Aldi"s VS big name stores and coupons

[Nana2two]

I really got to thinking while i was shopping at Krogers. Im really starting to see with all the prices going up and not coming down. Even useing a coupon with a item on sale,it was still way cheaper at aldis. My krogers had kelloggs cereal 3 for 5 i had around 10 $1 coupons, i did use those and picked a few things up that never has coupons, But still got 4 times as much at aldis. I think im going to stop using coupons all together and just start shopping at aldis. Anyone else?

[staciah]

I did this over a year ago. I used coupons religiously until I started shopping at Aldi's. I then realized how much cheaper it is to shop there and stopped using the coupons. Waste of time and money. If you care about your labels than Aldi's isn't for you but food is food to me.

[Gazelle]

My dh and I go to Aldi once a month. I wish there was one in our hometown, but the nearest one is about an hour away. So, we go there once a month to stock up. We throw a cooler in the car for the frozen and refrigerated items. We have switched from ground beef to ground turkey, simply for the cost savings. We can buy a "tube" of ground turkey from Aldi for about a dollar. We also buy their brownie mixes, cake mixes, frosting cans, generic Little Debbies treats, applesauce, cereals, sliced cheese, milk, eggs, and frozen meats. In fact, tonight for supper, we had their frozen burritos.

[MisaLady]

We don't have an Aldis nearby.To my knowledge, there isn't one in the state. I've heard their prices are great but with none near, I can't go there... even if I don't care about labels and brand names.

[Jskell911]

At our Aldi's it is hit or miss. The canned veggies are delicious and amazingly cheap! We buy those, milk, eggs, and about 10 other products there. But I still do very well with combining coupons and sales at our grocery stores. Sometimes I even get great deals at CVS on stuff like coffee.

[ri*smom]

Yep, about 8 months ago we started doing the same thing. Boy, the freedom of not clipping and organizing and redeeming. And we STILL save more shopping at Aldi's.

[mom21ofeach]

Aldi's is very out-of the-way me. With some planning, I COULD make a special trip every few weeks or so when I am in the area of the store.

The one thing that stops me from shopping there exclusively is that we have a SCRIP program with our school and Kroger that saves me money on book fees in the fall. For those not familiar with SCRIP, it is a program where you purchase gift cards for face value, and a certain percentage of the purchage price goes to your school. Our school does us one better and gives the buyer 50% of the kickback as a rebate on book fees at registration at the beginning of the year. These fees run about $130 per child. Last year I got a $125 rebate! I hate to stop shopping there because of this little "perk."

[MommyinTX]

What do you think is the best option for areas with no ALDI?

Becky

[kabin63]

I shop at Aldi's for many things. I don't like all of their meat, so often buy it elsewhere, but, even though Aldi is not a brand name store the quality of the food is not bad. I shop to find items where they are ost cheaply aquired.
I don't really know where a good alternative would be for Aldi's. We don't have a lot of options here.

[Nana2two]

I buy all produce and baking items, i don't buy meat, we buy from local butcher and its very fresh no hormones .I spend around, 180 a month there and around 70 on meats.

[mamamia]

I think it's great that you ladies save so much at Aldis! As for me there is no Aldis except about 40 miles away in Orlando. I wish it was closer 'cause I'd love to take a peek.

In truth though, after seeing the prices posted from Aldis, and knowing the foods are generic has me convinced that I ~can~ do alot better at my local supermarkets and using coupons.

Remember too that my shopping is at the point where I'm only adding to my stockpiles and not shopping week to week. That might have something to do with why my system works better for me.

Someone posted not long ago the price increases for Aldis from one year ago. (wish i could find it) In all honesty, except for the canned tomato soup, I get better deals right around here. Please don't think I'm bragging, but here's a copy & paste that I posted from a couple of weeks ago. I've shopped more since, saving $101 and OOP being only $42. No doubling at FL Publix stores.

8-- 13oz. bags of New England Gourmet Coffee $.95 each

6-- bags Nestle baking chips $1 each. Got a rain check & getting more

10- 40ct. bags Totino's Pizza Rolls $1 each

10- boxes of those new pillsbury Flaky Bites $1 each

6-- Loaves of various Arnold Whole Grain Breads $.85 each

11- 4paks YoPlus Yogurt $.50 each

16- bags of Ore-Ida Steam & Mash Potatoes- $.75 each (The sweet potatoes are awesome! got rain check for more)

5-- 48oz. jars of Mott's Apple Sauce $1 each

8-- canisters of Progresso flavored bread crumbs $.85 each

2- cans Progresso Soups $.20 each

17- cans of Ocean Spray Cranberry Sauce $.33 each

6- boxes Cinn. Toast Crunch & 2 boxes Golden Grahams $1 each

6- boxes 12 ct. Kellogg's Pop Tarts $.45 each

3- 5lb bags Publix sugar $1.19 each

9- 16oz. bags od various Birds-Eye Frozen Veggies &.65 each

4- pkges of Kraft Bagel-Fuls $.50 each

4- cannisters of BC frostings $.45 each

12- 4ct GE Reveal Light Bulbs $.35 each at Albertson's

In the end, whatever works best for us is what we should do

Happy Shopping and Saving!!!

Theresa

[cmdarlin]

We shop Aldi's all the time but I do watch the fliers for the local grocery stores so I can get bargins using my coupons too. There isn't too much from Aldi's that we've not liked. We also have Sav-A-Lot but I think their higher.

Debbie

[phoeny_moonstar]

I absolutely love love love aldi's! They are the cheapest place here by far. No other big box store can ever touch them. I do go to Fareway for meats or HyVee... sometimes I just don't like the look or taste of Aldi's meat even though it's a lot cheaper.

[rainbowgc]

Yeah we just got an Aldi's although it is about 35 minutes away so we try and plan only once a month filling in the extras with loss leaders and a local fruit stand.

[Dutchie]

We also have an Aldi's and a Lidl which is also a German store very much like Aldi's.
To be quite honest I find that if I buy the cheaper brands at my local grocery store then it really doesn't make much difference in price.

I don't know how Aldi is in the US but here the discount stores aren't really all that large and their assortiment is limited.
This makes my grocery trip a lot shorter and the temptations that are in abundance in the 'normal' grocery store aren't there in Aldi/Lidl.
So I automatically buy a lot less than I would if I went to AH (huge Dutch chain grocery store).

BTW our Lidl stores have been tested on a lot of fronts regarding quality of products and freshness and they scored VERY well indeed.
In fact their own brand of cola was tested as the best non-A brand and we buy it regularly.