Aldi Haul Vlog for March 2017

Yep, I'm that person who now vlogs her grocery hauls and posts them to YouTube.

But I was always that person who catalogued her thrifted finds obsessively, so this isn't really all that different (dig back enough and you'll find a few thrifting vlogs that I made too).

SOooooo....today my family went to Aldi for a few things. We didn't buy a lot of necessities, we did buy a lot of snacks/treats, and I have mixed feelings about this but a lot of it will come with me to work so it's OK. Cheaper than going out to lunch for SURE.

We spent $65 (after $5 coupon, yeehaw) and got a ton of stuff. I really do like Aldi a lot, even if the whole "Last time I was here I bought this delicious thing and now it's not here anymore" angle gets a bit tiring.

Afterward, I went with a friend to the new Sprouts. It. Was. Overwhelming. I've been to Sprouts before but I chalked up my freaked-out too-much-stuff feeling to the fact that the main store I used to go to is near a friend's house and it's too far away for me to buy anything of substance (I used it to run in and grab some prepared things for lunch - some veggie sushi or a snack grouping of feta/olives/hummus/pita). Nope, it's an overwhelming store. The price signs are confusing. The aisles are tricky and small. The store layout isn't logical to me. Many items are WAY overpriced. And I wanted to buy some organic strawberries but once I got past the suburban mom who needed to look into EVERY SINGLE PINT (for what?) I looked into ONE pint and it was full of fuzzy white mold so I noped out.

HOWEVER. Sprouts does carry vegetarian items that I cannot find anywhere else - I picked up the Gardein pulled "pork" buns and a single-serve frozen veggie lasagna (that wound up costing more than I thought the sign said, ahem). I also got some organic potatoes, some seitan, some fancy hummus that was on sale (I was going to make some - I mention that in the video - but this was cheap  enough to buy instead of making it), and some blueberries that were a dollar and I was like OMGADOLLAR and then when we were at the car my friend pointed out that they were only a half pint - I think Aldi had a whole pint for less than $2 (and these weren't even organic) so boo to that but I'll still eat and enjoy them. Sprouts will probably be a store we go to for VERY VERY specific items (or for things on sale) but I have way too many other good grocery options to make this a regular part of our rotation. (My brain said to me "I'm already juggling Costco, Aldi, YDFM, and Kroger -  you want me to figure out if this store's prices are comparable to ALL FOUR OF THOSE STORES? Nope." The bulk bins are very enticing too except I watched a little kid dip her fingers in one that held dried oatmeal when her dad wasn't looking....)

Yay haul videos!

Second Aldi Haul for February 2017 with VLOG!

This time I had my wits about me to actually vlog my Aldi haul unlike last week...


A friend and I went back to the new one that's a little further away but...NEW! Plus they still have the $5/$30 coupons (and while I brought one with me, the cashier had one that she was just scanning for everyone, which is super nice).

This time I tried to be a little more discerning and not buy All The Things but...I still did, a little. I definitely got more snacky stuff but also things to bring to work.

I'm planning a Costco run on Tuesday (first of the month) so that also kept me from buying too much.

Disappointment: They didn't have the goat cheese and spinach frozen pizza that we bought A WEEK AGO and LOVED. Also the noodle bowls turned out to be a limited item so I bought five (basically what was left) and will plan to hoard them if they ever show up again in the future.

Frustration: Figuring out the coffee. They do have organic/single source/whole bean, but I still wasn't familiar with the options. It's a little more expensive (barely) than Costco but I was going to buy it because now that I have my new job I don't brew coffee at home as often so don't need two pounds. But in the end, the Costco concept won and I will just buy two pounds of whole bean and freeze some of it.

Total spent (after $5/$30 coupon) - $45.

I really like Aldi now. I still think that other stores can beat Aldi on certain items, but for an everyday shopping trip, it's fantastic.

That said, I also went to Kroger afterward - Kroger's cage free eggs are cheaper than Aldi's cage free eggs (Costco beats all but I haven't yet been able to be comfortable buying so many at once). I also bought Sargento Breaks that were on sale (yep, I could've made my own Sargento Breaks but...sale, plus they had the sweet ones....) and picked up some freebies from either Kroger's Friday Free Coupon deal or a Best Customer deal - free pretzel crisps, Chobani Flip (plus I had a digital coupon, plus Ibotta - I bought four.....), and Cambpell's YES! soup (only one variety was truly vegetarian - even the tomato soup had chicken in it, boo). Also avocados (had a 75 cents/2 coupon). And a frozen meal (Mobisave!). (I used Ibotta, Mobisave, AND Checkout51). I only spent about $30 there. Not bad at all.

Aldi Haul (but no vlog) - OMG I GET IT NOW - February 2017

So as you know from a previous blog post and vlog, I finally went back to Aldi for the first time in eons and was...moderately impressed. It was OK. It was fine. The store itself was a bit small and crowded, and I didn't see an extraordinarily grand number of healthy/organic items. But my friend Jen and I agreed that the store that was about to open a few miles away might have a better selection, and we made a plan to go check it out.

(By the way, the store is called Aldi. Not Aldis or Aldi's. ALDI. THERE IS NO S. Thanks.)

