10 tips for surviving a shopping trip to Aldi

Once, not very long ago, it was embarrassing to shop at a discounter. People would spend more than they needed to just to keep up appearances or shop at the cheaper shops on the quiet.

Nowadays, people almost brag about how little their weekly shop costs. It’s cool to save! We’ve probably got the recession to thank for that, and the fact the discounters have seriously upped their game.

Whilst you might not be able to get everything you want from shops like Aldi or Lidl, you can fill a trolley for what you would fill a basket full at some of the more luxurious shops and pick up most of your favourite things (along with some you didn’t even know you wanted). Now don’t get me wrong, I LOVE the upmarket supermarkets with their mouth watering products, excellent advertising and fabulous packaging, but can I justify shopping there every week? No. The benefit of saving money on your weekly shop is you get to spend it on something much more fun.

There is a compromise though, and that is the shopping experience.

I used to happily pay more just to have nice wide aisles, music playing in the background, five or six choices of organic mozzarella and a pleasant lady at the checkout asking if I would like help with my packing.

But then I moved in with Mr B and all that had to change. Not because we were skint, but because he works for Aldi, and therefore is committed to shopping with them! He was keen I did too, so I gave it a go.

At first I was horrified - the messy shop floor, the piles of cardboard, people stacking shelves getting in the way, the piles of junk in the middle and only half of the products I wanted. But none of that compared to the checkout experience. Just thinking about it would get me in a sweat.

You get your food on the conveyor belt, and before you even have a chance to get down to the person at the till, the air is filled with the sound of rapid beeping and your items are flying at top speed to the smallest little space after the till. You push your trolley to try and catch some of the debris only to be told you’ve put it the wrong way. The items are still flying at you and you have no choice but to pile them back into the trolley using your whole arm as a mass scooper. Forget bags, forget help with your packing. Just chuck it in. You are still grappling with eggs, herbs and bottles of wine when your total is revealed (how much, ooh excellent, that’s good, maybe they missed something) and with your arms full you have to start digging around in your bag for your purse.

Paying done, you are still trying to get your goods in your trolley when the next person’s items are being flung at you. And then you have got to go and re-bloody-pack your stuff into bags at the side of the shop. Harrumph.

Stress.full. Or perhaps it’s just me?

But anyway, after a couple of years they now have a great product range and I have mastered the secret to shopping at Aldi. I can fill up a whole trolley-ful on my own and navigate the tills at ease.

Here are my tips:

1. Bring a pound or one of those pound-like thingys. You can’t get a trolley without one.

2. Take your own bags - preferably reusable ones that are rigid with the large flat bottoms (Aldi sell them). I’ll explain why later.

3. Check for the items you don’t think they’ll have as they might just stock them now. Brioche burger buns - hellyeh. Fresh ginger - yup. Turkey mince - of course. Kale - you betcha. Pine nuts - erm no, sorry they don’t sell that one. Aldi, come on!

4. Get involved in the ‘junk’ bins. The other day I was just wondering where to get an ice cream scoop (for this recipe here) and lo and behold there they were in four colours!

5. Ignore the mess, the untidy shelves, the cardboard boxes and staff unpacking in the middle of the day. Just remember this is what keeps it cheap. Pick up your kalamata olives and keep calm. Repeat numerous times during trip.

6. Unpack your stuff onto the conveyor belt in the order you want to pack them into bags. Think heavy, boxy things first as they’ll go in the bottom of your bags. Lighter, fragile stuff goes on last. You can even be a bit cheeky and space them out on the belt to slow the beeping down.

7. When you are in the lull waiting for your goods to reach the cashier, get your preferred method of payment out and ready. If you are paying by card have it out, in a easy to access pocket, in your mouth, behind your ear. Wherever you can get at it as if your life depends on it!

8. Get your bags out and place them in your trolley, open and hungry for goods.

9. When your turn is up, get into position. Your trolley should fit into the slot at the till in the same direction as the convertor belt, not parallel to it. And when that food starts to fly at you play grocery Tetris. On about level 5. Your heavy stuff is going to line the bottom of your bags like a dream. Fit everything else around. Your eggs, bread, crisps, herbs and peaches will come up last, sitting on top nicely. Don’t worry about the order it goes in your fridge, if you are that anal, get over to Waitrose where I am sure they even unpack it in your home. Speed is of the essence here.

10. The damage will be revealed and you’ll whip your money out in a flash. Finish up packing those last few items whilst the payment is processing, take your receipt, let a slow smug smile cross your face and gently push your trolley to the door. No re-packing. No sweating. No stress.

What’s that? You didn’t make idle chit chat with the cashier. But you are done in minutes and you have saved ££££s which can be much better spent on shoes, holidays, cocktails……!

PS I did not get paid to write this!

Do you shop at Aldi? Would you like to see my favourite products?