I’m a shopping expert – the Aldi buys I swear by to save money every week

One of my friends recently admitted she’d never shopped at Aldi.

“But what do you actually buy there?” she asked. “I don’t know where to start.”

I am glad she asked as it gave me the idea for this article - and the opportunity to wax lyrical about some of my favourite swaps.

As someone who regularly compares supermarket prices for a living, I can safely say switching to Aldi is one of the easiest ways to cut down the price of your weekly shop.

I don’t even have an Aldi in the town where I live, however, I regularly go out of my way to make a special trip to the discounter because I think the savings on certain items are well worth it.

From household staples to food and even skincare, here are the Aldi products I always buy over big-name brands...

Dishwasher tablets

There are no better dishwasher tablets than Aldi’s Magnum premium all-in-one capsules – and I will die on that hill.

The capsules leave all my dishes sparkling clean and without the powdery residue that you can get with other brands.

Magnum also tackle stubborn tea stains on mugs with ease, which I have seen left behind by comparable branded tablets.

A pack of 37 tablets comes in at £3.99, that compares to Fairy platinum lemon dishwasher tablets which is double the price, £8, for a pack of 36 at Sainsbury’s with a Nectar card. If you don’t have the loyalty card, it’s triple the price of Aldi at a whopping £12.

Same results, less than half the price.

Olive oil

Olive oil has become seriously expensive in recent years, but Aldi offers a much cheaper alternative without compromising on taste.

Its Specially Selected Extra Virgin Olive Oil (750ml) costs £7.99 and is perfect for salads, pasta or dipping bread.

Compare that to £10.50 for Filippo Berio at Tesco, and the savings quickly add up.

Sink unblocker

Granted, it’s not every day that you need to use sink unblocker. When I have needed it in the past, Mr Muscle used to be my go-to.

It’s not cheap though with a 500ml bottle from Tesco costing £4.25

Now I have stocked up with a couple of bottles from Aldi. It’s sink and drain unblocker is £1.39 for 500ml.

I recently used it to clear my bath pipe which had been draining water slowly. I’m pretty sure it was clogged full with body scrub after my daughter decided to use an entire pot in one bath session while making a ‘magic potion’.

The gel did the job perfectly quickly clearing though the scrub and, no doubt, loads of old hair too.

It is a snip of the price of Mr Muscle so I will be sticking with Aldi’s version for future.

Pizzas

I LOVE the Aldi specially selected pizzas as an easy treat dinner on a Friday night. The spicy Italian salami and nduja flavour is my favourite. It’s a good size for two to share and really tasty too.

The price is usually £3.99 but it’s currently on offer at £3.49.  

I think it’s just as good, if not better, than Sainsbury’s taste the difference pepperoni and roquito pizza, £5.

Plus, you’ll make a nice little saving if you go with Aldi’s version over Sainsbury’s.  

Face cream

It’s all too easy to spend a small fortune on skincare. The one product that I’ll use every day is a moisturiser with SPF to help protect my skin from daily sun damage.

I’m now a total convert to the Lacura Caviar llumination face cream, £5.49, from the discounter.

It’s not at all greasy and leaves my skin feeling plumped, soft and well moisturised.

The product is a dupe for La Prairie’s caviar collection cream, which costs £320 for 30ml from Harrods. Ouch.

Instant coffee

I love a cup of coffee in the morning, but I’m not posh enough to faff around with a cafetiere.

Instead, I discovered that I really liked Necafe’s Azera finely ground instant coffee. A 90g tin costs a hefty £7.25 from Tesco.

So, I decided to try out Aldi’s very similarly packaged Barissimo Americano for £2.99. Honestly, I wouldn’t notice the difference in taste between the two products.

With Aldi’s costing less than half the price, it’s a no brainer to now stock up on a couple of tins when I go to the store.