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Visited an Aldi's today


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I did an item-by-item comparison a month or so ago, did a trip to Aldi's and then took my receipt to Publix and checked the prices on the exact same items. I made sure they were the same size (or converted to prices by the ounce) and found that, even though I usually buy generics and store brands at Publix, I saved more than 20% purchasing the same items at Aldi's.

 

Now, I don't buy a lot of processed or prepared foods. So, I was looking at staples like tomato paste and rolled oats and baking soda and flour and similar items. So, that may make a difference, too.

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Oh, that's a shame! I wonder if the stores and their inventory vary from location to location? We started shopping at Aldi's 2 months ago...and we are thrilled at the savings. Before that I shopped at Kroger, and then when spending $400-500 every 2 weeks became too unbearable, I switched to Walmart. Still I would spend between $350 and $400 each payday. We tried Aldi's and the first trip we just went berserk with fun. My dh and I filled 2 baskets with a beautiful assortment of things...nutritious things like raw nuts and fresh veggies and 100% mango guava juice for 99 cents a half gallon! We got many, many more things than I normally buy, and spent $260. Since that first trip we have never spent over $250. and I am blessed to have tons of extra canned goods and lovely frozen fruits and veggies. I am very impressed with every item's quality, too. Oh, the frozen green beans from France are fabulous. Shrimp for less than $4. a pound. Wonderful hummus dip and their soy milk is the best I've ever tasted. I am so glad we found this store. We bring our own cloth bags and freezer box and it's fun to bag things, too. Maybe you could try again another day and find more impressive savings.

Ginger

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I was not impressed!

I saw a couple of things...milk and broth that I was a good buy, but other than that, it was the same (some higher) price as where I shop.

 

And here I was expecting another Aldi's convert!

 

I've only recently started shopping at our local Aldi's. Though I hate to do it, I do shop at four or five different stores now to save money, but *only* because we only have one Main Drag in this town and I have to pass by all those stores anyway. If I had to go out of my way at all, I wouldn't do it.

 

That said, not everything at our Aldi's is cheaper, but it's not more expensive, either. And I don't shop there every week. I've gone Commando and plan our meals and my shopping around the weekly sales. I don't know how it is in other places (maybe someone can indulge in a *slight* hijack and answer this question?) but we don't get an Aldi's flyer every week. As a matter of fact, I'm not sure we even get one every month.

 

But I was really pleased with the sale price stuff we got. And Sweetie is taking a lot of stuff on the truck with him to try to keep expenses down -- soup and the like -- and the Aldi's brand was usually cheaper and he likes it just fine.

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I was not impressed!

I saw a couple of things...milk and broth that I was a good buy, but other than that, it was the same (some higher) price as where I shop.

 

Yep, I had the same experience. I do stop if I am in that part of town, but it wasn't worth going out of my way for 3-4 items.

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Our family has benefited greatly from the food savings at Aldi for the past 15 years. The quality received for the price paid (we shop bare-bones) is such a blessing.

 

Where, indeed, have you found better prices?? Save-A-Lot is a similar (but I feel a bit inferior) chain, but I am curious if your local regular grocery store has extensive generics or do you have another secret source for food that is cheaper than Aldi?? :)

 

Please share!

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Not the OP, but i do most of my shopping at Sam's Club or Costco (Costco 90% right now, but it's 60 miles away - Sam's will 1.5 miles on the 22nd when they open).

 

There just wasn't enough of what i buy to see a huge savings. Even if something is cheaper than at Costco, it would throw off my bulk routine and end up costing me more as i ran out.

 

I actually have to drive 5 miles to get to Aldi or WM, so Sam's will become my closest "store".

 

And, i can see if i was shopping at a "regular" grocery store - those prices give me heart failure anyway! LOL!! (right now my main shopping trip is $250 and lasts me 4-6 weeks)

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Our family has benefited greatly from the food savings at Aldi for the past 15 years. The quality received for the price paid (we shop bare-bones) is such a blessing.

 

Where, indeed, have you found better prices?? Save-A-Lot is a similar (but I feel a bit inferior) chain, but I am curious if your local regular grocery store has extensive generics or do you have another secret source for food that is cheaper than Aldi?? :)

 

Please share!

 

 

I shop once a month at Walmart, Sam's Club and Costco...they are all on the same road(about 13miles from house).

There are 2 Walmart's 5 miles from house..different directions, which I will not do my grocery shopping at. The one that is 13 miles from me is cheaper!

About every 5 months I go to the Tyson Chicken plant(18 miles from house) to get our chicken.

I go every other week to get milk and bread from Publix(1 mile from house).

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I'll have to check out Aldi's again. I've been in there twice and each time I mostly found processed foods. I don't buy many processed foods, so I didn't go back.

