October 17, 2023

I hardly feel qualified to write this post and that’s why I’m calling myself a mere “apprentice” at this stage in the game.

My regular readers know that I am trying to save money this year and one of the ways I have done that is by trying different grocery strategies. Up until the end of May I was a loyal Kroger pick up shopper with an occasional trip to Trader Joe’s, Walmart Neighborhood grocery (just a grocery – not the big ol’ Walmart), Fresh Market, and my local Paul’s Fruit Market. In June, I tried Walmart Plus and I think the convenience of it caused me to lose my mind and spend a lot! Ha!

The best way to save money on groceries is to not waste food. Another important key is to meal plan and stick to your list. I also feel that by not going in and only doing pick up, it reduced the impulse items and made meal planning and sticking to my list easier.

So, let’s talk about Aldi…

Aldi is not that easy for me, but it’s also not that hard. It’s about 10 minutes away as opposed to Kroger which is 1 minute away! I decided I pretty much have to do Aldi on Saturday or on a day off from work. The traffic gets really bad after I get done with school and that just puts me in a bad mood. Also, I don’t have the energy required that late in the day. Know yourself!

I took Tom the time before last and he liked the small size of the store. I think many people are also attracted to that. He gets overwhelmed when he goes in a big grocery and he often goes in hungry and comes out with a lot. He was also impressed by the prices, although he doesn’t know prices as well as I do.

Here is last Saturday’s haul for $130. This included two big packs of chicken, bacon, Canadian bacon, and lunch meat. These bags hold a lot and I paid 12 cents per bag so I was stuffing them. I did self check out and usually do have old bags, but this time I forgot.

I’m still using K cups and theirs are about $1-$2 less than the ones that are store brand at Kroger, I think. I am using Aldi fat free creamer and this time, I picked up a pumpkin pie spice creamer, too. Unfortunately, they are out of the pumpkin spice K cups that I really liked, but I have liked all their K cups that I have tried.

Their cheeses are really great. In fact, you can find shredded gruyere which I have never seen at Kroger, and this blend was intriguing, so it came home with me.

I haven’t tried these yet:

I love these bags of little potatoes:

I bought this for my apple cider sangria:

I bought blue cheese and canned chicken. I’m using the blue cheese for a wedge salad and for the buffalo chicken dip. I’m using the canned chicken for the buffalo chicken dip. It just works better, in my opinion.

This cheese is less than $2 and makes a great fancy grilled cheese.

Jack really likes this:

There are still things we have to go to Kroger to get. Tom didn’t like the Aldi skim milk and he drinks a lot of milk. So weird when a grown up drinks milk with dinner, no? Maybe it’s me but I only use milk in cereal. I think I will need to continue going to Kroger once every week or two, Trader Joe’s at least once a month, and Walmart on occasion when I can’t find a few things at Aldi or Kroger.

So, where do you stand with Aldi? Groceries in general? Any tips that work for you?

I made this wedge salad Sunday night, this spicy turkey and green bean for Erica and I for lunch, and this bacon brussels pasta last night for dinner and for Erica and I for lunch if you are looking for ideas!

Thanks for stopping by,

Amy

18 thoughts on “Aldi Apprentice”

  1. I do like Aldi’s when I shop there, but they never have all that I need, so I end up sticking with Kroger. It sounds like you’ve gotten the hang of the things you like from there, and that’s great! I do love the small size of the store, and I always love what I get from there. It’s really good that you’re saving money, too. Can you believe that I always spend almost the exact same amount from week to week at Kroger? I think it’s funny! It’s always around $150, and stays within ten dollars of this. The other place we buy a lot from is Costco, and he usually makes a big run once a month for protein drinks and bars, toilet paper, household cleaners, and detergents. Thanks for sharing all of this today!

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    1. I know – that can be frustrating. I am wondering if I can do Kroger every 2 weeks? We get the same from Costco, but Tom always does the run (or almost always) and I don’t include it in my spending diary, although I should. I almost always spend 120-130. I wonder if things are a bit cheaper for you being in a smaller town outside of Memphis? I think that is your situation?
      Talking about groceries is really boring! Ha!

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  2. I haven’t been to an Aldis since my boys stopped taking karate near our closest store nearly 5 or so years ago probably. Even close is not that close though (still 30 minutes away though) and since I couldn’t quite get enough for a full week of groceries there it just wasn’t worth my time but when I am near them I do like them. They used to carry my favorite low- fat (low WW point!) granola!

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  4. We really like Aldi! In Europe we have Lidl, and it’s almost the same, but Aldi is nicer.
    When we’re staying in the cabin I have to buy food for at least three days, and I believe it makes it cheaper than going to the store every day (which I do in the city).

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  5. I WANT to be an Aldi shopper, but I’m just not! We have one close by, but I always choose our local store HEB instead. I find the HEB prices pretty good (lower than Kroger) and just love the store and also supporting a Texas company. On the other hand, my son is a huge Aldi fan because he is pretty frugal!

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    1. I felt that way for a long time. But, you have to do what works for you. I don’t have HEB, sadly, but I’ve heard it’s really good. I love hearing about young college kids and 20’s kids being frugal!

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  6. I’m a big fan of Aldi. Unfortunately, I still have to grocery shop at other stores, in addition to Aldi, to find all I need. I much prefer Aldi’s bone-in chicken breast to any other stores’. Plus, it’s over $1 a pound less! In November Aldi will “drop” their wine and their cheese advent calendars. My husband is a big fan of the cheese one. They do sell out quickly!

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    1. And, that’s the frustrating part! I am wondering if I can get down to every other week for another store. Our Aldi can’t sell wine inside and I’m very sad about it. It’s a silly Kentucky law. But, they can sell beer. Does this make any sense? A cheese advent calendar also sounds great for my husband!

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  7. I haven’t been in our Aldi, and it’s a new one. I really need to make the effort because it’s right across the street from Kroger. I do the Kroger pickup, though, and have found I’ve saved lots of money because there are fewer impulse buys. Everyone I know raves about the Aldi meats. My son shops there almost exclusively.

    https://marshainthemiddle.com/

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  9. I shop exclusively at Aldi for our family of 6. I used to do multiple stores but I decided that for my level of busy/overwhelmed, if they didn’t have it at Aldi I would learn how to do without. I think it has saved us quite a bit of money! I love all your tips- they track with how I shop there, too!

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