Money Saving Monday: Top 10 favorite things about Aldi

If there is one thing I've realized about grocery shopping while Christopher and I have been married, it is that I love, love, LOVE saving money. The fact that we were basically broke since we've been married, added substantial medical school debt, and basically started having babies as soon as we could has only exaggerated my desire to save money and find a good deal on any and everything! I've decided to do some random "Money Saving Monday" posts about thrifty tricks I've discovered over the last few years. And believe me, there are quite a few!

 I just love me some Aldi.  When we lived in Wichita for the two years Christopher did his 3rd and 4th years of medical school, I started shopping at Aldi frequently, but mostly for those staple food items: bread, milk, eggs, and chicken breasts. I still shopped at Dillons quite a bit for the things I either wasn't brave enough to try at Aldi, preferred over Aldi, or simply Aldi didn't have.  Now, there are some things that Aldi doesn't have and some things Aldi only carries seasonally (for example their cocktail sauce is usually only spring and summer and their "pumpkin" flavored coffee creamer, yogurt, and such is usually only Fall and Winter).  Then, when we moved to Spokane, Washington for Christopher's 1st year of residency, I realized just what we were missing by not shopping at Aldi. We basically had Wal-Mart as our only option for cheaper grocery shopping, so we hit Wal-Mart for EVERYTHING on our shopping list. We had a pretty strict budget of $175 every 2 weeks for groceries and that was for our family of 4 (at the time). Surprisingly, I was able to stay right around our budget, but that was also taking into account the fact that Christopher frequently brought home extra food from the hospital from his meal card money that the hospital gave to him each month (boy, do I wish he still had a hospital meal card. I miss those extra desserts, salads, and wraps.).  Now that we've been living in Alabama for going on our 2nd full year, I've rediscovered my love for Aldi with one that is only about 5 minutes from where we live. Now I buy everything we need at Aldi and the VERY rare, few things that they do not have or actually are cheaper else where (like toothpaste and diapers, for example, which are cheaper at Wal-Mart) and I couldn't be happier about it! Here are my top 10 favorite things about Aldi, and specifically the Aldi here in Homewood, Alabama.

Top 10 Favorite Things About Aldi

1. Best milk, egg, produce, and grocery in general prices around! Milk sells for $2.99, every day, all year round, no kidding. I haven't seen it close to that anywhere else. I've also been known to get Pomegranates for $0.69, Bananas for $0.44 and apples for $1.99/bag. I believe the Eggs I bought last were $1.79/dozen. This week, a 3 pack of green peppers sells for $0.99 and a bag of salad sells for $0.50. They have the "Produce of the Week" deal which highlights a few different ones for extremely cheap. They rotate the produce of the week, so watch the local adds to catch the deals!

 

1. The non-grocery items aren't too shabby on prices either! I bought a set of 2 decorative pillows (that sit on our couch now) for around $10.00 and I hadn't been able to find them that cheap anywhere else except used at a garage sale.
2. Shopping at Aldi forces me to be a little more "green". I bring my own cloth re-usable bags since Aldi doesn't give out plastic or paper bags. If you forget to bring your own bags, no fear; you can either buy some re-usable ones or plastic ones at the counter or you can find extra boxes from the aisle (previously used for food that have all been sold) and use them!
3.  The shopping cart experience. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Aldi shopping carts, let me explain how they work. Lots of people seem to be confused by how the carts work and think you have to spend money on them. The carts are free, don't be fooled, but you have to have a quarter handy; not 2 dimes and a nickel, but an actual quarter. The carts are all at the front of the store and are locked together. When you deposit your quarter, it unlocks the cart and holds your quarter until you return it and lock it up again, at which point your quarter will pop out for you to have again. See, free carts if you return them back and lock them up again. I like to scout out people (especially older people) who are just finishing using their carts at their car, approach them with my quarter and ask to use their cart. It saves both of us the trip to the front of the store (them to get their quarter back and me to get my cart). I love this part because they usually look so grateful and surprised!
   
