Reduced bargains and yellow stickers shopping

Enid0511

eagle_eye wrote: »

I also use this at Waitrose but try to "hide" those items in with the other shopping. I don't like the idea of them having to pay me for my food.
1. Because they are more likely to prevent it happening if they lose money. The goose that laid the golden egg and all that.
2. They are less inclined to sell these reduced items - as it costs them.
3. It's embarrassing - even for me who is pretty thick skinned at the best of times.

Having said all that I don't have too much sympathy for a company that tries to save money by not updating their IT systems to calculate discounts appropriately.

Only once have I been caught out. I had got most of my shopping and reminded the discounter that there were some items that did not have a 2nd discount. So I went through the till, loaded up my trailer and went in again to seek out those remaining yellow items. I bought about 8 items in all and they ended up paying me 79p for items whose full price was around £15. The check out lad was embarrassed, I was embarrassed and my cover had been blown. Well it was probably blown already if truth be told.

The problem is that you don't always know what's on special offer.

I'm the same, I've usually got other items to cover it up, my w is only a 2 min walk, so I know what the offers are and the best time to snag the bargains. I also keep my eye on dates and stocks of items I wouldn't normally buy but that would be a treat and then I pop in hoping to get lucky. I do like holiday weekends when they will be shutting, always more choice on the reduced stickers.. Xmas eve is my particular favourite, snagged so many meat bargains this year, my freezer is still chocca. I also keep my eye out for expensive pizzas etc, only thing it have to take out of boxes to fit them in, so it's a pot luck dinner night when I get one of those out. I rarely have any joy at A, some of the bargain hunters in there are ruthless and quite frankly scare me... Lol:rotfl:

eagle_eye

I have just been to T's and W's and got some yellow label shopping. T's were reducing their items by 70% and W's by 60%. I have a W 10% card which works even better with yellow labels as it reduces on the full price.

I was quite pleased as I resisted a lot of meat items that I may have got normally but I taken a leaf out of the "I'm eating out of the freezer and cupboards challenge" and trying to get my freezer down to manageable levels.

Now it may be that I live in a fairly affluent area but I cannot remember the last time I went out about 6 pm and failed to pick up any reductions (and I rarely buy any YL that's not reduced by more than 50% unless it's what I call an essential i.e. milk)

For those of you who are saying it's pot luck, do you all know when your store(s) reduce their item(s) and what days they have more reduced items available? Have you tried going when the weather is bad, if it's cold or raining, or there is a big match on the telly?

When I started YL shopping I decided to wait around one day for as long as it took (it took several hours) so I could see when they did their reductions and what their processes were (did they do them away from customers etc. Did they do the discounts from something in your hand or insist you put the item down?). Only then did I get an idea of what time to go where. Even then I often have to wait up to an hour to get the final round of reductions. If you only pop in the store for 5 minutes it may be a case of pot luck -depending on where you live and what stores are nearby, but reduced items are still normally available at T's and W's pre 7 pm. - just not a great reduction.

Wizzbang

eagle_eye wrote: »

I have just been to T's and W's and got some yellow label shopping. T's were reducing their items by 70% and W's by 60%. I have a W 10% card which works even better with yellow labels as it reduces on the full price.

I was quite pleased as I resisted a lot of meat items that I may have got normally but I taken a leaf out of the "I'm eating out of the freezer and cupboards challenge" and trying to get my freezer down to manageable levels.

Now it may be that I live in a fairly affluent area but I cannot remember the last time I went out about 6 pm and failed to pick up any reductions (and I rarely buy any YL that's not reduced by more than 50% unless it's what I call an essential i.e. milk)

For those of you who are saying it's pot luck, do you all know when your store(s) reduce their item(s) and what days they have more reduced items available? Have you tried going when the weather is bad, if it's cold or raining, or there is a big match on the telly?

