My daughter suggested we shop at Sprouts, where she works. With her by my side, I’d get an employee discount, and she wanted to say hi to her coworkers, so I agreed. After about two minutes in the store, I announced we’d be shopping at Aldi instead. There was a brief discussion about how much cheaper Aldi would be, but I just said: go price the milk and cereal you want, and then we’ll compare at Aldi.
The milk was $5.60 per gallon, and the cereals started at $3.99, so the combined total for just those two items at Sprouts would be $9.59.
When we got to Aldi, and I deposited my quarter in exchange for a cart, I directed her to the cereal and the milk. They were $2.48.
More than seven dollars cheaper, for just two items! Admittedly, the milk at Sprouts was organic and undoubtedly healthier, but a gallon of milk at Aldi was just $1.29. I could have bought four gallons at Aldi for the price of one at Sprouts, and been a third of the way toward a box of cereal, too, since the Honey Nut Oats were only $1.19.
I don’t know how Aldi keeps things so cheap, exactly.
The most expensive thing I bought was three pounds of quarter-pounder hamburger patties for $7.49. I know I could have bought ground beef even more cheaply, but I’ve got teenagers in the house, so I wanted the frozen-patty convenience.
After that, it was lunchmeat and cheese slices for $2.69 each, some store-brand Cheez-It-like crackers for $2.49, and store-brand Nutella-like hazelnut spread and frozen pizzas for $2.29 each.
It wasn’t all convenience foods, but let’s face it, with multiple teenagers on spring break, it was mostly convenience foods. A loaf of bread for 85 cents, some baby carrots for 99 cents, a cucumber for 59 cents, a can of corn for 49 cents.
All of this, and my freezer was already mostly full thanks to a shopping trip to Trader Joe’s earlier in the week. Hmm, which company owns Trader Joe’s again? That’s right, it’s Aldi!
