10 Smart Ways To Save Money At Aldi

Aldi is known for being one of the most inexpensive grocery stores, making it a great place for shoppers on a budget who're trying to pinch their pennies in the checkout line. But it's actually possible to overspend at Aldi just like it is at any other grocery store. Therefore, it's a good idea to learn about some Aldi-specific ways to save money at this popular grocery store. By shopping at a grocery store that's already known for its low prices and instituting some money-saving guidelines, you can keep your grocery bill low every month.

We've done some digging — along with plenty of shopping at Aldi over the years — to deliver these helpful, money-saving Aldi tips. You may follow some of these guidelines already, but by employing all (or at least most) of them, you might just find that you can cut your grocery bill a little bit more this week. These are our favorite ways to save money at Aldi.

Aldi's prices are generally pretty low regardless of whether you can take advantage of sales or not, but it's even better if you can find the items that you already buy anyway marked down from their original price. If you do want to take advantage of these kinds of sales, then it's generally a good idea to shop at Aldi first thing in the morning — or as early as you can get there. That's because seafood and meat are all marked down at night before the store closes.

If you visit Aldi early in the morning, you can snag these excellent deals and pay a lot less than you normally would for these high-cost groceries. Just keep in mind that these are usually items nearing their best-by date, so they're not foods that you want to keep in the fridge for an extended period of time before using them. Therefore, you should either use these products ASAP or freeze them (which is one of the best ways to keep bread fresh) so you can utilize them in recipes later.

Although you can find lots of foods at Aldi that are priced lower than they would be at other stores, you can and should still take advantage of deals at Aldi when you can. Checking out the store's weekly ad is a great way to figure out what items are on sale in any given week. Then, you can plan meals around those ingredients and stock up on sale-priced items that you may plan to use later in the month.

Not only is this a smart way to save money, but it can also give you inspiration when you're doing your weekly meal-planning. If boneless, skinless chicken thighs are on sale for that week, for example, you may be inclined to make your favorite pan-fried chicken thigh recipe (or try a new one altogether). The same is true for fruits and vegetables, frozen meals, and packaged items. By opting for these ingredients over ones that are offered at full price, you can save a decent amount of money every shopping trip.

Every once in a while, it can be a good idea to pick up a prepared meal at Aldi. Fresh prepped meals can be helpful when you're on the go and you just need to grab a quick meal, and it's nice to have a frozen meal or two (many of which are available for under $5 at the chain) on hand so you have less of an excuse to grab takeout on your way home from work. But if you want to save money at Aldi, it's in your best interest to choose whole ingredients instead of already-prepped food.

Although some of these meals can seem like they're pretty affordably priced, they generally cost significantly more per serving than it would cost for you to make the meal yourself. Again, it's good to find balance here — convenience foods have their time and place. If you have a particularly busy week, for example, opting for more prepped options can prevent you from spending money on food elsewhere. But if you're really trying to reduce the amount of money you're spending at Aldi every week, try sticking to those whole ingredients as much as possible.

If you only go to Aldi every once in a while, then it may not be worth it to download the store's app. However, if you shop at Aldi on even a semi-regular basis, then it probably makes sense to use the app if you're trying to save more money at the store.

For starters, you can view the weekly ad through the app (which we already know can save you money), learning about potential price drops on items you already buy. This allows you to stock up on your favorites when they're at their best prices. Additionally, you can choose curbside grocery pickup or grocery delivery when you use the Aldi app to do your shopping.

The store's app is an excellent way to save money at Aldi because you'll never be surprised by the final price at checkout, and you'll more easily avoid any impulse purchases. Whether you choose to shop in-store or directly on the app, having it on your phone might be the key to saving you more money on your next Aldi run.

Aldi is widely known as a budget grocery store where shoppers go to find good deals, so it might feel safe to assume that just about anything you buy at the store is going to be cheaper there than it is anywhere else. While this is certainly true for many items Aldi sells (depending on where you live), it doesn't hold true with every single item. There are some ingredients and products at Aldi that may be available for lower prices at another grocery store in your area.

