbucks coffee for $3.00, rolls of paper towels for $0.25, name brand boxes of cereal for $1.00  . . .   

The cons -- you can't count on any particular item being there when you go. Inventory changes depending on what happens to come in the pallets the store buys. Also -- some of the items were high-end/pricey to start with, so even after a 50 or 75% discount, you should still compare to the Aldi regular cost for a similar item.  Sometimes Aldi wins.  Also -- you need to check the item over before buying to make sure you are ok with whatever expiration date is on there if there is one, and that the condition is good. 

Personally I think these stores are fun, once you understand the idea and find a good one.  We always bought most of our groceries at Aldi, but it was nice to supplement once in a while with some great bargains.

   






 

[aceyou]

I'm of the opinion you should never go to a store with exact recipes in mind and buy for that you'll overspend. I walk into a store and I have a pretty good mortgage of what things cost and I build menus based on what is on sale. 

Love, love, love Aldi!

I'd second this.  When I started at Aldi, I'd go in with a rigid list, and I'd always have to head to Meijer afterwards, plus my bill was still pretty high. 

Then I started going to Aldi with more general ideas...

-This week I'd like to cook mexican and eat leftovers for a day.
- I'd like to make a homemade soup and make my own bread to dip in it. 
- We have a party this Saturday, I should find something good to make for it. 

That way I can be flexible and adapt to the deals/selection, but I still get to make the basic food plan for the week. 

And most of the stuff I can't get at Aldi ends up being stuff I can stock up big time on.  For example, cheap razors.  So I go to the dollar store, see a 10 pack of razors for a buck, buy 5 of them, and I've suddenly got a 2 year supply of shaving materials on hand.   This cuts down my need to go to a big box store to once a month or so, and it simplifies my life by saving me even more money/time.

[boarder42]

I'm of the opinion you should never go to a store with exact recipes in mind and buy for that you'll overspend. I walk into a store and I have a pretty good mortgage of what things cost and I build menus based on what is on sale. 

Love, love, love Aldi!

I'd second this.  When I started at Aldi, I'd go in with a rigid list, and I'd always have to head to Meijer afterwards, plus my bill was still pretty high. 

Then I started going to Aldi with more general ideas...

-This week I'd like to cook mexican and eat leftovers for a day.
- I'd like to make a homemade soup and make my own bread to dip in it. 
- We have a party this Saturday, I should find something good to make for it. 

That way I can be flexible and adapt to the deals/selection, but I still get to make the basic food plan for the week. 

And most of the stuff I can't get at Aldi ends up being stuff I can stock up big time on.  For example, cheap razors.  So I go to the dollar store, see a 10 pack of razors for a buck, buy 5 of them, and I've suddenly got a 2 year supply of shaving materials on hand.   This cuts down my need to go to a big box store to once a month or so, and it simplifies my life by saving me even more money/time.

yep all true.  but to do this you have to be a seasoned cook as well and be able to just understand how things go together.  years of cooking helps with that.

[Ben Hogan]

Did Aldi once, decided it was easier for me to shop at the Korean, Japanese, whole foods and Sprouts for what I need.

[aceyou]

yep all true.  but to do this you have to be a seasoned cook as well and be able to just understand how things go together.  years of cooking helps with that.
[/quote]

True.  Just another reason why I don't think inflation applies to Mustachians in an apples to apples way.  We can't change the upward price of goods/services as time goes by, but we can continually improve ourselves.  So, as time passes, stuff will get incrementally more expensive, but we are incrementally more able to work the system to our individual benefit. 

[Milizard]

All grocery stores in our area are Wednesday to Tuesday.  Pretty sure that's standard for everywhere in the us

Well, now you have me curious.  Everywhere in that I've lived (in NYS), grocery and pharmacy sales generally run Sunday to Saturday, so I had assumed that was normal.  There is a small, family-owned deli near me currently that runs sales Saturday to Friday, but I can't think of any others at the moment.

Here is a map of Aldi sales I just found:
http://reviewsforyoubyjenn.blogspot.com/2010/10/weekly-deals-for-aldi-101710.html

I can't find a similar map of general grocery store sale start days, but I did find this article that seems to indicate that Wednesday is the most common:
http://couponsinthenews.com/2013/02/19/what-day-do-your-grocery-sales-start-and-why-it-matters/

Here in Michigan, the vast majority of the sales run Sunday-Saturday.  A few smaller, more dedicated to groceries stores used to start sales on Tuesday or Wednesday, but Meijer has always been on Sunday for as long as I can remember.