ALDI at 1412 East Algonquin Road, Schaumburg, Illinois.

I can buy $180 worth of groceries for our family of 5, including 2 teenage boys. So affordable and many many healthy options. I love their meats, which I have served to company on multiple occasions and they always rave and ask where it's from. A lot of them now shop here too!

We shop Aldi regularly. For many years I skipped Aldi - this was the only store they had in the area. Now there are several but this one is the closest to my home. In the past, it had limited stock. A little over a year ago we gave it another try. I was surprised to see that I had never reviewed it before so here goes.

Aldi's prices cannot be beaten. While their selection of fresh fruit and vegetables is limited, the quality is usually outstanding. They are known for their dairy section. For a long time, for example, eggs were about $0.49 per dozen. With gas prices up, the prices for their milk and eggs have also gone up, but still are better than the larger grocers. Like their vegetables, they have a limited choice of meats, cheeses, chips, crackers, candy, snacks, etc., but always good quality and fair prices.

They have an ample selection of frozen foods, canned and jarred goods and cater to a lot of ethnic tastes. I particularly like that they have specials geared toward the season. For example, in October (Octoberfest), they had a large selection of German delicacies and desserts. They also have an aisle (and sometimes more) dedicated to a variety of non-grocery items - flashlights, car seats, tools, electronics - it is always changing, always a surprise and the prices are outstanding on these specials. We usually walk out with some type of impulse buy from this section.

My only complaint is in order to keep their prices down they have very limited staff. Generally, there is a line at the register and it takes a while for whoever is in back to realize it and open a lane.

If you don't shop there and want to try, two tips (1) bring your own shopping bags or you will pay per bag. (2) In order to have people return carts and not leave them in the lot you need to put a quarter into a slot to unlock a cart. When you return the cart, your quarter pops out.