It occurred to me last week that living beautifully frugally just isn't as glamorous in the winter as it is in the summer (At least I'm not seeing it these days!) It's not that I'm not being frugal and enjoying the fruits of my labor, it's just that who wants to listen to me talking incessantly about NOT spending money. I need some pretty projects or to score some excess fruit for some jam! (I'm working on it people!)Anyway, here's a new one on my list! Aldi! Pretty much to anyone who lives near me, Aldi is not new. And I have shopped there in the past. But the ones that I went to were kind of dumpy in dumpy places and left me feeling poor. NOT something to make me feel good about frugality.
Anyway, there is a new Aldi that I need to drive by to get to my parent's house. For the heck of it I gave it another try a few weeks ago. I love it! It's neat and clean and there is hardly anyone in there during the day.
I'm not really brand loyal so the different packages did not bother me. I am ingredient loyal though so the first few times it called for me to read packages. (Aldi, does not, for instance carry applesauce without corn syrup in it and our health is not worth the savings!)
I have found some great buys on what I would consider pantry items though.
Decaffe Green Tea- $.99 vs $2.49
Decaffe Coffee- $2.49 vs $3.49
Sugar- $1.99 vs $2.29
Pepperochini peppers-$1.19 vs $2.49
Head of Cauliflower- $1.69 vs $2.50 (or even $2.99 some weeks)
a Mango- $.59 vs $2.00
And the list goes on. The produce is somewhat limited but seems to be in good condition for what they do have. We don't eat a ton of packaged food but this place would be a mecca for you if you did. I'm not sure I need to go every week but I might go every few weeks on the way to stock up on things I know are cheaper. The savings may not seem that big to you-$1 here, $.75 there but I calculated I saved $15 last week on stuff I would normally buy. My grocery budget is $100.That's 15%. So my groceries were %15 cheaper (or I got %15 more if you want to look at it that way!)
4 comments:
There's a nice Aldi's that opened up near our house, but I've only gone in once. This is because 99 percent of what I saw was laden with sugar or starch.
However, if they have good meat/produce/cheese deals, I should give them another look. What are your thoughts on those things?
It's funny you should ask-I actually just went today. I decided to go to Aldi's and see what I could get and then over to wegmans (right across the street) to get the rest.
Today I bought:
8 oz swiss cheese-$1.99
Grated Cheese-$1.99
Milk-$2.35
Eggs-$1.65
Half and Half-1 quart $1.99
Bananas-4.74 for a large bunch
Apples $1.99 for a large bag
Mushrooms $1.69 for 10oz
Baby Spinach $1.99 for 9oz0-Wegmans is $2.99 for 5oz!
I noticed that cauliflower was $2.49 a head (I paid $1.69 last week) but I also checked it at Wegman's and it was $3.49 head this week.
The produce is somewhat limited but all the basics are there. And as I mentioned, in good condition.
That was pretty much it. I didn't buy meat but they did have some nice looking meat that I told Will that we would try that in the future-I'll report back when I do!
I agree that so much of what they sell there is complete crap. I had to get over that to shop there!
Oops! I just noticed that I said I paid $4.74 for bananas. I paid $.74!
Oh and in all cases, everything I bought at Aldi was cheaper than Wegman's today.
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