Of Aldi’s and All that Jazz (updated with new stuff!)
Of Aldi’s and All that Jazz (updated)
If you find yourself in Maryland, not too far north of Washington, DC and in need of groceries, please try this method or follow this SOP if you’re an engineering type:
- Buy the generic Graham Crackers at Giant since they only cost $1.50 per package; if those aren’t available, buy some at Aldi’s for $1.59
- Why not shop in Safeway, you ask? You should only shop there if you can get 20–30% off of your purchase price and if you can glean then clearance shelf and the bakery reduced price shelf — but timing those shelves can be tricky — and when you check out with clearance items, GIANT lets you scan them yourself; Safeway requires you to have staff scan each clearance item.
- Everything is cheaper at Aldi’s
- Almost everything at Aldi’s is artificial-dye free since they are European, where such harmful dyes have been banned
- Aldi’s is smaller but you could spend two hours at Costco, getting more exercise but only if you have the time, to look and to wait to check out — and if you don’t go on Saturday or Sunday, etc.
- Aldi’s has a very cute quarter deposit required to use their carts. They give you the quarter back when you return the cart. AND — when your toddler girl begs for you to buy the $0.26 keychain int he shape of a shopping cart, to store your quarter in for your next visit — nothing makes her more happy.
Now for the caveats:
- Safeway’s grocery delivery service often give you smaller packs than what you ordered online and sometimes they don’t bring you what you ordered. They do refund you for those items. This service is also harder to order fruits and vegetables — like requiring you to order a box full (borrowing a cost-saving method from Sam’s Club and CostCo). Last but certainly not least, the online service doesn’t let you order from the Deli — so there’s no way to get that delicious pizza dough unless you enter the store, physically, yourself, after competing with traffic and taxes; schools, and pool; kids, and callings; car fuel and repairs, etc. — NOT ideal.
- Aldi’s turkey sausage tastes too much like turkey (meaning wild, gamy)
- Safeway (and occasionally Shoppers) have excellent turkey sausage AND pizza dough (only $1.99, whole wheat yet actually tasty, and easy to roll and make into a pizza)
- When making incredible Wreck It Ralph-like cakes for young boys’ birthday parties, you might need to visit:
- The Dollar General stores in Rockville and Wheaton, MD — artificial dye-free gummiest and sour candy
- World Market for European and Chinese candies including licorice that have no food coloring in Rockville not far from Chuy’s (pronounced: Chewy’s — Dude, try their nacho bar)
- Home Goods, near Shoppers and the Discount Auto Parts store, for dye-free cotton candy and color-free candy canes
- Montgomery Mall candy store — dye-free, dark chocolate M&M’s. Target used to have them but they stopped carrying them for some reason.
- Popsicles from Party City (these were not dye-free)
4. TJ Max, Ross, Burlington Coat Factory and Fresh Market also — surprisingly — have random dye-free candy like Jellie Bellies.
Update: As far as ordering online Aldi’s also facilitates that quite well, and when you order a product online that they don’t actually have in the store nearest you, the variance between what you ordered and what’s delivered is less than the variance between what you order on Safeway’s website and what they deliver. Now you know, friends!
Q: OK. Thank you! Is there a really positive experience you could share, like? What led you to Aldi’s in the first place?
A: The color-free issue brought me to Aldi’s. It’s hard to find places that have consistent amount of color-free groceries and that aren’t for sale at 3 to 4 times what the artificial-color-containing groceries cost. So like when you’re.
Q: Right but that costs them more to manufacture, so the grocery store retailer has to pay the manufacturer more for those groceries.
A: It doesn’t because they’re adding paprika instead of red. They’re adding — I mean its not a big deal.
Q: The manufacturer still has to clean out all of the machines, to remove the artificial color and artificial dye ingredients in prior grocery products.
A: But not a specific company where that’s all they do. Like Aldi’s — all they do is color-free.
Q: How did you first hear about Aldi’s?
A: I think they had a sign outside their store when I was first reading and was excited about it. So I saw the sign and I went in. I was in Gaithersburg, MD 5 years ago or so, it’s right by the laser tag place. Dropped kids off at a birthday party and then went to buy groceries. I saw it on the way to my sister’s house as well. It was 8 miles away and now it’s 3 miles away so now it’s a lot better.
Q: Great! Thank you for your time!
THE BOTTOM LINE
HOMEMAIDE helps you sell your style and buy the things that make you smile, seamlessly.
Any food item (like candy, cakes, chocolate, gummies, waffle french fries, or curly fries, or waffle fries, or sweet potato fries or pies) or other groceries dialysis piece of equipment or any “Get Well Soon” type of card for someone recently diagnosed with kidney problems or other maladies or injuries, or ANY other type of item you pass while you’re travelling and take a picture of, any fun detour or side attraction you stop at while on a road trip, any delicious french fries — all you have to do is upload a picture or paused video screenshot of that to your existing social media sites and Homemaide will send you a commission for every purchase your friends make.
AND — they don’t have to buy a Safeway, Giant, Target (recently up 20% in it’s stock price), Party City or Dollar Store franchise for you to earn a commission (if they did buy any of those items, you would earn a commission from that as well — and that would be HUGE!). If they rented the cheapest economy car with the basic package, for one day only, you’d still earn a commission off that. If they bought one kids meal or one order of small waffle fries, or one candy bar at a grocery store — or the item that was in your picture, video, or voice-automated update (like a rental car, Airbnb lodging, hotel stay, Lyft, Uber, Via trip) — they can purchase that (even an e-giftcard) and ship that to a family member, relative, friend. And after that purchase, yes, you’ll still earn a commission from that purchase.
If they bought stock in Safeway, Giant, Target, Party City or Dollar Store franchise — YOU’d earn a commission off of that purchase. If they bought any item from the pictures you uploaded, you’d earn money. That’s the magic of Homemaide.