Yellow Sticker Shopper Saves £1000 On His Food Shopping - Here’s How
- Gary Bramhall, 46, says he saves £1000 a year on his food shopping
- He’s saved enough by yellow sticker shopping to pay for a holiday to Florida
- Gary recommends freezing items, sharing with neighbours and chatting to supermarket staff
Is food shopping a drain on your bank balance?
Then you need these amazing wallet-friendly tips from a dedicated yellow sticker shopper, who says he saves £1,000 a year by carefully avoiding wasting food.
Gary Bramhall, 46, a dad of one from Cheshire, runs the Facebook page Yellow Sticker Picker, and is meticulous about reducing food waste.
Gary hunts down yellow sticker deals, does all he can to make ingredients last as long as possible, and shares food with his community to avoid waste.
He’s saved enough money from careful yellow sticker shopping to pay for a holiday to Florida next year.
Gary has bagged an incredible array of deals, including mashed potato reduced from £1 to just 5p, and chicken breast fillets down from £3.75 to 19p.
Gary, who works in IT Support for the NHS, shared his top tips with money-saving community LatestDeals.co.uk: "I go to shops at certain times, such as 3pm on a Sunday or 8pm on a weekday, about an hour before store closes to get the best yellow sticker deals.
"Anything I don’t eat that day or the next I freeze. You can freeze a lot more than you think, like herbs, which are always reduced to 10p.
"Don’t be afraid to eat veg and salad after the best before date as long as you visually check it and smell it.
"If there are any ingredients very cheap, I google recipes using that ingredient whilst I am in store to see what it comes up with.
“For example, I googled beetroot and figs the other week as I had never cooked with them but after googling the recipes, they sounded easy so I bought them. The beetroot was 20p and a pack of figs was 15p.
"I decided to start my own yellow sticker page as I wanted people to share their bargains and ideas, and to encourage people to buy more coming to end of life produce thus reducing food waste.
“I also wanted to stop people becoming obsessed with best before dates.
"TooGoodToGo.co.uk is a good website where people can go to get food cheap that will otherwise go to waste.
"Ask the staff in your local supermarket when they reduce the stock and time your trips accordingly to maximise the bargains.
"Don’t be afraid to ask supermarket staff what time they bring out the yellow stickers. It’s in their interest to tell you.
"They want to reduce food waste as well, and also love a bargain.
"I have saved hundreds of pounds this year and I'm using it for a holiday to Florida next year.
"I estimate that I save around £20 a week, £80 a month and £1,000 a year by being careful with my food shopping!"
Gary says that yellow sticker shopping can not just save money and reduce food waste, but bring neighbours and friends closer together.
"If you make too much food then put it in old plastic takeaway boxes and freeze it,” Gary adds.
"If you make too much of something - for example, I got a load of Bramley apples the other week which were too many for me - I made lots of apple crumbles and gave them to neighbours.
"Saving money can bring communities together.
"In return someone gave me some courgettes they had grown but had too many.
"Bartering is what they did in the Middle Ages to reduce food waste. Let’s bring it back!”
Tom Church, co-founder of LatestDeals.co.uk, comments: “I always love to hear about innovative ways to save money on food, and Gary certainly has some good ideas here.
“Keeping your eyes peeled for when your local supermarkets start to discount food is a great idea, and as Gary says, each supermarket will vary so don’t be shy to ask staff when they typically begin to bring out the yellow stickers.
“Sharing food with neighbours is a great plan - it doesn't just save money and stop food waste, but as Gary says, it also brings communities together too.
“Remember that many supermarkets also offer vouchers or promotions: keep an eye on LatestDeals.co.uk before you do your shop, as we share news about offers, deals and discounts daily!”
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I knew Gary when he was in school. He was always hanging round the school canteen at the end of lunch snapping up the reduced food. A proper Eco Warrio.