Eight Aldi shopping hacks including 75% off red stickers and free wine club

Aldi is a firm favourite among bargain hunters, but you may be missing out on a few ways to save even more cash at the German discounter – here’s what you need to know

Aldi shoppers may think the supermarket is cheap enough, but there are ways to save even more money at the discounter.

From keeping an eye out for its 75% off reductions, to its little-known free wine club, we explain eight tips and tricks for shopping at the German grocer.

It comes as Aldi was once again named the cheapest supermarket in the UK by Which? as part of its monthly price comparison.

The consumer magazine and website compared the prices of a basket of 20 products throughout July and found that you would have paid £23.59 on average at Aldi.

The discounter narrowly beat rival budget grocer Lidl by just 18p.

Visit during its 75% off ‘bargain hour’

Aldi runs a bargain hour where food is reduced by 75%.

It started doing this at the start of this year – before that, the most its food got reduced by was 30% in price.

The types of food discounted as part of the bargain hour includes perishable products such as meat, bread, fruit and vegetables.

You’ll spot which products are reduced thanks to a red 75% off sticker.

However, there is no set time for when these discounts happen – instead, specific timings will vary between stores.

This means you’ll need to work out the rough routine of your nearest Aldi so you can then plan visits for when they start reducing.

Get notified about Specialbuys

Specialbuys are the holy grail of any Aldi shop – these are a range of limited-time only products that change every week, in stores and online.

But there are ways to stay on top of what Specialbuys are due.

Scroll down to the bottom of the Aldi Specialbuys webpage, and you can enter your email to receive regular updates.

You can also sign up to the free Aldi app, available on iOS and Android, and get notifications for Specialbuys.

Know when Specialbuys are in stores

If you’re in the market for a Specialbuy product, the Aldi website should say when they’re due online as part of a pre-sale.

See what items are coming up on the Aldi “coming soon” webpage.

Unless you’re looking at an online-only product, the majority of Specialbuys will then arrive in store either on a Thursday or Sunday.

So if you spot something you want, make a note in your diary so you know when to visit your nearest Aldi.

What are your favourite ways to save money at Aldi? Let us know in the comments.

Join its ‘secret’ wine club

Yes, you read that right – Aldi has a secret wine club where it gives away free bottles of booze.

Every year, the discounter selects 30 lucky people to taste their wines in exchange for reviews and social media posts.

Applications are currently closed for this year, but keep an eye on this page for when it opens again.

Get free delivery online

If you’re buying online, it helps to know what Aldi charges for delivery – and how to get things to your home for free.

Delivery is free when you spend over £30 for most items, or for under this amount you’ll pay £2.95 for standard delivery.

Extra large items cost £9.95 to delivered, and you’ll pay extra too for named day or Saturday deliveries.

You can only get Specialbuys delivered to your home, not groceries.

However, you may qualify for click and collect, depending on where you live – this costs between £3.99 and £4.99.

Save money with Aldi ‘dupes’

Aldi is famous for its dupes. If you like what you try, make the switch permanent and you could shave some serious money off your shopping bill.

We looked at some of the best Aldi copycat products and found some items were more than 50% cheaper.

For example, a pack of four Mars chocolate bars will cost you £1.25 compared to 55p for six Aldi Titan bars.

Or if you’re a Ben & Jerry’s fan, you can save money by swapping its £4.50 cookie dough ice cream with Aldi’s equivalent from its Gianni’s range.

You can even make your own fakeaways

While we don’t condone spending lots of money on takeaways, if you are partial to a treat, Aldi can help you save money on this front too.

For example, the discounter has just launched its own McDonald’s inspired range of foods where you can even get a fake Big Mac.

Prices from the range start from £1.49 for a Snacksters Big Stack Burger, which is £1.80 cheaper compared to a £3.29 Big Mac from Maccies.

Or box of ten breakfast hash browns also costs £1.49 from Aldi, compared to 89p for just one hash brown from McDonald’s.

Check out its ‘Super Six’ deals

Keep an eye out for Aldi’s weekly “Super Six” deals on fresh fruit and vegetables, in stores only.

Updated fortnightly, these are the items that will be reduced for the next 14 days – including the weekend.

What’s included varies by availability – but often it’ll be seasonal produce, such as figs for autumn, with all items reduced to either 29p or 59p a pack.

Around Christmas, you’ll also find festive deals such as parsnips, potatoes and carrots reduced to less than 60p.