 

I'll have to go with a list next time and try to find the staples and compare those prices. My impression of it was of a lot of processed or pre-packaged type stuff.

 

But everyone else loves Aldi, so maybe I was missing it those two days... I did have the kids with me....

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We just got an Aldi's here and I stopped in earlier this week. The variety is not great, but the saving were awesome. I saw the biggest savings on produce, dairy, and bread. The quality is also good. We have a Save A Lot here and the prices are about the same as Aldi but the quality if horrible. I hate the bagging process, but I read somewhere online where someone suggest bringing small laundry baskets and having cashier put things directly into the laundry basket. I will try that next time.

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I have to agree with you, i didn't hink there was anything special about the place. I used to buy alot of processed food and while Aldi's prices were slightly better than the shelf prices of things they were never better than a sale price. So it was much easier to wait for the regular stores to have a sale, I'd get a name brand I knew as well as actually a bag to take it home in for less money and hassle than Aldi's.

 

Now I have started making almost everything from scratch and I still don't find Aldi's a better deal. There basic supplies are better priced than the grocery store if you buy standard sized things, but I have found it's more more economical to buy in bulk. So I buy most of my staples through the food co-op (COuntry Life) or at Sam's.

 

I know there is a big variance in how "good" the Aldi's are. My ALdi's has not much produce and it's moderately priced. My parents live 45 minutes away and their Aldi's has produce specials every week. They have at least 3 or 4 items that are 39 cents, like a 14 oune container of fresh broccoli crowns, a pound of baby carrots, a 3 pack of tomatoes (and they are really nice), 8 ounce container of mushroom etc. If I lived closer I WOULD shop at their Aldi's but when I have 5 different chain stores within 5 minutes of my house it doesn't make sense to drive 45 mintues for groceries.

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The produce was GREAT the first time i went there - the day before they were supposed to open. We took DH back a few weeks later - the produce looked horrid. Like it was the same stuff from a few weeks before. I was highly disappointed because i had planned on picking up a few things.

 

I was there a few weeks ago and they didn't have anything in the produce area really. I had hoped to be able t count on them for affordable veggies.

 

I did however go finally to the new Sweetbay that opened around me and they had great produce, so i think i'll go there. There is a "fresh market" that opened too - haven't been there yet! LOL!!

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Not the OP, but i do most of my shopping at Sam's Club or Costco (Costco 90% right now, but it's 60 miles away - Sam's will 1.5 miles on the 22nd when they open)

 

I suspect this has to do with a combination of where you live and what you buy. We've three times experimented with memberships at Costco and BJs and just never found it worth our while. It's not that I wouldn't save enough to balance the membership cost plus a bit, but that the number or range of things I can purchase at these places is so small that it's inconvenient to shop there.

 

I keep hearing people rave about the prices and quality of the Costco or Sam's Club meats and dairy products, for example. But I don't buy those things. Ditto for paper products. Calcium-fortified orange juice is a big thing in my house, but the Costco/BJs prices are only a little bit cheaper than Publix. And I can't stock up on more than a couple of week's worth, because I don't have room in my refrigerator.

 

In general, I found that the membership place tend to be a good deal only if you are comparing prices to name-brand items. I rarely buy the brand name of anything. For example, beans of various kinds are also a staple here, but I found the club stores carried mostly brand names, and I do better buying generics at Publix. Same for flour and other baking goods.

 

On the other hand, Aldi's requires no membership fee, is easier to get into and out of, carries more items I actually use and has prices comparable to what I was getting at Costco/BJs. I still can't do a whole shopping there, but I buy a wider range of items than I do at the membership places, and it's more convenient.

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Our family has benefited greatly from the food savings at Aldi for the past 15 years. The quality received for the price paid (we shop bare-bones) is such a blessing.

 

Where, indeed, have you found better prices?? Save-A-Lot is a similar (but I feel a bit inferior) chain, but I am curious if your local regular grocery store has extensive generics or do you have another secret source for food that is cheaper than Aldi?? :)

 

Please share!

 

 

Wal-Mart has the best prices on just about everything . The few items Aldi's had that were cheaper were chocolate chips, salsa and bagels.

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...have Aldi's in Georgia?

 

Yes! check the Aldi site, or google maps, for a location near you. there are 3 Aldis within 5 miles of me on the south side of Atlanta.

 

Aldi is my source for cereals, milk, flavored water, cheese, spaghetti sauce, frozen berries, frozen stir fry, canned peas and baked beans, and produce - most notably apples, baby carrots, tangerines and sweet potatoes. i get other stuff there but those are things i need on a regular basis.

 

btw, Aldi is connected with Trader Joe's, where i also shop. some items are EXACTLY the same but with different labels. the Aldi versions are cheaper.

