Since we’ve been shopping at Aldi we’ve saved a bunch of money. Here are a few things to take note of while shopping at Aldi.

Bring a Quarter

Even out the cart corral, don’t pull from the short stack. You should always keep a quarter in your car, or bolt cutters. Sometimes Aldi will have two sets of carts, but one corral is empty. I feel bad for the person who has to sacrifice their quarter to start the link chain. If someone gives you a cart, pay it forward to someone else. Once you get your buggy, don’t start going through your purse or wallet. Get out of the way. Go inside.

The Entry

Don’t linger near the front door in amazement at all the food stuffs. Some Aldi’s place all the junk food near the front.  I wish they would move the junk to another aisle. The entry is clogged with people. They are deciding on how to ruin their innards. At least they don’t use corn syrup or synthetic colors now (some items).

Brand loyalty

This is not a place to shop if you are brand loyal. Almost all their foods are copycats and they taste just as good. Everything except the “Ranch” tortilla chips. You just can’t beat Cool Ranch Doritos. I think it’s because Frito Lay still uses red dye 40.

The Meats

The pork loin and ribeye steaks are tasty and a very good deal. The carne picada is the absolute worst. They also have some very good unprocessed lunch meats for sandwiches. BTW, isn’t a pig unprocessed lunch meat? Too bad they don’t have wild pigs roaming the store.

The Produce

This is the only thing I don’t like about Aldi, everything seems like it’s on verge of rotting. You have to eat it quick or it will spoil. I’ve heard they are fixing that though. We will see.

BYOB

Be prepared to bag your own groceries at that long counter near the exit. Try to fit all your groceries into one bag and walk through the parking lot like someone in the Arnold Strongman Classic. You can buy a bag from Aldi or bring a trash bag. When you unload them at the house, put the trash bag in the receptacle. After you have used the groceries, put the trash back in the bag you bought them in. The circle is now complete.

Be helpful

Offer to take shoppers’ carts back for them. You can determine someone’s greed by how upset they get on losing a quarter. Hopefully, you can time it just right. You can exchange a cart for a quarter in the parking lot. This way, you don’t have to walk back to the storefront.

Hope this helps…