Thursday, March 08, 2007

Aldi Queen vs. Sale Shopper: Iron Chef Mom Rules


Care to watch a friendly competition?
Amy from The Motherload just launched a new site called The Aldi Queen. She shares recipes suited for her favorite discount supermarket, Aldi. Her devotion got me thinking...

I don't like my closest Aldi, but I'm still keeping my menus under $50 a week.
How? By cherrypicking--the practice of buying what's truly on sale at the grocery.
I challenged Amy to a grocery cookoff, pitting her Aldi expertise against my sale shopping. She graciously agreed--and the gauntlet was thrown down.

The game starts Monday.
We'll each post our dinner menu, including shopping tips and cost breakdown. At the end of the week, we'll see whose method came out ahead.
Here are the rules by which we've agreed to play:
  • Amy will purchase everything from Aldi.
  • My groceries will come exclusively from next week's sale flyers.
  • No freezer or pantry stockpile allowed!
  • Each night's menu will serve four people and include the main dish and sides.
  • We'll calculate the cost per unit for each ingredient, except for "negligible" amounts of staples--less than 1/2 cup.
There will be a wrap-up at the end of the week. Critique our strategies and offer some of your own!
Here are the links to each day of the completed Iron Chef Challenge:

27 comments:

Gena said...

Wowee! Your competition sounds like fun. I, too, love Aldi, but I am also a sale flyer gal. There is a Publix near me, which is usually far too expensive, but I love many of their buy one/get one free deals. I will also hit Kroger and Walmart, depending on the day. I can't wait to see what happens!

TheNormalMiddle said...

Now, this is blogging at its finest! :) I'm psyched.

I am rootin' for you Meredith.

It's a Mom Thing said...

Such a good idea from two of my favorite frugal gals!!! I can't wait to see how it goes down!

Jeana said...

LOVE. IT.

amelia said...

I'm really excited to see how this works. I need to get my grocery budget down to $50 a week. We don't have Aldi in town, and I think that our local stores (publix, sweetbay, winn dixie) don't have good sales. My husband doesn't like to eat much meat either. So I'm looking forward to seeing how you do it!

Goslyn said...

Hilarious. Good luck! I can't wait to see the results.

Lori - Queen of Dirty Laundry said...

This sounds like such fun! You can bet that I'll be back to view the outcome.

We don't have an Aldi's in our area, but when we are good, we buy boxes of food from Angelfood Ministries and shop strictly sales. My goal is $200 per month for a family of 5.

Stephanie said...

I love Aldi's and hate keeping up with coupons so I'm going to be watching this with interest to see who "wins!"

Marie said...

Go girls!

mothersong said...

Well, no Aldi's here, so I am a firm believer in the cherry picking method. However, it's seems a bit of a disadvantage to not be able to use pantry items. After all, that's the biggest plus to cherry picking, being able to buy everything at the lowest price to use.

Good luck, it should be fun!

Anonymous said...

this will be fun!

PeppermintPearl said...

what a FUN idea!!!

I do both, shop at Aldi's and cherry-pick the local grocery store sales, mostly for meat.

I can usually keep the food budget @ $100/week, that includes EVERYTHING for the 5 humans (including 3 teenage boys who never.stop.eating!, 2 dogs, 3 cats and 7 goldfish)

Anonymous said...

Wow! This is too good to be true! Two of my favorite sites going mano a mano. I can't wait till Monday!

Laura Talbert said...

I am all excited about this! Yay!!

Maggie said...

Very cool! I feel blessed to have a budget of $100 week for my family but still like shopping loss leaders and probably have enough food in my freezers and pantry to last me 3 months or more. Will be watching for inspiration!

Alexandra said...

How exciting! I'll be tuning in...although we all like a little drama. Maybe you could have a cliff hanger or something...last minute save.

DonnaB said...

I guess I better plan on being glued to my computer monitor next week to see how this competition comes out.

Anonymous said...

Woo hoo!! Sounds like fun! I'll be anxious to see how you all did!

Anonymous said...

Should be very entertaining & inspiring...looking forward to it!

Anonymous said...

I will stay anonymous because I am here to tell you that we spend $850 a month on food for 3 adults! We don't have Aldi or anything like that here, but I know I must have some bad habits because you gals are doing so much better!!!!! (this includes cleaning products, paper goods, and the occassional restaurant meal)

Monica Wilkinson said...

What fun! I can't wait to see the results!

Tammy said...

I am so looking forward to this! What fun!

Anonymous said...

I'm excited too. Not only for the results but the recipes. I'm so tired of the same thing over and over, looking to see what you both are feeding your families will hopefully help me out. I hope to pick up some good shopping point too. There is no Aldi's up my way but still, I think I spend to much. Thanks for doing this in such a public way.

Luke and Valerie said...

I, too, can't wait! $50 bucks a week? I dream of the day I can get our food budget lower. I know I can, it will just take some creativity. Maybe you guys will help me down that road a bit.
:)

Anonymous said...

Wow! This is fun. I can't wait to see the results. What fun to watch.

Stephanie Appleton said...

What fun! I'm an Aldi devotee myself. Can't wait to see the results of this!

Anonymous said...

Even if it is close, Aldi wins by a mile because of the hassle of chasing sales and coupons at the other stores. Aldi prices are the same consistant low price everyday without sales, coupons, frequent shopper cards etc.