A Shopping Experience Gone Wrong...

We had some friends over last night for dinner and a play date for AC. During dinner, we were talking about quick meals for weekday dinners, and she mentioned something that she had purchased at ALDI, and said it was cheap, quick to make, and delicious.

So, while Terry and I were out shopping at Target, we decided to make a trip to our new ALDI and check it out. Expecting it to be like shopping at Publix, we were sadly mistaken.

Let me explain...

We don't keep cash on us. And to get a shopping cart, you need a quarter. Oh, you get your quarter back, but still, no cash on either one of us. So we went in looking for a basket. No baskets. Terry carried AC, and I attempted to juggle our future purchases in my arms.

No shelves, just boxes stacked on top of each other. By boxes I mean the box that is shipped with all the products in it. The front of the box is torn off, and you just pull what you want from the box. Which it's all kinda a mess with no organization. We both left with a ragging headache.

Selection is minimal. Lucky for us, we only went in for a couple of items. Finally found the bananas (still completely green but bought them anyway).

Stood in line trying not to drop our items, and once I was finally able to set them down we had to decide which bag(s) to purchase to put our groceries in. We decided on a paper bag. Our total for a bunch of bananas, bag of potatoes, two heads of lettuce, a box of crackers, and our paper bag was $7. Great deal, but was it worth the hassle. We're thinking, no.

Oh, and you bag your own groceries, away from the register. And since we didn't have a buggy, we had to take our items a few at a time to the table a few feet away from the register to bag them ourselves. If Terry had not have been with me, I'm pretty sure AC and I would have left empty handed.

We understand that all of the things that we take for granted while shopping at Publix like selection, friendliness, convenience, etc. is the reason why their prices are higher than ALDI. But I'll be honest, this mom of an almost eleven month old and seventeen weeks pregnant exhausted mom will pay the 5% more to have the things we now do not take for granted at Publix. Nothing beats having someone take my groceries to our vehicle even in the rain and put them in the back while I get AC strapped in her car seat!