When I started YL shopping I decided to wait around one day for as long as it took (it took several hours) so I could see when they did their reductions and what their processes were (did they do them away from customers etc. Did they do the discounts from something in your hand or insist you put the item down?). Only then did I get an idea of what time to go where. Even then I often have to wait up to an hour to get the final round of reductions. If you only pop in the store for 5 minutes it may be a case of pot luck -depending on where you live and what stores are nearby, but reduced items are still normally available at T's and W's pre 7 pm. - just not a great reduction.

How do you hang around in a supermarket for hours, or even an hour? I'd be embarrassed that they thought I was planning to rob them or something! I've gone back to the discounted sections sveral times in one shop when I've seen them actively reducing items- but even find that embarrassing!

eagle_eye

Wizzbang wrote: »

How do you hang around in a supermarket for hours, or even an hour? I'd be embarrassed that they thought I was planning to rob them or something! I've gone back to the discounted sections sveral times in one shop when I've seen them actively reducing items- but even find that embarrassing!

Three hours is exceptional and have probably only done it once or twice. However I often spend more than an hour in a store if I think reductions are afoot.

What I do is continue to walk round and round. Look at shelves and products I don't usually look at or buy. I have even found some bargains that are not YL. In T's there are so many customers nobody notices. In W it's fairly obvious.

I also look at all the sell by dates of the meat, refrigerated produce and Veg and note any products that have today's date that haven't been discounted. I then come back half an hour before closing(or wait a while if it's late)and tell the PDA person and get a super discount:)

Nothing to be embarrassed about, you are the customer and you are doing them a favour keeping produce out of the bins. They always thank me when I alert them to stuff whose date is about to expire.

In W what I do not do is stand over them or follow them around the store (unless they are discounting an item I'm interested in). I usually guess where they are heading and take a different route to get there and make it look like a coincidence. I usually time it so I pass them every minute or so - enough time to reduce a few more items, but providing myself with a good chance of getting something. In T's it's different and it's more of a free for all so you need to get as close to the PDA person as possible without taking their space. I usually leave my trolley to one side out of the way of other shoppers. Making sure I have something personal in there or your bargains will start disappearing!:(

A polite manner and not being greedy nearly always work in your favour.

Ilona

I have been known to take three hours over my yellow sticker shopping in Mr T's. On arrival I go straight to the counters where I know there may be something to be had. First the chiller cabinet looking for dairy (I don't buy meat), then the fruit and veg, then to the back of the store for the bread. I take note of what there is, how many stickers each item has, if it's two then I know there is a further reduction.

If there is no sign of someone coming to mark down, I pick up one or two other items which I need but I know won't be reduced, and keep going back to check the sticker situation. I know the assistants, and they know me, mainly they remember me from being filmed there, for Hunt for Britains Tightest Person, on Chanel 4. I build up a raport with them, have a bit of banter, make them laugh, it all helps. I am never embarrassed about waiting for stuff to be reduced. In fact when it gets late, after 9pm, I ask when it will be reduced, I have no shame. I want the cheapest and the best food I can get for my money.

If other people are also hovering I am first in the queue, but I am never nasty and grab everything. I just want my share, as long as we all have something that's ok. Last time, I had a chat with an Asian lady around the veg, I see her regularly. She has five kids to feed, and her needs are different to mine. She wanted peppers and oranges, I wanted sprouts and brocolli. That worked out fine.

The secret is knowing your store, knowing the assistants, and setting time aside to watch and observe the system. Yes, some of it is pot luck, there are people who think that a bargain is something with a few pence knocked off and will put it in their basket. In that case you may find there is not much left if you go later. If there are lots of bags of sprouts and mushrooms left, like last time I was there, you know there is a good chance they are going to go to the last markdown of 90% off, so worth hanging on for. If you rush in and out in five minutes, you will be unlucky most of the time.
Ilona

Penny-Pincher!!

OH goes out 1-2 times a week to get YS, but they are getting harder to come by.

