| Item | Aldi Store | Aldi Instacart |
| Flour, All Purpose 5lb | $2.35 | $2.59 |
| Eggs, Dozen | $3.77 | $4.15 |
| Bread, Sandwich, no soy | $3.99 | $4.39 |
| Milk, Gallon, Whole | $2.09 | $2.35 |
| Butter | $3.99 | $4.39 |
| Pinto Beans, 4 lb | $3.75 | $4.15 |
| Rice, 2 lb | $2.65 | $2.95 |
| Oats 42 oz | $3.95 | $4.35 |
| Total | $26.54 | $29.32 |
Here are today’s totals for the price difference between Aldi with Instacart, and Aldi in-store. The store I shopped is in Glendale, AZ. I do not actually shop there as Glendale, AZ charges a 2.5% food sales tax because they can. (Peoria, AZ also charges food sales tax so avoid grocery shopping in that town as well.) There’s an Aldi at Bell Rd. & 12th St, and an Aldi at Paradise Valley Parkway & Cactus (next to TJ Maxx). Both are in the city of Phoenix, so you won’t pay food tax.
Aldi is definitely NOT the cheapest grocery store (Winco is, by far), and Aldi quality is almost always a severe disappointment (except for the sauerkraut, which is very good and comes with a cute reusable jar), but I popped in there to prove it to myself for the umpteenth time, because I like to be thorough when debunking frugal myths. It was no surprise to me that Aldi’s prices are a lot higher than many grocery stores, and Aldi has pretty crappy loss leaders. It did surprise me how close the Instacart prices were to Aldi in-store prices.
Aldi Instacart charges 9.5% more than you pay when you shop Aldi in-store.
I don’t know a lot about Instacart, but perhaps the prices between Aldi on Instacart and Aldi in-store are so close because there are two Fry’s, two Walmarts, Winco, Albertson’s, and Safeway within 3 miles of the Aldi—and the Winco and the big Walmart are on the same corner as Aldi; i.e., competition drives the price gap down. Perhaps Instacart prices are very close to Aldi in-store prices because Aldi has negotiated this with Instacart since Aldi doesn’t have their own shopping team for pickup orders and they know it annoys their customers to pay a lot more than the prices the customer knows are on the shelf in the Aldi store.
I do know that since I rarely use Instacart, I often have a $15 or $20 coupon offer from Instacart in my email. So if Instacart only charges 9.5% more than in-store prices at Aldi, even after tacking on Instacart fees and tip, I bet I’d come out ahead using Instacart for my Aldi shopping instead of going into Aldi. Use my Instacart referral code CHOUSTON15B40 to get $10 off your first Instacart order.
I also have a 10% cashback offer from my IHG Hotels Credit Card for Instacart. Apply for the IHG Hotels card with my referral here.
Chase IHG Hotels Visa credit card: Earn 4 free nights when you spend $3,000 in 3 months, 20,000 IHG points per referral.
You apply for a Chase IHG Hotels Visa to get an opening bonus of 4 free nights when you spend $3,000 in 3 months.
THEN
You refer a friend to get 20,000 IHG points per referral. That’s a night’s stay at a hotel in a city that’s not a vacation destination, like Phoenix, or half a night’s stay at a premium vacation destination, like Anaheim.
IHG Hotels includes brands frugal families love, like Holiday Inn Express (there’s a Holiday Inn Express within walking distance to Disneyland Resort), Holiday Inn, AVID hotels, Hotel Indigo (there’s a Hotel Indigo within walking distance to Disneyland Resort). Staybridge Suites (1.2 mile walk from Disneyland) and Candlewood Suites (1 mile walk from Disneyland) are also good IHG hotels near Disneyland, but they’re not within walking distance when your kids are tired after a full Disneyland day.
- The best perk of an IHG credit card is that you get the 4th night free with any stay booked with points. And, you can multiply this perk. We stayed at a Holiday Inn Express in Southern California for 8 nights, and only used points for 6 nights. This was only using our opening bonus rewards points, and we still had enough points left over to book 2 nights at a Phoenix resort hotel.
- IHG hotels are the only hotels that actually make good on their room upgrades when you have elite status. When you have the Chase IHG Visa, you get AUTOMATIC Platinum Elite Status. Every single time we’ve stayed at an IHG hotel booking with our IHG credit card (paid or points), we’ve received a room upgrade, even though points rooms are supposed to be basic, 2 queens rooms. That includes Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, AVID hotels, and boutique hotels in Phoenix under the IHG brand. We NEVER NOT ONCE received a room upgrade with our top-tier hotel status at Best Western or Marriott or Hilton.
- One great perk of the IHG Visa credit card: you get a free night every year. This more than pays for the $99 annual fee, because not only is your one night stay FREE, you’ll also likely get a room upgrade, and you won’t have to pay any taxes on your stay (taxes usually run around 18% of room rate).
- Apply for the Chase Visa IHG credit card to earn 4 free nights and more.
Bottom line: If you have an Instacart cashback offer from your credit card, and/or a coupon from Instacart, you might well save more money ordering Aldi from Instacart than walking into the Aldi store. And, don’t forget to start your Instacart order at Rakuten (Ebates): Rakuten usually has 3% or more cash back on Instacart orders. Here’s my referral link for Rakuten if you are one of the last people on Earth who haven’t signed up with your current email already. The current Rakuten new signup offer is: get 10% bonus cashback on your first 7 days of purchases. Perfect timing for a big Christmas spending spree. Don’t forget to add all of your credit cards to the Rakuten in-store offers as well.
