There it was 2:45 p.m. and my one-year-old were still napping. We have been trying to go to Aldi’s all morning. You know the whole getting your shopping done before nap time not too close to nap time and not too far after nap because of dinner routine kind of thing…

3:00 p.m. My husband is home early from work. ( Thank you!) But now I need to shop. We talk for bit and 3:30 rolls around. My 3-year-old insists on coming to the store with me. I have Special K Cereal coupons burning in my hand. But can I do a trip to Tops and Aldi and still make dinner and eat at 5:30 p.m. ( My Turkey Pot Pie takes an hour and I still have to make the pie crusts,  I can use Convection bake…..)

I am starting to stress. I gotta get to Aldi’s and still get my Turkey Pot Pie in the oven and eat before my kids turn to … you know the drill.

Should I just stick with Tops I question this for a precious 2 minutes. The store is much closer to our house. Oh, screw it. I’ll just get my small list of items at Tops!

CHECK OUT THIS WEEKS DEALS AT TOPS! 

I am trying very hard to stick to my weekly budget for groceries. Last year I did ok but went off on the weeks I did stock ups or had to get cheap things.

This year my goal is to buy only the things we need and get deals within reason. I am asking myself how much will my family use until the next sale cycle.

So I spent $37.85 on our weekly groceries for a family of four and that’s it. I am not spending any more on groceries this week.(This is the hard part for me not going back out for deals) I am going to post similar to how Bridget does it over at Money Saving Mom ( an awesome blog ). This will help keep me on track and hopefully inspire and keep others on track as well in their own budgets.

But now I wonder and I am sure many of you are too.

Which store is cheaper Tops or Aldi’s?

I am excited to find out myself! So here we go let’s take all the items I got at Tops and prices I paid after coupons and then look at the items at Aldi that are similar ( since they do not carry many name brands)

 

 

TOPS-Thomas English Muffins $1.99
ALDI- English Muffins-$0.99

 

TOPS- Lifeway Keifer-$1.50- On sale for $2.50- Used a $1/1 printable  coupon found in match ups here
ALDI-Lifeway Keifer-$2.79

 

TOPS- Tops brand Barbecue sauce-$1.59
ALDI- Sweet Baby Rays $1.99 ( I could not find an off brand…)

 

TOPS- 2 Valu Time Tunas- $1.38
ALDI- Tuna $0.65 or $1.30 for 2

 

TOPS- 5 Lb. Potatoes- $2.50
ALDI- 5 lb. Potatoes $3.29

 

TOPS- Foxy Organic Head of Lettuce- On sale for $1.50 used a $1/1 Tops store coupon found in magazine by in store ads- $0.99
ALDI- I did not see any Organic Heads of Lettuce so there regular heads of lettuce were $1.15

 

TOPS- Tops brand 1lb. of butter- $2.99
ALDI- 1lb. of Butter $2.89

 

TOPS- Tops brand Milk $1.99 ( with in ad coupon)
ALDI- $2.55 ( for skim milk )

 

TOPS- (2) Tops brand dozen Xtra Large Eggs $2.49 or $1.25 each (on sale for B1G1)
ALDI- Dozen Large Eggs $1.19

 

TOPS- (4) Special K Cereals- On sale save $4 instantly when you buy 4 used $0.50/1 coupons- Paid $0.50 each or $2-
ALDI- Fit and Active Vitality Cereal $2.29- for four would be $9.16

 

TOPS-Bananas- $0.49/lb.
ALDI-Bananas-$0.39/lb.

 

TOPS- Pillsbury Pie Crusts (This was an impulse buy also the first time I have EVER bought these but I was getting nervous about making my pie crust dough in time. It was a rough day with Mackenzie being sick…:) B1G1 so $3.99 or $2 each
ALDI- Pie Crusts- $2.19

 

 

*Items in picture not listed are: Pork Shoulder on special today for $2.19/lb. I did not see this cut of meat at Aldi to compare but that is a good price! And Blueberries because my kids were with me and my arm was tired from holding my notebook and Mackenzie and.. yeah I really just forgot all about them ?

I am going to subtract the Pork Shoulder and Blueberries in my comparison to Aldi since I do not have prices for these. So my price at Tops would be $24.27! Know that I did pay $37.85 for my week’s worth of groceries. I bought things based on sale price like cereal, I love Special K and the rest was what we needed based on meals planned. My total at Tops before savings would have been $74.76! Important to shop sales and use coupons on sale prices!

Now Hopefully going forward I can give you my breakdown for weekly amount of money spent on groceries and our meals for the week! 

TOPS-$24.27   ALDI-$34.03! 

A Savings of $9.76! Ok, now I am excited! My trip to Tops was totally worth it and I can stop thinking if I really spent more or not! And if we were earning gas points for this week it would have earned me at least $0.10 off every gallon of gas! 

 

What do you think?

Are you a Tops Shopper, Aldi shopper or shop where the deals are at??