Top Tips for Saving Money on Food
Tom Church, Co-founder of money saving community Latestdeals.co.uk shares 10 quick tips to save money on food.
- Budget Ranges
"If you're looking to cut the cost of your weekly shop, stick to the supermarket budget range. ASDA has Just Essentials, Aldi has Everyday Essentials, Tesco has Everyday Value, Morrisons has Savers, Sainsbury's has Stamford Street and Lidl has Simply".
- Supermarket Price Comparison
"Shop around. I use the Latest Deals Supermarket Price Comparison Tool to get the best deals on specific products. It's free to use and you can search for an item, and you'll see a list of everywhere it's stocked starting from the cheapest to most expensive price".
- Too Good To Go
"Supplement your food shop with Too Good To Go magic bags. Too Good To Go is an app where you can buy food at a reduced price from local supermarkets, restaurants, cafes and shops. The food is either nearing it's best before date or in damaged packaging. Bags start from around £4 and you should get at least £15 worth of items in them. Some people get them from Aldi or M&S as a way of supplementing their weekly shop on a budget".
- Yellow Sticker Items
"When supermarkets reduce items to clear, they'll be marked with a yellow or red sticker. The items are usually either surplus stock, damaged in some way, or nearing their best before date. I've found getting to the shops either first thing in the morning or later on in the evening are the best times to bag marked down items".
- Buy In Season
"For fruit and vegetable in particular, buying things that are in season can be much more economical. If it isn't asparagus season in the UK, try and avoid buying a pack that's been imported from South America, as it'll cost you!"
- Eat Vegetarian
"If it's coming to the end of the month and you're watching every penny, try and eat vegetarian a couple of times a week. Meat and fish can be pricey, so having a vegetarian pasta or vegetable stir fry can cut your bills, and you can still enjoy meat on the other nights".
- Shop At Aldi
"As I mentioned above, the best way to cut the cost of your food shop is to compare prices and shop around. However, if you don't have time to go to multiple supermarkets to do your shopping, Aldi has been named as the Cheapest UK Supermarket once again. So, if you're going to choose just one supermarket, it may as well be Aldi!"
- Aldi Price Match
"Having said that, Tesco, Sainsbury's, Morrisons and ASDA all now price match Aldi on hundreds of items. So, if Aldi isn't convenient or local to you, go for one of these supermarkets and keep an eye out for signs on products saying they're price matched to Aldi so you know you're getting value".
- Save By Ordering Online
"Lots of supermarkets offer discounts the first time you order from them online. The offers change regularly, but can include £20 off your first £60 shop, 15% off your first £45 shop, £60 off your first 3 £60+ shops, and so on. Ocado, Iceland, Sainsbury's, ASDA and Morrisons have all had offers like this in the past, so it's worth checking to see if there are any current discounts available".
- Find Deals On Cheap Items
"Use Latest Deals to find fantastic deals on groceries. For example, over Easter there was a deal posted on the site for a half price lamb joint from Iceland. You can use the Retailers page to find deals at particular supermarkets, or just search for Food & Drink deals".