 

i do shop different stores to save money but geographically, not one of them is out of my way (except for Costco to which i'm going less and less).

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I've found that Aldi doesn't sell the same things in each store. The store on one side of town had things the one on the other side didn't.

 

Overall, prices are better. I buy cereal, milk, eggs, sugar, spices (most; they don't carry every spice, but carry the main ones people use), baking soda and powder, olive oil, ketchup, mustard, mayo, salad dressing, pasta, canned tomato products, rice, cheese, sour cream, cottage cheese, lunch meat, bread, tortillas, frozen fish, game hens, peppers, zucchini, tomatoes, bananas, mushrooms, parmesan cheese, wine, crackers, pepperoni, cream cheese, frozen juice concentrate, ice cream.

 

The selection isn't as wide as a full supermarket, but the quality is the same. All Aldi brand products are actually "brand name" products from Kraft, Dole, etc. Trader Joes products are also at Aldi, but under the Aldi brand names.

 

I don't buy everything there, but I do buy a lot. Any specialty items I need, I can find at Walmart or Meijer. And, I don't buy processed or convenience foods, and I still find a good part of my grocery needs at Aldi.

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When we lived in SE Michigan, we had an Aldi and a Sav-A-Lot within about two miles of our house, as well as a Meijer, a WalMart, and several smaller chain "regular" groceries. If we were willing to drive, there was a health food store, a co-op, Whole Foods, BJs, Costco, Sam's, Trader Joe's, and Hiller's. There were some nice small ethnic groceries, too- Mexican, Japanese and Lebanese were our favorites.

 

Then we moved to the great frozen north. Oh my.

 

There are IGAs, SuperValu, SuperOne, a nice little co-op and Walmart. That is all.

 

It was a big adjustment.

 

But a funny thing happened once we adjusted. We spend less- much less- on groceries now. Some of it has to do with the fact that we live in America's Dairyland now, so dairy is cheap. I've finally prevailed upon the husband to eat less meat (I'm veggie, so our meat expense is negligable), and we garden, freeze and can fairly intensively.

 

However, I think the big things that we did are:

 

-Making everything from scratch, including yogurt, jam, soy milk, and all baked goods. (Buy a chest freezer. We actually have a big chest freezer and a smaller chest fridge in the basement. Oh, and some gamma seal lids for dry items. So worth doing.)

 

-Having only four stores in our rotation makes it a lot easier to compare prices. I downloaded free price book software, which also helped, but it would still be too time consuming to program it for 15 different stores.

 

-Shopping outside traditional sources for bulk goods.

 

We buy flours, dishsoap, organic beef & eggs, and a few other odds and ends in bulk from a local restaurant (we are friends with the owners).

 

We buy bulk produce that we cannot/do not grow from the farmer's market.

 

We get potatoes thru a CSA.

 

We buy fish from the Indian fish market.

 

We live in Berry Heaven, so we asked around and have found several good berry spots which contribute greatly to jam and muffins.

 

We do canned/frozen swaps- for example, we had more organic hamburger frozen than DH could ever eat, so we traded with a friend for frozen seafood. This year, we canned beets and gave half to MIL, she canned tomatoes and gave half to us.

 

We spend less than $300 a month on "household"- groceries, laundry/cleaning supplies, pet supplies (2 cats, 1 dog), and if we need new sheets or a dish drainer, you get the idea. We are a family of 3, plus part time stepson, and I am pregnant.

 

Oh, and this is important, we get WIC. That makes a HUGE dent in our dairy budget.

 

HTH somebody.

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I was not impressed!

I saw a couple of things...milk and broth that I was a good buy, but other than that, it was the same (some higher) price as where I shop.

 

This is so funny because I stopped in our Aldi for the first time today, too. I was not impressed either. I normally shop at Walmart and Sam's. I didn't see that the prices were that much lower. I tried the Grocery Game right before Christmas. I got much, much better deals with that and it was all name brand. I do use many Walmart brand things, but with the Grocery Game - the brand names came out a lot cheaper. Anyway, I won't be going back to Aldi anytime soon.

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btw, Aldi is connected with Trader Joe's, where i also shop. some items are EXACTLY the same but with different labels. the Aldi versions are cheaper.

 

 

I actually tried to find out about this link - i'd love to read something about it, because looking at the companies websites, i'm not seeing it.

 

OK, i found this.....

 

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/04_17/b3880016.htm

http://industry.bnet.com/retail/2008/04/29/aldi-hits-texas-and-florida-is-trader-joes-on-the-way/

 

I can hope that we'd be getting a TJ's here in Central FLorida.... life would be grand! LOL!!

 

Anyway.... i'm glad i solved that mystery just now - it was bugging me the other day! LOL!!

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