Yahoo Finance 19 Best and Worst Deals at Aldi
Aldi isn't your typical grocery store. Founded in Germany, this chain now has more than 2,000 stores in the U.S. and offers a no-frills shopping experience. You have to bring your own shopping bags and pay 25 cents to use a shopping cart (you get your quarter back when you return your cart). Plus, Aldi stores carry only the most commonly purchased grocery items, and most of them are exclusive Aldi brands. By carrying only the essentials, with a limited selection of each, the Aldi stores are much smaller than the competition.
And as inflation has squeezed family shopping budgets, more and more people have discovered Aldi.
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"According to data from Placer.ai, Aldi has seen an increase in visitors to their store recently," said Rebecca Gramuglia, consumer expert at TopCashback.com. "And with grocery prices still being high, it's no surprise that consumers are turning to discount grocery stores. Comparing prices at a variety of stores is key to saving money."
And Gramuglia said there are plenty of reasons to try Aldi if you haven't already.
"Whether it's snacks, cereal or frozen meals, Aldi offers a lot of similar products that you would find at a regular grocery store at a lower price point. A large portion of Aldi's merchandise also includes their in-house brands, which are cheaper than name-brand competitors."
GOBankingRates surveyed prices on numerous products to pinpoint the best and worst things to buy at Aldi. One thing is clear: Aldi compares favorably to traditional grocery and big-box stores.
Best Things To Buy at Aldi
You can save a lot buying private-label brands at Aldi rather than brand-name items at other stores. In fact, Aldi-exclusive brands often are cheaper than other grocery store brands. Plus, Aldi has the lowest prices on many organic items.
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Baking Supplies
Baking supplies are among the best Aldi deals.
For example, a 5-pound bag of all-purpose flour is $2.19 at Aldi versus $2.79 at Ralphs stores for the house brand. Continue down the baking aisle at Aldi and you'll stumble upon the boxes of gelatin mix. Price of the store brand is 36 cents. At Ralphs in Southern California, you'll pay 59 cents for a similar box of the house brand or $1.99 for the Jell-O brand.
Baked Goods and Bread
Aldi offers some of the best deals on bread and baked goods. In fact, it's hard to beat the store's low price of $1.89 for a bag of cinnamon raisin bagels or $2.75 for a dozen Hawaiian sweet dinner rolls. Compare that to the national brands at Target: $4.19 for plain bagels and $4.79 for the Hawaiian rolls.
Coffee Creamer
To give your coffee a kick of French vanilla or hazelnut flavor, Aldi's Barissimo brand coffee creamer, found in the dairy section, could do the trick at a discount. A 32-ounce container costs $2.49. Compare that to the Ralphs store brand, which costs about $1 more, or to the national Coffee mate brand, which has a regular price of $4.49 at Kroger.
Dairy
Dairy items like Greek yogurt at Aldi are good for you and your wallet. A 5.3-ounce carton on Aldi's nonfat Greek yogurt costs 62 cents, whereas the national brand sold at Target is priced at $1.29.
Gourmet Cheese
One of the best buys at Aldi is gourmet cheese. You can find several types for less than what you'd pay at another store. For example, an 8-ounce package of brie costs $3.39 at Aldi. The same-sized package at Kroger costs $5.26.
Almond Milk
You can get a great deal on almond milk - either chocolate or vanilla - at Aldi stores. A half-gallon carton of Aldi's almond milk, at $2.39 per half gallon, costs 60 cents less than the Simple Truth almond milk at Ralphs.
Organic Peanut Butter
One of the Aldi special buys is its award-winning organic peanut butter. So if you have a peanut butter lover in your household, you can stock up on this item for less. A 16-ounce jar of Aldi's Simply Nature organic peanut butter is $4.19 - less than the $4.79 you'll pay for Target's Good & Gather brand.
Organic Olive Oil
You'll get a much better deal on organic olive oil at Aldi than at other grocery stores. Aldi's price for a 17-ounce bottle is $4.49, and that is $1 lower than the regular price at Ralphs. And that container at Ralphs holds only 16.9 ounces, making the cost savings per ounce even better.
Organic Coffee
Like most of its other organic products, Aldi's Simply Nature brand of organic coffee offers significant savings over organic coffee at other grocery stores. For example, a 12-ounce package of Simply Nature fair trade organic coffee is $6.47, or $4.99 for a 12-pack of pods. The same-sized bag of Target's Good & Gather fair trade organic coffee is regularly priced at $7.39, with a 16-pack of pods at $11.89. The difference in the price per pod is significant: 42 cents at Aldi versus 74 cents at Target.
