Adventures at Aldi's a.k.a. Dave Ramsey Flunkie part 2!

I've been hearing about it for years.  I've passed on MULTIPLE times when I lived in/would visit my hometown!  But I had yet in my 30someodd years graced the doors of an Aldi's.  This was not like my anti, somebody's-going-to-see-me-and-mock-me, deep seated disdain for Big Lots era!  This was just a never-took-the-time situation.  I can say that no more now, I have BEEN TO ALDI'S!!!  And...I have tallied the totals and I have a report for all, so if there's anyone out there that's been wondering if it is worth it or not, I have the data!

First, I will share my general observances on the cosmetics.  It's not like walking into a Super Wal-Mart or your neighborhood grocery store.  It's modest in size, but, and I am speaking for the ones in my area, it is clean and well taken care of!  As you are entering, you get your buggy, and you have to place a quarter in it to use the buggy, but when you return it, you get the quarter back...so BE SURE YOU HAVE A QUARTER!  This is important! :D  Also, either take some grocery bags or boxes with you, or be prepared to purchase some paper or plastic ones at the counter.  I myself, opted for bringing my own, although I did purchase a thermal bag because we had a bit of a trek to get home.  You will need to be prepared to pay either in cash or with a debit card. None of these things are a huge issue, but good to know ahead of time!

The arrangement of the store I went too was a bit different and kept me on my toes. I was afraid that if I didn't pay attention, I would miss something I was looking for. I had made a sizeable list the day before at Kroger so that I could price compare, so I was looking for things with intent!

Now for the savings reveal! As I mentioned, I had a big list of things I was looking for, things that we use on a regular basis. The first aisle we walked into had a lot of snack type foods....chips crackers, fruit snacks, fruit in containers, candy,things of that nature. Chips, especially the specialty sort (I.e. kettle chips, dorito type) were a significantly cheaper, by like a dollar or more. They were not name brand, but I picked up a bag to try and found them to be good, maybe just saltier. Fruit in a cup was maybe a bit cheaper, but I couldn't find any that was in juice, it was all in syrup. They did have natural applesauce in cups, and they were about 50 cents cheaper.  The salsa, they were jars close to twice as big as we usually get and $1.31 cheaper. Graham crackers were $1.49 at Aldi. Kroger brand usually runs about $1.79, name brands range as high as $4.19...all boxes are the same size.

The rest of my comparisons go as follows:

Product:                    Aldi price:          Other store price:       savings:
Cheese pizza            $4.99.                    $7.99.                           $3.00
(Deli style)
Sausage pizza.         $5.99. .                 $8.99.                           $3.00
(Deli style)
Turkey bacon.          $2.19.                  $2.50(on sale).           $.31
Turkey kielbasa.      $2.29.                  $2.50(on sale).          $.21
Green grapes (2lb)  $2.98.                   $3.98.  .                       $1
Strawberries .          $1.99.                  $2.50(on sale).           $.51
Mushrooms.             $1.25.                  $1.99.                          $.75
Hummus.                  $1.99.                  $2.99.                          $1
Milk.                          $2.89.                   $3.19(on sale).          $.30
Broccoli crowns.    $1.69.                   $1.89.                          $.20
3 pack colored.       $2.99.                   $4.99.                          $2
   peppers
Carrots (2lb).          $.99.                      $2.99.                           $2
Wheat bread.         $1.69.                    $1.99.                           $.30
Rotel.                       $.59.                       $1.                              $.71
Avocados.               $.49 ea.                 $1.                               $.51
Blueberries.           $1.49.                    $2.50.                         $1
gala apples (5lb).   $3.99.                    $5.49.                        $1.50
string cheese.        $2.49.                    $3.29.                         $.80
Greek yogurt(32 oz) $3.89.               $5.19.                         $1.30
Chicken nugg.       $3.99.                    $4.99.                         $1
Lettuce (4pack.     $.99.                      $3.49.                         $2.50
     Of various)
Red potatoes(5lb) $3.49.                    $5.49.                        $1.50

That was a bulk of the things on my list. There were a few things where there would have been little to no savings such as canned fruit and veggies, frozen veggies, pasta and sauce, 12 packs of soda, bottled water, cheese (on a good sale at Kroger, I would have saved 11 cents).  All that is based on sales that i buy those items on elsewhere and prices of generics. I may have missed things, i may not have totally worked the store as i should have, but this was my first time. I'll leave room for error and improvement!  On my entire trip, I saved $32.39 based on my findings between Aldi and kroger.  What I haven't figured out is how long some of these things will last to know how much it will save us within a month. Time will tell! I'll try to follow up again in a month and let you know how we do :)