What Not to Buy at Aldi (Based on the Price)

Home

Tips

Couponing Tips

Figuring out what not to buy at Aldi can be challenging since Aldi is so cheap to begin with, but you may be surprised to learn that Aldi isn’t the price winner for every product. Even though Aldi doesn’t accept coupons, their high-quality house brand “knockoffs” keep my kitchen well stocked in between their promotions — sometimes at half the cost of brand names!

It’s easy to love Aldi’s return policy and their easy grocery pickup, but don’t fall into the trap of doing 100% of your grocery shopping at Aldi. We dug around and found what not to buy at Aldi — and where to buy the items instead. To keep this grocery battle fair, we compared the competitor’s price without any coupons or promotions (since Aldi doesn’t accept product coupons).

Remember to download the official The Krazy Coupon Lady app and bookmark our favorite Aldi deals.

1. Don’t buy flour at Aldi.

Walmart sells 10-pound bags of flour, and my local Aldi only sells 5-pound bags. Since there’s no option to buy in bulk at Aldi, you can get flour cheaper elsewhere — like at Walmart. Check it out:

Walmart: Great Value flour 10-pound bag for $3.64 ($0.36 per pound)
Aldi: Baker’s Corner all-purpose flour for $2.12 ($0.42 per pound)

2. Skip the animal crackers at Aldi.

My kids go through snacks like they’re free. Getting the best price on all snacks is a necessity. While Aldi does win on a lot of snack prices, animal crackers aren’t it.

Walmart: 32-Ounce Stauffer’s Animal Snack Crackers, $4.88 ($0.15 per ounce)
Aldi: 13-ounce Benton’s Animal Crackers, $3.49 ($0.27 per ounce)

3. Don’t fall for name-brand cereal at Aldi.

There aren’t many name-brand items you’ll find on the shelves at Aldi, except for cereal. If you do stumble across a bag of your favorite magically delicious cereal, skip buying it at Aldi. Even when it’s not on sale at the grocery stores, Aldi is more expensive for name-brand cereal.

Walmart: Cinnamon Toast Crunch, $3 ($0.25 per oz)
Aldi: Cinnamon Toast Crunch, $4.27 ($0.26 per oz)

Related: While we recommend skipping the name-brand cereals, we found that Aldi has the best prices around for dye-free foods — including Aldi’s dye-free cereal brands!

4. Forget those toothbrushes at Aldi.

You can save about 65% per toothbrush when you buy them in bulk on Amazon instead of picking them up at Aldi. I found this generic set of 25 toothbrushes on Amazon for $12.49. Don’t need that many? You can still get a smaller pack of Oral-B toothbrushes for cheaper at Walmart.

Walmart: 6-count Oral-B Fresh & Clean Toothbrushes, $2.97 ($0.49 each)
Amazon: 25-count No-brand toothbrushes, $12.99 ($0.52 each)
Aldi: 2-count Dentiguard toothbrushes, $2.95 ($1.48 each)

5. Don’t buy disposable razors at Aldi.

In the couponing world, it’s no surprise that you can get razors for cheap. But I promised you we’d compare these prices without any coupons. If you’re not worried about the blade count, you can get an absolute steal on twin blade razors on Amazon.

Amazon: 100-count McKesson Twin Blade disposable razors, $17.99 ($0.18 each)
Aldi: Lacura Men’s Triple Blade disposable razors, $2.95 ($0.98 each)

6. Cotton swabs aren’t the cheapest at Aldi.

Many hygiene products are usually more expensive at Aldi, including cotton swabs — aka Q-Tips. The price isn’t a huge difference, but in a time when everything costs more, every penny counts.