My Favorite Store...ALDIs!

Yes you know that weird looking store with the orange and blue logo that has very limited store hours in comparison to most grocery stores? Why is that you ask? Killer deals!

I have to admit, the first time I entered an ALDIs, it was with my parents, and I thought we must be poor or something. There are no shelves for groceries, they are merely stacked upon pallets like a warehouse, only much much smaller. ALDIs does not have "luxury items" in their grocery store, this is basically the essentials in terms of food. Whatever you find here is what most human beings eat, and at a very good generic price. If you are into cooking, this could be your dream to save money. 79 cents for a loaf of bread? 99 cents for a box of generic nutri-grain bars? 39 cents for hot dogs? The deals keep coming, for many reasons. If you have ever seen the Duggar family on Discovery Health channel, or maybe TLC, they feed a family of 19 for less than $2,000 a month on food from here.

First, you will notice this is a smaller than average store...less to run, less to cool, less to heat, and less employees you will need. Second, they hold their shopping carts hostage. Thats right, if you want one, you'll need a quarter. The reason they do this however is to keep the store needing less employees. When people put their carts back, you do not need another employee to run out and get carts like at your local Wal-mart, whose sole job it is. Third, there are also no employees to bag your groceries, or bags to use to put your groceries in for that matter. ALDIs does not provide customers with bags, although you might be able to steal some boxes from pallets of food in the store. You can also purchase bags at the store, but hopefully you have your own by now! Fourth, since the store has such limited hours they do not need to have extra employees around to work the check-outs. In addition, cashiers at ALDIs make good money, I believe, in the $10 an hour range.

Perks with this store chain are consistent. The produce you will find here is typically incredibly fresh. While I would still recommend your local farmer's market first, this would be my second choice. Every so often there is some interesting deal in the "non-food section", some thing that you have either been looking for but haven't found the right price (enter ALDIs) or an item that looks like something you could use. Most also have a small Health and Beauty section so if there is a need for a random item you wont need to run across the street (or town) to get it.

If you are at a loss of what to cook from the items available at ALDIs, The Aldi Queen can help you find great recipes made entirely from foods from ALDIs.

So if you haven't given ALDIs a try, look for one. I grab everything in that store I even remotely want and can't leave spending more than $28. Me and my reusable grocery bags, finding deals!