Reduced bargains and yellow stickers shopping

Wizzbang

Just curious as to other people's experiences, I've been YS shopping for about 18months now. This summer is the first time I've started to have problems with buying food, putting it in the freezer and it having gone off when I've taken it out to use. I'm guessing it's because it's been a hot summer and things naturally spoil faster. But we've had bread products going mouldy in the freezer that looked fine when they went in and now chicken that when taken out smells like fish, so I'm obviously not going to risk that! I'm starting to think YS shopping only works if you can eat it same day or in the winter, or in cool summers. Anyone had any similar experiences? I think I'm going to stop buying reduced meat now

(And before anyone asks, I have fridge/ freezer thermometers (separate ones) and I am certain that my appliances are functioning optimally!)

SquirrelNutkins

Wizzbang wrote: »

Just curious as to other people's experiences, I've been YS shopping for about 18months now. This summer is the first time I've started to have problems with buying food, putting it in the freezer and it having gone off when I've taken it out to use. I'm guessing it's because it's been a hot summer and things naturally spoil faster. But we've had bread products going mouldy in the freezer that looked fine when they went in and now chicken that when taken out smells like fish, so I'm obviously not going to risk that! I'm starting to think YS shopping only works if you can eat it same day or in the winter, or in cool summers. Anyone had any similar experiences? I think I'm going to stop buying reduced meat now

(And before anyone asks, I have fridge/ freezer thermometers (separate ones) and I am certain that my appliances are functioning optimally!)

That sounds really bad. I havent noticed any problems with regular reduced things (meat, yogurths, milk etc.) that I put in the fridge, thankfully. However, the bread goes mouldy super quick. I think I have to stop buying it until September or so. In winter yellow stickered bread would last about a week, now its a few days if Im lucky, but more often it goes moldy on the same or next day!

This reminds me, from T´s:

pack of ribs, in marinade 1.17

Gü puddings 27p

gluten free bread 36p (will see how long it lasts...)

2 small avocados 18p

prawn pasta ready meal 36p (not good, thankful I didnt buy it at full prize!)

pizza 34p

soup 24p

Flat_Eric

I don't have any reduced bargains to report but was ear wigging in s*ins*ugs the other day and from what I overheard it sounds like they scan the item to be reduced which gives a maximum and a minimum price. The reduced price is then [always] set at 10p above the maximum price. I was tempted to stay in situ to hear the full training session but thought I better not!

Bornagainshopaholic

Hi all, haven't been on here for ages but September is coming and with the 'back to school' frame of mind I'm re-evaluating budgets.

Anyway, can I just share that my local supermarket does reductions down to 2p on a Sunday?! 2p!!! It will buy you a pack of 4 sardines, a loaf of nice bread, a melon etc. It's amazing!!

and @FlatEric - that's really intersting, I always wonder what the staff are told about reducing.

Bornagainshopaholic

Wizzbang wrote: »

Just curious as to other people's experiences, I've been YS shopping for about 18months now. This summer is the first time I've started to have problems with buying food, putting it in the freezer and it having gone off when I've taken it out to use. I'm guessing it's because it's been a hot summer and things naturally spoil faster. But we've had bread products going mouldy in the freezer that looked fine when they went in and now chicken that when taken out smells like fish, so I'm obviously not going to risk that! I'm starting to think YS shopping only works if you can eat it same day or in the winter, or in cool summers. Anyone had any similar experiences? I think I'm going to stop buying reduced meat now

(And before anyone asks, I have fridge/ freezer thermometers (separate ones) and I am certain that my appliances are functioning optimally!)

Hi there - oh dear, that sounds like a bit of a problem! I have a few thoughts:
a) check your stuff hasn't gone off already before you put it in the freezer. My OH did that once, he put a loaf of mouldy bread in but luckily I spotted it the next day.
b) obviously still adhere to freezer guidelines e.g. bread for up to 3 months, milk for up to 1 month etc.
c) I had a freezer problem some years ago where the freezer was warming up and then going back to working properly. How often are you checking your freezer thermometer? Because it could be that it's been too warm for a week and then it starts working again, just before you check the temperature!!

