Like the majority of readers, I’m a busy parent. Like most families, I do what I can to find the best deals when shopping for household essentials. Being a huge fan of frugal shopping, I was overly excited to find out that Savannah finally had an Aldi grocery store scheduled to open their doors on November 21st!
Aldi is by far one of the most sensible places to shop for frugal living. One of their main principles of operation is to offer unique and high-quality items to consumers at a fraction of “big box” store prices. This German grocery chain can keep their costs low due to their strategic yet simple business practices. Having an Aldi in the area will be a game changer for many families like mine, so keep know the benefits, tips and tricks of shopping at this famous grocery chain.
Grocery Bags – First, be sure to bring your own grocery bags. Aldi offers their own paper and plastic bags, but they come with a small price tag. By charging customers for using their bags, this helps reduce the amount of eventual waste used to transport groceries. In turn, Aldi reduces their carbon footprint and product prices overall. The less money spent on the production of grocery bags, the better.
Rent-A-Cart – Before you leave the house, make sure that you have a quarter in your pocket; you’re going to need it to “rent” your grocery cart at Aldi.
You read that correctly! Aldi’s grocery carts require a small deposit of $0.25 for use, but don’t worry – you’ll get it back when you later return your cart. Aldi’s “rent a cart” system is a fool-proof way to keep the carts all in one place, so their employees can focus on stocking their products rather than spending their energy to corral the carts back into the store. Often times, when you’re returning your cart, someone will be on their way to grab one and will offer their own quarter in exchange for your cart. How convenient!
Weekly Ads – One of the first things you’ll notice when walking into Aldi is they have their current Weekly Ad on display. Be sure to grab one, so you don’t miss out on a smokin’ deal! Every Wednesday a new Weekly Ad is released, to make it easier for frugal families like mine to plan ahead for the following week’s meal planning. Aldi also uses their Weekly Ads to introduce new products to their home living line called Huntington Home. In Early September I was able to snag both their luxurious Huntington Home Woven Throw and Mercury Glass Fall Candle. Both are of superb quality and brought an instant but natural autumn vibe into my home.
Products – As you stroll through the store, you’ll start to realize that Aldi doesn’t have many of the fancy shelving units that other grocery stores do. Because of this, it’s easy to grab the next box of product when one box is empty. The empty boxes are free to take to pack your groceries, so don’t be shy to grab a few if you left your bags behind.
While shopping, you’ll likely notice that there are not as many brand name products that you’d immediately recognize. This is because over 90% of Aldi’s products are private label. One of the reasons why Aldi’s prices are so low is due to the strategic sourcing of their own brands such as Friendly Farms (dairy), Simply Nature (organics) and Specially Selected (gourmet foods). One of my favorites is Aldi’s Barissimo coffee line, especially the seasonal “Apple Crisp” ground coffee. Barissimo has many coffee products to choose from and is sure to deliver delicious seasonal flavors all year long.
Seasonal Items – Speaking of seasonal products, Aldi never fails to offer the tastiest foods for a fraction of the cost. They know what their shoppers want, especially during the holidays. My family eats plenty of soup during the cold winter months, so I picked up their Simply Nature Organic Pumpkin Soup. The Pumpkin Soup was VERY tasty and filling, so much that I saved my leftovers in the seasonal Crofton Soup mug. This mug is also great for coffee drinkers to keep your beverages nice and hot for hours at a time.
For a few quick and sweet snacks, we tried the Specially Selected Pumpkin Spice Caramel Corn and the Benton’s Fall Cookie Thins. They were both delicious and really kicked the sweet craving to the curb for a long while, without feeling weighed down later.
Cost Effectiveness – One of the things I love most about Aldi is their smaller floor plans and how easy it is to find their products. A smaller store means fewer overhead costs, which turns to lower prices for us! They tend to schedule only a handful of employees at a time since there are no cart runs, less complicated stocking procedures, and no baggers. As an Aldi customer, you bag your own groceries, so that their employees can focus on getting you in and out of the store as fast as possible. As a busy Mom, I really appreciate this since I have a limited amount of time to shop before running around with my kid for school, church, Scouts, and other extracurriculars. Plus, my son loves to help me bag the groceries! Win-win.
The Customer Comes First – If for any reason a product doesn’t work out, Aldi offers a unique “Twice as Nice” guarantee. You’ll not only get a full refund but also an entire product replacement to be sure their quality standards are being met. This also encourages customers to try new products that they likely wouldn’t have otherwise to hopefully find new favorites.
Time and time again, Aldi has set the bar high for cost effectiveness and their famous customer-first mentality. There’s no doubt that when Aldi announces a new store to open, it stirs up plenty of excitement for current and future Aldi shoppers. Our family cannot wait for our new Aldi store to open November 21st! After our awesome shopping experience, I’ll never look at a quarter in the same way.
Photo Credit: Harrison King
