Aldi Shopping Guide: Finding the Biggest Savings

I’ve posted already about Aldi and why it’s such a great store that can save you lots of money!  If there a downside to Aldi, I would say it’s that they don’t carry everything that might be on your grocery list.  I have yet to see them carry cranberry juice, unsweetened applesauce, or whole-grain hamburger rolls, for instance. So sometimes I have to hit more than one store to get my week’s groceries.  Which, I’ll admit, can be a little annoying.  Although, I’ll be honest with you, the way prices on food (heck, prices on EVERYTHING) have gone up lately, I’m sure I’m not the only one whose budget requires each item to be purchased at the best price possible!

So which items offer the steepest discounts at Aldi?  Here are some of my top picks:

1)      Pantry staples such as basic baking ingredients and canned goods.  For example, stewed tomatoes are regularly 59cents a can.

2)      Paper towels/napkins/paper plates.  A large package of paper plates (comparable to Dixie) is $1.89.  The paper towels and napkins are perfectly decent quality; a 3-pack of paper towels is also $1.89

3)      Condiments including specialty mustards ($1.19),  salad dressing, salsa etc.

4)      Tortillas – 99cents for a package of 10!

5)      Butter spread – their store brand tub version is 99cents and tastes exactly like “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter”!

6)      Dairy – with the exception of my 2-year-old, we aren’t huge milk drinkers, so I normally buy the ½ gallon container which costs $1.99.  A full gallon is priced at $2.99.  Half&Half is $1.49 per quart.  They also have a good selection of cheeses that are priced lower than what I find at Giant or Target.

7)      Breads – today I scored a loaf of whole-grain bread for 99cents!  Usually it’s a bit more than that, but still very reasonable.  Bagels run between $1.49 and $1.69 for a bag of six, which is good news for me, because my kids and I LOVE bagels.  I couldn’t believe it when I went to Safeway with my mother-in-law a couple weeks ago, and a package of bagels was more than $4!  Sadly I haven’t seen Aldi carry blueberry bagels (my favorite!) yet, but they do normally carry plain, whole-wheat, cinnamon-raisin, and “everything”; earlier this month they even had pumpkin bagels, which were delish!

8)      Snack items including chips, crackers, and cookies are very affordable at Aldi compared with other stores.  I don’t tend to buy a ton of these types of foods, but the ones I have tried have been just as good as their name-brand competitors.  A few items I’ve purchased include the tortilla chips (comparable to Tostitos) which are $1.19 a bag, and sandwich cookies just like Oreos priced at $1.79 a package.  This time of year you can also get a very yummy summer sausage for just $3.49!

9)      Diapers (sizes 3, 4, and 5) are just $4.99 a pack, every day.  Wow!  With two kids in diapers, this alone would make Aldi a great place for me.  The diaper quality is fine – actually I prefer the Aldi diaper quality to some other store brands (such as Target brand).  If you’re only familiar with name-brand diapers, I would say that Aldi diapers are most similar to Huggies.   My toddler needs special overnight diapers in order to last all night, but other than that we use Aldi diapers pretty much all the time.

10)  Coffee – I like the “donut store” variety of coffee, which runs $3.99 a bag.  Amazing!  Just today I noticed that Aldi has begun to carry K-cups as well. 

11)  Produce – the produce at Aldi is somewhat hit-and-miss, as they don’t tend to have a huge variety, and the items available can vary from week to week.  The quality, also, depends on the item – but just look before you buy, and you’ll certainly find some great deals!  Today I got a 4-pack of delicious sweet pears for $2.19, avocados for 89cents each, a Caesar salad kit for $1.99, and a bag of baby carrots for 69cents.  (They consistently have baby carrots in stock at a great price!)

12)  Frozen meals & snacks.  While certainly not the healthiest option, I appreciate having a frozen dinner or two on hand; I’ve found that on super hectic days if I don’t have something I can just pull out of the freezer and heat up for dinner, we end up hitting a drive-thru (which is probably even MORE unhealthy – and definitely more expensive!)  Aldi’s frozen pizza and frozen Chinese selections have come to my aid on more than one occasion!  My husband is also a fan of their midnight snack options, including taquitos and pizza rolls (yuck); hey, at least I don’t have to spend a lot of money on that! :)

13)  Soda/bottled water/juice.  As previously mentioned, Aldi does not have a lot going in the way of juice.  But if you like good old apple juice like my kids do, you may as well get it for $1.69 (for a 64 oz plastic container).  My husband is a fan of Diet Coke.  I am not a fan of Diet Coke.  But I am even LESS a fan of how much Diet Coke costs: $4.79 (or more) for a 12-pack?  Are you kidding me?  So we have ended up with a sort of compromise: I buy him the Aldi diet cola which is a much more reasonable $2.29 (for a 12-pack).  He likes it and says it’s very close to “the real thing”.  Whatever. :)  For water, I use a Brita pitcher at home, but find bottled water super convenient for when I’m on the go.  A large flat of 24 bottles runs $2.29.  Works for me!

14)  So, there you go – 13 great categories of savings!  Don’t you feel like you deserve a treat for saving so much money?  I know I do. :)  Many times as I finish my Aldi shopping, the last thing in my cart is a fabulous little package from the freezer section containing 2 pieces of cheesecake.  So. Tasty.  And for $1.99, really, who can resist? :)