Savvy shopper: “I get 50% off my food shop every time - here’s how I do it”

• Eleanor Rose, 22, visits her local supermarket when the yellow sticker discounts get added
• Eleanor says: "I try to always get yellow stickers that are around 50% off or more”
• Eleanor is passionate about not wasting, and buys her clothing second-hand from Vinted and ebay

The supermarket shop seems to be getting more expensive with every year that goes by.

But one savvy shopper has revealed how she bags half-price groceries every time she goes into the shops.

Eleanor Rose, 22, from London, is a dab hand at sourcing heavily discounted yellow sticker supermarket food.

Eleanor told money-saving community LatestDeals.co.uk: "It was my fiancé who first taught me how to look for yellow stickers.

"He is and was a non-funded PhD student so he needs to be thrifty. Now I am addicted to yellow-stickered food!

"I try to always get yellow stickers that are around 50% off or more.

"If it’s only a few tens of pence off it’s not really worth the trouble, so I always try to save half the price of any given shop.

"I pass Sainsbury’s on the way back from work every day, so it is convenient for me to pop in and find meat, fish, bread, fruits, vegetables, and pre-packaged foods that are yellow-stickered.

"Near my flat at the moment there is a Sainsbury's and a M&S within a few hundred yards of each other, so if I can't find yellow stickers at one I go to the other.

"I take what I like the look of – although I leave plenty for other people, as greedy shoppers aren’t looked upon kindly within the yellow sticker community.

“I either eat it that day, the next day, or put it into the freezer. Most things can be frozen and then thawed which means that even if something is Use By that very day, I can still save it and eat it another time.”

Eleanor is passionate about not wasting food, and also buys her clothes second-hand as it’s better for the environment.

"Last year I was on a program associated with the Norwegian Mission Society,” she explains.

"The NMS promotes the idea of being a ‘grådighetsbekjemper’, or greed-buster.

"As Christians, our religion prompts us to steward the world God has given us and care for others by not wasting food and other resources, and to care for our own souls by fighting the sin of greed.

"Yellow stickering fits into that broader aim quite nicely.

"I would encourage people to check out the hashtag #grådighetsbekjemper - posts will be in Norwegian but can be translated to English - to find new ways to fight greed.

"I buy all my clothing and many of my household items second-hand from websites like Ebay and Vinted, and from charity shops back home in Stoke.

"In London the charity shops tend to be rather too expensive but in Stoke they are not. That is another good way to save money.”

When Eleanor breaks down her supermarket shop, she finds she usually saves around half of what the shop should cost.

“For example, today from Tesco which I picked up on the way back from church, the total original price was £11.25, the total reduced price was £5.98, and the saving was £5.27," she explains.

“In one of the Sainsbury’s £2 fruit and vegetable boxes, which had aubergines, lettuce, tomatoes, an onion, a satsuma and a yellow pepper, I paid £2, but it should have cost £6.34, giving me a saving of £4.34.

“On another recent shop, I got pancakes which were £1.75 for 44p, saving £1.31, bagels which were £1.50 for 39p, saving £1.11, and pizza which was £1.70 for 69p, saving £1.01.

"I generally find the best yellow-stickered food in the evenings - not too late or the best bargains will be gone, but not too early or they will be marked down only a little - and on Sunday afternoons.

"Yellow stickering works for me because it is convenient to pop into the shops every day – if you do only one big weekly shop it may be less convenient.

"It’s also nice to be able to get M&S food, and Taste the Difference, and things like wagyu burgers, which otherwise I wouldn’t really be able to afford.”

Tom Church, co-founder of LatestDeals.co.uk, comments: “Once you start yellow stickering, it’s addictive and hard to stop.

“Yellow sticker hunters find that they get delicious food at incredible prices.

“The trick to yellow sticker shopping is to get to know what time your local supermarkets reduce food, and to make sure you’re there on time to snap up the best bargains.

“Try to get to know the timings of two or three different supermarkets near you so you always have options!

“If you can only shop online, another way to get discounts is to hunt for discount codes.

“For example, Sainsbury’s is currently offering £15 off an £80 spend for new customers.”