My Aldi’s Shopping List

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I don’t know about you, but these quarantine grocery bills have gotten OUT OF CONTROL!! I thought the grocery bill was outrageous before but the Pandemic taught me otherwise.

I was already #teamgrocerydelivery before Covid. Now I rarely step foot inside the grocery store. I’m good.

Kroger pick-up or Kroger delivery were my main shopping methods but when things got crazy I decided to invest in the annual fee for Instacart.

I’ll admit Instacart and I got off to a rocky start. I had a few shoppers that texted me the entire time and came back with nothing. One time, somebody’s grandson brought me 8 lbs. of fish instead of 8 pieces. Dude!

That’s why people are like “See, that’s exactly why I’m not doing online shopping!”

But hold on, I may change your mind. Keep reading.

I decided to tough it out with Instacart; I needed to make it work because we sheltering in place. Here’s how I improved my personal Instacart shopping experience:

I started really using the Instacart app’s rating system and if a shopper sucked, I told the whole truth.
I rated my substitutions. This really decreased the substitutions that made no sense whatsoever.
I text my shopper directly when they begin, when I know I need a particular item. (I’m basically like- “I need THIS item. No substitutions. FIND IT PLEASE!)

All of these preventative things, have kept Instacart in the rotation. I really wanted and needed it to work because all the stores in my area are now on Instacart, including Costco. Costco to the front door is live changing.

So everything was going swell again with Instacart (yes, I said swell). But the doggone grocery bill with everyone in the house was just downright RIDICULOUS. School and work stomachs are a thing of the past.

In an effort to address our outrageous grocery bill, I decided to explore.

My inside voice: ‘Finnnnnne, I’ll try Aldi’s!’

I’ve been inside Aldi’s maybe 3 times in my life. Each time, I visited brand new Aldi stores. The hard-core Aldi’s shoppers were in and out with an armful of groceries in minutes. Meanwhile, I was fumbling with the stupid cart thingy, trying to get my jammed quarter to go in. I didn’t know what brands to get because I had screenshoted Trader Joe’s stuff. Then at check out, I realized I should’ve brought my own bags so I was the only one paying for the bags. I don’t know how long I was trapped in there.

Yawl, I was all kinds of high-maintenance in Aldi’s.

BUTTTTT when I decided to experiment and try Aldi’s on Instacart . . . BABY!

WINNER, WINNER, CHICKEN DINNAH!

For the first time in forever (in my Anna singing voice), I had groceries (with organic produce) delivered in under $100! Whatttttt?! I thought it was a fluke. Nope.

Aldi’s + Instacart = Winning!

I can’t get everything I need from Aldi’s but it’s perfect for my weekly fill-in groceries, which is mostly fresh produce. So I do an Aldi’s Instacart for my fill-in’s for the *Cr8joi Sunday Check-In and I grab my specialty items from Target pick-up every few weeks (like my Silk almond coffee creamers and milks). I’m able to get out the house alone (ha! ha!) without the big hoopla of a full grocery order.

{*The Sunday Cr8joi Check-In is on my Instagram stories around 8 pm-ish. I’ll see you there.}

Now you can fully appreciate, all that went into hopping on the Aldi’s train.

I have been a food-brand-name-snob since my food-brand-name-snob parents birthed me. Therefore you can be certain that my recommendations are legit. lol. The list is self-explanatory.