Is Aldi cheaper than Costco?

[Anonymous]

I disagree with a PP who said it's comparable to sale prices at Giant or Safeway. That's true about half the time, but at least half the time, it's cheaper. And I used to shop Giant, almost exclusively sale items, for many years.

And when ALDI (or Lidl) has a sale price on something (not a lot of those deals, more at Lidl) the price is ridiculous. A loss leader. Like, IDK-- Asparagus 69c a pound or something.

I don't shop Costco, but I shop Aldi or Lidl about 3x/month.

As often as 1x a month I shop either Trader Joe's or H Mart, because they have stuff that's very specific to their stores (also, DH and DD are Asian American). And I'll do a full shop at that store, that week, because their prices on eggs or bananas or whatever are just fine, and they have most of the kinds of things I buy every week, as well.

I hit either Giant/Target or Whole Foods probably 1x/month too, but not for a full shop. Giant/Target for those national brands and specific items that all the other stores don't have (like a specific cereal or soda or cake mix or something), and WF for items hyperspecific to them. (For that matter, I occasionally hit the farmers market or an even more specific ethnic grocery for their unique stuff. But I do love to shop.)

Aldi and Lidl are just cheap as heck. Depending on when they've been stocked, I do find that Aldi's produce can be hit or miss, but nothing outrageous or disgusting. More like they could have run out of stock, or maybe the celery is a little limp this week or you can only get green bananas. But not for everything on your list. Lidl seems a little more consistent. However, the selection is not huge at either store. You might not be able to find fennel or leeks or whatever (but you might!)

The quality of the packaged goods is equal to that of Giant/national brands, IMO.

It's less overwhelming in some ways to shop at Aldi or Lidl than Giant or a Costco-type store because they only carry 1-2 of each type of item, since they mostly sell store brands. That also makes them physically smaller (fewer aisles, not necessarily cramped). Although overall I prefer Lidl, I will say Aldi has some things I like that Lidl doesn't, I like their seasonal selections better, they're cheaper for some things AND... I find their checkout procedure less stressful. I have ADHD/anxiety so...

Both have you bag your own groceries, but Aldi throws them all in the last person's cart, and you take the cart over to a side counter to bag everything (maybe you bagged some of it as it was being scanned, but not much, because you were probably still loading the belt half the time). This means it probably takes a little longer to actually get out of the store after you've been rung up, and I guess during busy times it might be hard to find counter space, but it's fine.

With Lidl, they just send the items (kind of violently lol) down the belt, where they very quickly start to accumulate before you (Customer #1) can bag them all-- and I'm pretty quick and strategic! They have two sections at the bottom of the belt where they can send them, so after you've paid and they start scanning the next person's order (Customer #2), they send those groceries into the other, adjacent area. HOWEVER. If you have a large order, it's very likely you will be really racing or won't be done before the NEXT person (Customer #3) needs your bagging area. It's stressful IMO. (And obviously if your order is larger than C#2 and/or C#3's, this is more likely to happen.)

If anyone has any tips or tricks for avoiding this, I'm all ears. It's basically the one thing I don't like about Lidl.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Exactly how cheap is Aldi's? Any good examples of price comparisons with, say, Whole Foods?

Fruit/veg is often half or 1/3 of the price of WF. Similar with cheese and dairy. (Organic is a bit more $$$ and less of a discount %) packaged goods like pasta and frozen food is usually around a 25%-50% discount.

I don’t buy much meat at Aldi, so can’t compare. Junk food is 1/3 of the price of WF. Some Aldi products are imported from Europe (often Germany, but also Poland, etc) so read labels if this is important to you.

The other thing to keep in mind is that some Aldi’s are more expensive/cheap than others. I visit two regularly and there is a small but noticeable difference. I’ve heard that they price by the average income in the zip code.

I have to check this out. I live close to the Silver Spring one but work close to the new Kensington one or the Rockville one.

[Anonymous]

I find fruit and veg are a better deal at Aldi, and you can buy smaller quantities. A lot of the prepackaged products aren't as good (nuts, for example) and are more expensive than Costco. I am not happy with the meat quality at either.

[Anonymous]

Yes. Particularly if you don't have money to stock up. If you don't have money to buy meat for half a year, Aldi. If you can't afford a huge bag of oats... Aldi.
For poor people, Aldi wins in every aspect even if occasionally you can't tell if you are paying a few cents more or less.
Let's say Vanilla Extract? You might not afford a huge bottle from Costco, but you can afford a small one from Aldi.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Aldi is like a cheaper version of Trader Joes. I think they actually belong to the same company.

It is nothing like TJ. TJ is for buying frozen snacks and not real food. Aldi gets you properly fed and is great for meat, rice, and baking supplies. TJ is more expensive and barely has anything other than cuckoo nests!

[Anonymous]

I split my shopping between Aldi and Whole Foods/Amazon fresh.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s for older people and single folks who don’t scratch cook.

I mean, no…

DP. It is exactly the opposite for me. I never buy their frozen meals, pizza, anything. I buy fresh produce and meat and coffee and butter, etc. at Aldi. Flour, spices, all that is much cheaper at Aldi. I am guessing pp that you replied to can't cook so she doesn't even look at actually fresh ingredients.
But, If I see that cauliflower is not great at Aldi, but peppers are, I will switch around to cook with peppers.

[Anonymous]

Y'all, gas prices are going up. Choose one grocery store instead of driving to a bunch and you will save money. Cost the closest store or farmers market and it's better for the environment, too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes but the Costco quality is much higher especially for produce.

We live in PA. Last summer my ds worked at a produce packing facility. Truck loads of produce came in and they would package it in different bags/boxes for different stores including Giant, Aldi and Trader Joe's. Same produce went to all of the stores, just different packaging. We buy produce from Aldi all of the time.

[Anonymous]

Yeah I actually find Aldi's produce to be better because we can buy less of it and it doesn't spoil as fast.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Y'all, gas prices are going up. Choose one grocery store instead of driving to a bunch and you will save money. Cost the closest store or farmers market and it's better for the environment, too.

Farmers markets would be the most expensive the bunch. I effectively stopped going when I realized WF was cheaper.

[Anonymous]

I used to love Aldi, but we had a couple Lidl stores near our area that are bigger and have more selection so I don’t go to Aldi as much. IMO definitely try Aldi/Lidl out if you want to save money. Often you can get organic produce at the price of regular produce prices at other stores. Some produce quality can be hit or miss but by and large I like the fresh produce from there. I also shop at Costco for a few bulk items but do most of my weekly produce shopping at Lotte plaza

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Exactly how cheap is Aldi's? Any good examples of price comparisons with, say, Whole Foods?

I've recently been comparison shopping between Whole Foods, Aldis and Lidl.

I am finding that Whole Foods 365 brand for basic ingredients is often the cheapest choice. However you can get smaller sizes at Aldis.

For example:

Extra Virgin Olive Oil:
Aldis - 16.9 oz for $7.99 or $0.47/oz
WF 365 - 101 oz for $20.99 or $0.20/oz