Thrifty Thursday

Thursday, already?

This week has been one of those cuh-razy weeks, so jam packed we’ve hardly had time to think. And apparently, the girls have had enough of being up past bedtime. Last night we hosted small group at our house and when it was all over, Sophia went upstairs, got her pajamas out of her drawer and asked to go to bed. Today Lily told me, “I just don’t want anymore busy days, Mommy. I just want some nice, quiet days at home.” She’s a girl after my own heart.

Luckily all we’ve got planned for the weekend are some low-key,{hopefully} fun family activities. Christmas light viewing and Christmas movie night with popcorn and milkshakes. I’m looking forward to it!

Anyway…on to the point.

Today I’m sharing my new “thrifty” tip….grocery shopping at Aldi!

A friend of mine has been raving for several months about how much she loves it, but I wasn’t totally buying it. I remember shopping there with my mom a few times when I was younger and the quality was sketchy at best. But a couple of weeks ago when my grocery bill tipped the scales at $150.00 {for one week!}, I decided it was time to give it a go. While I’m thankful that my hubby has a job that enables us to pay that much for our groceries, my inner cheapskate just can’t bear to spend that much money on consumables when I could be getting the same thing for less!

So off to Aldi I went, and I was totally blown away! The prices and the quality have been amazing. I spent $70 for one week of groceries, and that included two small Christmas gifts that I’ve been wanting to check off my list!

Needless to say, I’m hooked. There will still be a few things that I’ll have to shop for at my beloved Target, but Aldi is my new go-to store.

Having said all that, it has it’s quirks so if you’ve never shopped there before let me give you the low-down. And since I’m a list maker {and a little bit of a nerd} we’ll do it in the form of Pros and Cons.

CONS

1. Distance -- It’s further away (this one obviously may not apply to you depending on where you live). It’s a ten minute drive, which may not seem like much but when you consider the fact that I live literally one minute away from both a Wal-Mart and a Target, that’s a lot.
   
   
2. Selection – They don’t have brand names, except for in some rare instances. Personally, this isn’t much of a problem for me since I’m usually a generic brand shopper anyway, but if you’re really brand loyal, this might be hard for you.
   
   Still, I’d encourage you to give it a try anyway. I’m a pretty diehard fan of Chobani Greek yogurt and was skeptical of the “Friendly Farms” Aldi brand, but once I tried it, I actually preferred the taste of the Aldi brand. It’s way creamier.
   
   So far, the only thing we’ve tried that we haven’t liked as much has been their version of Multi-Grain Cheerios. But their bread, their cheese, their yogurt, their crackers, their pasta, their spaghetti sauce…you get the picture. It’s all been good.
   
   It’s also worth mentioning that they don’t have a full slate of health and beauty/cleaning products. I’ve been able to buy a few things there {like baby wipes} but we’ll still have to make a trip once a month to Target or somewhere else to get our shampoo and lotion.
   
   
3. Meat – they don’t have a ton. What we’ve tried has been good, but it’s a far cry from a full service meat department. Luckily {for me} there is a local grocery store with a fantastic meat department right on my way home – the past two weeks I’ve just swung by there to grab my meat and it’s only taken me a few extra minutes.
   
   
4. Atmosphere – The best way I can think to explain it is this: If Target is the BMW of grocery stores, Aldi is like the old Pontiac Bonneville my husband used to drive in college. It’s a little awkward, old and worn out. Just the basics, nothing fancy. No Starbucks. No Dollar Spot. No end caps with orange clearance stickers.
   
   You have to put a quarter in your cart to unlock it, you bag your own groceries, you either bring re-usable bags or you pay 10 cents/piece for plastic. Truthfully, this isn’t all bad, but I’ll get into that in the Pro’s section For now, just be warned that it’s not the “resort” shopping experience that Target can be, where you glide through wide aisles with your Salted Caramel Mocha in hand

And now…

PROS

1. Price – This is obviously the biggest one for me. My grocery bill has literally been cut in half. As mentioned above, there’s a reason things are cheaper. They don’t have brand names, so you’re not paying for the advertising. They keep their carts locked to cut costs associated with damages to cars in the parking lot and the staff required to help corral them. Instead of hiding the cost of bags in their prices, it’s up front. If you want to use plastic, it’s 10 cents a bag. Personally, I’ve got three big reusable bags that I keep in my trunk and a quarter that stays in my glove compartment at all times. I don’t really find it to be an inconvenience!
   
   
2. Produce – It’s better quality {and cheaper!} than Wal-Mart. A huge bag of Cutie Mandarin Oranges for $1.69…and those are going for $3.99/bag at Target right now! It’s fresh and tasty. They don’t offer organic produce {at least not that I’ve seen} so if you’re big on that, I guess you’d have to shop elsewhere {or eat from the Clean 15}
   
   
3. Quality – Again, I kind of already touched on this, but I am blown away by their quality! Their milk comes from cows that are raised without growth hormones, their Greek yogurt is amazing {and only 89 cents!}, and they’ve got some fantastic healthy options. I love their brand of V8’s VFusion juice – the good stuff, 100% juice with full servings of fruit and vegetables!
   
   
4. Simplicity – I mentioned above that Aldi lacks some of the “extras” that make shopping at Target an enjoyable experience. I do miss having the occasional Starbucks or spotting some little treasure in the clearance section. But, truthfully, part of the beauty of Aldi {for me} has been in the removal of the temptation to splurge on things I don’t need! Will I still occasionally go to Target? Sure, like I mentioned above, I’ll need lotion and shampoo and other things that Aldi doesn’t offer. But in going once or twice a month, I’ll eliminate that weekly fight to purchase something that’s not on the list that I don’t really need.

So there you have it and my lands was that ever more words than I imagined I would use to talk about a discount grocery store. My 20 year old self would be bored to tears by this post.

But hopefully there was some good information out there for any Aldi skeptics! If you’re still feeling iffy, I’d encourage you, give it a test run! You might just be surprised at what you find out!

Happy {thrifty} Thursday!