    
4. I've made money off the cart system before. Let me explain. Like I said on #3, a lot of people seem to be confused on how the cart system works, especially first-timer Aldi customers. If you go to Aldi on a weekday, I can almost guarantee that you'll make money off the cart system, too. Here's why: a lot of first-timers think you have to pay to use the carts and don't realize that if you bring your cart back to the front and lock it up, you will receive your quarter again. I've found stray carts in the parking lot and also found carts at the front and in the cart line, but not locked with the chain (so the quarter was still there). One particular weekday morning, I found about $1.00 in quarters.  Not a huge savings, but it's something!
5. The alcohol selection. Now I have to clarify that the Midwest Aldi chain does NOT sell alcohol in their stores. But here in the south, Aldi has a good selection of wine, beer, margaritas and such. My favorites are the sweet wines so the Winking Owl White Zinfandel is one of our favorites and the best part is that it's only $2.89 a bottle! Can't beat that price! We've also tried the Landshut Sweet Red which is pretty tasty and is also only $4.99.  https://www.aldi.us/en/grocery-items/wine-beer/white-wines/white-wines-detail/ps/p/winking-owl-white-zinfandel/
   
6. The wine has an AWESOME guide on the back of the bottle that sort of acts as a "wine for dummies", or at least has for me. It has a scale that rates the wine from dry to sweet, full to thin, where it's imported from (Italy, Germany, California, etc.), the flavors in the wine (strawberry, cherry, grape, etc.), and what it tastes good with (desserts, chicken, beef, etc.). I really appreciate this as I really know nothing about wine and this has sort of taught me anything I do know. Nothing worse than buying some wine to try and not liking it. Ask Christopher about his first drink on his 21st birthday at Timberline.
7. Close parking every day, every time, no exceptions. I've never had to walk far to get inside Aldi and I LOVE that, especially when I go with the little ones (which I try to make as infrequently as possible because we all know shopping with little ones is a type of insanity; at least it always feels like that for me.)
8. Flowers. Few people realize or know that you can buy a bouquet of roses, wild flowers or seasonal flowers for probably half the price you could anywhere else. I'll also add that they are beautiful and last just as long if not longer. They are usually by the check-out lines.
9. Aldi now carries a lot of healthier, organic and natural foods. I love to get hummus and pita chips there because I can get the hummus for $2.99 and pita chips for $1.99. Also, they have an entire section of organic fruits and veggies including carrots and apples. I've also noticed some goat cheese and other "fancy" cheeses that I don't even know the name for without looking at an Aldi add. I've tried their almond butter which I thought was pretty tasty. I know they have egg beaters and soy milk, too, although I haven't tried the soy milk to vouch for them.

How Aldi Saves You Money                      

I recently came across this blog that does a great job explaining how Aldi saves you more. Another reason is that Aldi cuts most of the overhead so we save the extra money. They only hire as little employees as they need, which is often why you see them working their tails off and busy the entire time you are shopping. They also don't have much shelving. The boxes are stacked on top of each other which gives the store a sort of messy, raw look, but you get used to it very easily. They also don't really have aisles, which makes you zig-zag around the store to get your things, which in turn ensures you see EVERYTHING the store as to offer. The carts and the bagging cut cost which I described above as one of the things I personally love about Aldi. And another thing about Aldi I've heard rumor as true is they sell other big name brand stores overstock, but put an Aldi brand on it. I've heard this about their chicken (overstock from Tyson, I believe), but I think this is one of the reasons I love the groceries so much. Honestly, I can't tell a difference with some of their brands vs. big name brands.

If you've been thinking about trying Aldi but haven't yet, I HIGHLY recommend that you do. Even if you just try out some basics like milk, bread (for $0.89 a loaf), or eggs. Just be forewarned, it's addicting. Especially once you see how full your cart can be for under $200! I shop every 2 weeks and very rarely spend over $190 for the 5 of us and I always have an overflowing cart including 5 gallons of milk and 5 dozen eggs. (Our budget still sits around $175, but sales tax is 9%, so that does make it a little more difficult). I frequently get asked by the price-checker how I fit it all in there. My reply, "Tetris".

Happy Monday and Happy Shopping!