Aldi Revisited

I know I have blogged about Aldi before, but my husband got me to thinking about blogging about it again. There are so many people out there who live near an Aldi, but do not visit it. They have their reasons-they do not trust generics, they think it is a hassle to have to use cash or only certain debit/credit cards, they think it is annoying to have to have a quarter for the carts...and many other reasons. Some, I think, even feel the quality of the food might not be that great.



Aldi is a store that is owned by a German company-so they often have German foods-some they keep on hand at all times-other are just seasonal. They are really very good. I grew up with a German mom and let me tell you, the quality is just as good as what I am used to getting from expensive German stores, or even received from my Opa (German for Grandpa in case you didn't know-lol :). Their regular foods are just as good in quality! If you do not think so, return it! They have a double money back guarantee. I put this to the test one time when I bought a different brand of burgers than I usually buy. My girls and I thought they were disgusting-the boys loved them. But, I was not going to be able to stomach eating one more of those burgers and it was a big box that still had many left, so I returned what I had not cooked (that would have been 7 less in the box). Aldi gladly refunded my money and let me go pick out the burgers we usually buy. That is their Double Your Money Back guarantee!

If you didn't shop at Aldi before due to them accepting only cash or certain credit/debit cards-don't worry about that anymore! They now accept all credit/debit cards. They do not accept checks. But, once you shop Aldi a few times, you will be able to judge what your cost will be for each trip. I know my trips will pretty much be between $120 and $160 depending on how much I have to stock up, extras, etc...


Aldi does not sack your groceries for you. And, they do not provide you with free bags-you must bring your own, search the store for empty boxes, or buy theirs. They are 5 cents for paper and 10 cents for plastic. They have freezer bags for 99 cents. All these bags are really pretty good quality. We have used their plastic bags for months before any tears or wear start happening. We did this until I built up my reusable bags :) I use a freezer bag, from Aldi, in the warmer months, and I have had these for well over a year now!

Here is what my trip to Aldi might be like...I will leave out the parts that include my kids...Im sure you don't want to hear that and if you are a mom, well, then you already know what it is like ;)


I park, go up to the cart return and place 25 cents into the little gadget that locks the carts. I place my own reusable shopping bags in the bottom of the cart (this is just my own convenience-we usually fill up the basket of the cart), and I head into the store. There are no shelves, really. Most things stay in their boxes they are shipped in and set on something like tables (it looks nice, don't think it would make the store look filthy). I pull from the boxes and, well, place the item in my cart-lol. Anyway, shopping, shopping, shopping...done...I head to the front of the store, put my items on the conveyor belt. At this point, the cashier rings up my items and places them in another cart she/he has setting beside her. Don't think I have lost your quarter...I will take this cart when I am done paying, leave my cart with the cashier and head to a table with my groceries to sack. If I need bags, at the conveyor belt is where I will get them. I just throw how many I need up there and the cashier will add them to my bill.
Sack my groceries and I am done with the inside of the store. I head outside, usually grabbing an ad for the next week on my way out. I pack those groceries up in my car and take the cart back to the cart corral. I do the opposite of what I did when I first got the cart-place the chain into the lock mechanism and out pops a quarter-see I told you I didn't lose it :) Then, I head on home.


I estimate I have saved about $50 per shopping trip. Aldi's milk is hormone free, and so are their eggs. There are times I can get things for less somewhere else, of course, and so, I buy those items elsewhere, but most of my grocery bill is spent at Aldi.
Hopefully, this helps you if you were hesitant before to check Aldi out. Check out Aldi's website. They even have a terrific recipe section using items from the only Aldi :)

Walmart.com and Aldi

I was on Walmart's website yesterday and noticed they have a new grocery section (which is in beta form right now). Im not sure which way this might be going-perhaps you will be able to order food from their website? Or, what a great way to price check items you might buy-or something new you want to buy and might have a coupon for. I often get a coupon on a new item I would like to try, but don't know if the coupon would be worth it. It would be nice to check the price at Walmart, at the least, and see if that is something I would like to try :)

Also, I went to Walmart yesterday (after dh got home because when I went out with the kids, our Suburban started to overheat and I had to turn around and come home :( Not fun! But, it was a simple fix-and we know what it is, so dh can fix it easily and inexpensively-yay!) At Walmart, I had coupons for the Green Giant Vally Steamers-printed from the internet. It was $1 off one bag, and they were on sale 2/$2!! So, I got the veggies (peas for my creamed peas at Thanksgiving) for free! Since Eric was with me, he got to see 1st hand how much I save with coupons-if even at Walmart! Not sure how impressed he was, but I know I was :) I also have a coupon from Iams for a free 4lb bag of cat food -that saved me almost $8! Then, I had another coupon for $4 off any Purina cat or dog food-bought a small 3lb bag which cost exactly $4-so in cat food alone, I saved almost $12--Im so giddy-lol! I bought two Glade candles-some nice Holiday scented ones-had a coupon for $1.50 off on the two (from a Sunday paper). I paid $2.50 for both after the coupon. These last up to 27 hrs they say, so I think that was a pretty good deal.

Now, on to Aldi. In the Tulsa area, they are now accepting all debit and credit cards! YAY! Before, it was only a few they accepted, so really, you had to bring cash and if you were new to Aldi, that could be frustrating. But, once you got used to what they had and knew what you would be buying, you could pretty much have that cash amount ready when you went in the store :) But, for people who have put off going because of the cash issue, you can now feel free to check out your local Aldi and not worry about having enough money! Only remember to have that quarter for the shopping cart (which you get back) and bring along your own bags or buy them from there (which the plastic ones do hold up nicely! They also have some nice big cloth-like bags for around $2 each-very big bags!).