Supermarket Money Saving

Why is food so expensive?!?!

One of the biggest holes in my budget was food, it was very difficult to balance eating well, going out whilst still buying everything that I want. I used to live on ASDA smart price Irish Stew and Tinned Potatoes (thats right, tinned,) thinking it would save me money! Hopefully I’ll never see that day again, as I soon learnt that if you’re a bit smarter with your supermarket shopping you eat very well for less than you thought!

On average I used to spend about £25 a week and I reckon for this guide you could cut it to around £15 – £20 a week. So saving between £260 – £520 a year!.

Eight Top Tips

Shop (& Compare) online

Doing your shopping on the internet is potentially one way to save money and time! Nobody wants a trip to the supermarket on the bus when it’s cold and raining!

You can use a site such www.mysupermarket.co.uk to compare your shopping across the supermarkets to ensure you’re getting the cheapest basket. This combined with the fact that you’ll no longer have to struggle on and off public transport with tons of bags, you could find online shopping is ideal for you!

Some stores also offer cashback when you shop with them online, so be sure to check out our guide!
Claim money back on your shop

Look out for supermarkets that guarantee to match the prices of others such as Asda. They are currently running the Asda Price guarantee that you can use to check your receipt against the other supermarkets and if they are not 10% cheaper then they will pay the difference.

Tesco also run a scheme called the Tesco Price Promise. If they are not cheaper than the other supermarkets then they will offer you the difference up to £10.

Sainsbury’s also have a brand match currently on offer so be sure to take a look at that as well.
Time your shop right

To pick up loads of bargains, try to shop later in day, ideally a few hours before closing time. All items that go out of date will be reduced to try and shift them to save the supermarket binning them. Although these will often go out of date the next day, the majority you can freeze and just defrost when you want to use them. (check products packs to see which ones are suitable for home freezing)
Don’t shop on an empty stomach

Never go shopping when you’re hungry!

Big mistake! You’ll go along chucking everything into your trolley, it will cost you more money and you probably want even end up using most of it! Make sure you have a bite to eat before you go if you can hear your belly rumbling!
Write a shopping list!

If you’ve never written a shopping list for your trip to the supermarket before you’ll be surprised at the impact when you do!

Not only will it save you money, but it will make sure you check what you actually need at home, rather than guessing and picking up items you think you need.
Try own-name brands

If you’re a little bit of a food snob (like me) you’ve probably never dreamed of doing this however as a savvy shopper it makes a lot of sense to!

Some of the basic and own-name brands tastes exactly the same, although I do admit it was a bit of a trial and error for me to find ones I liked. (I would generally change 1 or 2 products each shop to find out if I liked the cheaper ones, I didn’t want to fill my trolley with cheap food and then find out I didn’t like it!)

Set yourself a bit of a challenge, every time you go shopping, substitute one or two products for a supermarket or basics product. You’ll be amazed at how much you’ll save over the year!
Use loyalty cards

Many supermarkets now offer a loyalty scheme, where you will earn points for each £ you spend, then you can redeem them against later shops or in some cases, other products as well.

Having a loyalty card is a great way to save money, but make sure you collect one from each store so you don’t end up sticking with one supermarket as you only have their loyalty card.

Take your own carrier bags – Some shops will offer you extra points for taking your own bags, that and you’re helping the environment, how many more reasons do you want to reuse your bags?

Look out for vouchers in the post – When you sign up for a loyalty card, the supermarket gather information on the items you buy, so more often than not you’ll find vouchers come through the post for items you buy! They hope this will encourage you to continue shopping at their store. (Only if it’s the cheapest!)
Buy in bulk/cook together

If you live in shared accommodation, consider striking up some sort of arrangement with your flatmates so you can all save a bit of money when it comes to shopping. Buying in bulk is often cheaper, so if you pool your cash for certain items, it could knock a big chunk off your weekly bill.

For the budding chefs amongst you, why not try arranging a Come Dine With Me style evening, where you do your shopping together, and each of you takes responsibility for cooking a different course?

It’s great fun and the workload is shared so there is no excuse that you can’t be bothered to cook!