Aldi shopping trip

Since the pandemic, I have been an Aldi shopper. Sometimes. While we have three Aldi stores within ten miles of our house, we have ten Kroger stores within ten miles. And three of those ten are within five miles. If we need something quick or feel like driving no more than two miles to grocery shop, it makes more sense for us to go to Kroger than to Aldi. There is another store called Discount Drug Mart (an Ohio chain) that is even closer to our house- about a mile. It offers a modest selection of grocery items, and the prices are better than a convenience store but perhaps slightly higher than a traditional grocery store (though of course they have sales). The best part is the convenience. If we need one or two items, it's quite common for us to pop over to DDM. If we hit the one traffic light that's between our house and the store right, it takes two to three minutes to drive there. The store is rarely busy, and you can park super close to the store. And we've been known to walk to DDM if we have plenty of time and we are only after light in weight items since it's so close to our home.

The allure of Aldi is its low prices, but that allure is somewhat negated by the fact that we are buying less groceries now that, for most of the year, we're down to a two person household. And both of us are fairly easy going about what we eat. Donnie doesn't expect feasts for dinner and neither one of us are foodies. That said, I do strive to make healthy meals (most evenings...). It's much easier to throw something together that I know is not going to elicit complaints!!

I hadn’t been to an Aldi in weeks, maybe the week between Christmas and New Years was the last time I was there? With not having left the house on Saturday or Sunday, on Monday, I was ok with getting out of the house and driving more than two miles for groceries. So I drove to Lebanon to the Aldi there.  

Here is what I got when I went on Monday- for all of this, I paid $84.80. I don't know if that's good or bad but it seems like less than what I would have paid at Kroger for the same or similar items...

Here's sort of a run-down of what I got:

Veggies- whole carrots ($1.49), broccoli crowns ($1.42/pound), sweet potatoes ($2.59), cucumber (.69), peppers (3 for $2.69), spring mix ($4.89)

Dairy- I get twitchy when my cheese drawer starts to run low; I picked up some cheese just to have on hand.

Feta cheese crumbles 2@$1.85 each, shredded mozzarella and Italian (both 16 ounce for $2.99 each), Irish butter ($3.55), sliced pepper jack and provolone ($1.79 each), a cream cheese brick ($1.75), whipped topping ($2.99)

Meat- we will be eating chicken and beef this week but I have plenty at the house so I didn't need to buy any. I just got one tub of lunch meat- one pound was $5.19

Fruit- none- we have strawberries, apples, and tangerines at home

Junk food-

Tortilla chips ($3.49)- This is one of Aldi's "fancier" and more expensive tortilla chips. The Clancy brand is around $2 a bag. However, I am willing to pay more for better quality (in my opinion anyway).

Mini muffins- embarrassed that I eat these but I do 😏 $2.75

Hazelnut candy bar- European chocolate with a nut that American chocolatiers refuse to add to chocolate, yes please! ($1.65)

sweetened condensed milk ($1.99)- pantry staple and I used the only can I had in the pantry over the weekend

Dark chocolate caramels- one of Donnie's faves and I will eat them in a pinch ($4.19)

Oh my- so processed and junky. This was not on my list and was my only impulse purchase. The breakfast pizza set me back $4.99.

Miscellaneous- 

The $14.99 that I wanted to spend at Aldi... How ADORBS is this lil' Aldi shopping cart? I had it in my cart (how sorta meta?). However, the toddler that I'd love to give it to (who is also the only toddler that I know- Mary Gracia)- her family does not shop at Aldi. I kind of feel like there would need to be a whole family Aldi appreciation for this lil' cart to be fully appreciated for its cuteness. Sadly, I put the cart back and did not purchase it. 

There was also a cash register/scanner (super cute!) for sale and this little pack of Aldi "brand" items was also in my cart for a while. Just too cute!!



Items that I like to buy at Aldi but didn't on this trip because I didn't need to purchase any of them are the following:

    *Items for baking including flour, sugar, brown sugar, baking power and soda. The only exception is chocolate chips. I do prefer a name brand like Nestle or Ghirardelli, so I always buy chocolate chips at Kroger.

    *Nuts- Aldi has a big selection of different types of nuts and different kinds within each type, eg salted or unsalted

    *Crackers- Aldi has many different varieties, all of which I like. However, Kroger recently had good sales on many of its varieties (I guess because of the Super Bowl?) and so I stocked up at Kroger for reasonable prices.

    *Canned items for soup like kidney beans and black beans, diced tomatoes, etc.


And now for the best Aldi news: Our own 'Boro is getting an Aldi!! That's right. In a few months, I will be able to drive two miles to get to an Aldi store, not six miles. I foresee much more frequent Aldi shopping in my future 😃