(note to any potential commenters. I am no shrinking violet. Don't think that a few harsh words are going to intimidate me in to reversing my position. All you will do is piss me off and get me all ranty on you, while also lowering my opinion of both Aldi and Aldi shoppers. Way to go! Oh - and next time I publish email and IP addresses)
It seems that this post touched a nerve. What was written almost 2 months ago sat largely unnoticed until the past week. Since then, I have deleted several comments and received more than a few emails from people determined to defend Aldi and tell me what a bad person I am for not worshipping at the Altar of Aldi!
Why the sudden interest? Your guess is as good as mine! Is it National I-Love-Aldi month?
So let's get a few things straight (and address the 2 relatively tame comments that I allowed to stay up):
1. It's not as if I said that Aldi was evil...I mean, it's not like it is Walmart or anything. As a matter of fact, I pointed out that some items were cheaper than my grocery stores, even with a coupon. The price on dried beans blew me away! I also pointed out that if one lives where they don't double coupons (or simply lives closer to an Aldi than I do), Aldi can be a wonderful thing.
2. Perhaps the store near me is not one of the better ones, perhaps it was a bad day.....but rotten fruit is rotten fruit. You couldn't have paid me to eat any of the fruit on display that day.
3. I didn't tell anyone NOT to go to Aldi. I simply gave my opinion of it. I realize that many many people think Aldi is the best thing since sliced Schnitzbrot and if you are among them, go forth and save! You have my blessing (not that you need it anyway!). My husband thinks I am wrong, wrong, wrong for hating ketchup...but he doesn't see the need to chastise me for it (both on this site and off). Why do you?
4. Addressing the comment from Dan: the cost of the newspaper? Most weeks I save a minimum $15 from one $1 newspaper. I'm still up $14. How many additional trips? None. Aldi is not one-stop shopping for most people. Perhaps for some, but not all!
5. And to Sam: thank you for your opinion of my time management skills. As for your comments about the fresh fruits and vegetables? See #2. Oh - and on the off-chance that you are an employee for "Aldi Corporate" (your use of the word "tinned" indicates that you are likely not an American...most Americans say "canned".), and on a PR mission for Aldi? Let your bosses know that it was your comment that was the final straw and inspired this post. Good job!
Jennifer
Wow, Mindi--with all of those negative comments, you must be getting famous now:) I totally agree with you. Aldi is not all that impressive. I even like Walmart better. See? Now all the hate-comments will be directed to me!
Jessica
I too have come across produce that was NOT FRESH at our local Aldi store. When it smells and has small black flies on it...
You are not alone in your experiences with Aldi's lack of FRESH produce and I live in another state.
Great job for standing up and holding to your opinions and experiences.
Melinda
I guess it probably all depends on where you live. For me, Aldi is consistantly the lowest priced groceries I can find. I've tried the "coupon thing" several times, and quite frankly, I don't have hours and hours to contribute to cutting coupons and running around to every grocery store and pharmacy in the area. Not only that, we only have a couple of small grocery stores in my town, and they don't run good sales ads hardly ever. Our local newspaper doesn't put a coupon insert in our Sunday paper either. It's almost impossible to get my hands on a Sunday paper from a larger city. I DO print out coupons online when I'm able to, but it doesn't save me very much money. So, for me Aldi is where I can see the most savings
I will agree with you though on a couple of things. Aldi bananas suck!!LOL I never buy bananas there. However, I always find their other produce superior to the other groceries in my town, and MUCH cheaper. Although Aldi is trying to improve on this, they also don't carry as many "healthy" foods as I would like. For example, I can't buy whole wheat flour there, only white enriched. Finally, Aldi, plain and simple, just does not carry every grocery item I need. I could never shop exclusively at Aldi, and honestly, much of the time I just go to Wal-Mart so I can pick up all of my grocery items and just buy the Great Value brand. It does cost me a little more than going to both Aldi AND Wal-Mart, but sometimes I just have enough time to run around to more than one grocery store.
I really don't know why people got so upset over your post??? It's not like you were bashing the store or anything, just stating your opinion....
BTW, I just found your blog and I'm enjoying it!
Rebecca
I shopped at an Aldi once, when I had a roommate who was on WIC and we went there because she could get more with her check....i thought it was horrible. Completely NOT the kind of store I want to be shopping in - the one near us was dirty, and the only good values in my opinion were the boxed mac and cheese,and dented tins of soup!
