We don’t have an ALDI in our tiny town, but in the big city that is closest to us they do. It was built a year ago, but I didn’t make it into the store until this past summer for the first time. Since that inaugural first visit, I’ve adapted how I shop at this lovely store.
- Hide a quarter somewhere in your car or purse that NO ONE is going to find it.
There is nothing worse than getting to your local ALDI – that is over an hour away from my house and finding out that you forgot the all important quarter for your buggie. (Shopping cart for everyone who isn’t from the south.) I also want to mention that I love this about ALDI. Nothing drives me more bonkers than to see someone who has walked around in a grocery store or Walmart for a couple of hours and then leave their cart next to my car. Madness I tell you.
- To bring bags or not to bring bags.
I own a lot of reusable grocery bags. And I NEVER remember to put them in my car. With that being said, the first few times or forty, I just forked over the few cents for the paper bags at the checkout and didn’t worry about it. Now however, I have a different approach to shopping and that is I don’t use bags of any kind.
I pay my quarter for my cart, I load it up with my purchases, I pay the person at the cash register, who puts said purchases back into my cart and I roll it to my car and load the stuff straight into the trunk of my car. Cold stuff goes straight into a cooler. When I get home, I take a laundry basket out to the car, load it up and haul it inside. Yes, it almost always takes multiple trips with the laundry basket, but it takes many trips inside when I stop at my local Food Lion too.
- Know the layout of your store.
My brother’s complaint and his sole reason for not wanting to shop there is that he doesn’t have time to hunt for everything. My response to this is, take 10 minutes one day when you have time (which for him is never- he has a very full plate right now) and map it out for yourself. This will save you so much time. Our ALDI is not very big – hence the 10 minutes to orient yourself to your store. It will make all the difference, because from what I have seen, they don’t move things around. Once you figure out where the peanut butter and the eggs are located, you are set for future visits.
- Remember you are NOT going to buy 100% of your groceries at ALDI.
This is another reason that I believe that my brother doesn’t enjoy shopping at ALDI. He has very limited time to shop, therefore he does not want to spend his time running all over town to get this usually unpleasant task done. But for me, my money wins out every time. I know in advance that this will not be my only stop for needed groceries, so this doesn’t freak me out every time I go in to get the items that I know are going to save me some serious moolah. For example, peanut butter, eggs, block cheese, tuna, bottled water, canned salmon, and those pretzel crackers that my daughter loves so much are ALWAYS cheaper at ALDI’s so that is what definitely goes on my list to purchase there. Milk? It’s almost never cheaper than my local stores, so I am not willing to drive more than an hour to buy it.
Remembering these four things, for me at least, makes my shopping experience much more pleasant each time I go to ALDI’s.
Do you shop at ALDI’s? What are your choice items to buy there?