Yahoo Finance 49 tricks to save money on supermarket shopping
Implement these tips and watch the cash you spend on your shop rapidly drop
How much do you spend in the supermarket each week? However much it is, you probably think it’s too much – food bills have been rising rapidly in recent years.
Around 50p in every retail pound is spent in supermarkets. If you find that your food shop eats into too much of your budget, there are ways to make the weekly shop more affordable - quite a few actually.
Take note of some of the tips below and you should soon find that your bill starts to drop.
1. Never buy ready-bagged fruit and veg. There’s almost always a significant mark-up for the bagged fresh produce and it only takes a few moments to choose your own.
2. Shop the discount corner. Find out what time your local shop prices items down - there's often a real bargain to be had about an hour or two before closing. Look out for items that you can pop into your freezer to store or fruit and veg that will still be good to eat for a couple of days.
3. Sign up to loyalty schemes. Sign up to the schemes of any of the shops that you use. We spend so much on groceries that even a small reward soon adds up.
4. Price compare. Are you shopping in the cheapest place for your trolley of goods? You can compare prices across the biggest supermarkets by using the website mysupermarket.co.uk.
5. Get the app too. Mysupermarket.co.uk has an app that allows you to scan products and compare prices on the go. It even flags up special offers and vouchers.
6. Buy own brand or economy range. Drop the snobbery, you could be very surprised at the quality of a cheaper product. Not convinced? A man named Martin Isark is dedicated to testing these supermarket products and you can discover his findings via his website.
7. Stockpile when you can. Try to buy staples, such as loo roll, detergents, cat food, etc, when they are on offer to save in the long run. Just make sure offers don't tempt you to buy something unnecessary or that you don't need.
8. Make the most of your vouchers. Clip your coupons and before you head to the shop check to see if you have any that you can you spend, so they don’t get forgotten and wasted.
9. Find more vouchers. Supermarkets want to lure new customers in with great deals and so regularly offer new customers great savings. There are a number of sites where you can sign up for a regular email, which will flag discount deals including Vouchercodes.co.uk and MoneySavingExpert.
10. Shop online. Work out if you could offset a delivery charge, which can be as little as £3, with cashback offers - even if it's just once. Quidco and Topcashback regularly update deals, which are usually particularly good for first-time customers.
11. Avoid metro or smaller supermarket shops. The mini Sainsbury's or Tesco shops have less choice and what's available is typically more expensive than what you can get in the bigger stores.
12. Get cashback for in-store shops. It's not just online shopping that can give you cashback. The Quidco ClickSnap and Topcashback Snap & Save app will allow you to get cashback on certain items that you have already bought - you simply need to a photo of your receipt and upload it to the app.
13. Drop convenience products. You can buy ‘oven ready baked potatoes’ for twice as much as standard potatoes. But what is a standard potato if not oven ready? Avoid these overly processed foods unless you’re confident they save you time you genuinely need.
14. Keep your receipts. Many supermarkets use signs like ‘great value’ and ‘deal’ to make us think we’re saving cash. However, many of them are just marketing and there’s no real saving. Having an old receipt to hand can help you compare prices on the go.
15. Plan your meals. By planning the main meals you’ll cook on a week by week basis, you can limit the amount of food you waste and make the most of the ingredients you need. There’s an excellent meal planner and recipe tool over on the NHS’ Change 4 Life website.
16. Make a list and set a budget. This is vital! Without a list and agreed budget you’re more likely to walk down every aisle looking for inspiration or things that jog your memory; and that makes you far more susceptible to impulse buys that can really add to your cost.
17. Buy as much as you can in one shop. You can make the most of offers and online shopping and implement more of the money-saving tricks if you do bigger shops, less frequently. You'll also avoid additional, unnecessary purchases and popping into the metros.
18. Maximise loyalty rewards. Many supermarkets increase the value of points on certain occasions or for certain products. For example, Tesco Clubcard points can be worth four times as much if you spend them on certain products.
19. Consider a cashback credit card. If you have a good credit score then you could qualify for a card that pays you back a percentage of everything you spend. If you do enough of your shopping in Sainsbury's or Tesco it could be worth getting their credit card, which offers bonus loyalty points for use. Just make sure you clear the balance each month as the interest will be high and quickly cancel out what you earn if you aren’t careful.
20. Buy frozen and tinned veg. If you’re finding it hard to budget for fresh fruit and veg then take a look in the frozen and canned aisles for cheaper deals. Frozen is still good for you, and allows you to cook only what you need. With canned fruit and veg, just check the salt and sugar content – it’s healthier to buy fruit in water than syrup.
21. Buy fruit and veg from markets. If you have the time you should, in fact, shun the big brands and buy fresh produce from your local market, where fruit and veg can be as much as 50% cheaper.
22. Try independents. As well as your local market, a trip to a grocer, fishmonger or butcher can save you even more money. Their expert staff will be able to advise you on the cheapest cuts and produce, and how to cook them.
23. Follow your favourites. If you ‘like’ or ‘follow’ the supermarkets you regularly use on Twitter or Facebook then you’ll often see deals and offers flagged up before the rest of the public. However, you’ll need some discipline to avoid being tempted into unnecessary spending; only use discounts that are relevant to what you need.
