A departure...why I love Aldi

I warn you - this has nothing to do with fashion, sewing, DIY, or anything you might normally find here.
This is about saving money. On groceries. It's about feeding my family of five with less than $100 per week. And I love that.

A friend of mine introduced me to Aldi about four months ago. And while Aldi has been open in my hometown for longer than four months, it took me a while to try it. So a few days before Christmas this past year, husband and I ventured to Aldi for a grocery trip.

Aldi is a grocery store that is really inexpensive. They are not huge and not a superstore, just a grocery store. They mostly carry Aldi brand foods - though sometimes you will find brand names. I've never been a brand name grocery shopper, so I loved finding a place like Aldi.

Today I went to the new location near my home. I filled my cart completely. I bought the following and probably more, but here's what I can remember:

1. two gallons milk
2. two dozen eggs
3. 3 zucchini
4. 3 yellow squash
5. 3 cucumber
6. 1 lb. strawberry
7. 2 lb. grapes
8. 6 lb. pears
9. 2 poblano peppers
10. 4 boxes cereal
11. 2 bags of chips
12. feta cheese
13. 2 lb. ground turkey
14. 12 tomatoes
15. 2 avocado
16. bag of sweet potatoes
17. box of crackers similar to Cheez Its
18. box of 8 chocolate covered granola bars
19. 4 boxes of mac and cheese
20. 4 boxes of corn bread mix
21. 12 packages of ramen noodles
22. bag of mini bagels
23. 16 in take and bake pizza
24. bleach
25. 2 bottles of fruit and veggie juice
26. 4 cans of olives
27. 2 can mandarin oranges
28. Lactose free milk
29. 32 oz. chicken broth
30. light butter popcorn

I got all of this - a full cart of groceries - and only spent $95.00. This will feed my family for a week and possibly longer. I may have to restock on milk because we drink lots of milk.

When you shop at Aldi, you put a quarter deposit in to get a cart. This is a way they help to save the customer money. You return your cart and you get your quarter back. That way they don't have to have cart employees who retrieve carts from the parking lot.

You also bag your own groceries and provide your own bags. This was a hard habit to change - I think I went shopping six times at Aldi with no bags and had to load all my groceries in the back of my car. 

Yes, today just solidified my love of Aldi. No, I can't get everything there. I had a few items I had to stop at Walmart for - mostly medicine and underwear for kids.

We've been spending hundreds of dollars a month on groceries. And with Aldi, I can probably cut our grocery bill down to $550 a month. You might be thinking that's still a lot, but with three kids who need school lunches daily, breakfast and dinner, Aldi is a blessing to our budget.

I'm not getting paid for this. I'm just super excited to share my good grocery fortune with you. If you have an Aldi nearby, you might try it. You will probably come away each month with more money to spend on something fun - like a new pair of shoes. I have my eye on these...for running...

and these...just because I have feet.