Aldi's ?/Angel Food Ministries/Trader Joes

[Buzz's Buddy]

We love Aldi's.

Sure, occassionally our regular supermarket will have a sale price on something that makes it less than Aldi, but you can't count on those sales. Aldi ALWAYS has a low price.

We buy lots of stuff at Aldi. For example: pretzels, milk, eggs, cheese, pickles, relish, ketchup, mustard, BBQ sauce, flour sugar, canola oil, some produce, sandwich bags, garbage bags, ibuprofen, mac n cheese, taco seasoning, flour tortillas, salad mix and lots of stuff I'm sure I'm forgetting.

For the most part, the stuff we buy is stuff we can stock up on, so we try to go once or twice a month.

 

[C.Ann]

I love Aldi's! I'm always bewildered by people who say their stores are dirty, not stocked well, have spoiled produce, can get the same (or better) prices at their local supermarkets or grocery stores, etc.. That's just not the case here - at all!

Clean stores - well stocked - excellent produce - and prices that the supermarkets can't (and don't) match - unless they are running a super special sale - once in a blue moon - on a few items..

The only thing I don't care for at Aldi's is their chips.. The only kind I really like is Lay's regular - and Aldi's just don't taste the same to me..

Our very first one opened back in 2000 and I can honestly say I have saved thousands of dollars by shopping there! I still hit the regular supermarket (or Walmart) for a few "name brand" items that I'm loyal to - or meats that they don't carry all the time - but most everything else comes from Aldi's..

The one up here (at the lake - where I live 7 months out of the year) - is a distance away, so once I get "settled in" I try to make one really big trip (2 carts completely overflowing for approximately $90 to $120) - and then have my family swing by the Aldi's near their home when I need fresh produce and such.. If I were to buy the same amount of groceries at any of the supermarkets - coupons, special sales, discount cards, and all - my bill would be a minimum of $400!! (And some items I just would refuse to buy because they're priced too high..)

So - I guess it depends on your specific store - what you buy - what you like - and what your particular needs are..

Try a few things and if you don't like them, bring them back and you will get a full refund.. You'll never know until you try..

 

[ZPT1022]

Trader Joe's and Aldi's are actually owned by brothers. They are two seperate companies however - but they pretty much share a business model with different targets - LOTS of house brands, small footprint stores (apparently the stores in Germany are very different).

I shop TJs on occasion. The Aldi's I've been in has been horrible - but I suspect there is huge variation - one is opening closer to me and I'll give that one a try. I'll let AFMs resources go to people who need them - while I like to save money on groceries, I don't need charity to do so and I want AFM to have the resources to people who do need charity to feed their families.

Aldi's definitely varies widely by location. After hearing about it on here so much I stopped at one a few years back when visiting a different area, just to see what the big fuss was. It was awful!! Dirty, dingy, just gave me a real yuck feeling.

Two Aldi's have recently opened in my area. I kept seeing my neighbor coming in with bags from there. Finally I asked her how it was and she said it was great and she was saving a ton. One of the new ones is near a doctor one of my kids sees so we decided to pop in and check it out. OMG, it's like night and day from the one we were in a few years back!

I can't imagine that I will ever be able to do all of my shopping there but it's great for treats for the kids lunchboxes, some yogurts, cheese, etc.... I went last week and bought applesauce cups, juices, yogurts, crackers and more for under $30. This will fill in be lunches for three kids for the week and then some.


Now, your comment about Angel Food Ministries. From what I understand (there's not one near here and it's not the kinds of foods we eat anyhow) it's not income based at all, and actually you are not taking anything away from those who cannot otherwise afford it. I think that the more boxes that are purchased, the more are donated to the church that runs the program, so in fact you'd be helping with your purchase, not hurting.


Trader Joes- We haven't had anything yet that we don't like. I especially love that they have so many gluten free items (I have celiac disease), and they are very well labeled.

 

[crisi]

Now, your comment about Angel Food Ministries. From what I understand (there's not one near here and it's not the kinds of foods we eat anyhow) it's not income based at all, and actually you are not taking anything away from those who cannot otherwise afford it. I think that the more boxes that are purchased, the more are donated to the church that runs the program, so in fact you'd be helping with your purchase, not hurting.

ALL charities are resource constrained. The food doesn't grow on trees (well, some of it does, but its not free.) AFM gets most of their food from donations and their operating expenses from the faith community, but if donations from the companies providing them meant those companies sold less food, AFM would get fewer donations and be able to serve even less people than they do now. Moreover, at some point the largess of the companies donating the food will be stretched. Its not ethical, in a Utilitarian sense of the word, for someone who doesn't need AFM to use them.

(On the other hand, I'm probably more ethical than AFM's CEO who gets $2.5 Million in compensation and is under investigation by the FBI and the IRS. I didn't know that until I started trying to find out how they were funded. At the very least, I suspect that, even if they are innocent of legal wrongdoing, they will see a huge decrease in their donations.)

 

[Cindy B]

Well I went to Trader Joes for the first time ever and have LOVED everything so far- we had a flat bread pizza- pesto and tomato delicious. Last night had the vietnamese frozen green beans DELICIOUS! I can't wait to eat everything else. I wish it was closer- it was about an hour to get there.