24. Take advantage of price glitches. Supermarkets occasionally mess-up, allowing you to cash in. Tesco has been known to sell £9 bottle of wine for £2.75 or ice-cream at 62p for two packs. Hot UK deals is the best source for flagging these opportunities, you can also follow them on Facebook or Twitter.
25. Bring your own bags. Many shops provide loyalty points if you bring your own bags and some charge money for new ones
26. Don’t shop hungry. You’ll be far more susceptible to all the tempting treats that supermarkets carefully position by the tills and at the end of aisles.
27. Use a smaller trolley. Supermarket experts have suggested that we are likely to fill our trolley, so using one of the smaller, higher models could stop you adding unnecessary purchases to your pile.
28. Check your receipt. Mistakes aren’t just occasional, they are common. Items may have been mispriced on the shelf, discounts may not go through. Check your receipt carefully and raise any concerns with the customer service desk.
29. Don’t assume bigger is better. Big packets don't always mean big savings. Whether by mistake or intention, supermarkets often charge less per item in a smaller packet than a larger packet – make sure you compare prices carefully.
30. Look up, look down. Supermarkets are designed to make you spend and that means the most profitable products are usually on the middle shelf, where most people naturally browse. Make yourself look at the whole shelf and you could find better value.
31. Reach to the back. The oldest produce is always at the front of the shelf or top of the pile. Cut down on waste and reach back or under, to get milk, eggs, veg and fruit that is fresher, which means that you're more likely to use it before it goes out of date (it will probably taste better too).
32. Dress it up at home. Don't pay more for luxury. For instance, it's usually cheaper to buy a basic pizza, a decent mozzarella and salami and customise with other ingredients from home, than buy a luxury pepperoni pizza. Or buy an economy baguette and add a bit of garlic butter in your own kitchen.
33. Check your cupboards. Many of us simply buy what we need as we go, leaving our cupboards rammed with old ingredients slowly going out of date.
34. Only buy petrol if it's cheapest. Filling up your tank at the supermarket petrol station may seem like a great way to kill two birds with one stone, especially if there’s a discount code on your receipt. But don’t assume the fuel is the cheapest; check using PetrolPrices.com.
35. Find a babysitter. Ask your mum, ask a friend, ask anyone, but don’t take the kids to the shop. Not only do they want everything they see but they also distract you from the important task of finding the best deal.
36. Understand portion size. If you know how much food your family are likely to eat then you won’t buy more than you need. Not-for-profit group Love Food, Hate Waste has a handy calculator.
37. Play fast music in your headphones. Research in America suggests that slow music makes us dawdle round the shop, giving us more opportunity to buy stuff. But fast music has the opposite affect and could see you skipping out without spending a fortune. Alternatively set a time limit, if you get round the shop like it’s a Crystal Maze challenge then you’ll spend less.
38. Don’t go on payday. If you know you’re susceptible to impulse buys then avoid doing a big shop on any day where you feel particularly flush. Instead, stay at home and do your shopping online.
39. Buy more than food. Supermarkets can save you money on things you don’t expect. For example, baby equipment is often cheaper at a large supermarket than at a dedicated baby supplies chain.
40. Send stuff back or complain. If you were you dissatisfied with a product or it didn't quite meet your expectations then return it, even if it’s just a small item. Over time that all adds up. You might even get some vouchers for your bad experience.
41. Use your freezer. Once you’ve got your shopping home, go carefully through your perishables and work out what you will definitely use before it goes past its use-by date. If in doubt, put it straight in the freezer if you have one. If you’re buying reduced items that are about to go out of date, you can freeze them and simply use them within 24 hours of defrosting.
42. Bulk buy. You could save by buying more if you join food co-operative in your local community; you can find your nearest here. [Read more: Should you join a food co-op? ]
43. Only take use-by dates seriously. Don’t assume that something has to be binned once it’s past its sell-by date or best-before date; trust yourself to check it and see if it’s still edible. Don’t throw away edible food and then buy replacements! However, use-by dates are the ones to take seriously.
44. Don't fall for supermarket tricks. If you have a decent list then you can simply visit the aisles you need and avoid rows and rows of temptations elsewhere. Supermarkets position must-have items like bread and milk at the back so that you have to move through many aisles to get there – don’t be tempted to browse.
45. Get inspired. Food blogger Jack Monroe became famous for coming up with meals that cost as little as 9p per person. You can read about her austerity cooking and check out recipes via her blog.
46. Don’t fall for product marketing. Before you spend extra money on items that promise you the world check out the reviews online. Baby bottom cream has been shown to be better for skin than many more marketed alternatives, so make sure you’re not paying extra just for the hype.
47. Watch out for any offers that see you spending more. This is especially true of Three for Two offers -when you were just going to buy one. Also don’t be tempted to buy a perishable item just because it’s buy one, get one free – you risk wasting both.
48. Make time to save. Most of the tips detailed above require just a little bit of planning and organisation - but this time is really worth setting aside on a weekly basis. Supermarkets bank on us paying for convenience.
49. Don’t be loyal. This could be the most important point on the whole list; don’t keep shopping at one store just because you know it. Supermarkets aren’t loyal to their shoppers, they are loyal to their shareholders. If you’re not happy with the prices in your regular shop then switch and find one that fits your budget better.
Phew, there you have to it! But do you have any tips we’ve forgotten? Share your supermarket savers with other readers using the comments below.
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