NOW CLOSED Talk to Aldi about shopping for Christmas bargains and be in with a chance of winning a £100 voucher

[TheOtherHelenMumsnet]

Aldi are gearing up for Christmas with loads of bargains on their website - they'd love Mumsnetters to check out what's on offer then come back to this thread and give their feedback. Please visit the website here.

Are you an Aldi shopper already? If so, are you planning to do your full Xmas shop there, or will you pick up specific bits and pieces from there? What's the best bargain you've ever picked up from Aldi?

If you've never shopped at Aldi before, why? Is there anything on the website that has convinced you to give it a go?

Also, Aldi would love to hear your top tips on how to bag a Christmas bargain, or any other genius money-saving tips you have, so please do share here.

Everyone who posts their comments on this thread will be entered into a prize draw to win a £100 voucher to spend in store.

Thanks and good luck with the prize draw
MNHQ

I love Aldi, but don't go that often as there isn't one conveniently close to us. I will be making a trip out in the run up to Christmas though to get some of the special foods We got stollen bites last year which were very addictive - hoping they'll be in again this year.

I've shopped at Aldi on and off for years but now do virtually all my shopping there since becoming a lone parent and having to budget very tightly. Best buys are baked beans, tinned tomatoes, fair trade tea and coffee, biscuits, cat food (very fussy cats like it), cold meats and cheese and skin care products for fussy teenage dd as well as me.

I always buy Christmas stuff at Aldi - chocolate covered marzipan, stollen, choc reindeers for stockings etc. This year will probably try the four bird roast and get an apple strudel as none of us likes Christmas pudding.

As far as bargains go I think the key is not to go crazy-it's just a big roast dinner with some extra treats. Buy things because you like them not because some advert says it's what you should have at Christmas. I don't do mountains of presents for the dds - something they really want as a main gift, a couple of smaller gifts, a few books and a small stocking.

The luxury xmas pudding looks yummy on the website so would consider that. I don't live near an Aldi so not very familiar with what it has in store but I always hear friends going on about great bargains from it and the food being better than that available from the standard stores.
Best bargain tip for Christmas....ebay to supplement a new present. Last year we bought my DS some Brio railway bits but supplemented it with loads of track and train from ebay.

We shop at aldi regularly for specific things, their nappies and their fruit and vege are great, but they do also have a full basic range if we wanted to do the full shop their. We don't do a massive christmas shop, so no need to decide where to shop, other than taking advantage of any of the shop here and get £25 back deals. Best deal was probably ds's wooden train set.

I am a relatively new Aldi shopper but still go for occasional big hits rather than regularly as it isn't all that near to us.

I'm sure we will get some of our Christmas stuff there, but probably not everything as I find there are usually one or two things I just can't get there so we will be using other supermarkets as well. I am hoping there will be lots of Continental Christmas goodies though (lebkuchen? and so on) as I love these and have grown up with them.

My favourite Aldi bargain is the nappies, they are fab, as good as the top-brand ones we used to use but massively cheaper. I only wish we'd discovered them sooner, as DD is nearly out of nappies now! I also loved the crispy fried onion bits I picked up there once for just a few pence, they are fab added to mashed potatoes, gravy etc for extra flavour.

Unfortunately our nearest store is over 10 miles away, in a town which we wouldn't normally go to (not a major shooping destination), I think the cost of petrol would negate the savings.

The website looks good, and under other circumstances might consider it. I do go to Lidl for continental food - chocolates, panettone, stollen, olive oil, etc. Is better and cheaper than UK supermarkets. I guess I wouldn't do a full shop because I wouldn't be guaranteed to get everything I wanted.

My money saving tips are to buy presents throughout the year when on special offer and go to parent's houses so don't have to cater over Christmas! we have little choice over this and does have downsides, but not paying for catering is a silver lining!

I might give Aldi a go. There's one on the nearest town to me, and I remember going to an Aldi years ago before I moved here, and loving all the gorgeous German food. Website wasn't really all that helpful tbh, but maybe that's because I'm looking at it on my phone and can't see all the fliers.