Of course, these price differences will vary between regions and individual stores, but some Aldi-going Redditors claim they've found items like name brand products, meat and vegetables, and paper towels cheaper at other stores in their areas. Ideally, if you're really trying to save money on groceries, you'll compare options and prices between all of the stores in your area and then opt for the most affordable varieties available.

There are tons of incredible baked goods to check out at Aldi, whether you're looking for a simple loaf of bread or a sweet start to your morning. But did you know that you can often find bakery items marked down, offering a better deal than the already competitive standard pricing? Often, items that are left on the shelf for a longer period of time will be marked down so the store can more easily sell them before their best by date. Sometimes, you can find mark downs of 50% or more, making these some of the best deals you can find at Aldi.

Worried that these items are going to go bad before you get the chance to use them? Well, if you have space in your freezer, you can always freeze them until right before you're ready to use them. If you're trying to save money at Aldi, it only makes sense to take advantage of these kinds of deals.

Sure, the grocery store is the place you go to stock up on food for the week, but most grocery stores offer more than just food. Aldi isn't an exception. If you head to the Aldi Finds section, you'll find items like paint and other crafting items, jigsaw puzzles, toys, apparel, cooking tools, home decor, storage items, and more. Often, these items are offered at competitive prices, so if you're looking for some of these items anyway, buying them from Aldi can be a good way to save.

However, if you're heading to Aldi for groceries and groceries alone, you're best off skipping the Aldi Finds section entirely. It's a place where it's easy to give into impulse buys of things you don't really need, which will ultimately needlessly have you spending more than you probably should. It may be difficult to resist the allure of the Aldi Finds section, but it is a good way to save money at this popular grocer.

It may be convenient to simply grab a disposable bag to carry your groceries home when you're at the grocery store. Unfortunately, it's not a super sustainable practice. And although you may assume paper bags are better than plastic, neither is a particularly good option if you're concerned about the environment. This is why we generally suggest remembering to bring your own reusable shopping bag to the grocery store. At Aldi, though, you have an incentive that goes beyond wanting to do better for the environment. If you don't bring your own bag, you'll have to buy one at checkout.

Admittedly, the cost of the bag is going to be negligible for many shoppers, but it's still a good way to save money at the checkout line. And when you know that you're doing something good for the environment to boot, it's a no-brainer to bring your reusable bags with you on your next Aldi trip.

One of the things we love most about Aldi is the store's extremely generous return policy known as the Aldi Twice as Nice guarantee. After all, it promises you'll you get your money back for a defective product, and the store will also replace the item — meaning you effectively get the item for free. Of course, you shouldn't abuse this policy; it's unethical to claim that perfectly good items you purchased are spoiled or otherwise defective just to get extra food for free. But when you actually do buy an item with issues, you shouldn't hesitate to take advantage of this return policy.

There are a few things to keep in mind when you do try to use this policy, though. First of all, this policy only applies to food items — nothing else is eligible for this kind of return. It doesn't apply to alcohol national brands, either. And you can't just return something because you don't like it. Rather, there actually has to be something wrong with the quality of the item in question.

If you're already a regular Aldi shopper, then you know that the store mostly stocks its own store brand products. This is one of the reasons Aldi is cheaper than so many other stores around — you're taking advantage of the low prices of these store brand products rather than opting for name brands at other stores. But even though Aldi mostly stocks its own products, you will find a few name brand products when you're there too.

Shoppers who are really serious about saving money at Aldi should avoid those name brand products in favor of the store brand versions that Aldi offers. The good news is that most of those store brand products are actually pretty high-quality, and many can easily go toe-to-toe with the more recognizable name brands in terms of quality and taste. You might even come to find that you actually prefer Aldi's store brand items in a lot of categories.