Aldi

Having been to Aldi once and not impressed I wasn’t anxious to go back but my mother insisted and she was right. (if she’s reading this she already knew that she was right) There were my organic fresh foods. A nice selection of dried peppers. A $ 3 Thai Chi exercise DVD with book. But honestly it was the organic fresh foods that surprised me and very reasonably priced. I’m going to keep an eye on the weekly ad now for more of those.

Very reasonably priced but you have to pay to use a cart and bring your own bags.

Confession time: I used to be a complete and total brand whore. If it wasn’t a name brand, I wasn’t buying it.
Aldi has changed that entire aspect of my life.
Most importantly, it’s also cut grocery bills in half (or more), and that leaves more money for actual fun things to do… like drinking and getting in trouble.
It’s a small-​ish store (all of six aisles), but it has everything and anything you’ll want during your weekly grocery trip.
Now, to be perfectly up front… I don’t buy a lot of fruits or vegetables here. They’re not *quite* on par with some of the other stores in the area from that one standpoint, and so I still tend to go elsewhere for those. I wouldn’t necessarily plan on being able to pick up high-​end steaks here for grilling or anything, but I’ve picked up their pork chops a few times, and everyone loves them off the grill.
As far as the cost goes… well, I used to really annoy people by having a mental calculator in my head and being able to guesstimate prices at Meijer, Target, etc., to within about two or three dollars before the register rang up our stuff… and I just simply can’t do that at Aldi. When my head tells me I should be getting ready to fork out about $ 280 to $ 300 for a grocery cart overstuffed with everything from the list… the tab routinely comes in at around half that. Today, for instance, was only just over $ 150, and at a Meijer it likely would’ve been close to $ 300, easily.
Quality? Like I said, I used to be a total brand whore, and yet I have to actually admit that the vast majority of the store brands are as good if not better than the name brands. As an example, I’m still an 11 year old child at heart, and so I love Fruity Pebbles… but the store brand «Fruity Rice» tends to stay crispier longer, and doesn’t go stale as quickly as the name brand. Granted, there are some things that don’t quite measure up — the graham crackers are very cardboardish, and so those don’t get bought here any more, but all things being equal, it’s an absolute «must» for people looking to spend less money on their groceries each week to check out an Aldi near them.
Trust a reformed brand whore… you won’t be sorry.
Debit cards only (no credit cards at all) and cash are accepted. Bring your own bags… or just pick some up there for like 9 cents each.

This store is one of a chain of Aldi stores. Discount food prices for the thrifty shopper. Private store-​brand items allow for good quality at great savings.
Bring your own bags — you bag ‘em yourself.