Aldi

I am going to talk today about Aldi's, my favorite grocery store. I had always thought that Aldi's was a store that sold outdated food, food that was going bad and that only "poor" people shopped there. Plus the ones in that were near me at that time were in not to great neighborhoods. Then they finally built one a couple miles from my house, in a very nice part of town.

I kept hearing about it from the blogs that I frequent. The bloggers were constantly singing the praises of Aldi. And on this new frugal mission, I thought I should give it a try. Well, in June of 2008 I finally went and I was shocked at the prices, they were that low.

They only sell their store brand, so instead of 12 brands of pasta, there is just one. Same for tissues, icecream and flour!A few things to note is you need to put a quarter in the cart to get it out and need to bring your own bags (or pay for theirs) and then bag the items yourself.

I started off slowly, just buying a few things and only one of each, just to try, that way if we didn't like it, I didn't have 10 of them sitting in my pantry. If it was something my family didn't like, I simply didn't buy it the next time.

They do sell soy milk, but for the other soy products for my daughter with food allergies, I do have to shop else where. I buy all of my staples there and their produce is great.

I am going to list some of the items that I routinely buy there and the prices, prepare youself to be amazed!

canned green beans 49 cents
Quick oats (large container) $1.79
canned tomato sauce (8 ounces) 25 cents
tomato paste (small can) 39 cents
gallon of milk $1.25-$1.79 depending on kind, we buy skim, so $1.79 for us
diced tomatoes (large 28 ounce can) 89 cents
can of sauerkraut 55 cents
spaghetti 2 pound box $1.59
10 pack of powdered drink mixes 89 cents
ground turkey (frozen) 1 lb $1.19
Italian bread $1.19 a loaf
white or wheat bread 60 cents a loaf
Their prices on fruit and vegetables vary but I cannot beat their price anywhere.

I also know that most of thier store brands are made by top notch name brand companies. We have loved all of the products that we get their. I get all my staples there, it really stretches our grocery money.

I have not noticed a flaw in the name brand. Even their store brand Cheerios taste just like the name brand ones. And I am a Cheerio snob, they are hard to match.

So what are you waiting for? Try it out, you won't be sorry, I promise.

This post links to Frugal Friday, Super Saving Saturdays and Works for Me Wednesdays.