An Aldi Lifestyle

Aldi is hands down one of my favorite stores. Growing up my grandma used to tell us that Aldi got all the second hand products that the major grocery stores (in Racine- Pick n Save, Piggly Wiggly, etc) didn't want. Naturally, growing up in a materialistic world, I develop a perception that Aldi was bad because it was cheaper than the other grocers. This wasn't true at all, as I learned after I graduated college. During our time in Tulsa, we lived quite close to an Aldi. When we grocery shopped, we'd get everything we could at Aldi and then run to Walmart for the products Aldi wouldn't carry because Aldi simply carries the basics, nothing fancy. One interesting thing about Aldi is that they don't accept credit cards. We can learn a lot from this grocery store, which is now sweeping the world with it's popularity:

1. Aldi doesn't accept credit cards & debt: This means that Aldi won't accept a form of payment if the cash isn't actually available. How valuable! As much as I at times get frustrated because I'd like to use a credit card at Aldi, I have to admit that this is a statement of values for the company. By not accepting credit cards, they're preventing their customers from digging a hole of debt in their store. Of course, they're also saving a load of money on credit card fees!
2. Aldi is frugal: Ever think about why they do the quarter cart system? Asking people to pay for bags? It saves money! They don't pay for cart pushers or grocery baggers, and they don't waste money on producing bags because they make people pay for them. Most Aldi-goers don't buy bags- we use the re-usable ones or boxes or something. 
3. Aldi is simple: You also won't find twelve different kinds of chocolate chips at Aldi. The store doesn't carry a ton of extra stuff and multiple brands of one food, they keep it simple and live off of providing the necessary groceries.

 My wife and I have now been married for nearly two years. As of April 1, 2012 we became debt free (besides our home which we consider an asset). We feel blessed to be able to be free of debt in our mid twenties. Let me share ten of the key factors that contribute to our financial freedom- our Aldi Lifestyle!

Top 10 rules to your Aldi lifestyle

1. Don't accept credit cards: Ok, I do admit we have credit cards, and we even use them. But we never let a month go by without paying them off. I love the rewards and the travel reward cards fit us especially well since I rack up a lot of airline miles for work. The rule here- hard and fast- is that we don't spend money that we don't have. Credit cards are not bank accounts, and we never even consider what our credit limit is, cause it doesn't matter. Our view point is that our credit limit is the amount of cash we have on hand.
2. Live frugally & keep it simple: We do try to live frugally. We shop at Aldi. I buy $20 shoes, rarely do we go shopping, and we don't spend a lot of money on things that we don't need. Living frugally doesn't depend on what our income is, it's a lifestyle. Like Aldi, we try to save money where we can and we keep our lifestyle fairly simple.
3. We don't take out loans on any cars: Emily and I were both blessed to be given our vehicles by our parents. I'm on my second car (thanks to grandpa Bill!) and my wife is on her third (thanks to her parents!). (Yes, I did crash Emily's 2nd car and we paid a little extra on top of the insurance money to buy a little bit of a nicer one). We didn't even think about taking out a car loan. Car loans are one of the biggest scams out there. If it can be avoided, avoid it!
4. We don't pay for cable TV: As crazy and non-Jon as this may sound, I'm not sure we'll ever pay for cable TV. No, we don't steal cable either. We do pay for Hulu plus (which is $8.00 / month) so we can watch our shows on our Roku. And of course we have to have internet because I work from home sometimes. It's just so hard to justify paying $30-$60 a month for one channel, and we all know the only channel worth watching on cable TV is ESPN. 
5. We're not renters anymore: I hate renting houses and apartments. It's like paying money just to be alive. I'd rather live in my car (which would be paid for without a loan of course). Think about it- if you're renting, you never even have a chance to get that money back. Even if  you own a home that's losing value, you have a chance to get that money back. Sometimes you can make a bunch of money on home ownership. So yes, we don't rent, we own. We purchased a nice townhome in a nice neighborhood that we're confident will resell at a higher price when we're ready to move. The other key is that we didn't purchase what we didn't need- a potential home buyer doesn't need to spend the maximum amount they're approved for- that's just silly. See #2.
6. Attack debt: Yes, attack it aggressively. We virtually lived off of a single income for a year and a half while we aggressively paid off school debt. I'd estimate that we saved somewhere in the range of $8k - $10k by doing this in the long run.
7. Work early and work hard: Yup, you heard me. If you're 14 years old and reading this, stop reading and go job hunting. My first job was Culvers when I was 14 years old and I've never been without a job. Even through being a full time student, I worked. Sometimes it's hard and tedious, but in the long run, being a hard worker and starting early will pay off. Learning that hard work is a way of life is a value that goes a long way to achieving financial freedom. 
8. A 15 year mortgage: Nope, we don't have one. But I wish we did. That's our one mistake. However, we're correcting our mistake because we didn't make a bigger mistake when we bought. Most mortgage brokers will tell you that the maximum amount you should spend on your mortgage payment per month is about 40% of your income. We pay about 25% of our income towards our home mortgage. And this includes paying at a 15 year mortgage rate, so even though we followed the masses with the 30 year mortgage, we'll pay it off in 15. 
9. Give: Based on our upbringing in the church, we believe that supporting our local church and tithing 10%  to the church is an extremely important practice. We've learned to tithe and have also enjoyed opportunities to support other ministries and missionaries with our financial freedom. See Luke 16:10.
10. Shop at Aldi: Just kidding. But seriously, shop at Aldi. You can't have a "9 things" list, right?

Of course our finances are far from perfect. At times we too, like everyone else, splurge on things we don't need. There are times when we have to hit the reset button and refocus what we're doing with our money. 

Check out these sites:

http://www.theage.com.au/business/aldis-simple-recipe-for-success-20080725-3l48.html

http://www.daveramsey.com/new/baby-steps/