How to Shop at Aldi

Note: I am in no way affiliated with Aldi. I just like shopping there.

Aldi is a discount grocery store chain, which unlike other such chains, tends to be clean, well-lit, and have consistently good quality food. I went to college in a state that had Aldi and shopped there often. Now I'm in Florida, where Aldi is new, and many shoppers are befuddled regarding Aldi's unique setup.

Step 1 Before you go

Before you go to Aldi, there are two things you should bring: a quarter and your own bags. The quarter is the more important of the two -- you'll need one to release a cart. Otherwise, you're at the mercy of someone else giving you their cart when they're done with it. The bags are (obviously) for packing your groceries in. Aldi sells paper and (very large) plastic bags at the checkout if you haven't managed to acquire a handful of "green bags" by now.

Comments

[Kwitmeh3]

 where are the Aldis in Florida? I used to go there in Illinois but i moved here

[albylovesscience]

the Aldi near my house looks exactly like that

[bigwhitebear18]

(removed by author or community request)

[lukkbox]

Of the 19 distinguishing charecteristics between herbivores, carnivores and omnivores, man shares all 19 with the herbivores, humans are herbivores, naturally you shouldnt be eating meat, you cant digest it anyway, it gets stuck inside you and rots for years polluting your blood, which in turn polllutes your body the source of all dis ease

[natnie]

The source of all disease? Wow. There are no words.

[greenjedi]

Are you joking? or are you actually crazy enough to believe that? and also. i doubt 80% of the hobos are veterans... theres also the dropouts and junkies. and just cause youre a veteran suffering from mental illness, doesnt mean youre not a hobo. not saying its not unfortunate, but veteran status doesnt change anything.

[lukkbox]

the source of all your confusion is labels and words the people you call hobos junkies veterans etc are people, like you good luck with your illusional superiority complex brother, i hope you dont find yourself on the sidewalk god has a way of presenting us with our own worst fears so that we may overcome them and learn humility

[greenjedi]

You've completely missed the point i was making and took my words out of context. good job!

[lukkbox]

oh i did, did i? then enlighten us all and tell us your point and the context ... you omitted to mention either unlesss of course your just overflowing with BS and trying to cover your tracks good job! LMFAO @ you

[chuCraft]

My husband drinks a lot of milk, too, which means frequent Aldi trips for that reason (unless Publix has it on sale, then it's cheaper there). Oh, and I think the double guarantee refers to if you are dissatisfied with the quality of an item... I'd be interested to hear from anyone who's went through the process.

[ybunnygurl]

I have had a Aldi by my house for going on 12 years or more I think at this point, I like it and make jokes I shop at he ikea of food stores, Between Aldi nad Bottom Dollar (Food lions version of aldi) I can get msot of what i need, out side of the farmers market. And man your aldi is nicer than mine, mine has low ceilings, and no cool looking banners, but I don't care. Also Did you know Aldi is a great company to work for? they pay there employees really well, and have really good medical insurance, That's one of the resins I shop there instead of wally world.

[aphrael]

Wow your Aldis look way nice! Ours in the Netherlands have aisles that are not even half of those in the picture, and there are no nice banners as far as I've seen (also because ours don't have such high ceilings). We have the carts you have to put quarters in at every supermarket in Holland, pretty weird to think that this is such a new concept for Americans. I guess there are more people stealing carts over here or something ;)

[chuCraft]

Almost everything in Florida has a really high ceiling, but aside from that, this Aldi looks pretty much like any other one I've been in. Maybe you should bring in a picture to your Aldi and say, "Hey, these people are still getting low prices and their Aldi is much nicer! What's the deal?" ;-) Oh, and as far as the quarter-for-a-cart thing goes, I think the real reason is so they don't have to pay someone to retrieve carts from all over the parking lot. It's ridiculous... I've seen parking lots that have convenient cart return areas, and people still leave them strewn everywhere.

[Brown89]

yeah amen sister I'm a cart boy (i prefer cart man or courtsy associate) at Wal*mart and the cart thing sucks every day as i pull thru the lot all i see is cart every where and man does it suck and no other associate wants to help when its a really busy day most of the time we only have one cart boy on a shift

[Browncoat]

Yeah, the quarter for a cart is so they don't have to pay someone to collect carts.

Aldi's=awesome. Heck, I can save 30 cents just on a frozen juice concentrate! They've got stuff that is no-name-brand, but doesn't suck or anything. (If I don't like something, I'm NOT going to eat it.)

Ours looks the same as yours when you walk in!

[DIYDragon]

I agree.. I've had to clear the lot of carts at night. I wish people we're able to return carts to the nice little cart bay as well. I've never seen an 'Aldi' before or those things where the carts are linked together. Except I think I may have been to a mall that required a quarter for a cart or perhaps it was a wheelchair?..

[LinuxH4x0r]

Ugh I hate aldi. God ible bad store

[greenjedi]

i wouldnt buy produce there, probably not even meat. but as far as frozen foods and nonperishables, cheap is good.

[sondratheloser]

I was at Aldi this weekend.. spent less that $20 and fed five hungry guys toasted sandwiches and fries. Awesome.

[tradergordo]

You could have fed 5 hungry kids for half that price from the McDonalds value menu (and they even cook them FOR you).

[lukkbox]

i hat eto be the one to point it out to you but macdonalds isnt food look at the people in the queue lol its cheap, because its nasty lidl and aldi are cheap, but thats real food, for less doesnt pennywise the clown look like ronald ... do you think its a co incidence?

[greenjedi]

i actually agree with lukkbox here... mcdonalds isnt food. the bacon egg and cheese biscuit is good, but i still wouldnt call it food.

[Joe Martin]

And make them obese! I love the fruit, veg, cheeses and chocolates and aldi and lidl! Om num num! ;-)

[ClayOgre]

Sav-a-lot is similar to Aldi, though their prices tend to be just a tad higher. They provide bags, but you bag the stuff yourself. They also have some stuff that Aldi doesn't.

[lukkbox]

then perhaps they should change their name to ... save-not-a-lot teehee

[ClayOgre]

Well, their prices still beat Wally World. They are usually only about 10 cents higher on a given item that both they and Aldi carry. They also have some stuff that Aldi doesn't, such as a variety of canned beans. They also have refrigerated produce, which Aldi doesn't. The one where I live also is a lot easier to get into and out of than the local Aldi, there is rarely the long line at the cash register that there is during peak hours at Aldi. They also seem to have a more extensive ethnic foods (mostly hispanic) section than Aldi does.

[mrbob1000]

i thought they only had those cart thinggys in france and canada.

[Mussen]

All the rage these days in NJ, Need to control the hobo population. Other states use shotguns, we use locking carts.

[lukkbox]

80% of those people you refer to as 'hobo's' are ex forces now suffering severe mental shock they are also your brothers think twice, cut once

[Bongmaster]

loads of places do

[Joe Martin]

We have trollys in the uk! :lol:

[popman]

as do we but the founder of aldi his brother is the founder of lidl I find it easier to shop there as it is closer to my house so i use much less fuel (diesel 84 cent a liter) but i find it a nicer place to shop because it stocks a lot of irish products

[matchbookhymnal]

Good instructible! Where I live someone will sometimes give you their cart. You then offer to give them a quarter. Sometimes they take it. Sometimes, they say, "No, somebody gave it to me. Pass it on!" Rumor has it that some carts go all day this way.