Aldi Deals

Discount superstore Aldi is getting in on the beauty advent calendar trend with its £49.99 'Luxury Collection' calendar – see our advent calendar round-up for others. It includes 24 mini beauty products including body cream, hand and body lotion, hand and body wash, eau de toilette, and candles.

MSE Forumites and online media outlets have compared these products favourably to much more expensive Jo Malone products.

Aldi's beauty advent calendar will be available in stores (find your nearest) from Sun 4 Nov, or you can pre-order online now – delivery's free.

Here's the full contents...

• Four 15ml body creams – freesia & pear, peony, dark amber, and pomegranate.
• Four 10ml hand & body lotion – pomegranate, blackberry, lime & basil & mandarin, and velvety rose.
• Four 25ml hand & body wash – lime & basil & mandarin, peony, velvety rose, and freesia & pear.
  
• Seven 15ml eau de toilette – dark amber, pomegranate, freesia & pear, peony, blackberry, lime & basil & mandarin, and velvety rose.
• Five 52g candles – pomegranate, peony, freesia & pear, lime & basil & mandarin, and blackberry.
   

Is it worth it?

By our calculations, the contents is only worth £13.37 when based on the proportionate cost of the full-size versions at Aldi, so it seems you're paying a hefty premium for the gift packaging. It's not worth getting this calendar just for the products inside – you're better off buying the full-size versions separately.

If you've got a mini Disney fan at home and want to give them a break from all the chocolate advent calendars out there, Aldi is offering the Disney 'Storybook Collection' advent calendar for £9.99.

MSE Update, Tue 30 Oct: Originally Aldi told us you'd be able to pre-order the advent calendar online from Thu 1 Nov, but frustratingly it launched it earlier, on Sun 28 Oct and it has now sold out online. You'll be able to purchase in store (find your nearest) from Thu 4 Nov, though it'll likely be popular so go quick if you want one.

It contains 24 short stories based on characters from classic and modern Disney movies including Cinderella, The Lion King, Toy Story, Little Mermaid, Peter Pan, Bambi, Finding Nemo, The Jungle Book, Frozen, Dumbo, Pinocchio, Lady & The Tramp, Mulan, 101 Dalmatians and more. Aldi says it's suitable for ages three and above.

The next cheapest we found this advent calendar is £15.98 at Amazon.

Discount supermarket Aldi is offering a £49.99 advent calendar with a difference this festive season, and this one's definitely for grown-ups. Behind each of the 24 advent doors, you'll find a 'mini' bottle of wine each day.

It'll be available online, including free delivery, and in stores (find your nearest) on Sun 4 Nov. Last year, it sold out online within a day, so you'll need to go quick if you want this. We've taken a peek behind the doors to see if it's a corking deal, or an over-priced novelty.

What wine does it contain?

The advent calendar contains 18.7cl-20cl bottles and includes a mix of white, red, rosé and sparkling wine from brands such as JP Chenet and Calvet – see 'More info' below for the full list of wine included.

Is it good value?

The 24 mini bottles are the equivalent of six standard 75cl bottles, so this works out at £8ish per standard-sized bottle.

When we looked elsewhere, we could only find 14 of the 24 bottles in the exact same size as they are in the advent calendar. The 14 bottles we were able to compare, if bought separately, average out at £2.31 per bottle – the advent calendar averages out at £2.08 per bottle.

Our valuation isn't particularly scientific as we weren't able to price compare every bottle, but it appears you're paying a similar price (possibly even a little less) as you would buying the mini bottles individually, and of course you get the nice box too. So £50 for Aldi's wine advent calendar seems like decent value and it could make a fun gift for a wine-lover.

Please be Drinkaware.

If you're looking for an advent calendar that you can fill yourself, Aldi is offering wooden Christmas advent calendars with LED lights for £9.99. There are two available – wooden house and elf (both pictured below). There's also a 3D truck, which doesn't have LEDs.

MSE Update, Tue 30 Oct: Originally Aldi told us you'd be able to pre-order these calendars online from Thu 1 Nov, but frustratingly it launched them earlier, on Sun 28 Oct and they sold out online within a day. You can get them in store (find your nearest) from Sun 4 Nov – they are likely to sell out fast, so go quick if you want one.

Are they good value?

We've spotted other light-up wooden advent calendars from £20 at Hobbycraft and Matalan, so if you've had your eye on one of these then you can make a big saving getting one from Aldi.

