do you shop at aldi's?

[shelbylovesmelby]

Re: do you shop at aldi's?

Aldi was about to build a store in my town last year and the snobby Aholes in my town started a campaign against them by petitioning to the city council and a letter-writing campaign in the local paper. They all described Aldi as a decrepit undesirable store where the poverty-stricken shop. I was only one of two people who wrote letters to the editor in the paper in support of Aldi (versus probably over 50 against). The Aholes won and Aldi backed out of their deal to move into an empty lot at an intersection in our town. So I have to still drive 30 miles out of town every week to grocery shop at Aldi's in a neighboring city. It's still worth it for half-price premium-quality groceries.

How awful!!!! I'm sorry you have to drive out of town to shop @ your preferred place to save YOUR HARD EARNED $. If I would of known your town was having such troubles with the "high society set" having this store. I could of taken pics of the CADALAC ESCALADES, BMW's & LEXUS' I've seen in the lot of the one here & sent them to ya! People of every income shop @ them here. I'm sure alot of the folks of "old $" are the ones who complained the most not the folks who earned their $ & are doing what they have to do to keep more $ in their wallets... no matter what their income level is!

[MairGrif]

Re: do you shop at aldi's?

I have an Aldi's near by, but it's in a tricky area, so haven't gone yet. Also lazy, so haven't taken the time to learn the route. I have to make it a point to try them out.

[Amorphous02]

Re: do you shop at aldi's?

MairGrif: this is from an Aldi-veteran.
Carry a couple of bags in your pocket just in case.
Aldi is selfservice, BYOB .
The occasional sales on sunscreen, liquor, produce and articles like 6 drawer storage cart with castors for $19.99 is totally worth it...
Its cheaper than Walmart. They can afford this since they do not have baggers. But you need to keep a pricebook in your head. Dont spend blindly. You will of course do better with the BOGO sales in your grocery stores. :-D

[MoneyHoney]

Re: do you shop at aldi's?

I shop at Aldi frequently and am a big fan of the store. I'd just add that while most of their products are top notch, others are just not as good as the items offered in other stores. Fresh produce, for instance, is often not the best quality.
I've found that I can save a substantial amount of money buying most of my groceries from Aldi. But I purchase the remainder of the items I need at another local grocery (which frequently has pretty good sales too).

[tgavin71]

Re: do you shop at aldi's?

Have to agree about the quality of the fresh produce at Aldis. I buy everything else I need at Aldis but buy my fruit and veg from our local greengrocer. They are just as cheap and I try and support my local economy as much as possible.

[markio26]

Re: do you shop at aldi's?

i have been keeping a price book for savealot and it is a bit cheaper than aldi's... our new aldi's store that is set to open next year, should have cheaper prices on the opening.... everyone had told me aldi's was alot cheaper than savealot>>>>>
perhaps the things i purchase is cheaper or comparable in price to aldi's.... aldi's seems to have specials that are high in price or is something that i do not use... thanks for the comments.

[rusty@saving]

Re: do you shop at aldi's?

heck yeah i shop at aldi's! i recently went with my fiance to an aldi's after we looked at our income/bills stuff.
we spent $100 on a full cart and still have a lot of stuff a month later!
i take my lunch to work now(i work in a "regular" grocery store), and i eat a lunch meat sandwich(.35 a pack)(.40 for loaf of bread), and a frozen chimichanga(.70) for a grand total of $1.05 for lunch compared to $3 or more buying it at work. saving me $14/week. not including the savings on all the rest of the groceries.

[markio26]

Re: do you shop at aldi's?

i cannot wait until our new aldi's opens the store.. i have heard so many things... i want to go and shop there.. i am already receiving aldi's emails...they have some clever specials in electronics at times.

[mstrohm]

Re: do you shop at aldi's?

My wife and I love Aldi. It saves time and the hastle of saving coupons!

[b4freedom]

Re: do you shop at aldi's?

I went once. I purchased hotdogs for $0.49 and got really really sick. Never again.

[Crystallas]

Re: do you shop at aldi's?

I love walking through a path to get everything done. Im pretty fed up with these mega stores that have mega people that block every aisle. Aldis is such a simple, yet smart design. Lots of product, no space, yet the flow of traffic is still very smooth.

[tgavin71]

Re: do you shop at aldi's?

