I love Aldi. I've been going there since my grad school years when I limited myself to $100 a month of groceries. I didn't eat a variety of foods at the time, but I managed to actually eat fruit and vegetables and not starve. Since being married, I've carried over my Aldi patronage with my family and have managed to feed them semi-healthily and still have money left over to pay bills. Aldi has money saving reasons for me to justify driving 45 minutes each way, but it also has human saving reasons, too. If you've ever been to Aldi, you'd know that if you want to use a quarter, you'll have to put in a quarter to get one and that you bring your own bags and bag your own groceries. This is their money saving way of getting back their carts etc. I'm sure they have a few each year that go missing, but overall, most people are pretty protective of their quarters and everyone, whether they are hippies or not, are pretty careful to bring a recyclable bag. So a long time ago I saw the movie Pay It Forward, a movie where the concept of "paying it forward" instead of back was introduced to me. After watching this movie where a little boy came up with the kindness concept that we could pay forward what others had done for us and change the world, I decided to pay forward my Aldi quarters. Every time we go to Aldi, we give our used cart to someone new, smile and say "pay it forward to the next person", and leave with not only a full car of a months worth of groceries, but a full heart. See, in the movie, Hayley Joel Osment (or whatever ha), talks about the full heart giving to others creates, more so than paying back. A few months ago my pay it forward came back to me. I've probably spent $30 in quarters over the years, but it was worth it to see that there are others in the world trying to make a difference. But not only do I love the concept of paying the carts forward makes me feel good or that using my own bags feels responsible, I love that these acts make people communicate and interact. Most people will share their used boxes and talk to each other when they exchange quarters for their carts. In a world of online everything (I'm one to speak, as I write this blog on my phone), we forget to actually have conversations with one another sometimes. Maybe it's bc I worked with high schoolers this year who barely make eye contact and sometimes trip on their own feet bc they can't put their phones down, but our society is being turned into people who are self absorbed by the nature that they don't have opportunity to feel the good feels of giving back and getting a smile. So in my option, Walmart and Target stores may be making a killing in the finances, but regardless of what Aldi makes, they're making a difference in our world, and I love them for that.