Shopping at Aldi? Here's Why You Need to Bring a Quarter With You

If you don't follow this simple rule, you may have a hard time shopping.

As someone who's big on saving money and who's constantly racking up giant credit card tabs in the course of buying groceries, I'm almost ashamed to admit that I never really thought to shop at Aldi until recently. I figured that between my digital couponing tendencies at my local ShopRite and my weekly Costco stock-up trips, I was doing my part to keep my grocery costs to a minimum.

But then I started doing some research, and I learned that Aldi could be a great source of savings when it comes to groceries. So I decided to give it a try.

Before heading over, I casually mentioned to a friend who shops at Aldi frequently that I was finally ready to check it out. "Bring a quarter," she told me. And I'm really grateful she did, because as someone who rarely carries cash around and charges virtually everything on a credit card, I generally do not have spare change sitting in my wallet. But if you don't bring a quarter with you to Aldi, you might have a really hard time doing your shopping.

Why you need that quarter

Many of us are used to walking up to a supermarket, grabbing a shopping cart, and loading it up with various grocery items. But at Aldi, you can't access a shopping cart until you put down a $0.25 deposit. And you'll only get that deposit back once you return your cart to the appropriate area.

If this seems like a silly practice, it's actually not. See, it's common for supermarkets to hire staff to round up shopping carts left all over the parking lot and return them to their corrals. I've seen that happen at stores like Costco and Trader Joe's frequently.

But as Aldi explains on its website, the $0.25 shopping cart deposit it charges actually helps save customers money. Because Aldi requires customers to return their shopping carts to get their money back, the store doesn't have to hire extra staff to collect shopping carts. And Aldi then takes that savings and passes it along to customers in the form of lower prices.

It's kind of similar to Costco's membership fee. Of course, that fee is well more than $0.25, and you don't get your money back. However, Costco uses that fee to offset its costs so it can offer consistently low-priced items to members.

Aldi is trying to do the same thing, only it doesn't make you pay a fee. It doesn't even keep your $0.25. So all told, it's a pretty reasonable practice.

Know before you go

If you're new to shopping at Aldi, you should know that you'll need that quarter to access a shopping cart. So make sure to stick that change in your wallet along with your credit and debit card. That way, you won't have to stumble around the store trying to juggle multiple items in your hands, which could make for a pretty awkward and uncomfortable shopping experience.