We used to buy the Cafe Verona coffee from Starbucks, but as it slowly crept up to over £4 a bag we decided it was a bit much. I now get the Aldi Italian Roast (or some similar name) ground coffee, and it is LOVELY and less than £2 :)

I am an Aldi-virgin. I have never been to one of the store and have never looked at their website ... until now. The need to save money means that all options and avenues need to be considered - cheaper options on staples etc are necessary for many of us nowadays. The high prices charged by other supermarkets for items that are neither expensive in themselves or at other retailers is shocking and, judging from the reviews of Aldi on other threads on this Forum, Aldi's is an excellent place to shop - if you have one close enough!

I am going to check on one out tomorrow - my MIL is also coming along for a look-see. I would have to shop on a Saturday or Sunday as my 'local' Aldi's is not close enough to walk to and I don't have a car during the week.

The website looks good - I am going to try their Christmas Pudding this year - which has won a 'best taste' comparison test. Their mince pies look good too. My SIL had their 4 bird Christmas roast last year and said it was lovely, realy tasty.

I used to do all my shopping at Ocado but it gradually got too much. I'm now a firm ALDI shopper and love their small but perfectly formed range. Even the children love it and they are a tough crowd to please.

I've already bought the chocolate reindeers for xmas which was a bad idea as one has gone AWOL (cough) . I'm excited to see their turkey crowns are very reasonably priced this year.

For all you ALDI virgins, the number of awards by Good Housekeeping given to ALDI products is getter bigger all the time. Don't be put off thinking that cheap means lesser quality.

My tip is to look out for their special buys each week...they are changed each Thursday and Sunday and bag yourself a bargain. They really don't hang around in the store very long!

And if you are picky about meat - keep an eye out for the "british" labelled fresh meat and free range british chicken which at £5 are excellent value. I buy to cover a family of 7 and have leftovers.

roguepixie - their specially selected mince pies are excellent. am going to try the stollen bites this year (which given they are german really ought to be good!)

I can't see anything there for a vegetarian Christmas (unless we have chocolate for dinner).
So I wouldn't bother.

Aldi is a bit out of the way for me but I will always call in if I am passing. Their all in one dishwasher tablets are the best around for the money. I have always avoided the meat section but was really surprised to see in the website that they sell British meat and some free range products too.

My bargain tip for Christmas? Adli's deli section rocks for your cheeseboard charcuterie needs. Other than that use your freezer for left overs, use your cheeseboard scraps to make pasta sauce and bubble and squeak is bloody lovely!

Aldi chocolates and biscuits for Christmas are the absolute best for quality and price. I always make a point of stocking up on these when I go to Aldi, as my nearest one isn't very near and I only make it only every few months. I would shop there more regularly if it wasn't 30 miles round trip.

My Christmas saving tip is don't ignore the frozen aisle for food items. Frozen is often cheaper than the same thing fresh, especially if all you are going to do is put it into the freezer at home!

Frozen stonebake pizzas are excellent and hardly take up any space in the freezer

I occasionally shop at Aldi and am intending to do my Christmas shop there. I fancy bird within a bird or a turkey crown. Essentials are chocolate coins, Danish biscuits, chocolate bomb, pud, fresh veg, crackers, cheese and pate.
Best bargain is the fruit and vegetables. A bonus is that it also lasts for ages.

I love the Lacura range and always buy steak and wine when I shop there.

I agree with others that have said write a list to keep within your budget.

There are two frustrating things:

1. I can never find most of what is listed on the special promotions leaflet in store. If I was able to shop on the internet and arrange delivery I would shop at Aldi most of the time;
2. DH brings home the most random "bargains".

I am chuckling at how familiar lots of these comments are, we have also sadly had a chocolate reindeer go MIA in the last few days

We've been shopping at Aldi for the last few months, switched from sainsburys and Ocado, although once a month I still do an online shop at one of those to stock up on products other people have already mentioned that Aldi don't do : canned pulses, lentils, plain cous-cous, Thai curry paste, frozen pastry etc.

Aside from those I am LOVING almost everything else we have bought (aside from the houmous), I've also worked out we have been saving at least £20 per week on every shop. Favourites include; cereals, brioche, part baked rolls, cereal bars, fruit and veg (most for 69p!), cold meats, cheeses, pâté, yoghurts, olive oil, passata, eggs, disco biscuits, lemon and lime sports drinks, kids love the squash, nuts, crisps, pork steaks, smoked salmon, frozen fish, cornettoes, baking staples like sugar and flour. The beef in my local store is locally sourced and very good. The free range chicken is excellent value and I really like the bacon.
DH is obsessed with the Torchon Ham, corned beef and the Jelly Beans.
All of the household stuff and toiletries we have tried have been excellent. The washing up liquid and dishwasher tablets deserve the awards. The Lacura skin care and hair care ranges are brilliant value (love the 'herbal' shampoo at the moment).

