Recipes · Time Management

Shopping at ALDI – Two Week Haul and Menu Plan

comehomeforcomfort

Over the years I’ve learned that it’s best for my sanity if I shop Aldi first thing in the morning, usually right after they open. The shelves are well stocked and store isn’t as busy.

This summer I’ve been trying out the two-week Aldi haul. On the off week I shop at my local grocery store, where I can supplement our milk & produce and also pick up things I don’t buy or can’t get at Aldi (ice cream, creamer, bacon and some other meats).

I like to be in and out of the store in less than 30 minutes. Here’s how I’m planning for my two-week hauls to help me be efficient with my time and to get everything I need in that one trip!

  1. Start with the running list from the fridge – we write down things we need or run out of during the week
  2. Add other things I know I want to buy, based on the meals I can make with what I have on hand
  3. Plan a basic two week menu (about 10 meals), adding needed groceries to that list
  4. Make my shopping list: I take a clean sheet of paper and write down the main sections of Aldi. Then I fill in the items from my running list, crossing them off as I add them.

Shopping with a list laid out in order of the store is SO helpful! I find that I am much more likely to get everything I need and in less time than if I wrote the list in random order.

I also try to be intentional about the way we eat the perishable items from a large haul. For example, last week I bought peaches and a watermelon. We ate the peaches the first week, and I waited to cut up the watermelon until the second week. The peaches wouldn’t have been good the second week but the watermelon was perfect!

I haven’t perfected the two-week haul just yet, but it gets smoother and more successful every time. If you aren’t a huge fan of the Aldi experience, you might want to give my early morning bi-weekly strategy a try!

{Updated August 2021: If you’re here from Pinterest – welcome! This post is a couple years old but this blog is still alive and well! I hope you’ll stick around – leave me a comment and tell me what you’d like to know about shopping at Aldi. Thanks for visiting!}

On The Menu 

Breakfast: 

Lunch:

Supper:

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Have you tried a two – week menu plan? Let me know what worked for you!

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31 thoughts on “Shopping at ALDI – Two Week Haul and Menu Plan”

  1. I love the prices at our Aldi’s but…I got tired of my food being thrown into the cart as I check out. I asked the clerk why she was doing that and she said she would get into trouble if she took too long checking me out.

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    1. I am right there with you! A cashier got upset with me when I asked her to please not throw my eggs in the bottom of the cart. Ha! I try not to let the cashier rush me, but I also try to be ready with my card so she doesn’t have to wait on me. One thing I started doing is loading the heaviest items on the counter first. That way she throws my cans at the bottom and my fruit, bread and smaller packages don’t get smashed underneath them. Hope that helps you, Kathy! 🙂

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  2. Thank you so much for including actual lunches in your meal plan. So many times, when I read posts like these I notice that, for lunch, the author includes “lunches” like veggie sticks and dip or a slice of cheese and 4 crackers. I’m left to think ” of course you can meal plan for next to nothing. You don’t serve your family actual meals!!”

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  3. Pingback: Aldi Grocery Haul | One Week of Groceries – Come Home For Comfort

  4. Thank you, thank you, thank you! I’m on an incredibly tight budget this pay period and this is just what I needed.

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  15. GAH!!! That crock pot story has me super bummed for you! That’s the point of a crock pot dinner – to have dinner ready when you come in. What a disappointment! I don’t know if a surge protector would work? Who knows. But loving your 2 week menu concept. I’m thinking of adapting something similar post-baby. Do a 2 week menu and then just do it over and over again for a few months until life settles down… same grocery store, same grocery list.

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  16. Hi Whitney –

    My name is Jennifer…and I tried contacting you my email (here on your blog). I was just wondering if you received the email? I had someone, yesterday, say they did not receive (a work) email….so I thought I would check.

    Just curious –

    Thanks!!

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  17. Oh NO!!! I totally would have cried. That did happen to me once, but I caught it an hour later. So sorry :(.

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  18. I went to Aldis the other day and picked up some great produce and milk at a wonderful price. I may stop by there every now and then to get the bargains. And I have to say again how pretty your dessert looked on Instagram. I love old glass ware and it makes me happy to see a young lady who likes it too!!

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    1. Aww, thanks friend! I love those dishes too! It’s a good idea to find out what day they get a new truck of produce and shop that morning. Sometimes it’s feast or famine with produce at Aldi, and knowing the truck day makes a difference.

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