I have been freezing yellow stickered items for years and haven't had any issues with items going off in the freezer. My OH even ate some salmon that had been in the freezer for a year and he was fine! (don't try it at home...)

Good luck!

mountainofdebt

well I bought 4 packs of bagels tonight for £1.16 and when I looked at my receipt afterwards I had been given a £1.16 discount.....so 4 packs of bagels for free!

Enid0511

Popped in and found Green and Blacks chocolate reduced from £2.19 per bar to 69p per bar, but all green and blacks chocolate was on a 2 for £3.00 offer.

14 bars of chocolate at 69p less £1.38 for every 2 bars purchased = free chocolate and happy children 😋

VfM4meplse

Bought 2 YS sticky date loaves from the Tesco bakery a couple of days ago, [STRIKE]£1.50[/STRIKE] 38p each. I had family staying over and my dad ate a small piece and pronounced it horrible. Thought I had packed both loaves for them to feed the birds with before they left yesterday.

Unfortunately not the case: one was left at home. I started nibbling it yesterday after a night out, and have just finished the rest now .

It's got the right amount of sweetness for a fruit loaf and QED is very moreish :T

not.rich.not.poor

We all love a bargain, that's why we're on this site. I imagine some of you pass by the clearance aisles in your super market. I'm interested in knowing if my experiences are unique/extreme or this is a common trend.

I visit my local Tesco Superstore most weekdays around 7 in the evening on my way home from work (I walk/take the train and it's next to the station).

There are 4 clearance sections: bread, fruit/veg/dips, ready meals, meat. Products are marked down during the day at various stages, what's left unsold is taken away and brought back out in crates at the final mark down, generally one tenth the original price. 1 pound salad or humus for 5-10p, 2 pound ready meal for 20p, you get the idea.

There's usually very little in the meats. The bread section usually has lots of choice- I buy sometimes although one more than a few occasions they've turned out to be moldy. The other 2 section, the fruit/veg and ready meals are extremely popular in the sense that several people, sometimes in groups, will wait by the section waiting for the staff to bring them out. I see a wide range of profiles (age, race/nationality, perceived income level, etc.) but the behaviour is generally standard- before the staff even set the crates down they are attacked with people throwing stuff into their carts. Without getting violent, there is quiet a bit of push and shove that I have not seen elsewhere in this country in other experiences. I've seen first hand abject poverty in various parts of the world and genuinely starving people did not behave this way at food handouts. Apart from one old man who clearly is poor (I talked to him, he does to foodbanks) I doubt most others are as desparate particularly because after hauling items from the crates over to the trolleys (without even looking at what the item is), they take they trolley to a quiet part of the supermarket and select what they want to keep and throw (yes, throw not put pack) the items they don't want. For ready meals this doesn't make much difference, but the fruit/veg/dips section becomes a mushy, leaking mess.

So, is this behaviour you encounter or is my Tesco particularly bad? I often wonder why staff does not space out instead of taking 4-5 crates of a particular section all at once- it only contributes to the wild rush. Or, if Tesco could somehow limit the number of final clearance items people can purchase in one transaction. It would be nice to be able to get a readymeal for 20p without having to be quicker than the guy who's already loaded 10 into his trolley.

*Posting under a throwaway account. I'm a regular contributor here and I find this topic embarrassing to post under my regular username.

freyamae

I think its the same in most stores certainly is in mine I go 3/4 times a week but Ive starting going earlier for meat at around 5 when its half price because I know when the 7.00pm shift hit I wont stand a chance. One women used to go straight for the bottom crate not caring where she flinged stuff. They do it one hit because the staff in all honestly don't want to do it all and would rather get it over with I know a few of the reducing staff in my store and sometimes they will leave it over an hour or not do it all rather than get attacked.

Having said all that I still continue to go because I never pay more than 20p for bread, potatoes or carrots now and there is always some bargains to be had.