He has found some great bargains at Makros with their trays of 3.5kg of chicken breast reduced to about £6 something. They are quite large, so he bags them into either 1-2 breasts and we use them accordingly and they are tasty with minimal added water. MIlk he can usually get for 10p a pint and we freeze that too and butter for 50p and also freeze.

We are fussy on bread but can usually get that greatly reduced at the right time.

He also managed to get some finest sausages for 30p a pack and bought 10 for the freezer. That was at a local small Tesco. There are always many reductions there, but items we don't eat as too processed.

HTH.

PP
xx

[Deleted User]

Its pot luck where i go. They seem to reduce things at different times. But i dont stick to a meal plan. i plan around the YS products i buy. I dont always wait for them to be reduced further. Ie i bought some milk the other day which only had a 50p off reduction, but was still 20p cheaper than buying another cheaper one at full price. And milk is very rarely reduced. So i bought two and decanted them then froze it all. I also have to stop and think if it is a real reduction, or whether you could have bought the same item cheaper. I think you do have to be savvy about it as theres no point in buying a reduced loaf of bread and then finding that they were on offer anyway (ie BOGOF or £2 for so and so). So i do know the top price i will pay for a reduced product. Im lucky i dont have to do this, but i want to because it means more money in my pocket for luxuries such as days out and holidays. Some people may mock, but as a single lady with a mortgage and absolutely no debt (no CCards either) i find the ones that do mock are the ones with financial problems.

matty17r

Really interesting posts today - you all sound like me(lol). I think eagle eye is so right about having to hang around to get the best reductions but when it's late at night in winter I just want to go home and sit by the fire! Having said that, my freezer and cupboards are overflowing with reduced food so I am never desperate for anything. I usually shop early on in the week and occasionally on a sunday afternoon but it is to busy then i don's like al the pushing and shoving.

madmary_2

I would never mock people who are doing their best to survive in these really awful times. I so admire people who can find a bargain and who have to find one. I am inspired. I have no shame in life, if something is important and right and doesn't hurt someone I will do it if I have to. I hope nobody here should be ashamed to get the YS or hang around for the bargains. It's sensible. It's clever, and it shows true grit and resolve. Being rich and buying ridiculous and extravagent stuff is not something to be proud of.

Mary

Wizzbang

ImDoingItForMe wrote: »

Its pot luck where i go. They seem to reduce things at different times. But i dont stick to a meal plan. i plan around the YS products i buy. I dont always wait for them to be reduced further. Ie i bought some milk the other day which only had a 50p off reduction, but was still 20p cheaper than buying another cheaper one at full price. And milk is very rarely reduced. So i bought two and decanted them then froze it all. I also have to stop and think if it is a real reduction, or whether you could have bought the same item cheaper. I think you do have to be savvy about it as theres no point in buying a reduced loaf of bread and then finding that they were on offer anyway (ie BOGOF or £2 for so and so). So i do know the top price i will pay for a reduced product. Im lucky i dont have to do this, but i want to because it means more money in my pocket for luxuries such as days out and holidays. Some people may mock, but as a single lady with a mortgage and absolutely no debt (no CCards either) i find the ones that do mock are the ones with financial problems.

I agree mostly, we don't do debt, we don't have a mortgage and we don't do credit in any form. I have a reputation in my family for never paying full price for anything and I seem to have a knack of finding bargains in many stores- like clothing or household, but not so much in supermarkets. I pretty much just stuck to Martin's advice about going down a brand. It just shows you can join up to these forums and learn something new! I am going to up my game with the YS and see how much more I can save! After I come back from hols next week, I am going to try and work out when my locals reduce items.

The biggest problem I have is that I have to eat gluten-free and that makes shopping pricey, even when I do make a lot of things myself, like cakes and biscuits. Other half can get bread for 25p etc, but that very rarely happens to me. Although I did once find a hoard of g/f loaves in the reduced section at Tesco's for 30p each, couldn't believe my luck, as they were nowhere near the BB date and I have no idea why they were reduced! But it means lots of the reduced items are out of the question- like sausages, ready meals and bakery prods.