Christmas wise we are not doing dinner this year but if we were we would definitely use Aldi. I have already stocked up on cards, wrap, choc santas, tree chocs, coins, cheese biscuits etc and will be buying the pannetonne and probably the Stollen.
Best bargains from Aldi:child's thermal underwear sets I bought the other week and winter running gear, especially the running socks, did a half marathon in them the other week and no blisters!

To attract more customers something Aldi may consider could be a points card or something? Lots of people I have recommended Aldi to won't go there as they are obsessed with collecting club card/ nectar points. We still collect through the massive amounts of petrol we use every month so don't really notice but it really seems to matter to some people.

Money saving tip- get invited somewhere for Xmas dinner and arrive bearing gifts of Aldi Prosecco and the Chocolate sea-shells. Also 2 years ago when we were really skint we baked loads of Xmas biscuits and put them in £1 Kilner jar from wilkinsons which DD decorated, then gave these to all most relatives along with a nice framed photo of the DCs. Only left children to buy for. People appreciate gifts you have put time and effort into rather than money!

I've never shopped at Aldi in this country. We lived in Germany for a year and had one in walking distance but never used it - it was hopeless for anything other than random DIY equipment and pickled vegetables, neither of which we needed, and that has put me off seeking it it in this country,

Looking on their website my nearest one is 30+ minutes away in a direction I never drive, on a route that invariably has horrible traffic jams. I have Waitrose 10 mins away, 2 different Sainsburys 15 mins away, Asda 15 mins away, so I can't see why I would bother to go there.

I like to go somewhere she I can get envy thing, or almost everything, I need in one place. I can't be bothered to drive to different places for different things.

Most of my non-food purchases and bargains are bought online.

DH is obsessed with the Torchon Ham yum - me too.

And the oxtail soup is as good as anywhere.

I can't see why I would bother to go there. I go once a month (similar travel/traffic issues to you) and save on average £20 vs the same itens in otehr shops and more to the point get better quality stuff than I can get in Sainsburys.

If you can afford to shop in Waitrose then I agree - why would you bother

My Aldi is a 15/20 minute drive and I shop there 3 weeks out of 4 without having to go anywhere else (aside from a bread/ milk top up at local co-op).
I agree with the fact that it's the Quality of the items as well as the price that makes me do the drive. Local sainsburys is 5 mins away but I have to be ultra strict and only buy basic product ranges to stick within budget (would still come out more expensive the Aldi).

I do our big shop there every pay day and then back again once in the month to fill up the fridge again.
Best buys are the cheapest low fat yogs and kids fromage frais, edam slices, cooked meats and ground coffee - even tho we are poor my one everyday luxury is proper coffee and yours is really really good, would like it if you stocked coffee beans.
Sliced bread is great value as is longlife orange juice. Was a bit snobby about loo roll but have converted to your Saxon rolls and they are very good quality. I also love the laudry liquid and washing up liquid.
Sanitary products are also excellent, although it does make me laugh every time I use a 'Florette' tampon. Makes me think of cauliflower!
Frozen fish and chicken are also great value but excellent quality.
Will be doing my big Chistmas shop there.

One of my best bargains was a long handles metal brush for cleaning between block paving - £1.99 but over £15 in the garden centre!

Oh I forgot cereal! Almost all around £1 a box, whereas brands are around £3 which is just ridiculous.

I like Aldi. It saves us a fair bit each week. The kids love the biscuits and crisps for lunch boxes and the fruit and veg is great value. I also like their pizza and free range chicken. The best bargain is the nappies/wipes. Easily as good as pampers and better than other supermarket own brands. I've already been buying some Christmas treats from there. Mainly sweets/chocolate and stocking fillers, as well as wrapping paper. I am attempting to be very organised this year

Orange and dark choclate bars are also divine and in small bars so I don;t actually scoff the lot as soon as I buy them