The drawers are empty, so you'll need to buy (or make) small treats to fill it yourself, but it's the same for the more expensive ones.

In July this year, Aldi was offering a full school uniform from £5 as one of its 'Special Buys'. While most stock has sold out online, there may still be some school uniform in stores. Though it's worth calling ahead to check before making a special trip (find your nearest).  

What do you get?

• 2x polo shirts - £1.75
• Sweatshirt - £1
• Skirt - £2.25
• Trousers - £2.25

Discount supermarket Aldi offers online purchases of wine by the case. Standard delivery is normally £3, but Aldi has told us the free delivery is an introductory offer, which is not expected to end soon.

Wines Aldi is selling by the case include:

• Castellore Sicilian Pinot Grigio - £22.14 for six bottles (£3.69 each)
• Prosecco DOC - £35.94 for six bottles (£5.99 each)
• Rockstone Ridge Californian Merlot - £26.94 for six bottles (£4.49 each)

Thanks to forumite xeonander for the original spot.

If you're looking for a cheaper alternative to the popular Liz Earle hot cloth cleanser, you can get a cheaper version from Aldi for £3.99 for 200ml plus muslin cloth.

As it's an Aldi 'Special Buy', stock is limited - previously when it was available it sold out quickly online - so go quick if you'd like to give it a try.

If you can't face a change from the pricier brand, MSE Forumites love a similar cut-price cleanser from Superdrug - normally £6 for 150ml. The Liz Earle hot cloth cleanser is normally £16ish for 100ml plus the muslin cloth, which means you'd pay £32ish for 200ml and could save £28ish by downshifting.

A company that supplies frozen vegetables to supermarkets is recalling various products sold by Aldi, Lidl, Sainsbury's, Ocado, Tesco and Waitrose due to a possible contamination with Listeria.

See 'more info' below for the list of affected products. It includes bags of frozen sweetcorn, mixed veg and microwave steam bags. The Food Standards Agency (FSA) says don't use them. 

Check the list and if you find any of the affected batch codes or best-before dates in your freezer, the FSA says you can return them to the shop you bought them from for a refund. 

For more information, see the Food Standards Agency website.

We've seen a Facebook page crop up with a link to a '£75 Aldi coupon'. As this didn't appear very legitimate, we checked with Aldi and it's confirmed this IS A FAKE COUPON, so avoid visiting the dodgy page and don't sign up.

Aldi posted on Facebook: "Please be aware that this competition and voucher is fraudulent and cannot be redeemed in our stores."

For a list of genuine coupons, see our Supermarket Coupons page.

Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore is currently £7.99 a bottle in store (find your nearest) and online at Aldi.

We've seen a similar bottle for £11.90, so we reckon now's the time to buy in case the price goes up.

Please be Drinkaware.

Belletti Dell'Italia prosecco is £5.99 a bottle in store (find your nearest) and online at Aldi.

Please be Drinkaware.

There are always ways to save money at Aldi, so even if there isn’t a cracking deal out there that works for you, don’t assume you can’t cut your costs.

Ways to save include:

• Exclusive offers for email subscribers. If you sign up to the Aldi newsletter it will email you special promotional offers and competitions, so you can get in there first.


• Supermarket coupons. Make sure you look out for coupons in store as well as newspapers to save on your shopping.


• Check out similar retailers, eg, Lidl and the other major supermarkets. If you’re not committed to buying from Aldi, check out our deals from Lidl, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Morrisons and Waitrose, where they may have a better offer


• Try haggling. We polled 1,400 MoneySavers to find out in which shops hagglers have most success. Supermarkets did feature, so it’s worth a go. Find out more in our Haggle on the High Street guide.


• Had a problem with Aldi? There’s a free online tool you can use to complain – it helps draft, manage and if necessary escalate your complaint. It’s offered by a firm called Resolver, which we like so much we work with it to help people get complaints justice – you can use it to complain to Aldi*.

If you spot any hot deals out there we have missed (we are human after all!), please let us know by emailing msedeals@moneysavingexpert.com or via MSE Facebook and Twitter @MSE_Deals. 

Veuve Monsigny Champagne Brut is currently £11.49 a bottle in store and online at Aldi. If you're shopping online you'll need to buy a case of six bottles (you can mix and match different bottles), so if you just want one, you'd be better off visiting a store (find your nearest).

Please be Drinkaware.