Many of us look at our food shopping as a necessary expense and so don’t pay give much thought to employing a budget. Although food shopping is obviously a necessary expense, there are still many ways to save that little extra while still getting the food we need to keep us happy.
Make a list!
Despite this being a huge cliché of shopping advice, this old favourite is severely under-used and is surprisingly effective. Making a list can cut the average food bill by around 20%. The layout of a supermarket is designed to distract us with very intelligent positioning of luxury items and spacing out of essential items. Avoid these traps by planning ahead with your purchases.
Rules for BOGOF!
Buy one, get one free can be a very good deal for some purchases, however, the golden rule to remember is that it’s only worth it if you would normally buy two! Think about it, it may be better value for each of the products if you purchase, for example, two for £5 instead of one for £3 however if you were only going to buy one then you would be spending an extra £2. Now apply this across your whole shopping bill and you could soon see the savings mount up.
Late night shopping
When peak shopping time is coming to an end, around 7pm in most supermarkets, you’ll notice that a lot of items start being reduced in price. This is the time of day when all items that are eligible for a discount will get rounded up and stickered. Items that are approaching sell by date or have encountered a bash here or there during the day will all be slashed at this time and is the best time to pick up a cheeky 50% off some of your favourite items.
Online Shopping
Switching to buying the bulk of your weekly shop online can provide you with the opportunity to compare prices for each of your individual items across a whole range of supermarkets and could save you a bundle. Comparison sites such as My Supermarket can be a comprehensive tool for finding the best price for your trolley.
Brand buying
Branded products are all about providing a sense of familiarity, comfort and luxury, but at the end of the day the contents of the products rarely differ too greatly. If you’re up for paying an extra 40% or something for a familiar name and fancy packaging then by all means dive in, but if you think you’d be able to look past how your goods are wrapped up and whether or not they’ve pre sprinkled some dried parsley on top or not, then you could potentially be in for a substantial saving on your trolley. Buying tesco own brand or value brand products could knock an average of 25% off your bill!
This post was brought to you by debt management Scotland specialists, Your Debt Expert. For more money saving tips and ideas visit their blog.
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