ALDI's for Newbies

[With This Herring]

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.

Those rosemary not-Triscuits are delicious.

I actually prefer Aldi's not-ripe avocados. I set them on the counter in a group, they ripen.  However, when I make the mistake of buying ripe avocados at the other supermarkets, the produce stockers and cashiers throw them around so much that they are all bruises by the time I open them.

For anyone who likes guacamole:  Mashed avocados freeze beautifully as long as you get all the air out of the bag.  We stock up on avocados at 50¢ each and enjoy guacamole year-round.

[HipGnosis]

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. 

Where is that store?[/quote]

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. 

Of the two Aldis nearest me, one is bigger, and carries more items.
I went to the smaller one Saturday, but they didn't have something I needed, so I went to the other one next.  I noticed the eggs at the smaller one are $0.20 more than at the big one (easy to notice because the price is on a big sign, with numbers that slide in/out to change the price).  I had assumed everything was the same price at them - now I'll pay attention.   It could be that one is in city limits and the other is in a suburb.

[HipGnosis]

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.

Thanks for this tip.    I already use Keep - to put recipes from my computer onto my tablet to take to the kitchen.  I didn't know you can re-arrange things.

[MrsPete]

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'm always surprised at just how many people don't understand the principles of business ... for example, you're paying someone to bag those groceries and collect those carts from the parking lot. 

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.

Neither of us is completely generic-or-name-brand-devoted, but we've done blind taste tests ... and, yeah, a few things we "don't mess with".  Incidentally, one of those things is garbage bags.

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.

I think I see a lot of low income people in my Aldi's too, but I wouldn't say it with absolute certainty ... they probably wouldn't look at me and know I'm quite rich.  Know who else EVERY SINGLE TIME I go to Alid's?  All my teacher friends, including those who are retired. 

Also, if those people really are poor, keep in mind that poor life skills (for lack of a better phrase) often goes along with that.  And buying fast food/junk food is a very good example of poor life skills. 

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."

Ours moved, and it's just too far a drive to justify the savings.  I miss it!  They always had french fries $1/10 lbs ... and fast food meat (i.e., seasoned meat bound for Taco Bell) for $1/lb.  #10 cans of things like black beans were often available for $2-3.  Oh, were my kids happy the day I brought home a whole case of those rectangular school pizzas. 

For anyone who likes guacamole:  Mashed avocados freeze beautifully as long as you get all the air out of the bag.  We stock up on avocados at 50¢ each and enjoy guacamole year-round.

I didn't know this!  Do you add any lemon or lime to them, or just freeze them as a stand-alone item?

[With This Herring]

For anyone who likes guacamole:  Mashed avocados freeze beautifully as long as you get all the air out of the bag.  We stock up on avocados at 50¢ each and enjoy guacamole year-round.

I didn't know this!  Do you add any lemon or lime to them, or just freeze them as a stand-alone item?

Umm, here's the silly part.  I've bought a bunch of little $1 packets of Concord guacamole seasoning, so I just mash one of those in.  Once those run out, I promise I'll make it properly!  If I were freezing it alone, I think it would make sense to add whatever citrus you use in your guac recipe before freezing, then add any onion, tomatoes, etc. after defrosting.  I've heard people at the grocery store saying they freeze them without additions, though.

[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. 

Where is that store?

Waite Park, Minnesota

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. 

Of the two Aldis nearest me, one is bigger, and carries more items.
I went to the smaller one Saturday, but they didn't have something I needed, so I went to the other one next.  I noticed the eggs at the smaller one are $0.20 more than at the big one (easy to notice because the price is on a big sign, with numbers that slide in/out to change the price).  I had assumed everything was the same price at them - now I'll pay attention.   It could be that one is in city limits and the other is in a suburb.
[/quote]

I've noticed that too, that prices are different in different locations depending on stock - my friends in different suburbs here will text when their local Aldi's avocados go for 25c apiece because they're close to overripe and they know I'll pick up as many as will fit in a box :) 

[a-scho]

Aldi's just opened up in my area within the last year and it is definitely my new favorite store. They have great prices on everything but I have noticed they do markdowns on things when it gets close to the sell by date or if it is an item only meant to be on the shelves for a limited time. So, I'll go in just to buy heavy cream and eggs(the two things I use all week, every week,) and then go up and down the aisles looking for the markdowns. Sometimes the regular tag is slashed with the new price handwritten on it, and sometimes it is a different colored(orange, blue) tag than the regularly priced stuff(green). Every visit is like a treasure hunt, you don't know what things will be marked down until you look around. I have gotten so much stuff that I have no more room and have to say to myself, "Those cookies look great, but you already have five kinds of treats at home."
Stuff I've gotten on markdown:
rosemary and olive oil not triscuits .25....yes, i bought more than one box
big tub of chicken salad .99
ice cream .99
large 8 piece caramel cheesecake 1.99
maple breakfast sausages .10....I took every box they had
pint of heavy cream .99
just picked up a spiral sliced ham .50 per pound
hummus, several flavors, .99
jars of not better than boullion 1.49
organic mayo .60
chips and pretzels all kinds and shapes  .50-.99
cheese, the fancy stuff .99-1.99 for 8 oz.
organic chicken .80 per pound
bacon, the fancier ones, 1.49 per pound
grass fed ground beef 3.00 per pound
six pack of holiday themed paper towels, sold after the holidays for 2.49
boneless skinless chicken thighs .50 per pound
box of not quaker oats granola cereal .75
boxes of gluten free crackers .25
bag of 80 tootsie pops for 4.00....i did not buy this but I soooooo wanted to.
fours cans of silly string for .99
30 glow in the dark neon bracelets .29
refrigerated pie dough .29
hebrew national hot dogs.....actual hebrew nationals .99
seasonal bags of coffee 2.49 for 12oz.
All of these items were marked down AT LEAST 50%.
As you can see, most of the markdowns are perishables. None of it tasted off. I have noticed not all locations have the same items for markdown or at the same price.

I get my veggies and fruit(the loss leaders) from another store that has better prices than Aldi.  I am averaging 95.00 per month to feed two adults.

[boarder42]

yes many aldi stores differ in price for example the eggs at the store on my way home from work are typically 3x the price of the one 2 miles from my house that i sometimes visit on the weekend.

[prognastat]

Closest one is an hour away so not worth the savings to drive there unfortunately. Hopefully that'll change in the future.

[golden1]

Yeah, unfortunately there really isn't an Aldi convenient to us, so it's Wegmans and Trader Joe's.  Wegmans can be brutally expensive or super cheap if you stick to their store brand, which is usually quite good.  If I really wanted to save money I would shop at Market Basket, but I can do almost as well price wise at Wegmans if I stay disciplined. 

[soccerluvof4]

One of the Aldi's in our area is now adding about a 1/3 in square footage designated to all bakery items and alike. Fresh.

[coppertop]

A couple of things I do not like at Aldi:  the bananas are packaged in plastic and they tend to go all funky instead of ripening nicely; the sweet potatoes are in a net bag and are often dried out and wizened instead of being nice and plump and smooth like the ones at the supermarket.  I have to visit the supermarket anyway to get things Aldi rarely carries, such as tofu.