List of all my posts for this series:
Day 1 —> The Basics
Day 2 —> Prepare to Shop
Day 3 —> The Wine Selection
Day 4 –> BREAK
Day 5 –> BREAK
Day 6 –> Organic Items
Day 7 –> Healthier Sweet Snacks
Day 8 –> I kinda suck at this 31 days thing, don’t I?
Day 9 –> Double Guarantee
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You guys I’m having a love affair . . . with a grocery store. I know, right? Who even am I?! Well, I’ll tell you who I am. I’m a 35-year-old mom of three children who is trying to save money for her family. Because these people I live with? They eat a lot of food. I mean, they are stealing it off my plate!
Way back in 2011 my husband and I decided to admit that our finances were a mess. We were desperate to make things better and nervously but hopefully began Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University. One of the first things you have to do is create a budget (cue the scary music). It’s daunting but you’ve got to clearly see where all your money is going. I was SHOCKED to find out how much money we were spending on groceries and fast food. It was bad. Really bad. Like I think I could be a millionaire if I hadn’t bought so many McDonald’s happy meals and invested it all instead. But we won’t talk about that anymore, okay?
I ventured onto the program forums and a lot of people were recommending shopping at Aldi. Wait a minute. Stop the presses. Aldi? Isn’t that like, where poor people shop for food? I know, what a terrible prejudice I had hidden back there in my brain. Because it simply isn’t true.
I didn’t know quite what to expect but I decided to give Aldi a chance. I very reluctantly went there for the first time. Although I realized I had a lot to learn after my first visit I knew I would be going back. Mostly because I walked out of there with two weeks worth of meals for under $100. Whoa! Here was me, the girl who could never make it out of a grocery store without spending $200. I felt like spreading all my extra dollar bills on the bed and rolling in them a la Indecent Proposal. I’m RICH! I’m RICH! Not really. But that’s what it felt like when I made it out of there with money to spare.
Little did I know that this grocery store would save us hundreds of dollars AND my sanity. I’m not even joking.
I’ve posted here and there on Instagram about some amazing finds from Aldi. I got some great feedback from the community there that they’d like to hear more about it.
So for the next 31 Days I will be linking up with The Nester to tell you about shopping at Aldi. I feel like this is one of the best kept secrets. If you’re sitting there like, no. I will never be shopping at Aldi – just give it a chance, people. No, it’s not fancy. No, it doesn’t carry name brands. No, it doesn’t have plastic bags. No, it doesn’t have a gourmet coffee bar inside. But I promise you there’s probably a Starbucks right down the street so stop whining like I did in the beginning and just try it for goodness sake!
If you do, you may find yourself having a love affair with Aldi just like me. See you back here tomorrow!
p.s. I’m not being paid for this at all. Aldi doesn’t even know who I am (although I wish they did!). I just really love Aldi and want everyone else to know about it too!
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