Guest Blogger: Bride of Chuckie Invasion

Has anyone seen the movie The King of Kong: a Fistful of Quarters?  Yeah, didn't think so.  It's a documentary about a laid-off science teacher who buys a Donkey Kong machine and becomes really good at the game and sets the world record.  Please don't ask why I have seen this movie, or why I believe I own this movie and it's in the basement of my house.  But do ask why that science teacher decided to spend his money on an arcade machine and then spend all his time mastering the game instead of looking for a job.

Anyway, that intro is just about me being able to say it's on like Donkey Kong.  What's on like Donkey Kong?  MBFCW's first guest blogger, that's what!  Thanks Lauren.

this is obviously a picture of Lauren

     Today Jesse and I made our inagural trip to Aldi.  For all you grocery shopping novices, Aldi is a discount grocery store.  I was initially beyond pissed that they dared ask me to insert a quarter to "release" a shopping cart.  I even told Jesse to go back to the car, drive home to Minnetonka, return with a laundry basket, and then follow me around the store as I shopped.  He declined, and so I made like a freak at Machine Shed and gave up the quarter.

     I was amazed at the assortment, but was skeptical of the "off" brands.  What I mean by "off" is my pizza rolls did not say "Totino's," but instead said "Italian-4-me-and-U."  Jesse and I trudged on though, and were quickly swayed by the cheaper prices.  As the signs say, "No looking for sales!"

     I also noticed that they are big on the money saving tip by having limited staffing.  That's more money in my pocket!  I bagged my own groceries, and then paid a paltry amount for some grocery bags.  (Again, if Jesse had gotten the laundry basket, we could have saved money and not bought the bags...)  And I came to realize that the whole quarter thing is an initiative to return the cart to it's original place, as YOU GET THE QUARTER BACK once that's done.  It saves on having to have a cart boy!

     And Gertie, the oldest employee at my Aldi, also told us that there are "special buys" that come around every so often.  She said, "while they last.  Get there fast" because I guess it's all snooze-you-lose, but that's also part of the Aldi tradition--surprises!  You never know what you might find!

     Also, while checking out, I noticed that Aldi does not accept credit cards, but they are working on that.  And they also offer what's called a "double guarantee."  This means that if you don't LOVE what you buy, Aldi will replace the item, (even though you didn't love it in the first place), and refund your money!  Score.

Lauren lives in Minnetonka, Minnesota with her fiance Jesse and their dogs, Honey Crisp and Jagger.  When Lauren is not blogging, you can find her facebook bossing-around-people, nannying it up in Uptown, and reminiscing about the good ole' days she spent as the Dairy Princess.  To read more of her musings, check out her blog.