Summer hits hard on the wallet.
Childcare camps, trips, sunscreen—the budget gets stretched thin fast. So why pay chain grocery prices when Aldi is right there? It is small, yes, but the value is huge.
I am adding “little luxuries” to the cart. Not essentials. Just cheap hits of joy that make the weekly trip worth it. The Kitchn calls them little luxuries, items that slip the mind unless you look for them.
All of these are under three dollars. Try it.
Cookie crumbs
Benton’s Lemon Cookie Thins cost $2.39 for four ounces.
Lemon tastes better in the sun, I think. These thin crisps are bright. Sharp, even. The texture is crisp and crunchy, a rare find for store-bought snacks.
I bought three bags immediately.
Do not underestimate a simple lemon cookie.
Eat them plain if you must, but do not be lazy. Crumble them into lemon icebox cake instead of graham crackers. Pair them with homemade whipped cream and whatever berries are on sale.
They make a Key Lime version, too.
The chip crunch
Clancy’s Avocado Oil Sea Salt chips run $2.99 for five ounces.
Snacking goes up in June. Exponentially, even. You cannot go poolside without a bag in hand, how do you survive the chlorine hours otherwise?
Aldi sells endless bags of fried potato, but this batch hits different. Kettle cooked. Properly.
The crunch is loud. The flavor is pure potato, seasoned well with sea salt. Avocado oil adds a richness without the heavy greasy feel of some corn-oil bags. They are the only companion for a sandwich eaten on a damp towel.
The fridge find
Organic Cold-Pressed Strawberry Lemonade. $2.49 for a 15.2-ounce bottle.
It sits in the cold section. I paused to stare at it. The bottle looks like something you buy at a $30 organic farmer’s market stand, minimal branding and all.
The ingredients list is honest: water, lemon juice, cane sugar, strawberry purée in the strawberry version. Nothing else.
Cold pressing keeps the taste fresh. Bright. It does not taste like powder dissolved in syrup, which most grocery store lemonade does. Paying a fraction of the premium price for a taste that matches is hard to argue with.
What little luxury are you dragging past the register? Maybe it is not any of these, that is fine, the cart is yours to fill.
The seasons turn. Prices stay low for now.
- Benton’s Lemon Cookie Thins
- Clancy’s Kettle Chips
- Organic Lemonade
