Save Money on Groceries at Aldi Foods

Before you go to your local supermarket for your weekly grocery shopping, check if there is an Aldi Foods in your area. This could save you lots of money on your weekly shopping bill. To find the nearest Aldi Foods store, either search through the yellow pages on your search engine, or go to aldifoods.com and click on the store locater. You can then search by state, city, or zip code to find the location nearest your home.

Aldi Foods is a smaller grocery store that carries a lot of their own private label food products at a much lower cost than the similar name brand products (please note: prices may vary by state/location). They sometimes will also carry brand name products. You will find toiletry supplies, paper towels, paper plates, pet food, and some non-food items also. Around Christmas time they will have a large assortment of toys at a lower cost than most stores, including Walmart. Aldi Foods carries a low-fat variety of items labeled "Fit & Active".

What are the best (in my opinion) food bargains at Aldi Foods?

1.Canned foods such as soup, fruit, and vegetables are very inexpensive. At my local Aldi, a can of ready-to-serve soup is only $1.26 in comparison with brand-name soups being at least $1.00 more at the "regular" supermarket. Their soup comes in chicken noodle, clam chowder, bean, and vegetable. They also have regular canned condensed soup for only $.35 a can. A can of mandarin oranges costs me $.70 at the grocery store, but at Aldi, it is only $.35. They have a wide variety of canned vegetables for less than $.50.

2.Baking supplies are a great deal at Aldi. Butter is only $1.99 every day, and milk is the lowest you can find it anywhere locally. Real vanilla extract is less than half the price it will cost you elsewhere. They carry almost every standard baking need, and add more items around the holidays each year.

3.Drinks are also a bargain. Aldi Foods carries two liter bottles of soda for less than $.50. You can buy a 64 oz. bottle of 100% juice for around $1.00. Also, recently they have had name brands like Welch's juice drink, Propel Fitness water, and Gatorade at a substantial savings. In the refrigerator section, there are 8 packs of little 100% orange juices (perfect for lunch boxes), for only $1.99.

What items should I avoid at Aldi Foods?

1.Buy your meat at the regular grocery store. I have tried both their frozen and fresher meat entrees. Neither can compare to the quality you get from a normal butcher counter. Their hamburger tends to have a higher fat content, and is not that great of a deal. The frozen meat also seems to be not of a high grade.

2.Produce is not as high quality either. The produce is sold for really good prices, but almost everything I have tried is not very fresh tasting. Perhaps part of the reason is most of it is not kept refrigerated. Two exceptions to the produce are the bags of cut green beans, and the green peppers. Other than those two items, you will most likely be disappointed in Aldi's produce.

Next week, head to your local Aldi Foods and check out their great prices. You can come home with three or four bags of groceries for around $30 or less! Here are a couple of closing tips: bring your own grocery bags (they charge $.10 per bag), and bring a quarter (for grocery cart rental-you will get it back when you return your cart). Happy shopping!