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A common question I receive is if I have any Aldi shopping tips.

And I love shopping at Aldi, so I have some insider secrets you are gonna love.

Aldi is a hidden gem of a grocery store that you might overlook because they don’t accept any manufacturer coupons.

But when you look at the bottom line price you pay for items, you might be pleasantly surprised by the low prices you’ll find.

They have fantastic produce prices as well as wonderful gluten free and organic options.

So I’ve put together my best Aldi shopping tips so you can make Aldi’s your one place to shop!

Plus, with these best Aldi finds, you’ll be saving money all year long!

And, I’ve got the best Aldi hacks for saving money so you can put more into your savings account!

I bet you’ll be surprised with these 10 Secret Tips to help you save more when you are shopping there.

aldi shopping tips

1. They Discount Bakery Items 50%  2 Days Before They Expire

My first Aldi shopping tips starts with the bakery items.

Did you know that Aldi discounts their fresh items 2 days before the item expires? This is particularly significant for bakery items and one of the best Aldi finds.

Simply look on the package for the expiration date, if it is expiring in 3 days and it is nearing the end of the day, you can come back tomorrow to get it for half off.

We are talking at least 50% off their already low prices. Of course, this can only happen if they have the item in stock.

Also, when they have excess of a sale product that will be going “off sale” on Wednesday, when the new ad starts, they will discount those items too.

So the best day to shop at Aldi is definitely on Wednesday morning.

aldi shopping tips

2. Use SmartPhone Apps To Earn Cash Back

SmartPhone apps are really making great strides to track our shopping trends and rewards us accordingly. There are four that can be used when you shop at Aldi which will save you bonus money on your already low purchases. This is essentially FREE money and one of the best Aldi hacks for saving money!

Fetch App: This is seriously the easiest app you will ever use. And you get FREE money for using it! Simply scan your ALDI receipt by opening the app and taking a picture and earn “points” that you can then redeem as gift cards for Starbucks, Walmart or Amazon (plus tons of others!)

Receipt Hog: This one is very convenient because there are no specific items to purchase. Simply upload your receipt and earn “coins”. When you earn 500 coins, you can redeem them for a $5 Amazon or Paypal (or several other store) gift card. Each receipt you upload earns you up to 20 coins depending on how much money you spent on the receipt. There are other “bonus” coins you can earn to bump up your coin balance (you get 50 just for signing up and using code FLIST349 and 100 points for connecting your email address).

Shopkick: This app gives you “kicks” (which are essentially points) when you walk into the store and more for scanning items while shopping. If you aren’t using your phone while you are shopping, hand it over to  your kids to scan a few things and see what you earn! When you acquire 500 “kicks” you can cash out for a $2 Walmart or Target gift card. 1250 kicks will score you $5 at Starbucks!

BONUS REBATE APP: If you buy any brand name items, then make sure you check this app for a rebate.
Checkout 51:
The fun part about this is submitting receipts for non-brand specific items, such as produce, that allows you to get cash back on something that was already a deal (because it was purchased at Aldi) and something I was already going to buy (produce). Checkout 51 will send you a check when your account has accumulated a $20 balance. Learn more about Checkout 51.

Submitting receipts takes seconds and I try really hard to do it before I leave the parking lot so that I don’t forget once I get home. Most Apps require you scan your receipt within 7-10 days. So you could set a weekly reminder on your phone to submit receipts every Sunday afternoon and never lose that extra money.

aldi shopping tips

3. Bring Your Own Bags (Or Get A Box While You’re Shopping)

You have to bring your own bags to Aldi and as soon as you check out, they have a nice long counter for you to pack up your own groceries.

This saves time for the cashier and shifts the cost of the paper or plastic bag on you, the customer, instead of costing the store.

You can purchase Aldi plastic bags for $0.10 a piece or $0.07 for paper. I typically just keep some reusable bags in the back of my van, that way I always have them on hand.

Also, while you are shopping, when you see an empty box (or you are taking the last item out of a box on the shelf), you can easily use that to pack up your groceries and tote them inside your house (kinda like they do at Costco).

Keep these Aldi shopping tips in mind before you go!

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aldi shopping tips

4. Extra Bar Codes Make Checkout A Breeze

When you look over the Aldi brand products, you will see that each item has several bar codes on them.

That box of trash bags in the photo above has FIVE of them on the box. That’s a lot of bar codes!

The reason for all the barcodes is so that the cashier doesn’t have to take the time to search for the correct barcode to scan at the register. Most likely whichever side they scan will have one, making it quicker to checkout.

Have you ever done the “self checkout” before and spent time searching a product for the bar code? Yeah… me too. This solves that problem because no matter which side you swipe past the register will likely have a bar code on it. Nice!

aldi shopping tips

5. Double-Back Guarantee

Did you know that Aldi offers a Double-Back-Guarantee?

