If you’re someone who leaves the grocery store with your heart racing, stressing about how much money you just spent, you’re not alone. That’s especially true if you’re buying meat, one of the biggest sources of sticker shock at the store. Shoppers are getting savvy, though, and Redditors are sharing their hacks to score half-off meat at Aldi (where meat is often priced lower than other big-name grocery stores anyway). Here’s how they’re doing it.
How Can You Get Half-Off Aldi Meat?
The key to finding half-off meat at Aldi is paying attention to the sell-by dates on packages. In a Reddit post on r/Aldi, the original poster explained that Aldi marks meat down by 50% off the day before the sell-by date, first thing in the morning. If a holiday with an impending store closure lines up with the sell-by date, sometimes you can find them marked down two days ahead of the date.
Plenty of Redditors on the thread shared how they also try this tactic at their local Aldi store, with one user commenting, “I always stock up and buy any 50% off beef or salmon at Aldi. 50% is the time to stock up if you have the space!”
Okay, But How’s the Quality?
Here’s the deal: The half-off Aldi meat hack isn’t for everyone. Some Redditors see the sell-by date as more of an expiration date, and won’t go near the discounted meat (particularly fish). Some even said they have had bad experiences. One user commented, “The one time I got salmon with a just-applied 50% off sticker — my store was doing them right before close rather than before open the next day — we cooked it the next day, and it was gross and fishy-tasting.” (Isn’t salmon fish? Just saying.)
On the other side of the coin, for every “I won’t do it again” or “I’d never do it” comment, there were even more folks saying they’ve never had a problem. The way we see it, if you don’t want the clearance meat, that leaves more for the shoppers looking to get a bargain.
More From Cheapism
- 9 Aldi Items Shoppers Say They Buy Every Single Trip — Longtime Aldi shoppers already know what’s worth grabbing, and they’re very willing to tell you.
- Aldi Opening 180 Stores in 2026, Including in 2 New States — Here’s what we know about Aldi’s 2026 expansion, including the two states that will be getting Aldi stores for the first time.
- Aldi’s New ‘Better-for-You’ Products Are Here, and They Start Around $1 — Aldi is no stranger to these tactics and has rolled out a line of “Better-for-You” products to entice shoppers who have wellness-related goals.
