theres an Aldi's opening by me....

[thebigkahuna]

Do you shop at Aldi's? Is it great? tell me why... Does it stink? Tell me why....
How much do they charge for grocery bags? Because I *know* I will forget mine !
How is the Aldi brand? Compared to national brands? Is there anything you *won't* buy from there?

Every dollar I can save is another Disney dollar!!!

 

[adventure_woman]

I am a newer Aldi shopper. I still haven't tried most of their stuff. Milk is always cheaper - usually about .50 less than other places (even if on sale). Sometimes eggs are cheaper. I just got really cheap green peppers and onions.

 

[happily single]

Funny you asked, I just got back from Aldi's. It had been several months since I last went. In my opinion, and I know it's regional, the prices have increased. Milk was $2.39 a gallon but they didn't have no-fat. Butter was $2.49 and they were out of eggs, but the sign said they were maybe .98 a dozen.

I did buy their pizza bites and both my boys just threw them out My boys aren't too picky when it comes to pizza bites either.

Anywho, plastic bags were .6 at my store. I do like their mac and cheese, shredded chesse, ham steaks were cheap, but I didn't like hte look of them. Vegatables are usually cheap oh, and I got apple juice for $1.18 a bottle

 

[csharpwv]

Everything we have ever bought from Aldi was good!
Often times their name brand frozen foods ((SP?)Stauffers, Marie Callenders, Ore Ida, etc) are much cheaper than Wal-Mart Super Centers.
Be sure to check bags of produce, potatoes etc (Just like at other grocery stores) for bad spots. (They usually pre-package their produce)

Also be sure to take a quarter for the shopping carts! I think ALL stores should do that to their carts - you rarely ever see stray carts in the parking lot - people always return them to get their quarter back! Imagine that - someone will walk across a parking to to get a quarter back from a shopping cart - but they will circle the parking lot for 15 minutes to park closer to the door...

They often have some name brand cereals as well - and of course they are exactly the same - but in bigger boxes - with lower prices.

We shop at Aldi when we can - but their isn't one in our town, so we don't do all of our shopping there.

The thing to remember with reusable shopping bags is that instead of squirreling them away in a closest or cabinet like we all do with plastic shopping bags - PUT YOUR CAR KEYS INSIDE OF/ON TOP OF ONE OF THE BAGS - so the next time you go to get your car keys to go somewhere you will just take the bags back to the car with you! AND if you have a reusable shopping bag with a pocket, put some quarters in an old pill bottle so you will always have quarters for the carts AND you will remember to take your shopping bags in with you!

Your grocery bill will go down if you always shop there!

 

[MintJulep]

We have an Aldi's in our area, and I used to shop there a lot, until I learned that if I shopped with coupons and bought things when they were on sale, I could save more.

I never minded the taste and the quality of the Aldi brand products. Actually, I really couldn't tell the difference.

One item that you can save a lot of money on at Aldi's is their cereal. Where we live cereal is really expensive. For example, yesterday I saw a box of Capt N' Crunch for $3.99 and it was marked as a "Good Buy."

At Aldi's you can buy a box of cereal for about $1.89. (Their granola is a little more expensive.) Plus they have a lot of different kinds to choose from including, their brand of fruit loops, lucky charms, Cheerios and bran flakes.

I am not sure how much the bags cost, but you can use the boxes that are housing the products in the store, to cart your groceries home. (Just don't empty a box that is completely full of product. They don't like that very much. hahahaha) Plus, the box will make a great play area for your pets!

 

[Pigeon]

I like pretty much everything I've tried. I don't buy lots of highly processed frozen food though, and I don't buy meat there usually. I haven't bought any that was bad, but for some reason it just doesn't appeal to me the way they have it packaged.

I've liked dried beans, dried fruit, rice, milk, cheese, yogurt, eggs, tortillas, canned fruit packed in juice, spaghetti sauce (I like the slightly more expensive version, can't remember what they call it), pastas, coffee, tea, baking supplies, butter, some produce.

Their chocolate is to die for.

 

[SoonerSarah]

I haven't been to an Aldi's in years, but that is where my Mom did a vast majority of our shopping growing up. I know we ate a lot of foods there, and that their selection has grown quite a bit since then, especially in the fresh food/refrigerated section.

 

[adventure_woman]

Their chocolate is to die for.

NOOOO!!!! Don't tell me that!! Now I am not going to be able to resist when i am checking out next time!

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

At our Aldi's paper bags are a nickel, plastic are a dime. It is a quarter for the cart which you get back when you return it, or lose it if you pass it on.

I shop at Aldis and Wegmans and between the two have cut down my coupon time quite a bit. I still coupon, but when the paper towels run out and no one has them on sale, these two stores provide a product that is very good and inexpensive.

My favorite deals at Aldis are:

Fit/Lively products: waffles, dried fruit, chicken broth, and 100 calorie snacks

Plain tortilla chips, their brand Velveeta, and their brand of Rotel.

