I’m not an Aldi shopper (been there a few times, didn’t care for it), but I wish all stores would adopt their quarter for a cart and no bags provided without paying for them systems.
I’m pro vehicle and planet.
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This coin-for-cart is very typical in some European countries. Our Swedish friend’s kid loved to grocery go shopping with her. The kid got to keep the coin. 
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I’d have to skip the Aldi. I rarely carry cash or coins and would end up having to carry all of my groceries around the store. I can see how their system would be effective though.
@Creekland Where I live, you either bring your own bag or pay 10 cents to buy one. I have every shape and size reusable bag in my trunk. Do I frequently underestimate how many groceries I will buy and end up having to buy a bag anyway? Yes, yes I do.
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I gave a dollar to someone leaving the store to use their cart on one of my trips there. I didn’t have any change, but at least I had a bill with me.
I’ve been many places where folks bring their own bags or pay for one. I always like them, even if I end up paying for bags. Someone has to care about the planet. I want to be one who does and appreciate stores that do too (even if they get financial gain from not providing bags). Something is better than nothing IMO.
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When I had an Aldi near by, I kept an “Aldi quarter” in my car ; ). (You get it back after you return the cart). We always have our own bags with us no matter where we market.
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Yep, I always have a quarter in my cup holder.
NJ moved to a ban on grocery bags about six months ago. It has been a challenge for a lot of people to remember to bring bags, but this Aldi girl always has a stash in my trunk.
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If you did not bring enough (or any) bags into the store, just ask them to put the groceries back in the cart after counting them for payment. Then you can take the cart to your car and bag the groceries at your car. Then you can put the cart back in the cart return.
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yep.
I also keep a big plastic bin in my trunk as this is how I deal with my Costco runs (can’t be bothered to try to make the assortment of oddly-shaped boxes they have on hand useful for carting my stuff).
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I like this bag from IKEA.
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I live in Southern California so we have been paying for bags for a while now. I always have extra shopping bags in my car in case I forget to grab some for the house. If I don’t bring enough bags to hold all of my groceries I just do as someone above said and ask them to put the remainder back in the cart.
I always have at least 1 or 2 Baggu bags in my purse when I go shopping at the mall.
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This is what we always do at Costco. We have a big basket type bag in the car. Many times, I’ve walked out of TJ with an armful of items that went into that same bin. I’ve also walked out of a Nordstrom with a stack of tops with the receipt on the top. 
I don’t think I’ve had to pay for a bag at a grocery store in a while as I always bring mine, but I like to buy bags at Lululemon though. They make better grocery bags than those sold at the grocery stores and only cost $.08. (Of course one needs to buy something of their relatively expensive stuff to get the bargain of a bag, lol, but I don’t mind as the quality of the clothes is great.)
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I like this bag too. I have a couple of them in my trunk for Costco trips.
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Making more money is already inflationary even before inflation. The more you make, the more that seems to get spent…especially with teenage girls! You don’t realize until the credit card statement comes in the mail. YIKES! It’s INFLATION! No…it’s the high heels! And it’s time for princess to get a job.
Aldi actually has sold these cute little “quarter keepers”. One year I gave each of my kids one w/quarter in it and a $25 gift card to try Aldi’s.
That said, if you don’t have a quarter for some reason I believe the store will “loan” you one.
If saving $$ and getting some good products is important (and/or necessary) to you, you’d remember to have a quarter handy.
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We don’t have an Aldi close by, but my non-driving mom does and we always go when I visit. Almost every time I get handed a cart, or hand my cart to someone coming in and say, “pay it forward.” Aldi’s saving money on not having a cart wrangler and you get a feel-good moment by helping someone else. Win-win.
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For anyone with the Baggu bags, how much space does it take in your purse? I have a little bit of a hard time figuring out the scale of the little pouch (length, width, and depth). Also, any feedback on the standard size, the baby size, or the big size? Too small, or gets too heavy, or…? The mini is definitely too mini for any of my purposes.
When our family travels abroad we will usually buy a reusable bag (or two) for grocery shopping at the start of the trip and it also serves as a souvenir afterwards. On the last trip I was in a store (kind of like a mini-Ikea…small stationery/kid/artistic gifts type stuff) and I got a cotton reusable bag there. The cotton works really nicely in terms of folding small in my purse (vs. most of our other reusable bags which are a plastic or some kind of thin recycled fabric that take up a lot more space).
I have the standard, mini and wine (bottle holder) Baggu bags and don’t think they take up too much room in my purse and I don’t carry a large purse.
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D2 had the bigger size when we went to NYC last spring. It wasn’t too big because she kept it in her Baggu crossbody bag she uses exclusively as a purse now and it’s not too big! We used that thing, it was really handy.
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In our area the cashier will make change for folks who don’t have a quarter.
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Two standard ones fit comfortably into my wallet on a chain. I don’t use the pouches they came in, I just fold them.
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