Aldi, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways ..

I must admit, ever since we had to tighten our belts around the ol' Manintveld homestead, we decided not to waste our gas on any spur of the moment car trips.  Sad but, true!  Now here's the thing, we live in such a tiny town here in Missouri, sometimes we have to make our way to the big city every now and then.  The big city I'm talking about is about 30+ miles away.  Usually, we have to travel to the city of Springfield for certain reasons .. doctor visits for my Mama and ourselves, shopping excursions, dining out, visit my brother, etc.  We'll map out our trip to ensure we get more done with less running from one end of town to the other.  Then, there are days when we're really getting low in our pantry and need to restock it and where do we go for that?  You guessed it .. 

 

My Happy Place!!

I bet you're thinking, "Why go ALL the way to Springfield when you have a perfectly good Walmart Supercenter in your tiny little town .. and, you're employed with Walmart, why not stay true to the one handing out a paycheck to you every two weeks?"  I do stay true to Walmart where certain items are concerned.  There's a plethora of items we purchase from my fabulous store!  But one thing's for sure, I can stretch the rest of that money out better at Aldi!  Sure, it takes gas to get to Aldi .. no doubt.  But, here's my theory .. I stock up!  I don't go on a whim, I go when our cupboards are getting bare.  And even though the silly Dutch guy is finally working again, he only gets about 6 hours a week.  It helps us get through the rest of the week before I get paid again but, it's still not enough and we still have to be frugal!  Not to mention that my insurance at work changed and they're taking out even more per pay period so, I'm bringing home much less than before.  These reasons makes my decision to go to Aldi even stronger .. and their products are fabulous!

I first heard of Aldi when we were living in the Netherlands but, we had a closer and much better grocery store called Lidl .. it was the first place we went to when our money came in the first of the month, it was within walking distance and we had to pass a petting zoo along the way so, it was just so pleasant making that trip to get groceries.  Even when we moved to the next town over, we still made the trip by bus for our necessities while our other 'closer' grocery store (a block away) was for little things like meat and such.

 

Sweet, sweet memories of Lidl .. *sigh* How I love thee!

Lidl and Aldi are practically the same, hence, me loving to go to Aldi!  Even during Christmas this past 2009, we made quite a few foodie gift purchases .. various chocolates, coffee items, cookies .. they have it all!

We've been hitting the pantry pretty hard during the past month or so and we ARE starting to get low on toilet paper and paper towels .. the silly Dutch guy ought to start getting the car geared up for another run!  Anyone want to car pool?