That store, in Tucker, GA, just opened a few days ago, and today we went over. The store was, as new stores are, shiny and clean, but it was also BIGGER than the closer store and it definitely had a wider selection of organic produce and other items. It also seemed like things that were out of stock at the closer Aldi were plentiful at the new store.

And so I shopped. And shopped. And shopped.

I couldn't find the energy to make a haul video, and my husband wanted to put everything away, but I snapped some pictures and will tell you about the things I bought in this Aldi haul. In short: I'm now impressed and I can see an Aldi-Costco-Kroger-YDFM synchronicity building.

Two jars of fancy salsa (one mango peach, one black bean and corn) - $1.99 each
Unsalted almonds - $4.99 for 14 oz.
Two jars of Indian simmer sauce - Jalfrezi and Tikka Masala (my husband was VERY excited about these) - $1.99 each
String cheese (not sure if this is an amazing price and I think the Costco price is better but we are out and won't likely get back to Costco for another two weeks - 12 sticks for $2.79 **This is a 10 oz. package for $2.79, and Trader Joe's is 12 oz. for $2.99....
And "Caramel Coconut Fudge Cookies" that look quite similar to a certain cookie sold by a certain organized group (I will make a donation or something) - $1.79 and I hope they're as delicious

The Fit & Active 100 calorie snack packs of cookies and the Fiber Now bars (also easily comparable to identical name-brand packaged foods like these) I got to keep at my desk at my NEW JOB HOORAY! to keep me away from the vending machines (and the donuts that apparently appear from time to time) - $2.19 for the cookies, $1.49 for the bars
The two noodle bowls, both happily marked "VEGAN" so I didn't have to squint at the ingredients, are also for work - $1.69 each, which is an unbeatable price compared to Annie Chun's, which are a dollar more at Kroger. If these are good I'll probably stock up (though I think they might be a limited time thing....which is a side of Aldi I'm not as much of a fan of).
And the organic "Intercontinental Super Grains" was an impulse buy - $2.49, which probably is a decent-but-not-amazing price but it looked good and I bought it so there. I was impressed that Aldi carries this type of thing.

Booze! My husband got a Winking Owl Shiraz for $2.89. I submitted the receipt to BevRage under "any red wine" and got a dollar back! (You can download the BevRage app at your favorite app store but then please use my referral code and we'll both get $2! Code: TWVQMIJU  ) I got this "Wicked Grove" hard cider six pack for $6.49. Even on sale, cider at Kroger hovers around $7.50, so this was another good deal.

This is an example of NOT A GOOD DEAL and also READ THE LABELS ALWAYS and COSTCO WINS. These packages look identical, no? Rice rollers, hooray! The one on the left - Bamboo Lane - is from Costco and is clearly marked "vegan." The one on the right - Fusia - is from Aldi. Fusia rice rollers are only $1.29 per package....but they have gelatin, which I don't eat. The four-pack at Costco is $6.99, so SLIGHTLY more per package, but I can't eat the cheaper ones at Aldi anyway so the choice is kind of obvious. My husband is eating them instead. Not a terrible mistake for a buck. Now I know.

My fun splurge - I saw this Easy Home handheld steam cleaner in the Aldi circular last week and was happy to see that it was still available (the store had plenty of them - they also had a garment steamer that I kind of wish I'd bought too). I've already tested it out and it works well. It has a bit of a plastic smell that I hope dissipates, but the steam was powerful and it cleaned my sink relatively well. Nothing miraculous, but it was only $20 and I kept my expectations low.

What else did I buy? Not pictured:

FROZEN AND PACKAGED FOOD:
Unsweetened almond milk (refrigerated) - $1.99 (I rarely see the name brands for under $2.50 but can probably hit this price with a coupon/sale on occasion. For comparison, Trader Joe's has it for $2.99, and it's on sale this week at Kroger for $2.49 but that's part of a larger buy-six-get-$6 sale.)
A quart of organic unsweetened whole milk yogurt that looks identical to Stonyfield for $2.99
A box of whole grain waffles for $1.29 (Kroger has frozen waffles on sale sometimes 10/$10 but I'm not sure if they're whole grain or not, I'll have to check)
A box of "Moo Tubes" which are basically Go-Gurt....which I HATE BUYING but these had reasonable ingredients and no food dyes, and my kid loves them frozen, and, again, I think they're a better price at Costco (Costco definitely has a slightly healthier version) but at $1.79 for an eight pack I gave in. (*I checked - these are slightly cheaper than the Yoplait brand available at Costco but only by a few cents per pouch, and I still like the ingredient list of the Yoplait version better.)
A frozen spinach and goat cheese pizza that was more appealing to my husband than the larger take-and-bake cheese pizza for $3.49
A bag of frozen edamame for $1.69
Three boxes of "fruit squeezies" that are basically Gogo Squeez for $1.89 for four. Kirkland applesauce pouches are cheaper by a few cents per pouch, but these had different flavors (apple peach and...two others, I forget). Another "tide us over until we can get to Costco" purchase.
Cheese crackers (Cheezits) that my husband haaaad to haaaaave for $1.59
Two cans of cannelini beans for 65 cents each
A bottle of organic salad dressing (chipotle ranch) for $1.99
A bottle of Catalina dressing for $1.29
Organic honey for $3.49
A can of mixed nuts that my kid haaas to haaaaave for $2.79 (better price than anywhere else even if it's a ridiculously overpriced item *cough*)
The same pea crisps that I bought last time in the video for $1.39

BREAD
Basic boring whole wheat bread for $1.39
Sourdough square bread for $2.99 (YDFM's sourdough isn't THAT much more expensive and WAY BETTER but we're out of bread so.)

