Savvy Shopper Shares 9 Tricks For Spending Less In B&M
- Demi, 25, reveals the 9 questions she asks herself while shopping in B&M
- Queries include whether the item is a gimmick and if it will make life easier
- She shares which products she picked and which she chose to leave on the shelves
Taking a trip to a discount store such as B&M is always exciting for bargain hunters, but it can be all too easy to end up leaving the shop with much more than you went in for. Fortunately, one savvy shopper has shared her tips on how to reduce your spend when you visit.
Demi Donnelly, a 25 year old YouTuber from Newcastle who posts on Instagram as demidonnellyx, shared the questions she asks herself whenever she goes shopping in B&M so she doesn’t max out her bank balance. She told money-saving community LatestDeals.co.uk: ‘I try to limit myself when I go to B&M - I have an addiction. When I go to stores like this, I can’t seem to not spend.
‘The other day I went to ASDA - all I needed was laundry detergent and a few bits and bobs. What I needed should have cost around £30, but I left with £150 worth of purchases! I realised I need to stop myself from spending too much so during this trip to B&M I asked myself some questions which helped me to reduce how much I bought.
DO I NEED THIS?
‘The first question I found myself asking, more than once, was - do I need this? I was tempted by a bag of Jammie Dodgers Minis, a welcome rug with a greeting I loved and more, but I reminded myself that I simply didn’t need them and put them back!
‘I almost picked up a Superdry mop for cleaning my tiles, as it was only £6.99, but I asked the first question and realised I didn’t need it as my spray mop at home will do the same job.
DO I HAVE STORAGE FOR THIS?
‘While I was in this aisle, I asked my second question - do I have storage space for this? We’re in the process of organising the closet, so the answer was a resounding no, even if it had been the case that I did need it!
‘I ended up asking this question again when I saw a spice rack. It was only £9 and looked like excellent value for money, but I simply don’t have the counter space in my kitchen. So I moved into the next aisle and wondered if I’d benefit from a product I hadn’t seen before called Bin Buddy spray.
IS IT A GIMMICK?
‘However my third question popped up at this point - is it a gimmick? It was tempting because it looked like it would keep the bin smelling nice, but my usual trick is to put Zoflora in there and if I know that works I don’t need to buy the gimmicky item! I ended up getting my usual floor cleaner for £1.99 which I know is safe for dogs.
IS IT VALUE FOR MONEY?
‘The fourth question is - will what you’re buying be value for money? My go-to store for toilet roll is B&M due to the bargain prices. I got an 18 pack of loo roll for £3.49 which will do me nicely.’
HAVE YOU USED UP THE LAST PRODUCT?
‘Recently I have decided to try and reduce the amount of waste I produce, so my fifth question before I buy anything is - have you used up the last product? I don’t want to buy something new if I still have an existing product at home. For example, Fabulosa toilet cleaning gel is a brand I’ve wanted to try for a while and it had a good price in B&M for only £1. However I need to follow this new rule with my cleaning products so I didn’t end up getting it!
CAN YOU GET A CHEAPER ALTERNATIVE?
‘As I continued through the store, I noticed a living room rug which was identical to the one I got at home for a higher price. This led to my sixth question - can you get an identical product for a better price? If you have your eye on a homeware product but you can’t afford it, try looking for similar items in discount stores to get what you need without the eye-watering bill.
WILL IT LAST?
‘I got another dog bed because my two pups have destroyed a few lately but I didn’t want to spend too much, so I got one at B&M for £14 which they have used before and it lasted a fair while. I wouldn’t want to waste money if I end up replacing it before too long anyway! Therefore my seventh question applies - will it last?
WILL IT MAKE LIFE EASIER?
‘Another useful question to ask is my eighth one - will it make life easier? For example, I picked up some glass window cleaning wipes for my glass coffee table because, while my cleaning spray does do a good job, my table gets dirty pretty much every day and I would prefer to give them a quick wipe down instead of getting the spray out each time.
WILL I ACTUALLY USE IT?
‘Finally there’s question nine - if it’s reduced to clear, will you make use of it? It can be tempting to grab everything in the aisle when they’re discounted, but you could end up with more produce than you’ll end up using. For example, I limited myself to three packs of chicken fillets for the dogs, reduced from £1.69 to £1 each. I didn't need anything else and, although the sell by date is tomorrow, we get through chicken quickly in this house!
Tom Church, Co-Founder of LatestDeals.co.uk, said: ‘Finding bargains is always fun, but it’s important to avoid buying something simply because it’s cheap. Demi’s questions are a great way to reduce your spend in discount stores.
‘The B&M app is a great way to monitor bargains. With it, you can scan products in store and it will show you products that have been reduced in price, even when the price on the shelf hasn’t yet been updated.’
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