3 Best Ways To Stretch Your Money at Aldi This September

Aldi is where plenty of shoppers head when they’re looking to save money. But this discounted grocery store isn’t necessarily always the cheapest place to stock your fridge and pantry. If you haven’t compared Aldi prices to other stores in your area, you might not be spending your money smartly.

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The best way to make your money go farther at Aldi right now? Make sure you’re avoid one specific type of product — and then stock up on two others that I consider must-haves. 

Avoid Buying Any Name-Brand Products

First things first: You should never, ever purchase name-brand products at Aldi if you’re on a strict budget. This is a lesson I learned the hard way, and it’s perhaps the best way you can stretch every dollar in your budget.

Aldi is best-known for its own private label products (and for good reason!). But, head to your store and odds are you’ll see plenty of familiar, nationally-known brands: Ben & Jerry’s, Rao’s, Goodles, Annie’s, La Croix, Poppi, Tide, Coca-Cola, Chobani, and Chomps are just a few of the brands I’ve spotted during my weekly visits. 

And after purchasing a 12-pack of Limoncello La Croix (the best flavor in existence, no notes) for a whopping $10 at Aldi, I realized that this is absolutely a waste of money. For reference, this very same 12-pack is usually available at my local Target for about $4.50.

Sometimes, the name-brand products at Aldi are exactly the same as other grocery stores, but often they’re slightly higher because there are no coupons or store rewards program discounts to be found here. To stretch your money, you should only go name-brand if there’s a special deal that truly makes it cheaper than anywhere else you can comparison shop.

Buy Fresh Fruit (and Freeze It, If Needed)

If you’ve been frustrated by the price of fresh fruit lately, you’re certainly not alone. Based on my price comparisons, Aldi still has some of the cheapest produce around, especially if you’re stocking up on strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries and aren’t looking for organic. So, skip the small containers of fresh fruit at other grocery stores and stock your fridge at Aldi instead.

There’s just one caveat about Aldi’s affordable fresh fruit: It tends to spoil quickly nowadays, and quality really varies depending on when you time your shopping trip. 

Stop in on a Tuesday evening before the week’s newest items hit the shelves, for example, and you might discover fruit that’s on the verge of spoiling (or won’t survive long at home). I like to visit on Wednesday mornings for the freshest picks, but I’ve also had good luck on Saturday evenings.

Worst case? I recommend buying fresh and then freezing if needed. While frozen fruit is always in-stock at Aldi, the prices aren’t too much cheaper than any other store. With fresh, you can start non-frozen and adapt if those berries are starting to look a bit limp.

Stock Up on Eggs and Dairy Products

Yes, the price of eggs is still sky-high, and milk hasn’t been faring much better recently. But the one place you can still see lower prices is Aldi — so make sure you’re picking up all of your eggs and dairy products here, where you can save a dollar or more compared to many other grocery chains.

Beyond milk and eggs, I find that cheese of all kinds along with yogurt and sour cream also tend to be noticeably cheaper at Aldi. You can grab even “fancy” cheese like logs of goat cheese, sliced Muenster, and even blocks of specialty picks for much less than your grocery store or even warehouse retailers like Sam’s Club. 

And if you love Greek yogurt (or really, any kind of flavored yogurt), Aldi’s very own dupes of these products are excellent and reasonably priced. It’s way cheaper to pick up Aldi’s flavored Greek yogurt in individual cups, for example, than it is to buy the Chobani or Oikos versions you’d usually choose elsewhere. 

Just be sure you don’t fall for those Chobani options Aldi does stock. Remember, name-brand or national brand products here tend to be quite high in price, so go private label or skip altogether.