Happy MLK Day! I know not everyone is off of work today, but I am. Gotta love three day weekends. This morning I taught aerobics and then decided to make a couple of stops on my way home. Because we are jumpstarting our journey to pay off student loans, my stops were at Aldi and Dollar Tree. To be honest, this is relatively new territory for me. For the past several years, I have done most of my shopping (groceries, etc.) at SuperTarget. I'm sure that all of these changes will soon become second nature to me, but there is this whole "saving" culture out there that I am getting acclimated to.
Aldi....It's not my beloved SuperTarget. It's a little bit dingy. It's sort of dark. And it's dead quiet. I guess we save money there because they don't pay for a sound system. Is it cheap? Hell yes. There's little variety. Instead of choosing between eight brands of oatmeal at Hy-Vee, you choose between two at Aldi. If nothing else, it makes for quicker shopping.
There's a lot of stuff they don't have. For instance, I really like Fiber One bars. Aldi doesn't carry them. However, they carry mini-trampolines and heating pads. What? Really? It's interesting. It's missing a few things I might consider basics but then has just these random items that you'd never expect. I sort of like this unexpectedness.
Aldi also doesn't bag the groceries. I used to bag groceries at a store in high school, and I don't mind bagging my own. You see women come in with their cloth bags. Now those are the experts. They know the ropes, and I watch them carefully. I may even have my own cloth bags that I can reuse soon. I just don't feel like I can pull that off yet. I'm just an amateur. The other thing about Aldi...they don't take credit cards. This isn't the end of the world, but my credit card is giving 5% cash back for grocery store purchases right now, so I would have certainly used it if I could have.
One of my purchases today at Aldi was Summit Diet Citrus Twist. When it comes to soda, their selection is pretty limited. I don't mind drinking generic pop. The only issue I have is that they only have a few choices for diet (i.e., no generic diet root beer). So the Diet Citrus Twist was $1.99 for a 12 pack. That's less than $.17 a can. Not bad! I could have bought a 24 pack but wanted to try it in a smaller quantity first. I am drinking my first can as I type, and it's pretty decent. I may not actually be able to distinguish it from Diet 7-Up in a blind taste test.
Aldi is in a strip maill in Cedar Falls that I could call Budget Seekers Strip Mall. In addition to Aldi, there is a LaJames School of Cosmetology, where you can get your hair done at less than half the cost of most salons. Of course, that doesn't come without a risk. It's a risk I am not willing to take. I'm sure you can get a great haircut there--and I sure you could get a pretty bad one. They also have one of those check-into-cash places. I hate those. I think they prey on uneducated, low-income individuals.
Dollar Tree....was a lot of fun. Again, lots of random stuff you'd never expect. If you are planning a kid's birthday party, you have got to visit Dollar Tree for party favors, door prizes, decorations, etc. My big find was Hawaiian Punch drink packets. I usually buy Crystal Light packets, which are sort of expensive. I am trying the Hawaiian Punch packets in sugar free lemon berry and sugar free fruit juicy red. I also found a huge body wash for $1 and Suave deodorant for $1.
I did notice the Dollar Tree carries hair color. I color my own hair, and I have for years. I have a new rule that I will not spend more than $5 for a box of hair color. This isn't too hard. There are brands that cost about $4 and there are also lots of coupons out there. I am dedicated to saving money and willing to sacrifice, but I don't think I would ever allow myself to buy my hair color at the Dollar Tree. The conclusion I came to this morning is that I am only willing to sacrifice certain things to save money, and my hair is not one of those things. No LaJames College of Cosmetology and no Dollar Tree hair color for me.
I started thinking about other things I am just not willing to sacrifice, and I would put the following things in that category: internet service, having two cars, cable (we've gone to a more basic plan but I couldn't shut it off entirely), tickets to UNI basketball, and my pets. I know there are many other things I am just not willing to sacrifice. Everyone has these things, and I'm sure they are different for everyone. It's all about personal priorities. I think part of this process is discovering mine.
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