Aldi Anxiety Keeps Me from Shopping There

Aldi is one of the most popular grocery stores in America right now, according to data from YouGov. It's also considered the No. 1 grocery store when it comes to prices, according to a retailer preference index from Dunnhumby. With the exorbitant cost of food right now, I can certainly understand why so many people shop there. After all, who wouldn't want to shave a few bucks off their grocery bill?

Aldi also has some other great qualities: their selection of cheese is solid, they have affordable, award-winning wines, and they even sell fun seasonal items in their Aldi Finds section—like my favorite $3 cocoa-dusted chocolate truffles. So while I'm not a total Aldi hater, I just can't shop there on a regular basis.

Shopping at Aldi gives me anxiety. Before you grab your axes, pitchforks and branded quarter holders, let me explain: the few times I've shopped there, I've always felt completely unprepared for the experience.

For starters, I never carry quarters to feed into their shopping cart carousel. In the past, I've had to search under the seat of my car for spare change or cruise the parking lot like a vulture to ask shoppers loading groceries if I could use their cart. You'd think that I'd remember this and bring some change with me, but since I shop at Aldi so infrequently, I forget 100% of the time—and always end up feeling like a quarter-less creep.

Another Aldi downside is that the store (at least where I live) is always chaotic and crowded. Aldi can keep their prices so low because their stores are much smaller than other grocery stores and they display their produce and products in the containers they arrive in rather than stocking them on the shelves. While I can respect the sound financial reasoning, the random crates and boxes scattered throughout the aisles make the store look like it's constantly losing a game of Jenga.

And it's not even really the messiness that bothers me—it's that the chaos overstimulates my brain and turns it into mush. While other shoppers seem to inherently know how to navigate the system, I feel like I'm making constant laps around the store and losing a scavenger hunt. The last time I was there, I walked away with items I didn't even need because I was so overwhelmed that I think my brain just said "grab the hot dogs, wine and cantaloupe and get out of here ASAP."

And let me tell you: The shoppers at Aldi mean business. They will not wait for you to decide if you really need that box of crackers or give you time to thoroughly scan a nutrition label. They're there to get in and get out, not for the pleasant shopping experience or to bebop along to grocery music (BECAUSE THERE'S NONE PLAYING … skipping music so they don't have to pay licensing fees is another way Aldi saves money, according to a company press release). In fact, they will hit you in the back of the ankle with their cart and steal that last package of zoodles you were eying if you don't grab them fast enough (this actually happened to me the last time I shopped there).

Beyond feeling completely overwhelmed by the shopping experience, I also can never find everything I need in one stop. The private-label items are fine (and are much cheaper than at other stores), but I prefer the brand names of certain things like dog food, dish soap and toilet paper, so I end up having to make a second stop at another store. So while shopping at Aldi may help me shave a few bucks off my grocery bill, I end up having to go out of my way, use more gas and take time out of my day to go to another store. Plus, certain foods from Aldi just don't taste as great to me, so I prefer to buy them elsewhere.

While I will always head to Aldi on an annual pilgrimage to stock up on seasonal cocoa-dusted truffles and affordable party wine, it will never be my go-to store. I suppose my brain needs clear aisles, background music and name-brand toilet paper to function correctly. And I might not be alone—I noticed that while Aldi topped Dunnhumby's list for prices, the store did not make Dunnhumby's rankings for convenience, quality, operations or promotions/rewards.

Come December when the seasonal sparkling wine and truffles hit Aldi shelves, I'll set a reminder to pack a quarter or two, go to the store during off-peak hours and take a few deep breaths before I enter—after all, chocolate and discounted bubbly are always worth it.