There are much better ways to find a good deal over going there!
Barb
My kids won't go into Aldi; they say that the store "smells."
I have found a few good values; tortilla chips, the boxed au gratin potatoes among them. But it's not good enough to make it worth the trip since Aldi is off my beaten path.
Daisy
As you know, Mindi, I love Aldi. I have some very real genuine reasons why I can not do what you do with the coupons so Aldi is an excellent alternative for me.
Local to me I have a smaller chain grocery store and that god-forsaken Shop-Rite. I can't even go into a big store like that. Too many sounds, too many smells, I can hear those humming lights and smell all the refrigerant - WAY too many isles... stops my heart and makes my head spin... full-out panic... not happening for me.
So - I supplement my Aldi shopping with my smaller local store. I buy produce there (no one I know would recommend buying produce at Aldi unless you planned on eating it within 24 hours. It's no good. No way around it.) and meats and most cheeses - Aldi cheeses, for the most part are just not up to snuff. So - it is not really worth all that coupon clipping for someone like me. I have a budget of $100 per week for my family of four (that's three adults and one very hungry 8 year old) extremely picky eaters - usually two separate meals each time we sit down to eat. Yeah - go ahead - YOU tell my mother-in-law she has to eat fish if we have it or mushrooms or olives... or squash.... YOU tell my husband he has to eat beans or onions. Good luck with that. Anyway - I get like $80 worth of things at Aldi and the other $20 at Murphy's. And I don't cut a single coupon ever. FOR ME this is a very good thing and is important.
I think it is important to note that if someone is not willing to cut coupons or not able but would still like to seek out some bargains they shouldn't kick Aldi to the curb. We enjoy a lot of things from Aldi that are quite good and pay $3.50 for a half gallon of Skim Milk - that's good, right?
There is not one answer for everyone... people need to realize that.
Heidi @ ggip
I can't see why people would get heated over that post either. If they disagree, why not just write a kind disagreeing comment?
Aldi's is way too far from me for me to even try it.
Maridith
I don't have any Aldi's near me so I do not have an opinion either way. But I did want to comment and tell you how much I loved your post! You rock!!
Telisha
I love this post...this is sooo funny! I stop into Aldi for things like milk(price is higher now) for 1.99 and 5lbs bag of sugar for 1.69. This started me w/Aldi. I must admit the bananas are sometimes black and slimy. I also have to be REALLY careful with their produce. My friend loves Aldi...she will tell me good things to buy there, but since I am an avid couponer (and I ENJOY deal hunting with coupons, even with a full time job, a husband, and 5 boys) I usually beat their price at Publix. People tell me all the time "How can you afford to shop Publix?" But like the author, I just can't kick getting BC potatoes for 19cents a box, I go several this way just last week.
PS ...the commentor that mentioned that her kids would not go into Aldi because of the smell, I have an autistic son that flips out whenever we go in there, maybe the smell bothers him too.
Janice
Folks get so worked up about the important things, huh?? I am the cheapest person around and I agree with you about Aldi. It is hit or miss with sales. A new store opened literally at the entrance to my neighborhood...I could walk there with all the kids in a stroller...I was so excited until I really started watching every penny. I bought a few staples thinking surely they were cheaper there and I would supplement at Publix. More than half of what I bought ended up being the same or slightly cheaper at Publix. Except the milk...in Atlanta, they keep it a loss leader at $2.49, but I would rather pay $3.19 for hormone free at Publix. I guess we are just lucky to be in a big city that has some competition and coupon doubles. I just went to my parents house in a small town, and I was appalled at their only grocery store's prices. I would go bankrupt if I had to only shop there. They could use an Aldi in their town.
Deb H.
Mindi- I am new to your site, but you made me smile with your two posts about Aldis. I live in the "land of no double coupons" (although, we are moving this summer and I hope that changes). However, I must say that my hubby and I were a bit amazed when we actually visited an Aldis and it didn't match up to the hype we had heard! There are about 4-5 items that we like there and can find cheapest there - so IF I happen to be visiting a nearby town with an Aldi, I will stop and shop. I would NEVER consider it worth my gas money to drive. Coupon clipping, sale shopping, stockpiling and cooking from scratch all seem to be the best way of saving for us! Thanks for your blog! I'm going to bookmark you!