Adventures in grocery shopping

[rosarugosa]

I went to an Aldi's once, and after carefully perusing the entire store, bought a package of kalamata olives. The olives were good, and the price was good, but the store did not wow me by any means.

[Alan]

I go to Aldi every couple of weeks, their prices on eggs, milk, butter, cheese and olive oil are far superior to my local Kroger. I'm not impressed with their selection of canned goods, meats, produce or bakery items but I somehow always seem able to find something new to try that I haven't seen elsewhere.

I keep an Aldi quarter in my console.

[happystuff]

I go to Aldi every couple of weeks, their prices on eggs, milk, butter, cheese and olive oil are far superior to my local Kroger. I'm not impressed with their selection of canned goods, meats, produce or bakery items but I somehow always seem able to find something new to try that I haven't seen elsewhere.

I keep an Aldi quarter in my console.

LOL - I do, too!

Am actually going to try Aldi's sometime this weekend, as I haven't been to the grocery store in over a week and need some staples. I'm hoping to do better there than the grocery store this time around.

[happystuff]

Went to Aldi's today and did what will probably be my shopping trip for the week. Dollar amount came in under what I believe I would have spent at the regular grocery store. I think that is due to the fact that Aldi's doesn't really carry "everything" and the fact that I won't buy some of their stuff that is more expensive to begin with. Will see how things go moving forward.

[JaneV2.0]

I used to shop Grocery Outlet about once a month, generally saving about $100 per trip. They have an eclectic mix of staples like turkey breast and grass-fed beef, and quirky one time only finds like canned kombucha and spendy chocolate.

[KayLR]

I just had a moment---I miss Steve's input on this type of topic.

[Rogar]

I shop at Sprouts which usually has some very good sales. What I've noticed lately the sale items are often sold out and the shelf empty. I'm vegetarian and non-meat items not had the same big increases in price, but just recently fruits and vegetables have started to catch up. I'm re-evaluating my garden plans for more production. I watch a lot of the new meat alternatives like Beyond Meat for price. The newer ones tend to go on sale to get people to try them, and the failures go on sale to clear inventory. At least from what I've seen. But a lot of the meat alternatives are highly processed and have a lot of salt. The big supermarket chains are not the best places to shop for some meat alternatives around here. I bake most of my bread through the winter and my standard flour choice, Bob's Red Mill organic has gotten a lot more expensive and is often sold out.

[Tradd]

Aldi is very good for the basics. Canned and frozen veggies and fruit, too. I will buy frozen chicken, but the ground beef was just weird. Produce is hit or miss.

The $3 Brie is excellent. Half the price of the regular grocery.

Plus they have excellent cheap European chocolate.

I’m told by folks who have lived in Europe that Aldi is representative of European grocery stores.

[Tradd]

Aldi’s stores, at least in the Chicago area, used to be dirty. Really dirty.

They’re now remodeling all their US stores. Much cleaner. Wide aisles.

I too keep a quarter in my car for Aldi.

[pinkytoe]

I guess because we are retired we have the time now to comparison shop. One thing we have noticed along with rising prices is that items can be considerably cheaper from one store to the next. We tend to shop 3-4 stores a month to get the best prices. This makes me recall the Frugal Tightwad advice for keeping price books. I have started lots of salad greens since I'm not going to pay nearly $4 for a head of organic lettuce.