The Aldi Money-Saving Trick That Employees Really Can't Stand

As one of the cheapest grocery stores in the U.S., Aldi is a favorite for many budget-conscious consumers. The quality of its products is good enough for even professional chefs looking to stock their pantry. You can even get delicious and reasonably priced wines and cheeses — we're looking at you, goat cheese with cranberry! To offer lower prices, the chain uses many strategies to cuts costs, including keeping a smaller stock of items than many of its competitors. And while this translates to better deals for the consumer, it sometimes also results in purchasing limits. According to Aldi's website, there is no general policy for limits, but each store can set them on an as-needed basis when demand is too high. This helps stores avoid shortages.

Of course, limits don't fly well with many customers, especially when they have big events like parties that require purchasing in bulk. To skirt the limits, some people recommend going to the store with multiple family members, and having each person check out separately. If you're really committed to the bit, you can even use different cash registers so cashiers won't notice that you're coming together. This trick is easy enough, and can save you money since you won't have to make a trip to another store to buy the supplies that you need. But while we all want to save money, we recommend thinking twice before putting this hack into practice.

Sometimes things happen in life and you have only 30 minutes to buy 20 bags of bread before hosting a party. If there is no other option, this trick might be a life saver. Otherwise, it's best to follow the rules. Limits for Aldi items are fairly high — think, ten to 15 per category per person — so there is no reason for the average shopper to go over them. And since the policy is only implemented when shortages might arise, it's good to keep other consumers in mind. No one wants to get to the grocery store for an emergency toilet paper run and find out there is none left.

Besides, this trick rubs Aldi employees the wrong way, and not because they don't want you to save money. As one employee told Business Insider, it's usually very obvious when people are trying to pull the multi-person loophole to skirt limits. This then puts them in a position where they have to stop the checkout process, call the person out, and ask them to put the excess products back, which is time-consuming and annoying. While it can be frustrating, staying within the limits ends up being for the common good of everyone. If you do need to buy in bulk, there are other grocery stores that use this model and that also offer great prices, most famously Costco (and, yes, there are ways to shop at Costco without a membership card).