Another Great Aldi Trip!

So I went to Aldi again today for a smallish trip. I took pictures of what I bought and scanned my receipt this time so you can really see what there is available there.

I was needing a lot of breakfast items and so I got lots of those, and then for the most part I bought things to supplement what I already have at home.

(Click for larger view)
Some of the items are incredibly cheap, I am very pleased with this store. I have already gotten my friend to love it and I am convincing my parents to start shopping there as well.

After saving money on all this food I feel like I need a better organization system in my pantry for all of it. I am getting some inspiration from Delightful Order blog. There are SO many amazing ideas for organizing things, and they are so simple I wonder what's wrong with me that I can't come up with these things on my own. I am in desperate need to organize all my art things since I have so much stuff and I am going to be doing more art soon (Which I will be posting here with step-by-step process of drawing).

That's all the rant I have in me for now about Aldi and organization.

Lot's of Yard Work

It has been one of my projects to make the front yard less ugly since I started living in my house. So far I think I have done a decent job, there is a ton of things that I have done to the yard.
First, here is a picture of the front yard around the time that i moved in.

Already I had trimmed the bushes, pulled weeds, and actually removed 5 bushes that were behind that low wall.
There were still some things that I pretty much hated though. The small palm to the right is hideous and prickly and full of bugs, and there is too much open space in that area as well.

The changes I have made was to remove the ugly palm, add a couple of bushes into the empty space, trim the other bushes so they could fill in nicely, add mulch, and I am in the process of adding bougainvillea behind the low wall and also thinking about other things to add there. The bushes have turned a nice green since I trimmed them (they were dying and ugly before). I cut them down so much I thought that might obliterate them completely but they have grown pretty well again.

I have always wanted a pretty yard and now I am working on it. Adding plants and mulch is coming out to cost about $85. 

Thrifting

I used to LOVE going out thrift shopping for just about anything, and then life came along and I got busy with school, love, work, and so on. So I naturally did what was easiest and shopped at Wal-Mart, Target, JCPenny, and other stores. I like to think that I am pretty good at being thrifty by sticking to sale items or sales racks but recently I decided I would give some extra thought into cutting down on spending. I did some research and found a few places that I would check out and also some old places I would start to visit more often.

Since it has been about a year to a year-and-a-half since I have updated my wardrobe a bit (plus I ruined quite a few items this summer) I needed a place to go for clothes that was cheap but still had a few nice things. What I found was Goodwill, Salvation Army, and Plato's Closet. Goodwill is pretty awesome but I find that it's harder to find things in my size that aren't ripped or stained. Salvation Army has a ton of neat things and lot of vintage items! And Plato's Closet is Da Bomb!

At Plato's Closet their inventory comes in part from people who sell them their clothing that is new and gently used. Brand names abound there and everything seems to be in really good condition. I got so many things and all of the items are barely used and a couple even had the original tag on it; such as my $80 Guess jeans that I purchased for $15. I was VERY pleased with the selection and I cannot wait to go back (although I will wait until I my wardrobe gets depleted again).

Plato's Closet

Besides needing so save on clothing I also decided that I wanted to save more money on groceries. There is a place called Aldi that a coworker told me about before and I never got around to looking into it, but, it turns out that it is a really good place to save on groceries. I went in to check it out and came out with a ton of things for only $47. There are some items that the savings are not astronomical compared to general item prices but for others there is definitely a benefit to buying from Aldi. 

(Image is from somewhere online)
Some notable items were the canned veggies or soups that were as low as 59 or 69 cents each. There is not a huge selection of items, but I think it is safe to say that the bulk of your shopping can be done at Aldi and you can purchase the rest of your items anywhere else you usually buy from.
Some significant things to know about Aldi is:
1. You need 25cents to use the shopping carts (A lock mechanism is on them - you get your quarter back)
2. You must bring your own bags from home (Plastic bags can be purchased for use at Aldi)
3. You bag your own items (Sounds rough but this makes the check out line go SUPER fast)

All in all I am pleased with the store and will definitely be going there again and again to save on groceries.