ALDI — Attraction in Town of Gates

When I first moved here in 2010 I was very leery of Aldi's. I had never heard of the store and the one time I went in I saw boxes on shelves containing brands I had never heard of. So I stayed away. I did most of my shopping at other stores in the area. Then the financial situation for my family changed dramatically. We needed to stick to a very strict budget, usually of about $300 per month for a family of three adults. I was forced to find a way to make it work.

I sat down and and figured out a way to create menus for the month with the website Pepperplate. From my menu I can generate my Shopping list then remove items I already have and then shop for only what I need. I tried to do this at the other stores but found it hard to stay on budget. A friend of mine said I should give Aldi's a try. So I made a shopping list for two weeks of my menu. To my surprise I went from an average of $170 for the two weeks to about $120. A savings $50 was great, but at what cost?! I was worried about the quality of the food and would my family like it?

So my first night I went easy and made spaghetti. I used their spaghetti noodles, a pound of ground beef (80/20), a jar of their marinara and a loaf of their garlic bread. I didn't doctor anything with extra herbs or spices, I wanted to give it a real test. I didn't tell the rest of the family of the changes so I could get their straight reactions. To my pleasant surprise all the food was really good, I mean really good!!! I dare say better than some of the name brand stuff that I was buying that I had to doctor up. My family had zero complaints, which is surprising because our roommate is very picky when it comes to food and name brand things. So onto night number two...success as well, as was night three, four, five and so on. I was ecstatic that I could make the same quality meals while saving money, what could be better?!

I have been shopping at Aldi's now for about four years and have consistantly saved money every month. I recently did a comparison between what I would spend at Aldi's vs the local big box superstore. I took my receipt from Aldi's to the big box store and got the prices of the same things. I used the store brands as a comparison to be fair and did not use any coupons, Aldi's doesn't accept them. By shopping at Aldi's I saved just under $63 for a two week shopping trip. If I take that as an average over a year that is a total savings of over $1600, that's literally money in my bank now.

Since their renovation last fall the Henrietta store is fantastic. They have expanded their aisles and it looks more like your average store. The produce is always fresh and you can't beat their prices on milk, at the time of this review it is $1.81 per gallon. A dozen eggs, at time of review, are $.82 per dozen. They always have in season veg and fruit. I recently purchased two 1# bags of asparagus for $1.79 each. That is the least expensive I have ever seen it anywhere else. They also carry seasonal things so the stock is always changing. They always have the staples and I can find 95% of what I need for my menus there. I recommend getting there early as they get busy by about 10:00 am, especially the first couple weeks of the month.

I will say that I have found a couple of dud items on my shopping trips. The biggest and worst being their batter dipped fish fillets. I made a few up for dinner one night and we couldn't get past a couple of bites. That being said, the couple dud products out of the hundreds I have bought is a good average in my opinion.

Even if you just need a few things here and there or just want to save on the basics I highly recommend you check Aldi's out. Create a menu for a couple of days, don't tell your family, and buy everything at Aldi's, see what they think. I am willing to bet they won't know the difference. If you want to save money, and who doesn't, make Aldi's a regular stop for you families food needs.

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Aldi was good at per usual. I love that they have new things to try. I went for 7 specific items but can't out with 41 items for $54.00. The variety of cheeses did me in, asking with my usual I bought three seasonal ones also. I wanted salsa but I didn't want a jar salsa so I was hoping they had fresh lo and behold they did. They also had fresh pico de gallo. while we were standing looking at it elderly lady (76❤️) asked me what it was and I told her it was mango pico de gallo. She said I want to try something new but I have stomach problems so I can't have anything hot. So I read the ingredients for and told her that she couldn't have it because had jalapeno peppers in it. I then told her she can make it herself, it's mainly veggies and sometimes fruit. She said thanks and had her son write down the name so she can go home and look up a recipe to make it. She tagged you me for a little longer. I never brush my elders when they're talking to me because I counted it probably still be able to listen to them. We all need someone to listen to us and too often we just kind of shoe the elderly away and don't give them our time. So when one wants to talk, I let them. You can learn a lot of things, and they impart wisdom...

Prices are very reasonable there. I especially like their cold cuts, their breads, their potato chips. I have not had good luck with their vegetables or fruit. Some of their meats are touch and go. I do like their four pack of 80% hamburgers. I’m not very fond of their hours. I do most of my shopping before 9 o’clock when it gets busy and there’s a grocery store across the street opens up at 6 AM. I also like the cheese in the deli Section. And also Their bran flakes. I find that most of the stuff I’ve bought so far are mediocre to average. several times I have gone to the store with a list of items and had to leave because there were things that they didn’t have in stock. We’re talking normal things like bread, milk , Bananas. I don’t like to chase around to different stores just to fill my shopping list. There is a larger store across the street that I can get everything I Need all...