The Aldi Hack That Saves You Money But Employees Hate

If you're an Aldi loyalist, you already know about all the great ways to save money at the German supermarket chain, including shopping Aisle of Shame deals and stocking up on items from the variety of in-house brands. There's another Aldi hack that saves you money but employees hate: dodging purchase limit rules by breaking your order up among other family members.

Aldi is able to offer cost-savings by keeping a low inventory of items and, so, it's not uncommon for the store to place purchase limits on certain high-demand goods. According to its website, the chain has no official one-purchase-per-person restriction, "but each store does reserve the right to limit quantities" as needed.

To get around any quantity restrictions, some customers will head to Aldi with two or three family members or friends. Each person grabs one of the items in question and goes to the checkout to ring up separately. To really avoid arousing suspicion, some people might even use different checkout lanes. But employees usually catch on quickly. "We know that a 3-year-old didn't come in on their own to buy three dozen eggs with a $50 bill," an Aldi employee identified as JK told Business Insider. "In these cases, we're forced to ask the responsible customer to put back the excess, and that's annoying." Although they may be inconvenient, the purchase limits exist for a reason, so customers should try and ensure that all shoppers have equal access to limited items.

Besides circumnavigating purchase limits, there are quite a few shopper habits that irk Aldi employees. Taking too long during check-out or getting distracted by your phone is a big no-no, one employee wrote on Reddit. Cashiers are actually timed per transaction, including how much time lapses between customers, and then scored. So, to help them out, pay attention while you're being rung up to ensure a speedy experience for all.

Another check-out tip that will help the cashiers maintain their speed (and protect your groceries) is to load heavier items onto the belt first, followed by lighter or fragile things like chips or eggs. "If you put all your produce up front and then bottles and cans and jars at the end, your stuff will inevitably get squished even if the cashier tries not to," the Reddit Aldi employee wrote.

One that is probably common sense is to avoid the 11th-hour dash whenever possible. Sure, we've all totally spaced on grabbing a gallon of milk and had to run to the store five minutes before closing time, but you're not going to make any friends with the workers counting down until end of shift.