Products that fall within the weekly category sale; Italian week, German Food week, etc. Each one will have a few specific items that are really really awesome. Blackforest fruit snacks - TO DIE FOR.

Turkey Bacon, Turkey Ham

Steel Cut Oats ($1.89 at Aldis vs. $4.99 at the grocery store)

Napkins, paper towels, and freezer bags

I also get many other items, it is a hit and miss on if we will like them and they do change their product around a bit. I also don't purchase many processed foods (except for DS) and this week you couldn't beat their squash prices anywhere!!! Acorn squash was .69 EACH and Butternut .89 EACH. It was anywhere from .99 to $1.29 per pound in the grocery store and trust me those suckers can be heavy.

The chocolate/coffee candy bar is so hard to resist. I have gotten to the point I can't even look in that area anymore without picking one up.

 

[thebigkahuna]

Wow, thanks for all the replies!
sounds like they are worth looking into for saving a few dollars - currently, I've been doing most of my shopping at Super Target, and I can't save money there for the life of me. go in for eggs, come out with pants.
need milk? oh yes, and these cute shoes too!
it's simply too much tempation for me.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

don't buy the pecan sandy cookies. every cookie I ate had nut shells in them

 

[LovetheMouse12302]

We have tried several items at aldis, some we liked others we didn't. Ds told me his frozen pizza tasted like cardboard, so that's not a hit here, their cereal dh & ds love I only will eat name brand cereals, a lot of their snack items are really good. In fact, the kids I babysit request I buy aldis snacks because they taste better to them. We have found their produce to be very fresh and a great price. When I'm in a pinch for time I buy their instant potatoes and they are the best instant potatoes I've had. I usually go there once a month. I think you'll enjoy the savings.

 

[My3kiddos]

We usually buy cereal, milk (it's 1.49 a gallon most of the time), and dry goods (flour, sugar, beans, pasta). I'm not a cereal eater, but I LOVE their blueberry crunch cereal. I could eat that stuff for every meal.

 

[Mama-san]

I really like Aldi's. I keep a stash of bags in the rear of my van for my trips. Use all of their canned veggies, pasta mixes, cereals, frozen fish, nuts, and produce. Generally don't buy their meats (will buy at other stores on sale), but everything I've tried is good. There are other things I buy at Bi-Lo or the like, but I always go to Aldi's first!

Don't forget the cheap wine!!

 

[cjnix29]

We just got an aldi's this summer. I haven't tried a lot of stuff, but we like their take and bake pizzas. they also have a trail mix that is really good, and only 1.99 compared to 4.99! Their garlic bread is good, produce, and their potato chips are really good. Like their cottage cheese. We've tried their ice cream bars, my husband likes their fit and lively fudge bars, take like the weight watcher ones at half the price. The part I don't like is that it is cash or debit card only.

 

[Kies99]

Everything you need to know about Aldi's is at this link:

http://www.disboards.com/search.php?searchid=14014916

There are 80 threads about Aldi's here on the boards.

 

[thebigkahuna]

don't buy the pecan sandy cookies. every cookie I ate had nut shells in them

 

[thebigkahuna]

Don't forget the cheap wine!!

I like the way you think!!!

 

[kayrosek]

I'm an avid Aldi's shopper and I really like most of thier foods. The biggest exception I can think of is their spagetti o's. Those just taste really off to me. I use thier produce alot and have only had problems when I diden't stop to check the bag carefully. We drink alot of juice and it is way cheaper there. I have bought some meat there and my only complaint was lack of selection. If they have what I need there I buy it otherwise I resort to the grocer close to my house. I especially like Aldi's around this time of the year. Around Thanksgiving they get alot of specialty food products that continue through Christmas (there chocolate is really good and the boxes are cheaper than other brands) but they also get toys. Last year a they had a few of my kids must haves (bakugan, barbies, fisher price camera) for less than at other stores.

 

[DisneyCrafter]

If it weren't for ALDI, my husband and I would be eating a lot of macaroni & cheese and peanut butter and jelly for dinner! I agree with a PP in saying that you can get a lot of things for cheaper other places when the coupons line up correctly but no other store is as cheap on a consistent basis as ALDI.

I love their French Vanilla FF Coffee Creamer, although they did just increase the price from $1.69 to $1.99 at our store. That's still half the price of what you would pay for it at any other store, especially in our area. I know I've checked.

Their egg prices are hit or miss. One week their .69 and the next their $1.29. I've noticed the prices on many things have been fluctuating there lately. A couple weeks ago the 5lb. of sugar was $2.79 and I passed it up but last week it was $1.99 so I grabbed it and low and behold this week it was back up to $2.79. Same thing with butter, it is usually $1.69 but this week it was $2.49. Not sure what's up with that.

I usually get things like frozen corn, chicken kiev, frozen shrimp for DH, bread, cream cheese, butter, chocolate chips, cereal, pretzels, etc. I don't get my meat from there purely based on selection and the fact that I can get it for cheaper somewhere else.

LOVE ALDI!