Aldi

When I was growing up, one of the grocery stores that I remember my mom shopping at was Aldi. Of course this was pre-Super Walmart days. We would go to Aldi and then go to one or sometimes two more stores before grocery shopping was officially done. But I know Aldi saved them money which is why we shopped there. And when you have 5 kids, saving money is pretty high on the list of priorities.

Texas has not had any Aldi stores, atleast not any in our area. Until recently that is. I'm usually trying to find different areas where we can save money when possible. Though I know coupons are a way to do that, I will admit that I haven't spent the time and devotion to that aspect of savings yet. So yesterday I decided to look on Aldi's website and find where the closest store was. I also read up a little on the store to familiarize myself with it since it's been awhile since I've shopped there. I'm glad I did because one statement included that they do not accept credit cards. I am absolutely NOT a proponent for people having credit cards and using them like some magic money tree. Keith and I explicitly use our cards solely for necessary purchases that we could afford to pay cash for, but instead use credit for convenience as well as the benefits that our cards afford to us. We always, ALWAYS pay our credit card bills in full every month and have never had an outstanding balance on them before.

I say all that to say that I typically pay for our groceries with my credit card. I refuse to use my debit card outside of my bank's ATM because I don't want my account information to somehow end up in someone else's hands. It's one thing for someone to get their hands on my credit card. Bottom line, that's the credit card companies problem should my card get stolen. If my debit card gets jacked, that's my personal bank account that's effected. There's a huge deference between the two. So, I took out some cash and headed to Aldi first thing this morning. (You've gotta love rabbit trails...)

Garrett was not too hyped about trying a different store for our shopping this week. If for some reason we don't go to our local Walmart, we typically shop at another Walmart in our area. So Walmart is basically all he knows for grocery stores. I had no idea he would care one way or another, but he most definitely did...

We got there and I discovered that you have to rent a cart for a quarter (you get the quarter back when you return the cart so it really doesn't cost anything). I got lucky and found a cart in the parking lot instead. I don't particularly enjoy juggling 2 kids while walking through a busy parking lot, so any chance I get I always load them up in a cart to walk from the car to the store.

I knew going into the store, that they only sell their brand of things with a very few exceptions. I really didn't think name brand stuff mattered to me. Most of the time I buy the Walmart brand for a lot of things, who cares if it's another store brand, right? Well, I must admit I had a harder time shopping there than I was expecting. Though 99 cent gallons of milk certainly made it easier on me. Bottom line, Aldi may end up being a good place for me to go once every month or every 6 weeks to stock up on canned goods and meat (and milk!). But I just can't bring myself to buy off-brand soda. Yes, I should just stop buying soda in the first place, but I only drink one a day, so please allow me that luxury. I also must buy Kleenex Viva paper towels. And Cottonelle toilet paper. And Ruffles potato chips. Turns out I'm more of a namebrand snob than I knew. So for this week, we're trying Aldi's brand of chips (maybe we'll convert). But I will confess to stopping by Walmart on my way home to buy a couple 2 liters of Coke ($1 each).

Besides the cheap milk (seriously, that is so cheap. It wasn't that long ago I was paying $4 a gallon at Walmart! Now it's around $2 or a little more...), I also found a Butterball turkey for 99 cents a pound (Christmas dinner's main course? check...), most meat was a good deal cheaper, and they had a stack of Dr Suess books for half off of what you can buy them at Walmart or Target. Can you believe this former elementary school teacher did not own "Cat in the Hat" or "Green Eggs and Ham" prior to today? It's a travesty.

Aside from no credit cards and "renting" a cart, you also must bring your own bags and bag your own groceries. That's not a problem for me, however, when you throw in 2 kids in the mix (one being Mr. Uncooperative this morning) the bagging thing becomes a bit of a challenge. I ended up walking out to my car with a cart full of unbagged groceries and a bunch of recycled Walmart bags, strapped both of my boys into their carseats and then proceeded to bag my groceries and load the bags into the car at the same time. Had I actually put my own quarter in to rent my cart, I would have then had to walk it back to the store in order to get my quarter back. But since that wasn't the case for me this morning, I ended up giving my cart to another shopper who had parked next to me. He tried giving me a quarter for it but I didn't take it.

So all in all I would give this attempt at saving money a thumbs up if only for the fact that I did save a little money. I also got to experience a different store and learn what is important to me in the grocery scheme. I probably will go back again closer to Christmas and stock up on freezer related foods (and milk) but I don't think it will be my weekly choice for grocery shopping.