At some point in 2022, I discovered Aldi and began shopping there every week. I was able to on my grocery bill by purchasing certain produce items there. And since I happen to have an Aldi adjacent to my local Costco, it wasn’t particularly out of my way.
But in the past year, I’ve become less enamored with Aldi and have largely stopped shopping there. Here’s why.
1. The selection is just too limited
Aldi — at least near me — is a minimally stocked grocery store. The shelves aren’t loaded the way they are at my nearby ShopRite and Stop & Shop.
To be fair, this was the case when I first started shopping there. But because there’s just not a lot of selection, I’m generally limited to only buying a few items when I pop into Aldi.
That’s not a great use of my time, though. I don’t have many free hours to run errands during the week. So often, it’s not worth it for me to go to a store only to buy a handful of items, even if they’re available at a lower price.
2. The inventory is too inconsistent
Not only is there a limited selection of food items I can buy at Aldi, but sometimes, I can’t even find the five or six things I’m looking for. Aldi was once my go-to source for avocados, since it’s an expensive purchase and Aldi tends to sell them for less than Costco (at least in my area). But the last few times I stopped at Aldi, avocados weren’t in stock.
And that’s happened to me with other things, too. In the past , I’ve struggled to find everything from cucumbers to strawberries at Aldi. It’s not worth making time for the extra stop only to come out with nothing, which is the risk I take.
3. What the store saves me on groceries, I lose via lost working hours
Shopping at Aldi still has the potential to save me a little money on groceries. The problem, however, is that even though Aldi is right near Costco in my neighborhood, thereby allowing me to combine those trips, it still takes time to visit an extra supermarket. I have to find parking, wait in a checkout line, and spend time searching the shelves.
While it’s nice to save $2 here or $3 there, the reality is that a stop at Aldi might cost me 30 minutes of work — especially when I don’t manage to find the things I need and have to spend extra time looking. And it’s not worth it to lose out on 30 minutes of income.
In some cases, losing out on that time might cost me $50, depending on the project at hand. And if we do the math, it’s clear that it’s not worth giving up $50 to save $3.
Also, the reality is that if I’m savvy in the way I shop at other grocery stores, I can find ways to save small amounts there, too. I’ve gotten better about loading up on digital coupons at ShopRite. I also make a point to swipe a credit card that gives me extra cash on my grocery purchases. If you’re not getting great supermarket rewards, .
Shopping at Aldi could make sense for a lot of people. If you’re someone with flexibility in your schedule and grocery list, and you’re not so picky about the brands you bring home, then it could pay to visit Aldi, even if you don’t always manage to find all the things you need.
But I’ve reached the point where shopping at Aldi makes less and less sense for me. So for the most part, it’s no longer part of my shopping rotation. And I’m perfectly OK with that.
