Meal Plan Follow Up & thoughts on Aldi

Yesterday, as I mentioned in the meal planning post, I went to both Wegmans and Aldi. So, along with prices, I'll share my thoughts on my experience as a whole. Obviously, this is only my opinion and I'm sure all (or most) stores have some great qualities about them. I'll try not to throw out the whole idea...

As I was driving to Aldi (I went there first to compare shop and then to Wegmans where I know what the prices are like), I was seeing places like Dollar General and CVS. These aren't by or on the way to our normal Wegmans' shop (granted, Wegmans is like 2 minutes down the road). I thought, this will be great, I can start shopping at those places too and save even more money. Evee and I will just make a morning of it :).

When I first got to Aldi and was looking through the first aisle, I was having sickening thoughts of "why haven't I gone here sooner!" and "everthing is so cheap"! Specifically talking about spices, flour, sugar, brown sugar...

But, when I went down the second aisle and all consecutive ones, all I could think was, "everything is very processed" and "I can get that for the same price at Wegmans".

So, even though I did get a few things, I wasn't super thrilled with my trip. I felt that the things I normally get at Wegmans I get for better quality and very similar prices (I'm sure some won't beleive that, but it's really true!). Although, you have to watch for sales at Wegmans to get some of those great prices - but often times the sale items are then cheaper than Aldi.

What I got at Aldi

• Flour
• Brown Sugar (added this to the list because it was so cheap there)
• Salt (this was also really cheap)
• Wipes
• Bath tissue (I got 12 double rolls for $5.29 - I last got that same thing last time at Wegmans on sale for $4.99, but decided to get them at Aldi because I didn't know if the sale was still going)

All of this cost me a total of $10.55

At Wegman's I got everything else on my list from yesterday. Changes...

• I didn't end up getting fruit there or at Aldi. Aldi fruit didn't look great and Wegmans wasn't having any special sales. I actually got my fruit this week from Whole Foods who is having great sales - pinapple for $2.99 and oranges for $.89/lb.
  
• We got beef roast instead of our normal chicken. It just sounded good. The cheapest option was to get it in a bigger pack which saved over $1/lb. So, I got 4 lbs. meat. The good news is I froze 3 portions and we'll be able to use that for next week and probably the week after as well!
  

I ended up spending $24.37 at Wegmans and $4.97 at Whole Foods.

Total for the week - $39.89 - $1.89 off my estimation! My shopping list next week should be sparse...