My Aldi Experience ~

For those of you who already shop there, feel free to say "I told you so." For those of you who don't, you may want to give it a try. I was quite impressed.

Now, it is different in a lot of ways:

*You have to pay a 25 cent deposit for the use of a cart, but you do get your quarter back at the end.

*You have to bring your own bags or boxes or you can buy theirs. This is their way of cutting costs and encouraging green living.

*You have to bag up your own groceries.

*They do not accept checks or credit cards but they do except cash and debit cards.

However, it is very clean, the prices are all marked clearly and there are some real savings...even if they don't accept coupons (HORROR OF HORRORS!).

Here's what I got last night:

I spent $24.92 total.

I bought approximately 3 lbs of 93/7 lean ground beef for only $2.99/lb. And two 1.2-lb. packages of 93/7 lean ground turkey for only $2.49/lb. I didn't even need the turkey for this week but couldn't pass it up. The cashier says these prices don't fluctuate much. I normally pay between $3.58 - $4.00/lb for lean ground beef and never buy ground turkey unless I find it on sale for $2.99/lb or less. So to know I can get these prices everyday is AWESOME!

I also picked up grape tomatoes for $1.59 ea. and 1lb. baby carrots for only $0.99. Both were of excellent quality.

Last, I picked up a couple of boxes of cereal for my hubby. He loves the healthier, flakes with granola clusters and he also adds granola to all his cereal. So I picked up a 16oz. box of granola for only $1.69 and a box of flakes w/ clusters for only $1.89. I normally buy Cascadian Farm granola at Walmart. It's regularly $2.92 - $3.18per box. So even when I have $1.00 coupons (which isn't always), I still pay more than I did at Aldi. Now I just need my husband to test it out and see if the quality matches.

My friend Sharon has been shopping at Aldi regularly and created a general price list for some of the items she regularly buys. She was very kind to share it with me and I'm passing it on to you:

cream of soups .59ea
tomato paste 6oz .39ea
tomato sauce 8oz .25ea
canned beans- kidney, black, etc .59ea
salad dressing-basic Ranch, Italian etc $1.49
gourmet salad dressing-equivalent to Marzettis-$1.99
"Rotel" 14.5oz .49
russet potatoes .30/lb-10lbs
tortilla chips 13oz-.99ea
frozen chicken nuggets(breast meat) 3.99/32oz
shredded cheese- many varieties $2.59/32oz
hamburger/hot dog buns .79 pkg
split top wheat bread $1.19ea
frozen pizzas $2.49
flour tortillas 10ct/lg .99
"Ritz" crackers 16oz $1.79
sour cream 16oz .89
dz lg eggs .79

Keep in mind that most of these are generic brands to us but from the feedback I've heard, they are quality products.

They also carry a line called "Fit n Active". That was the brand of ground beef and turkey I bought however I also saw cereal bars, granola bars, cereal, etc.

And I noticed their brand of milk was called Friendly Farms. The whole version was $2.32 per gallon. I heard through the grapevine that this comes from the same dairies as Borden.

I'm very excited about this new venue for cutting costs. Even though I had to drive a ways to get there, I just did most of the rest of my shopping at the CVS, Walgreens and Buy for Less that's right up the street. Then I just hit Homeland on my way back home.

Let me know what you think!