Can you do a whole week of shopping in Aldi?

As part of the new Facebook launch of Aldi in Scotland, they set me a lovely challenge.  At the moment, there are around 300 Scottish products in the stores up our way, so it’s a good choice for local food and Facebook is where you can ask any questions directly.

I wanted to write about the Aldi experience, as there was just so much choice on offer, but could I do a whole week of shopping in the one place?  I normally flit about between several shops, but I have gone to Aldi in the past.  It’s not that far away and has a big choice of food and necessities, but is it possible to do a whole week in one place?  I have to feed the equivalent of 6 adults, with three of them being teen boys.  They eat enough for two or three adults each, so we go through a lot of food, and often cheap fillers too, such as lentils and pulses etc.

I went in, armed with £100 of vouchers, to also cover necessities like washing up liquid etc etc, not just food.  I came out with a heaped trolley, that ended up as £119, but I’d added new bathroom scales, kitchen scales, a small wok, and a single egg pan, as well as a little stocking filler towards Christmas, so if I’d taken those out, my bill would have been under the £100, for everything we need for this week, and most of next week too.  We have a plot, which is furnishing us with lots of fruit and veg just now, so it was mostly cupboard things we needed.  I don’t buy terribly much in the way of frozen food, but there was loads of choice.

I was also resolved to try a lot of non branded goods.  I’ve done this for a while, but often reverted back to the brands, and although I used to shop at Aldi quite often, I’d got out of the habit.  I’m pleased to say, that with the amount of goodies I came home with, I’m kicking myself for not going so much recently, and I’m going to sort that out from now on.

One of the things I worried about, was getting my high protein yoghurt, but I found a Greek Style Fat Free version with over 7g protein per 100g, so I’m happy with that.

I must admit, I felt a wee bit sorry for my checkout assistant when I got to the till.  My trolley was heaving.

I started putting my stuff on the belt, and it just seemed to go on and on and on and on.  She asked if I wanted a hand, then came round to help me put it on the converyor belt, with a smile.

When I finally got it all through and back on my trolley, I did it as fast as I could, trying not to hold up the shoppers behind me.

My last experience with a competitor shop went badly, with the assistant huffing and puffing on me, and being quite sarcastic, but I didn’t have that in Aldi.  I wish all customer service assistants were as nice.

I asked to take her photo when we were finished, which gave her a bit of a surprise, but she took it all in her stride, and was still smiling when I left.  No doubt, she’ll be worried about where it ends up….  I forgot to tell her.

I half expected the trolley to be around £200+ with all I’d put in it, especially since I’d added the scales etc, but it was a lovely call to find it wasn’t anywhere near what I’d expected it to be.

As for what was in the shop.  Oodles of choice.  I think I actually like this.  I bought non branded crisps, washing liquid and fabric conditioner, non branded biscuits, bread, rowies, croissants, fruit, veg, some meat, and so much that I can’t quite believe I got this much for the money.  I had to put some of it on the shelf at the back of the room to get it all into the picture.  Much of all this will last us for much longer than a week, especially the staples like rice and pasta.  We use a lot of tinned fruit too, so I liked picking up the choices to try a few different types.

I even found a substitute for my youngest’s obsession for cheesy pasta.  I did sneak in a few bottles of my diet irn bru though.  Good to see one of my favourites on offer.  A couple of weeks ago, I went to a supermarket and came out with four little bags for over £100.  This doesn’t compare.  I’m actually quite shocked to be honest.

The choices on the shelves were pretty large and far more than I remembered Aldi to have.  The seasonal items were in aisles in the middle, with lots of baking and a fair few Disney items that would make great Christmas pressies if someone was quick enough.  I remember seeing fishing gear, some gadgets, baby yarn, and a lot of paint and paintbrushes etc.

There’s nothing surer than I’ll be back.  It’s great value for money, and given the food my family goes through, having treats in the budget is a good thing.

So, the question I was asked, about doing a whole week of shopping at Aldi!

Yes, it can be done, and quite well too.  I’ve got my yoghurt, so I’m happy.  That’s one of my must haves.  I’m sure we all have our own favourite branded treats, but in many cases, we can’t tell the difference at all.

Disclaimer: Thanks to Aldi for our vouchers to use for the Aldi Shop.  All opinions are my own.