This week, I turned a new leaf. As I worked on my weekly meal plan (I plan for two weeks at a time), I sighed at the thought of having to navigate through the grocery store. We've been shopping in-store since the beginning of the pandemic, and needless to say, it's been stressful each time. Even with extra precautions being taken, mask mandates in place, and hand sanitizing stations everywhere I look, we know we're taking a risk by entering stores.

Everyone is free to make their own decisions, but I'm a firm believer in wearing a mask when asked to, and for the safety of those around me. My local stores are clean, and employees are great about wearing their masks and sanitizing everything- but no one can do much of anything about others who refuse to wear masks or cough into their hands and touch things (I see it all the time and it terrifies me). Shopping becomes a headache in-store when shelves are next to bare, and you can't locate the items you need, or the person in front of you takes an entire sleeve of taco seasoning (yep- a whole box... why!?) when there are no limits on items. Dragging kids to the store is too scary for me these days- even popping in after school to pick something up. It's a big nope from me.

In an effort to save me a headache, I decided to try the curbside pickup available from ALDI. Now, I have tried to do this before, and wound up frustrated, and abandoned my cart- completely wasting my time. 

Here are a few things to know about ALDI's online grocery ordering and curbside pickup options:

Your closest ALDI might not have curbside pickup available.

- My neighborhood ALDI doesn't offer curbside pickup, but the ALDI across town does. It's only a ten-minute drive from home, so it's completely worth it to me to make the trip for the groceries.

Don't let Instacart scare you.

-The first time I tried to use Instacart, I was intimidated. It's not that it isn't user-friendly, because it is. Just choose your store (i.e. ALDI), and search the weekly ad, or search for individual items, which is what I did, from my grocery list.

Make your list and check it twice.

- I made sure to double-check my order before placing it to make sure I didn't add double quantities of any items.

Some items may not be available.

-A few items on my list, which are typically always in stock in-store, were out of stock online. Oh, well- we could live without them for the week and would try again next week.

Beware of the possibility of substitutions.

- If one of your grocery items is out of stock, the store will likely substitute it with a similar item. For example, I ordered a pack of mini cucumbers, and they were out of stock, so they were substituted with an English cucumber, which was perfectly fine. The bag of mini cukes was $2.00+, so I checked to see if the price difference between them and the $0.69 cucumber was reflected in my order and the final billed amount. It was! Happy camper!

Choose your pick up time wisely.

- The pro about going to the grocery store is that you can go on a whim and get what you need. Ordering online and picking up, you actually have to select an available time slot to pick your groceries up. The first time I made an online order, I ditched it, because I couldn't pick items up until the next available time slot, which was the next day- and we happened to need our groceries the same day. That was totally my bad, and I learned my lesson with planning and online ordering- not to wait until the last minute.

- Making sure you are actually available to pick up during your time slot is important. The store will notify you via text and e-mail when your order is ready, and usually, give you a full hour window to pick up. We were texted when our order was ready and excitedly drove to the store to pick the groceries up.

At pick up time, just use the provided link to let the store know you're there to pick it all up. Your order will be brought right out and placed in your trunk.

My husband and I were just giddy over the entire process. I texted him while he was still at work to let him know that I ordered the groceries online, and he wouldn't have to shop for them in-store on his way home from work... he simply just needed to pick them up.

While I was worried that we might get bad looking produce, I was pleasantly surprised by our order. Everything was organized and bagged wonderfully, and no bad or yucky produce whatsoever.

We had an awesome experience, and will probably never go back to shopping in-store. While it can be a lot of fun to browse the aisles, this option keeps us safe and saves us money since we're not adding in junk we happen to see and grab!

Want to try ALDI's curbside pickup?

Sign up for Instacart today and start picking your ALDI order up curbside, or better yet- get it delivered right to your door! I am so glad we tried this out, and have a feeling that you will love it, too!