Aldi's

arthurb999 · #1 (**permalink**) 03-02-2009, 12:16 PM

Aldi's just opened right near my house and I went there for the 1st time this weekend. I saved 40-50% on everything I bought... and so far.... what i tried is good. '

Does anyone shop there?

-Arthur

wincrasher · #2 (**permalink**) 03-02-2009, 06:50 PM

I've found their stuff comparable to house brands at most grocery stores. Thier fresh foods and meats were kinda gross though.

I prefer going to Costco these days.

disneysteve · #3 (**permalink**) 03-02-2009, 07:42 PM

We stopped in at one a month or two ago to take a look. We found very few items that we would buy. A lot of processed stuff, junk food and lower grade items. The things that we would buy weren't any cheaper there than at our regular grocery store. We saw several things that were more expensive than at the regular store. I don't see us going back for any reason.

whitestripe · #4 (**permalink**) 03-02-2009, 08:56 PM

i went to an aldi store for the first time a couple of weeks ago. its a 30 minute drve from my house so i was interested to see if it was worth it. i've come to the conclusion that its not really. i saved about 9c per packet of spaghetti, about 30c for juice 2lt bottles. not a great deal when compared with petrol costs. the biggest saving i found was cheese, normally home brand is $9 a kilo and at aldi it was $7.29. so all in all, i wasn't that impressed.

arthurb999 · #5 (**permalink**) 03-03-2009, 07:29 AM

I found a bunch of stuff cheaper... milk, bread, pasta sauce, oatmeal, cereal, oj, canned veggies, block cheese, produce.

Maybe i am jsut a bad shopper

GREENBACK · #6 (**permalink**) 03-03-2009, 07:34 AM

I think this came up in a thread a few months ago. I saw a program about Aldi's that explained that their products are made by the same companies that make products for other stores but are given different labels. I don't shop there much but was satisfied the last time I did. I didn't see any incredible deals but that might depend on what you're looking for.

Daylily · #7 (**permalink**) 03-03-2009, 06:19 PM

arthurb,
If you are happy with it, that is all that matters. I shop there when I am near one. Based on the responses to this thread and to others on the topic of Aldis, I am guessing that all Aldis might not be the same. I have found that the best deals there are on certain fresh produce. Broccoli can be purchased for 99-cents, mushrooms can be purchased for 99-cents. The other grocery stores in my area charge twice that. Similar price savings can be found on potatoes, onions, romaine, spinach, bananas. Many of their baking supplies including nuts are also priced below what I can purchase them for elsewhere.

arthurb999 · #8 (**permalink**) 03-09-2009, 10:19 AM

Well I'm on week 2 shopping there and got my usual ~100-120 a week grocery bill to 70 this week so yea I'm happy

GREENBACK · #9 (**permalink**) 03-09-2009, 10:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by arthurb999

Well I'm on week 2 shopping there and got my usual ~100-120 a week grocery bill to 70 this week so yea I'm happy

I might need to give them another look.

project15 · #10 (**permalink**) 03-09-2009, 06:11 PM

I used to be an all Aldi shopper. Over the years, we've found that there's some things that we just don't like the taste of - like Milk (I'm a milk elitist I guess since I only like Dominick's or Jewel's milk, not Target, Aldi, or anywhere else). So we go to Aldi for the cheap things that we still like the taste of and then we go to Target for cheap cereal and then we go to Dominick's for produce and other things. I really like their cheeses, ground turkey, yogurt, chips and salsa, peanut butter and jelly, and other things like that. We don't like the milk, fresh fruits/veggies, or sandwich meat.

whitestripe · #11 (**permalink**) 03-09-2009, 07:11 PM

i took one look at the fresh produce section of aldis and backed away slowly! it all looked terrible. limp lettuce, bruised grapes, beans, bananas etc.

like i said, the cheese was a good deal. i also just remembered after reading another reply that i bought some packaged nuts there that were about 85c cheaper than our regular supermarket.

all in all though, i do not eat the food that they sell at aldis for a lot cheaper, so i guess personally i will not get the great deals there that a lot of other people get. i don't eat pre-packaged foods, chips, frozen foods, pre-crumbed meat, etc which is what our aldis store sells a lot of.

also the pasta i bought for 9c cheaper? i could tell it was cheaper. normally i do not get that with pasta, but this time i could tell something about the texture... oh well!

arthurb999 · #12 (**permalink**) 03-10-2009, 07:23 AM

I guess it's a hit or miss depending on the location and time you go. I got 1st thing in the morning on Sat and the produce is great... no rotten stuff

My aldi is in a very good neighborhood so I think it's really dependant on that. Its funny the cars in the parking lot.... all high end vehicles and the cars at the stop and shop are all beaters... go figure.

GREENBACK · #13 (**permalink**) 03-10-2009, 11:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by arthurb999

I guess it's a hit or miss depending on the location and time you go. I got 1st thing in the morning on Sat and the produce is great... no rotten stuff

My aldi is in a very good neighborhood so I think it's really dependant on that. Its funny the cars in the parking lot.... all high end vehicles and the cars at the stop and shop are all beaters... go figure.

The one's in the beaters probably have a lot of extra money to spend...lol.

whitestripe · #14 (**permalink**) 03-10-2009, 07:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GREENBACK

The one's in the beaters probably have a lot of extra money to spend...lol.

lol!

rob62521 · #15 (**permalink**) 03-14-2009, 08:21 AM

Daylily, I'm thinking you might be on to something. We have two Aldi's in our town. Both are clean and bright and have good produce. My dh who is now retired willingly goes to Aldi for me with a list, as long as it is not the first of the month. Our local groceries and Wal-Mart are much higher on fresh fruits and veggies and things like feta cheese and bleu cheese and frozen whole chickens. Dh goes every other week, we stock up, and we purchase the things we don't get there at the grocery or Target. It certainly helps with keeping the cost down per meal.

As for the cars in the parking lot, the Aldi on the east end of town does have the more "affluent" vehicles and we laugh as we see the big, fancy cars parked there and the folks with their shopping carts piled high. Maybe that's how they afford those big fancy cars.

Mamaw · #16 (**permalink**) 03-14-2009, 08:36 AM

I sure appreciate these post. Aldi has been in our town for about three weeks but is many miles away. Glad to learn I am not missing that much.

#17 (**permalink**) 03-15-2009, 02:33 AM

Thank you. Good idea.

marvholly · #18 (**permalink**) 03-15-2009, 06:37 AM

I have shopped at Aldi for more than 35 years. The list of items I buy there has gotten much shorter over the years as I find more outlet stores (bread items), watch for combos of coupons & sales on cereal, paper goods, frozen & canned veg and breakfast/snack type bars, dairy items (cheese mostly).

The produce at my 3 Aldi is always BAD-would be on the reduced rack at ANY of my independent fruit/veggie markets and MUCH cheaper too.

That said there are still items that are a good buy for me:
plain non-fat yougurt
salsa
cream cheese (sometimes)
snack food (chips, pretzels....)
cookies (sometimes)
salad dressing (sometimes)

You need to go and check out how prices/quality compares to what you regularly pay for comparable items. If you are not a sale watcher, coupon user & multiple store shopper than Aldi can be quite a good deal.

emilywebster07 · #19 (**permalink**) 04-04-2009, 01:29 PM

Aldi has worked superb for me, the milk price is incomparable.

canadamom · #20 (**permalink**) 04-26-2009, 11:55 AM

Aldis soup is excellent and cheaper than Campbells.