Ranked: The 5 Best Aldi Products for Your Money

I'm a big fan of Aldi, mostly because of the random stuff my wife often brings home. A few months ago, she bought a $5 flower that I've yet to identify but has flourished on our front porch despite several nights of sub-freezing temperatures.

Resilient flowers aside, we've found that Aldi consistently offers the lowest price on most grocery items, which helps keep our personal finances on track. Here are five that are the best for your money.

1. Sliced Gouda cheese

Price: $1.79

If you opened my refrigerator right now, there would be an embarrassing amount of cheese in the drawers. Like, you'd probably question why a family of four could possibly need so many bags of shredded and sliced cheese.

But my kids love it, the price is cheap, and I thought our secret cheese addiction would never see the light of day. Alas, the truth always comes out in the end. But seriously, for $1.79, how could we pass up those Gouda slices?

2. Milk

Price: $2.38

You're about to notice a pattern here -- dairy-based products are cheap at Aldi. We recently bought a gallon of whole milk for just $2.38. According to the USDA, that's $1.95 cheaper than the national average for whole milk.

Milk prices have soared over the past few years, with the average price rising from $3.03 in 2019 to the current average of $4.33. If you're not an Aldi believer yet, surely the milk prices will be enough to convert you.

3. Butter

Price: $3.39

I have to admit, I didn't wake up this morning planning to write about butter. It isn't the most interesting thing I've written about, and it's probably not the most exciting thing you've read about. But here we are.

What is exciting is saving money on butter. Our four-pack (one pound) of unsalted butter cost $3.39 on our latest Aldi run, which is more than $1 cheaper than the national average. Yes, some people gather historical data on butter prices and map it out in charts. Who knew?

4. Pistachios

Price: $3.99

In addition to my family's cheese obsession, pistachios are another well-stocked staple in our home. These are often my go-to snack, and if we bought them anywhere other than Aldi, I'd probably need to pick up a side hustle.

I couldn't find Federal Reserve data for historical shelled pistachio prices (what is the Fed even doing?), but a quick search on Walmart's website found a similar bag of pistachios is $5.88 -- $1.89 more than Aldi!

5. Organic, grass-fed beef

Price: $6.66 per pound

It's no secret that beef prices have soared over the past few years, and prices vary depending on what part of the country you live in. In my state, the average cost of ground beef is $5.21 per pound.

That price almost makes one consider being vegetarian. It's too bad that steak and burgers taste so delicious. Organic, grass-fed ground beef is typically more expensive than regular ground beef, which makes the $6.66 we recently paid for one pound of Aldi's organic ground beef a great deal.

Fortunately for all of us, inflation has cooled recently, but the damage to household budgets has already been done. Aldi may alleviate the sticker shock on your grocery bill, at least for the items above.

But if you find better deals on butter or shockingly robust purple flowers, let me know.