Aldi

Aldi is great for boxed items, but I’ve learned the hard way not to buy meat or produce here. The few times I bought strawberries, they were soft and brown within 2 days. Then another time I bought frozen boneless chicken to make something in the crockpot, and then while eating, discovered – you guessed it – a bone. Ewww.
I will, however, say that their cheesecake is delightful, and anytime I need to bake cupcakes, etc for my students, I buy my ingredients here.

Aldi is a discount grocery store. The first thing you will notice that makes Aldi differ from other grocery stores are their shopping carts. As you approach the store, you notice in the cart stall that all the carts are connected one to another by a contraption and chain. To unlock and release the cart, you must insert a quarter. If you don’t have a quarter, you cannot get a cart. I am not one to carry cash or change so many times, I will go inside where they inevitably have a stray cart around and will let me borrow it. If you do have a quarter, it stays locked into its slot until you return the cart, insert a key from the cart in front of it (you’ll figure it out when you see it) and then it releases your quarter back to you. Neat.
As you enter this Aldi, you will be forced to work down the cracker, cereal, chips, snacks aisle before you can hit the rest of the store. That’s okay because you’ll usually find something you like in this aisle. Now, after having patronized Aldi for a few years now, I am finding that their quality is getting better and better. It’s still hit and miss though depending on the product you get. A lot of it is learning what products are good and what are not so good through trial and error. Some of their better products that we really enjoy which are very good quality are their:
Potato Chips
Pita Crackers (these rock although they are often broken up a bit)
Fruit cups (for the kids’ lunches)
Chocolates (many imported from europe. check the label)
Yogurt
Soy Milk (it’s mediocre)
milk
eggs
cheeses
lunch meats
frozen juice concentrates
canned fruits
Bake at home (fresh) pizzas
Powder Milk
Bacon
Frozen Fruits
Hogie Rolls (for sub sandwiches)
To name a few things. Sometimes, you’ll get something where the quality is not as up to par as you hoped but that’s just what the Aldi experience is all about. Go with your gut instinct on a product. If it looks questionable, skip it.
After you’ve loaded up your cart, you head up front to the checkstands. There are only 4 of them and typically only one or two stands open. Don’t be disappointed if you see only one with a long line. These lines move very quickly at Aldi because you bag yourself. The cashier just simply places your stuff in an empty cart and when you’ve paid, you go to the counter in front of the cashier to bag your goods. Oh and bags… you have to pay for those too, unless you decide to bring your own OR, Aldi places there empty cardboard boxes for you to use for free. If you want to purchase a bag from them it’s like 6 cents for a paper bag. 10 cents for a plastic. Somewhere in that range. That tatooed employees with various body piercings are usually friendly. If not friendly, they are never rude or mean. They are just there to get paid. But when I ask for help or need a cart because I didn’t bring a quarter, they are always helpful.
Now what kind of savings do you get at Aldi? I would venture to say you will see savings anywhere from 30 to 50% from the regular grocery store. Aldi’s produce is way less expensive than the regular grocery store but, sometimes the quality is not as high either. But, it’s usually a really good deal. I bought a plastic carton of beautiful and tasty dark grapes for 2.95 approximately. This would have certainly cost me at least twice that amount at Hy-​Vee or Price Chopper. 3.99 for a bag or oranges when they are going for 4.99 to 5.99 at other grocery stores. 1.25 for concentrated OJ when it’s 1.65 at Price Chopper. 1.99 for a box of crackers that’s 3.75 at Hy-​Vee. You get the idea.
In summary, Aldi is a great place to save a lot of money. It requires a little more effort on your part and some occasional trial and error with some of their products. Hit and miss but most of their items are very good quality. I am becoming more and more impressed with their chocolate selections, crackers and the like. many of the products imported from Europe. But on the other hand, I tried their Extra Virgin Olive Oil and it tasted like vegetable oil. So… hit and miss. But overall… worth it to me in the savings I get from shopping there.