Snacks
Snack foods are a great deal at Aldi. For example, an 11-ounce bag of Santitas tortilla chips is regularly priced at $2.49. However, you can get a 13-ounce bag of tortilla chips at Aldi for just $1.95. The price difference per ounce is nearly 8 cents.
Worst Things To Buy at Aldi
It's honestly tough to beat most of the prices at Aldi. However, there are a handful of items you can get for less at other supermarkets and retailers. Plus, some of Aldi's low-priced products should be avoided because the quality is subpar.
Brand-Name Food
If you shop at Aldi, you're better off buying its private-label brands. Often, Aldi has name-brand foods on the shelf, but they cost more than they do at grocery stores, which also will accept manufacturers' coupons, offer digital coupons in app and often have sales. The cereal aisle is a great example of the difference between store brands and national ones. A 15.4-ounce box of Honey Nut Cheerios costs $4.33 at Aldi versus $5.98 for a 29.4-ounce box at Walmart. Buying your cereal at Walmart will save you more than 8 cents per ounce.
The same goes for Fruity Pebbles. Buy 15 ounces at Aldi for $3.98 or 27.5 ounces at Walmart for $5.98. The difference is almost 5 cents per ounce.
Body Wash
When it comes to shopping for personal care items in liquid form, it pays to compare price per ounce, and that includes body wash. Walmart sells Old Spice body wash for men, Swagger scent, in a 30-ounce bottle for about $8. That's about 27 cents per ounce, well below the approximately 37 cents per ounce you'll pay for the smaller 16-ounce bottle at Aldi.
Garbage Bags
When you buy house-brand garbage bags at Aldi, you run the risk of a lesser-quality product than offered by competitors. Many online reviewers rate Aldi's Boulder brand flex kitchen trash bags as substandard. At about $7 for a box of 40, that's less than the $7.62 you'll pay for Walmart's Great Value brand, but reviewers give those bags 4.3 stars out of five.
Eggs
Finally, egg prices are coming down. Now, at $3.29 a dozen, eggs are a more affordable source of protein found at Aldi, but you'll find them for less at Walmart. The price at Walmart hovered close to $5 per dozen a few months ago, but it's dropped to $2.36. The difference in price can add up if you and your large family eat eggs daily or if you use them for baking.
Over-the-Counter Medication
For starters, you won't find much of a selection of over-the-counter medication at Aldi. Plus, you can get a better deal buying it in bulk because over-the-counter medication is one of the best buys at Sam's Club.
A bottle with 100 caplets of ibuprofen costs about $2 at Aldi -- about 2 cents per caplet. At Sam's, you can get 1,200 caplets for just a bit more than 1 cent per caplet. If you don't need quite that many, Walmart has a package of 500 for $7.98 - just 1.6 cents each.
Paper Plates
Aldi doesn't have a big assortment of paper plates to choose from, but the 100-count package of 10-inch everyday plates for $7.69 could last your family awhile. But it you can get by with 9-inch plates, you'll pay $6.22 for a 100-pack of Walmart's Great Value paper plates.
Soda
The price of brand-name soda has risen drastically the past few years, and you won't necessarily find it cheaper at Aldi; a 12-pack of Coca-Cola costs $7.46 there. And while a single pack is expensive everywhere, other stores often offer deals if you buy multiple packs. You often can pick up three packs of soda for a discount off at Walgreens, find a coupon on your grocer's app or save a percentage off with Target Circle.
Tide Detergent
A jug containing 42 pods of Tide detergent costs about $13 at Aldi, Walmart and Target. And while the price is the same, there frequently are manufacturers coupons for Tide, either in the Sunday newspaper or downloadable on the website of your local grocery store. Sign up for free for Target Circle and you're also eligible for promotions, such as buying two eligible products and receiving a $5 Target gift card. Often, you'll find Target to be the best shopping destination for name-brand products.
Toilet Paper
Aldi's package of 18 mega-rolls of Willow toilet paper - the equivalent of 72 regular rolls - sounds like a good deal at $13.79 until you comparison shop. You'll save $3 on 18 mega-rolls of Angel Soft at Walmart, where a package is priced at $11.99.
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Jami Farkas contributed to the reporting for this article.
This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: 19 Best and Worst Deals at Aldi
