Long ago and far away, before we began our debt slaying journey, I had a great misconception. I thought that the ALDI grocery store chain was merely a place where dented cans and rotten produce came to rest. I didn’t realize how much you could save and the high quality of the products {especially meat, cheese, and fresh and frozen produce}.
If you aren’t aware, ALDI is an international grocery chain headquartered in Germany. It’s stocked in a warehouse fashion and you can easily navigate the store in less than 30 minutes {once you get used to where everything is located}.
1) Bring a Quarter. At ALDI, you “rent” your cart. It’s just one of the ways they cut down on overhead. No one to push carts in the lot = lower prices on food. As a result the carts are actually in a lot better shape because no one leaves them out in the elements. So find a secret place in your car to stash a quarter {and DON’T spend it}. The cashiers have been wonderfully gracious to me from time to time when I needed to exchange two dimes and nickel, too.
2) Cash or Debit Only. You can’t use checks or credit cards in ALDI. So either snag some cash {cash is ALWAYS best when grocery shopping} or know your debit PIN number.
3) Bring Your Own Bags. Another way ALDI passes along savings to you is buy making bags available for purchase or allowing you to bring your own. There’s no discount for bringing your own bags and the ones available for purchase are affordable. But if you can, stash yours in the trunk after unloading your groceries so they’re ready and available for the next trip. Or you can always pick up a random box in the aisle and use it to haul your goods home, too.
4) Hit the Staples. There are certain items I simply can’t buy at a Superstore or Grocery store anymore because the prices at ALDI are so rock bottom {even though you can’t coupon at Aldi, the prices are still cheaper than other places with coupons}. For me that includes Olive Oil, Milk, Eggs, Whole Bean Coffee, Oats, Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts, Fresh and Frozen Fruit, Fresh and Frozen Vegetables, Canned Black Beans, and some Cereals. I also like their paper products – Toilet Paper, Paper Towels, Paper Plates, etc. Baking items are also especially cheap.
5) To Brand or Not to Brand? Aldi doesn’t carry a lot of brand named items. So if you’re looking for Lay’s Potato chips or Tide Laundry Detergent, you’re probably not going to find them. However, I’ve found their brands to be reliable {and they come with a Double Guarantee where they offer to both replace the product and your money if you’re not satisfied}. There are things that I do not purchase at ALDI. For instance both their ketchup and salad dressing contain High Fructose Corn Syrup and we choose not to purchase products with HFCS. So those would be purchases we’d make elsewhere. And just like any other grocery store, sometimes a little bit of price comparison goes a long way to know where you’ll get the best deal. So if strawberries are a better price at Meijer, I’ll probably purchase them there. In addition, we purchase things like deodorant, shampoo, and soap elsewhere {although they do have their own brands of these items, too}.
And let me just go ahead and answer your question before it even makes it to the comments section. No, I do not drive around town all week shopping at a 150 different stores. Typically, I make one ALDI trip {totaling around $60} and one trip to either Meijer or Target depending on who has the best deals that pair with my coupons {which totals around $40} for everything else. I spend about 30 minutes at ALDI and about 45 minutes at either Meijer or Target {which are also the closest geographically to me}. I am a speed, on a mission sort of shopper.
If we were sitting down for coffee, I’d share more tips but in the meantime, check out ALDI’s Guide for Shopping Smarter.
And if you like these tips, check out the great tips the Money Saving Lords and Ladies shared on the Court of the Queen of Free on Facebook today. Join us for plenty of money saving, debt slaying encouragement, and general merriment.
*This post contains an affiliate link. So if you end up actually buying something on iTunes {and not just scoring the FREE app}, I might make some coin. I’m doubting it, but it is possible. And if you do, we royally thank you for helping us pay off debt more quickly.
