Have you heard of Aldi? If you are as cheap frugal as I am, I hope you have. Aldi is such a great store to shop at if you like to save money. They claim that you can save up to 50% compared to their competitors. Sometimes even more. And their stuff is just as good, if not better. Unfortunately, we haven’t had one close enough to shop at…until now.

 

That’s right Aldi has come to my town! I can’t tell you how thrilled I am! I have been reading Amiyrah’s Blog, 4hatsandfrugal for some time and I always get jealous when she posts about Aldi. Now I get to save money when grocery shopping too. Of course my budget will twice as much if not more than hers.  That’s what happens when you are feeding bottomless pits  hungry young adults.

 

Since our store has only been open for about a month, I don’t have a solid opinion on everything yet. But I can tell you what items are big hits in our house.

 

 

The good

The girl scout cookie imitators. Having a girl scout in the house, Girl Scout Cookies are a staple during cookie season. Sadly, the season doesn’t last nearly long enough. (Those Girl Scout Cookies can be dangerous though.) But we quickly discovered the Aldi version of thin mints and tagalongs. These are now staples on my grocery list.

Aldi has the best chocolate milk according to the kids. Their chocolate milk is made with whole milk instead of 1% milk found at most other stores. So much creamier. And the price? About half!

The pizzas! Hands down better than delivery or that other one 😉 They are huge too. 16 inch pizzas. YUM!

Then of course there are the boring things. The staples that momma buys to actually feed this crew. Everything has been cheaper than name brand and just as good, if not better. I can stock my pantry for less at Aldi! This makes for a happy momma!

 

The not so good

I would be remiss if I didn’t also post about the not so good things. The only section I’ve had issue with so far is the produce. I get that Aldi is all about saving money but I really feel that they would do better to source produce locally. Especially because so much is available locally grown in Florida.

Store size is also a bit of an issue so far. It is very crowded and quite hard to maneuver. This will hopefully change in the middle of summer, but right now is snowbird season. Lots and lots of people shopping at any given time. I would have liked to see slightly more room in the meat department. Not enough room for more than 2 carts at a time.

 

They are still getting used to the supply and demand of our particular area. I’ve run into empty shelves a few times but I expect that to improve as the weeks go on.

 

The Verdict

I am totally loving shopping at Aldi. I can get through grocery shopping a lot faster and I’m saving tons of money. What?

Shopping @AldiUSA Saves time and money in one fell swoop? YES PLEASE! Click To Tweet

No more running from store to store for the sale prices. No more excessive impulse buys. (Did I really need to buy yet another movie at the big box store?)

I will continue to shop at Murphy’s Market,though, the local store for produce and meats. Partly because I prefer locally grown produce and partly because I love to shop local.

My new go to grocery store? Hands down it’s Aldi!