Costco vs. Aldi: Which Store Has the Better Deals?

You may be surprised at the answer.

Feeding my family is hardly an inexpensive feat. And these days, my credit card bills, like many people's, are higher due to inflation. As such, I'm constantly looking for ways to reap savings in the course of buying groceries.

I used to routinely turn to Costco as my go-to source for a wide range of food products. But pretty recently, I discovered Aldi, and it's opened the door to a host of savings opportunities, too.

Now, if you're wondering which of the two stores has the better deals, the quick answer is that it really depends on what you're buying. But it may surprise you to learn that in some cases, Aldi has the potential to beat Costco on price.

A surprising discovery

I used to assume that buying produce in bulk from Costco would always result in a lower price point than buying it elsewhere in smaller quantities. But then I did some digging, and lo and behold -- buying produce at Aldi can be cheaper.

My family eats a lot of cucumbers, strawberries, and blueberries in particular. I recently bought cucumbers at Aldi for $1.25 apiece, whereas at Costco, a three-pack was $5.99, or $2 per cucumber.

Costco strawberries, meanwhile, were recently $7.99 for two pounds, or about $4 for one pound. But I found strawberries at Aldi for $1.99 a pound, which is a much better deal. Similarly, I bought 16 ounces of blueberries at Aldi for $1.99. But Costco had 18 ounces for $3.89, so clearly, Aldi's price was better.

Now with all of this said, you shouldn't assume that Aldi will always have better prices than Costco. And also, the price I pay in my local market may be different than what you pay in yours. The point, however, is that it pays to look, because you never know when one store might be less expensive than the other.

One risk of shopping at Aldi

I'm really trying my best to grow my savings account balance this year, and to do that, I need to shop carefully for food and make compromises. One thing I've noticed about Aldi is that the store is loaded with brands I've never heard of. That's not necessarily a problem for me. But when you have kids, and your kids are picky about the cereals or granola bars they eat, it can become an issue.

That's why you'll need to be careful when shopping at Aldi -- even if you stand to reap some savings. At Costco, you'll commonly find a mix of well-known brands and Kirkland-branded products, which is Costco's signature brand. But those Kirkland products are available all the time. It's not the same as Aldi, where you might see one relatively unknown brand one week and a different brand the next week. 

If you're shopping for something like produce, that won't be an issue, which is why I've started buying more of my fruits and vegetables at Aldi instead of Costco. But for packaged goods, I might still opt for Costco, even if I can save a touch of money at Aldi. The way I see it, I'd rather spend $0.50 more here and there than risk having to throw products away because my kids refuse to eat them.