30+ tips to cut supermarket costs - guide discussion

R164ard

Tesco have this display near the door with big £1 banners on it. Many of the items on this display are £1. Some are much more. I trollied 4 bottles of beer from this display - no shelf price label. They came up on till as £1.99. When I complained to customer services, I got a refund of £6.99. I don't understand the maths but 4 bottles of nice beer for less than £1 makes sense to me!

Edwardia

A lot of processed food works out more expensive eg crisps are more expensive than potatoes.

If your supermarket does per kg prices you'll see that often fish fingers are more expensive per kilo than actual fish.

Parents often seem to feel that unless they are giving their kids baked beans, burgers, fish fingers and sweets they are being terrible parents. Giving your kids filling portions of healthy foods and not bombarding them with sweets, cakes and biscuits may well stop them getting fat and having terrible teeth as well as spots.

If we are what we eat and kids fill up on chemical laden processed food and never drink water, not too surprising that they end up looking like the stodge they eat really.

So not giving kids all those treats would save a fortune.

anotheruser

^ Although I wouldn't call fish fingers a "treat".

Edwardia

Have a look at the YouTube video of Nigella Lawson stuffing cold fish fingers into a roll with mayo for a midnight snack;)

Peggybabcot

I think what's helped us reduce our shopping bill has been meal planning, splitting my shop across Homebargains, Aldi & sainsburys as well as an app for my phone called "our groceries." When I'm cooking and run out of something I just add it to my shopping list on this app and I don't have to remember to take a paper list shopping and as I never go anywhere without my phone I always have it with me. I also batch cook from scratch, freeze any leftovers and try and stretch meat to make double the meals by adding extra veggies, thereby creating a "free" meal for the freezer. Having these ready meals have also stopped us resorting to a takeaway so a double whammy! X

otto22

I hate getting vouchers after finishing my shop as I often don't go back to use them in time.
So...buy a couple of items through the till first. Then Sainsburys will give you your receipt with a money off or points voucher for the next time you shop. Then you can use it immediately on that day for the rest of your shopping.
P.S. Always check your bill with Sainsburys, I've found on my shopping to be overcharged virtually every trip.

maman

otto22 wrote: »

I hate getting vouchers after finishing my shop as I often don't go back to use them in time.
So...buy a couple of items through the till first. Then Sainsburys will give you your receipt with a money off or points voucher for the next time you shop. Then you can use it immediately on that day for the rest of your shopping.
P.S. Always check your bill with Sainsburys, I've found on my shopping to be overcharged virtually every trip.

Thanks for the tip, I'll check my receipt from now on.

I find the avalanche of paper from Sainsbury's infuriating too and many of the vouchers make the assumption that you'll be back shopping within the week.

I don't know how it works but not everyone gets the same vouchers. I only use Sainsbury's for a top up shop after I've been to Aldi's but it can sometimes be a large bill if I buy alcohol (always buy at least 6 bottles for the reduction) or household stuff. The vouchers I get seem to be Nectar points on £60+ shop.

The other day I was throwing away vouchers I wouldn't use in the bin beside the self-checkouts (presumably where people only pay for a few bits) and noticed a points for £20 voucher. Does the 'return' voucher vary depending on the size of your bill?

I'm lucky in that I can call into Sainsbury's easily to use up any money off/price comparison vouchers.

Unusually for me I shopped twice this week (away last weekend) so tomorrow I'm returning a pair of jeans I bought on Monday before the 25% off offer on Tu came on. I bought another (reduced) pair and now I'm returning the original.;)

It's hard work being mse!:rotfl:

Edwardia

maman you're absoballylutely right, it IS hard work being MSE. Not only am I now using four online delivery services, I'm also targeting three other supermarkets for specific products and stashing them in cupboard and freezer.

The real headache is working out sizes...

Branston 520g jar 1.85 Ocado 36p per 100g ditto Tesco, Sainsbury's, Waitrose but on offer for 1.50 at ASDA
Branston 360g jar 1.39 Ocado 39p per 100g, ditto ASDA, Waitrose, Tesco, on offer for £1 at Sainsbury's to 03/09
Branston 310g jar £1 Iceland 32p per 100g

So I sit here going argh do I spend £1 at Sainsbury's for 360g or 1.50 for 520g at ASDA or double up at Iceland and get 620g for £2 ??

paulineb_2

Ive started shopping in home bargains, which in my town is right next door to Aldi. I still use aldi for the super six fruit and veg and I'll continue to do that but home bargains has a lot of similar items to aldi and more often than not Ive found them to be cheaper, stuff like stock cubes, tortilla wraps, spring water. I bought a bottle of jalapeno relish that I had previously bought in Morrisons for £1.99 for 99p in home bargains.

I also do yellow stickered shopping when I can, Morrisons can be a bit hit and miss but in my local store they reduce items around 3pm which is more convenient for me than other supermarkets nearby that dont reduce till later in the day.

I got a huge bag of cherry tomatoes in Morrisons yesterday for 15p and some other fruit and veg for 15p as well.

Ive used the money off coupons in the daily mirror/record for £5 of a £40 shop in aldi and my mum and I split that shop between us as well.

I have a tesco mastercard and every 12 months they send me 650 clubcard points so thats £6.50 towards my shopping there.

Theres a new food co-op opening in the area where I live thats going to sell cheap fruit and veg and what I cant get from aldi super six, I'll buy there.

Ive also got a new (well second hand) freezer so I'll be able to batch cook and freeze stuff as well.

I also try not to buy micro meals, in fact I dont think Ive bought one in about 2 years, like to cook from scratch, cheaper.

Stevecb_2

How make the most of the 'Price check' guarantees at all supermarkets.

When the supermarkets 'price check' your shopping they consider the whole basket. So items that are cheaper at their shop balance out items that are more expensive. They rely on different items being on special offer to make their claims valid and affordable.

Try this:
Make two sections in your trolley (or take two trolleys if you're shopping with a partner). Put the special offers in one section and the standard price items in the other. Pay for them separately at the checkout.

Instead of getting a receipt saying 'You have saved £1.23' you will get two receipts one saying 'You have saved £5.38' and another saying 'Here's a voucher for £4.15 off your next shop.'