I don't think we have an Aldi near us. I'll have to check.
Hey there is one close by- so tell me what's it like? What I like at Trader Joe's was the hormone free stuff they had. Is Aldi like the opposite of that? Is the milk hormone free? Anybody know?

LOL about hormone free food at Aldi. Aldi is the overprocessed haven!

 

[twinglesmome]

I can do approximately 70% of my grocery shopping at Aldi. One thing I purchased that I threw out was the processed American cheese slices. I tend not to buy prepackaged/box mix items. I just bought a tube of lipstick that seems okay. Has anyone tried their skin care products? How are they?

I love Trader Joes. My favorite item from there is the Vanana yogurt. I also like their selection of cheeses.

I am not familiar with Angel Food Ministries.

 

[C.Ann]

I LOVE LOVE LOVE the white 13 gallon trash bags from Aldi--- they are thicker than any other brand- including Hefty! Seriously, ya'll should try them!

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Aren't they awesome? And have you noticed that they have a very nice scent to them - not that horrible "plastic" smell? My son-in-law was up here when I was getting my garbage ready to go out Sunday night and when I put the new bag in the 13 gallon basket he noticed it right away.. He wanted to know why their garbage bags didn't smell so nice and I told him, "Because they're Hefty bags.." The nice, sweet scent stayed in the room until the next day - and if you get close to the basket right now, you can still smell it today..

 

[DMRick]

Tried Aldis once. Didn't return. Wasn't impressed with anything I had purchased. Came away with thought....why are we eating off brands when I can get the same items in name brand for basically same price as the off brand when on sale at my regular supermarket?

I'm with you. Our local Aldi's store has the worst vegetables of any of our local stores. You may get banana's at .33 a pound, but they rot out in two days. I save so little, it's not worth not knowing if I'll like the off-brand or if I do find something I like, that it will be there the next visit. Many of their items are overprocessed foods. I save the most getting my veggies at a small store called Price Rite. I've tried Aldi's a few times, and have yet to be impressed. I'm stuck on certain name brands, and I'd rather just wait for sales and stock up. I found the savings on the items I buy, to be just pennies...clearly not worth it to me. I certainly haven't seen any big difference in prices. I have a list I carry with me, and for a few pennies, I can be sure I like an item.
Not many people shop at our closest Aldi's, and the expiry dates are way too close on fresh foods. I shop the sales at Price Chopper and Hannafords in our area, and keep a well stocked freezer, and feed the two of us well on $75 a week (not counting paper supplies that I also shop at sales and stock up, and once a week eating out). I did stop in a Walmarts Supercenter yesterday, and a few things were cheaper than Price Chopper, but not much. I picked up a few things (oranges, paper plates that were on special, cold cuts/cheese).

 

[C.Ann]

Not many people shop at our closest Aldi's,

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I know exactly the one you are talking about - and I wouldn't shop there just due to the location alone - even if the stuff was free..

I've had no problems at all with the others I have used - including the produce.. Of course it got a little "sticky" when DH was still alive - because he worked for one of the "major" players - but even his fellow employees did a great deal of shopping at Aldi's..

It's all about location and store management - similar to the bad rap that "all" Walmarts get..

 

[DMRick]

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I know exactly the one you are talking about - and I wouldn't shop there just due to the location alone - even if the stuff was free..

I've had no problems at all with the others I have used - including the produce.. Of course it got a little "sticky" when DH was still alive - because he worked for one of the "major" players - but even his fellow employees did a great deal of shopping at Aldi's..

It's all about location and store management - similar to the bad rap that "all" Walmarts get..

umm..the location is a half mile from my home. It has nothing to do with the location LOL, which is a safe location. The Price Rite isn't far from it, and I have no problem going there. I've also been to the one in the BS area which came to the area first, many many years ago , and I found it no different..maybe the BS one was a little messier. I just don't care for Aldi's or many of their products. Those are the only two I know about in this area. Maybe you have found a nicer one. I prefer brands I'm familiar with and enjoy, and I don't find the savings to be anything big.

 

[Cindy B]

Not impressed with Aldi either. The products there are HIGHER than the local grocery store. When Wegmans (at traditionally higher priced grocery store) is lower in price than Aldi's, you know there is is a problem.

 

[zoesbargainmama]

I love Aldi's! I just recently discovered Aldi's and it has saved us so much money!
Things I buy there every week include

Snacks like pretzels
milk
ground turkey
yogurt
eggs
cheese sticks
chicken salad (this is so good for the price!)
pork chops
toilet paper
paper towels
pasta
spaghetti sauce
saltines
burritos
cereal

The only thing we've found that we don't like it my kids won't eat the cheerios for some reason

We love the Fit and Active stuff and buy the yogurt, popcorn, wheat crackers (YUM!), soups, cookies, rice cakes.. we've tried just about everything and haven't found anything we didn't like.

There is also a boxed cheesecake mix that is under $2 that is soo good!

I really wish we had a trader joe's closer! The nearest one is over an hour away.

 

[Mackwell]

Aldi's Fit & Active frozen fudge bars are a favorite in our house. They are 100 calories (1 point under Weight Watchers), and the kids just love them.

The downside is that they come out to about 50 cents per bar (which is still less expensive than the Weight Watchers equivalent).