How to Cut the Cost of Your Weekly Shop
5 ways to reduce your supermarket costs:
The cost of the weekly shop is a major expense for anyone. However, with some careful planning and organisation, you could save a fortune. Here are 5 great ways to reduce the amount you’re spending in the supermarket.
Number one:
Be a coupon king or queen
Keep your eye out for deals, discounts, and vouchers online and in supermarket magazines. Then plan your weekly meals based on what is on offer. You can sign up to receive these online or through the post to make sure you never miss a great deal!
Number two:
Loyalty pays off
Supermarkets like to reward their repeat customers. So, wherever you shop, be sure to sign up for the loyalty scheme that they offer. Here are the ones that will give you the most bang for your buck:
M&S SPARKS card – Having a SPARKs card will give you the opportunity to win your weekly shop for free! It will also give you access to special offers and deals based on your shopping patterns, as well as being entered into cash giveaways to spend in M&S. You’ve got to be in it to win it!
Lidl Plus – This is a relatively new loyalty app that gives access to weekly money-saving deals for Lidl and their associated shops. It also assigns a barcode to each customer than can be scanned at checkout to win money off your shop or more vouchers.
Tesco Clubcard – The Tesco Clubcard Scheme gives you access to some amazing savings on everyday products and better yet, it’s completely free! It also allows you to collect Clubcard points for every £1 you spend at Tesco, that can be spent in many different shops and restaurants.
Number three:
Buy in bulk
Buying in bulk can be a great way to cut the cost of your total food expenses. However, it’s important to only bulk buy products which you know won’t end up going to waste.
For example, meat can be an expensive part of the weekly shop. Therefore, you could save money by buying it in bulk and freezing some as larger pack of meat usually cost less per gram.
These is a great way to reduce the number of times you need to go to the supermarket to save money on petrol and prevent you getting tempted to spend more in store.
Number four:
Don’t shop on an empty stomach
Everyone’s made the mistake of doing a shop whilst hungry and ended up spending a lot more on food they didn’t really need. So, plan to do your shop just after you’ve had a meal so that you don’t let your stomach do the thinking!
It’s also a good idea to go shopping in the evening when many items go into clearance at reduced prices.
Number five:
Shop around for the best deal
Have you shopped at the same supermarket for years out of habit? Now could be a great time to mix things up. Why not have a look at a price comparison website to see if your weekly shop would cost less elsewhere. My Supermarket Price Comparison website allows you to compare the price of the same products at Sainsbury’s, Lidl, Tesco, Aldi, Waitrose, and Asda.
Struggling with debt?
If you’re struggling to stay on top of your finances, then it’s a great idea to see where you can reduce your expenses and your food shop is a great place to start. However, if you are finding it difficult to make payments and feel in need of expert advice then get in touch with us today.
We can see if you’re eligible for a Debt Management Plan so that you only pay one affordable monthly sum to your creditors. Our friendly financial assessors are here to help so that there’s no need to tackle financial problems on your own.
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