Here are some more tips for first time Aldi shoppers.
1. Place heavy items on the the conveyer belt first. They get scanned first and you put them into your trolley first. Checkout is so quick that you won't have time to organise your groceries at the end.
2. Pay with cash. If you pay with CC you may get charged an additional fee. Plus you have to put up with the groans from others in the line.
3. Put an esky or cooler in the boot of the car for freezer/fridge items. It is a lot easier than bags
4. I see a few people pack in bags/boxes while in the shop. I find it easier to have the empty boxes set up in the boot of the car. I wheel out the trolley. And then pack them into the boxes. After 3 years of Aldi shopping I now have it down to such a fine art that I have a separate box for each shelf in my pantry.
5. You'll need a coin for the trolley. In Australia it is $2. You get your money back when you return the trolley.
6. For specials such as tv sets, computers etc that are too good to miss out on make sure you are lining up before the store opens as they tend to sell out very quick.
7. Don't stand and chat to any friends you happen to meet in the store. The aisles aren't huge and it frustrates other shoppers who have to wait for you to finish your conversation.

[Kris10Leigh]

Re: do you shop at aldi's?

I'm just curious...what is an "esky"? I assume it's another word for cooler? I love shopping at Aldi's and those were great suggestions. I would like to embellish on the cooler suggestion and suggest you take the cooler right into the store with you and put it in the cart. There isn't time to organize the groceries, certianly, but you can take the groceries straight from the conveyer belt and throw (literally) them directly into the cooler saving one step. (Conveyer belt to cooler rather than coveryer belt to cart to cooler in trunk.)

I recently took a laundry basket and stuck it in my cart. I took a smaller rectangular shaped cooler but next time I will take a larger one as it will certainly fit. I worried it might not. It worked out quite well. Many of you spoke of being too "lazy" to shop there and I understand this. I'm the type of person that hates being in the way of other people and a little too sensitive to it. So I hate being in line with a cart load and having a line behind me. I always let folks with a few items only ahead of me, but still. I always break into a sweat unloading everything as fast as I can and then loading it again fast. I do hate the stress of it. Understand, no one makes me feel this way except me! You can take all the time you want! I just can't so, it is almost a workout for me! Well, with the laundry basket, once I get enough out of it that I can lift it out of the cart, I can dump it onto the belt and it saves time. Then of course on the other end, reloading the cart is a breeze and I don't have to spend time bagging anything but the top layer that is too heavy for me to carry.

If you DO take a laundry basket, I would suggest the opposite suggestion of unloading then loading heavy things first. Too many heavy things in a laundry basket it make it...well...heavy. I put the heavy things (milk) underneath the cart, actually.

I save at least 60% by shopping at Aldi's and there are times that I am able to do my entire shopping trip there with no extra trips. The only thing I couldn't find this trip were bread crumbs, and I can make my own. I actually prefer many of their brands to name brands! One example is popcorn! I love their popcorn over Orvall Redenbacker! Their version of "Chex Mix" is larger and only $2.00 and I dare you to tell the difference between it and the real stuff. From what I've read, it could well be the real stuff repackaged.

At our store (and I imagine they are all a bit different), the frozen meats are just fine. I wouldn't buy fresh though. They just did a news story on Aldi meat and Walmart too, and they package some of their fresh meat with carbon monoxide! No kidding! The packages that have a lot of air space between the meat and the wrapper is actually circulating carbon monoxide, the purpose of which is to keep the meat red longer. It may actually spoil before the color starts to turn brown.

As for produce, ours varies greatly and you need to know what fresh produce looks like before shopping there for produce. The last time I was there the onions were all molding and the potatoes were all sprouting! The broccoli was all turning yellow and had white mold on it! I passed up all but bannanas that day! Yesterday, however everything was beautiful! I bought corn on the cob that obviously simply needed to be used that day so we had it for dinner and it was delicious. And the blueberries were swarming with gnats, which is rather discusting. But everything else was very fresh. I trust my eye when it comes to produce though.

One last thing for a rather lengthy reply. (I'm passionate about this place!) At our stores, you seem to only find two income brackets shopping there: low income and high income! It's funny! If you ask me, shopping at Aldi's is why some of the wealthy are where they are! My mother wouldn't be caught dead there! Me? I love it, but them I am not into classifying people and I don't care what people think. (Except when it comes to being in the way. )

[tgavin71]

Re: do you shop at aldi's?

Sorry yes esky is the same as a cooler. I have tried the taking the cooler in the trolley idea but found it took up too much space.

[KellyJef]

Re: do you shop at aldi's?

We love Aldi's, too.

Their Appleton Farms brand pot roast (sells for $3.99) is absolutely delicious. It is pot roast with its own "gravy". I just add some rice or mashed potatoes for a very quick meal. It takes 6 minutes in the microwave.

I have at least 5 or 6 family members hooked on them Great to keep in the freezer for a cheap, fast meal. They also come in a pork roast and meat loaf but I've never tried them.

It's so nice to spend $.59 for a box of saltines instead of $.99 at Wegman's.

And a $1 for a box of complete pancake mix instead of $2.29 at Wegman's.