My First Aldi Grocery Shopping Haul + Two Week Costco Haul
My Thoughts on My First Trip to Aldi
Well, so many of you guys told me that I would LOVE Aldi, and boy you were right. Aldi was a wonderful land of 99-cent whole wheat bread, yogurt for 25 to 39-cents a container, and 85-cent whole wheat pasta. Several items at Aldi, such as my large containers of Greek Yogurt, were about the same cost that I usually pick it up for at Costco. However I didn’t see anything that was priced *more* than I usually pay anywhere else, in fact many items were a few cents cheaper or more.
Egg Drama
On Instagram I shared, “Whoa! I learned today there’s a shortage on eggs. I had no idea that prices doubled!“
When I hit Costco after Aldi I had sticker shock that eggs where $2.59 a dozen ($19.49 for 7.5 dozen as pictured above!). I heard from many of you with over 89 comments on my Jamerrill Stewart Facebook page that $2.59 a dozen is actually a good price in your area. Still, many moms like me had their jaws dropped. My biggest shock was I usually pay around $10 for this same 7.5 dozen egg pack. Sigh, so glad our chickens are almost ready to move to their new coop and will hopefully start laying eggs in the near future (you can learn more about our new mail order chickens here).
Once-a-month Grocery Shopping at Aldi?
I share often that I usually do one large monthly grocery shopping haul (+ one very small fill-in trip if needed). For my first trip to Aldi I only did a two week grocery shopping haul because I needed to feel-out the store and experience it for myself.
I believe Aldi could be a good resource for once-a-month grocery shopping if I worked it for canned goods, bread, yogurt, and more. I’ve heard that all Aldis are different. In the particular location I went to I didn’t see meat prices that made me feel (at the time) that I should buy meat there. Everything was packaged too small for my liking. I like buying the large meat packs at Costco since I use meat in just about every family dinner. That being said it doesn’t mean I’ll never buy meat at Aldi. Sometimes I have to “eyeball” prices, weights, and packaging before I make a change.
Trying a Different Aldi Location
Although I enjoyed the Aldi that we visited I don’t think that location will be a regular stop for me. We usually drive 30-minutes each way to reach the stores in a common direction (the same location we head to for church, activities, etc). This Aldi was 45-minutes in the opposite direction. I thought that since there was a Sharp Shopper and Costco in this new direction we could potentially start going to that bigger city to shop and use their stores. HONEST CONFESSION>>> However, I felt it was too stressful to be in a new area, grocery shopping with a van full of kids, while taking wrong exits and the 16-passenger van air conditioner intermittently not working. Are you experiencing how not-fun going out of my comfort zone to grocery shop can be, ha?!
As I’m planning for our upcoming large once-a-month grocery shopping trip I believe I’m going to try a different Aldi location which is only 20-minutes outside of our normal grocery shopping area. Yes, it’ll add 40-minutes to our trip with drive time (I mathematically break down every detail most days #homeschoolmombrain), but it might be worth the extra stop since it’s just once-a-month. This will keep us in a familiar area and I’ll be able to navigate my regular stores. Anything to make life easier on mom, right? 😉
Grocery Budgets, Grocery Hauls, Meal Planning and More
I love to talk grocery shopping and make videos and write articles about my experiences often. Here are helpful resources if you’d like to chat-up groceries and more!
>> How to Stick to a Cash-Based Grocery Budget
>> Large Family Once a Month Grocery Shopping Haul and Grocery Expense Report
>> Large Family Meal Planning for the Month
>> Large Family Walmart Grocery Shopping Haul
>> Large Family Grocery Budget Breakdown with Large Family Grocery List
>> Large Family Once a Month Grocery Shopping Haul (Costco, Walmart, Sharp Shopper)
My other Once a Month Grocery Shopping posts over the years:
>> Once-a-Month Grocery Shopping Haul + a Tour of my Refrigerators & Freezers!
>> Once-A-Month Grocery Shopping List, Monthly Meal Plan, F.A.Q.
>> Ten Tricks for Successful Once-A-Month Grocery Shopping
>> Feeding a Big Family for $400 per Month on Money Saving Mom + More FAQ’s
>> 12 Family Grocery Savings Articles
>> How I Feed My Family of 7 for $400 per Month (This article is a few years old. Since that time our grocery budget has doubled and at times tripled. We eat a lot of fresh fruits, veggies, and meat now. By no means is our current system “perfect,” it’s just different. We also now have a preteen, teen, and my husband is home full-time. That’s 21+ meals a week from home and all of us eat. 🙂 This article still has valuable info if you need additional cost saving tips!)
What are your grocery shopping tips and tricks?