PRODUCE (I still have to figure out if YDFM beats these prices - I think it may):
A bag of Cara Cara oranges for $3.49
A bag of sweet potatoes for $1.79
A bag of organic baby carrots for $1.49
A four-pack of zucchini (out of season but SO GOOD for spiralizing) for $1.99
Two avocados for 99 cents each (eh - they're big ones but still....)
A package of three green peppers (yuck I hate green peppers) for 99 cents
A 2 pound bag of sweet onions for $1.49

HOUSEHOLD
A three pack of scrubbing sponges (like Scotch Brite) for $1.29
A box of 40 storage bags (quart size) for $1.99

AND FINALLY....a cat scratcher that my cats are currently ignoring after sniffing at it briefly because cats for $4.99

And the saddest tale of woe - I was sure I bought their Laughing Cow knockoff (pepper jack!) but it was not anywhere to be found and it's not on my receipt either so I guess I either put it back or the cashier didn't scan it.

But the best part was that because the store is new, they had coupons for $5 off a $30 purchase and a) the cashiers were scanning them for everyone even if we didn't have the physical coupon (because we didn't) and b) my cashier went "oh, you can break up your transactions" so I did two transactions and thus saved $10! (I could've saved $50 but she realized she could break things up when I hit $60 on the first one, oh well. STILL!)

And so in the end I spent about $110 total for EVERYTHING (about $90 on food).

I'm impressed and excited and definitely am going to be shopping at Aldi again and again and again. Not Aldi's. Not Aldis. ALDI. WITHOUT AN S.

Checking out Aldi for the first time - Vlog of my haul

WHY do I like to both watch and make haul videos of groceries?

Why do any of us do it?

I guess it's because I like to see what's available, what the prices are, what people are buying (I'm nosy!), and what I might buy on my own next trip.



Anyway, I finally went to Aldi with a friend of mine to see if it was as amazing in person as it seemed to be in haul videos and from what several friends had told me. Aldi seems to inspire a LOT of gushy love. Above, you can find my vlog about what I bought.

My overall impression? It's OK. My friend and I (the "we" I'll refer to in this post) did go to a smaller store this time, but we made plans to see if the brand new store (opening in a few weeks) has a better selection of organic/healthy type items. The store we were at was also....not the cleanest? For example, I found organic salad dressing in glass bottles that seemed to be a good price for a quality product - but several of the bottles had drips on them. I didn't buy it.

I also felt the same way about a lot of the items that I felt when I went a few years ago - still a lot of processed food (and I'm not AGAINST processed food but I do try to watch out for certain ingredients). Not a lot of vegetarian options (could be the store? for example, the take and bake pizzas were all very meaty....but maybe a different store catering to a different clientele would have veg versions?). No tofu. No whole wheat pasta. Basically for my family, Aldi could never be our main store. Costco comes closer to that when we combine it with YDFM and Kroger.

HOWEVER, what I bought was all really impressive to me, price-wise. That almond milk is SO cheap and if it's good, I'll gladly switch to it. The "premium ice cream" that's clearly a Ben & Jerry's copycat was half the price of B&J. The plastic bags beat Target's everyday price (I just hope they're good quality). And of course if you watch the video you'll hear just how happy I was about the Zulka. I didn't buy whole bean coffee because I'd just bought a bag at Costco, but the price was comparable and it was fair trade (and maybe even organic? I can't remember) so if I didn't want to buy two pounds at a time, I'd probably switch.

But the "organic" (faux-Annie's) mac and cheese that my kid lives on? Cheaper at Kroger and Costco. The baking soda - I think that's the same price at Kroger. I think the cheap mustard is the same price at Kroger too. I'm not sure if the pea crisps or the dried mango were particularly good prices - I kind of got overwhelmed in those sections and just...bought them. (The kid LOVED the pea crisps though. And she's picky.) Kroger and Trader Joe's both have $3 wine. (Sidenote: Aldi prosecco costs the same as Costco prosecco - $6.99 - and I couldn't tell the difference - my friend bought Aldi, I bought Kirkland, and we had a taste test.) And the plastic bags are probably the same price as Target when Target has a sale plus Cartwheel (which is often).

What I'm saying is that Aldi has potential for me. If I didn't have a Costco membership, it would definitely rank higher for me (and it is closer to where I live). If I didn't want to fuss with coupons and sales, it also would be more appealing - but I LOVE fussing with coupons and sales, and I can do really well at Kroger by doing so.

Stay tuned. In a few weeks we'll check out the new store and I'll let you know if that changed my mind at all.