That means if you don’t like an item you purchased there, you can bring it back and:

  1. Replace it with something else.
    AND
  2. Get your money back!

Now, that’s over and above customer service and one of the best Aldi shopping tips.

*NOTE: The Double-Back Guarantee does not apply to non-food “Special Buy” items, alcohol, national brands and non-quality related issues.

aldi shopping tips

6. Store Brands vs Name Brands

Another great Aldi shopping tip is that any of the Aldi store brand items are actually name brand items in generic packaging.

Look at the Parmesan Cheese for example. The Aldi “Reggano” brand is the exact same weight, same list of ingredients (although in a different order) and both were manufactured in IL (different towns though).

The Kraft variety is $3.89 at Publix, goes on sale for $3, but the Aldi variety has the everyday price of $2.49.

Parm Comparison

Just as a comparison though, don’t you always wonder if you could get it cheaper at Walmart?

Well, you can’t. Even the generic at Walmart is priced 50¢ higher than Aldi.

Plus, Parmesan cheese is an item that rarely has a very GOOD coupon to go along with it. So you’d be better off buying it at Aldi with their everyday low price. It’s one of my best Aldi finds for sure!

aldi shopping tips

7. Their Organic & Gluten-Free Products Rock

Aldi has a very large selection of their own brand Organic and Gluten-free foods.

Their Organic product line is called Simply Nature.

And their Gluten-free foods are named Live G Free.

The best part is that they taste REALLY good! Every bit as good as other organic and gluten-free manufacturing foods taste. My kids have done extensive research on the products. Plus, it’s one of the great Aldi hacks for saving money!

aldi shopping tips

8. Shelf Stock Doubles As Product Displays

When you shop at Aldi, you’ll notice that there aren’t many product displays or endcap displays.

That’s because they have specially designed packaging that doubles as product displays.

That saves valuable time and money from having employees needing to stock and replenish shelves.

The top of the boxes easily rip off and act as a display. This makes it super quick and easy to stock the shelves. In fact, the customers can do it themselves if they want to just open another box when they want something.

Plus, usually the packing boxes also match the packaging on the actual product, making it easy for you to find your items when you are doing your shopping.

**Remember, as you’re shopping, if you’ve forgotten your own bags to use to transport your groceries home, grab one of those empty boxes off the shelf and use it! It’s one of the conveniences and Aldi shopping tips I share with everyone!

BONUS DOWNLOAD

Feel Less Stress While Paying Off Debt

 

Download this FREE Guide to have more peace & less stress while getting out of debt.

aldi shopping tips

9. Bring A Quarter To “Rent” Your Shopping Cart

Aldi’s innovative cart rental system helps keep prices low.

The carts are linked together near the entrance to the store.

You use a quarter to unlock the cart, do your shopping and then return the cart to get your quarter back.

This helps to keep prices low because they don’t have to pay someone to spend time retrieving carts.You want to return the cart yourself to get your quarter back.

Now my kids always suggest that they start a side-business returning Aldi carts for customers… to keep the quarter. Ha!

aldi shopping tips

10. They Don’t Accept Checks

Aldi used to not accept any credit cards and only accepted cash or debit cards. But in 2016 they updated their policy and started accepting cash, Visa, MasterCard, Discover, American Express, most debit cards, the Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) and Link cards.

However, they do not accept personal checks nor the Women, Infants and Children program (WIC).

Accepting checks is a liability for a business (plus it makes the checkout lines longer) so that helps keep prices low.

aldi shopping tips

11. Smaller Inventory Saves You Money

Aldi’s business model is to have less inventory which means smaller stores so that they pay lower labor, energy, and rent costs which then translates to extra savings for YOU.

You see, the typical supermarket carries about 30,000 items. Whereas, Aldi carries only about 1,400 of the fastest-moving grocery items, the “weekly must-haves”, most of which (around 90%) are their own high-quality brands.

Smaller inventory means smaller stores, which also means lower rent and electricity costs.

Plus, they are only open during peak hours which further lowers the labor, energy, and rent costs, allowing them to pass the savings on to us, their customers.

My local store (in Brandon FL) is open until 9pm every day except Sunday (when they close at 8pm). All the other grocery stores in the area are open until 10pm or 11pm… and Walmart is 24 hours. It costs money to run air conditioning and have employees working all hours of the day and night.

Oh, and you won’t find the store phone number anywhere… they don’t have an employee dedicated to answering the phone. Instead, they suggest you stop by to ask questions. There is always someone there to help you.

So as you can see, there are a great many reasons why Aldi is a great place to shop.

These are my best Aldi shopping tips so you can make Aldi’s your one place to shop!

Plus, with these best Aldi finds, you’ll be saving money all year long!

And, I hope you find these the best Aldi hacks for saving money so you can put more into your savings account!

They have so many items that you need every week and it’s a small store, so you can get in and out in no time.

 

Your Turn: Do you have any other Aldi shopping tips to share? Share with me below!

aldi shopping tips
10 Secret Ways To Save More Money At Aldi
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