Five tricks to pay less for your groceries

I am shocked each time I go food shopping. Basic food items have already increased a lot, yet still appear to be on the up. One example: I was paying £1.40 for a pack of butter in Aldi eight or nine months ago. Now it’s £2.10! My lactose free milk was 85p; now it is £1.20… and that’s just part of the story. When you add all these price hikes together, it makes a massive dent in the budget. But I have discovered a few tricks to pay less for your groceries, which I thought I would share.

The idea of reducing your food costs may seem unachievable in the current climate. However, there are still ways you can save a considerable sum if you know where to look. 

My favourite tricks to pay less for your groceries

Free food from Olio

Firstly, check out the Olio app. If you haven’t come across it yet, it is a totally brilliant concept that is becoming more and more popular as people look to both save money and prevent good food going to waste.

It works in a couple of ways. Householders sometimes find they have food items that they bought and don’t like, or won’t eat before their use by dates, and they can list them for free on the app. However, the bulk of the food being given away comes from local businesses, such as supermarkets, convenience stores and cash and carry warehouses. It is collected by volunteers – ‘Food Waste Heroes’ – who take it home and quickly list it for pick up the same day by anyone who wants it.

I have personally collected bread, cakes, fresh fruit, milk, yogurts, vegetables and salads, sandwiches and ready meals, all for free!

The Olio website states, “Between 33-50% of all food produced globally is never eaten, and the value of this wasted food is worth over $1 trillion.” This is crazy! It makes sense to your budget and the environment to try to rescue and use some of these food items.

Community fridges or pantries

Another place to find free food that has been rescued from landfill is to locate a so-called community fridge or pantry in your area. These are run by various organisations and volunteers, so the best way to find one near to you is to do an internet search.

There is a small food pantry that I pass when I visit my parents, so I often look in. Usually there is a ton of bakery products, but I have found eggs, packaged ham, fruit and vegetables too. The contributions are mostly from M&S, so are nice quality.

Too Good to Go

The Too Good To Go app is also designed to stop good food going to waste, whilst at the same time giving retailers a small amount towards the cost. The app offers excitingly named ‘Magic Bags’ of food that hasn’t sold from retailers such as Morrisons, M&S, Greggs and Costa. You pay £3.50 to £5 for your bag, which will be a lucky dip of whatever needs using first.

I purchased one for £3.50 from M&S and was pleased with the contents: some of the items I remember receiving were a bag of Brussels sprouts, two rather posh sandwiches, some fruit, a dessert and some cakes. Well worth the money! However, my daughter bought a breakfast one from a hotel and wasn’t impressed. It was a lukewarm, somewhat congealed cooked breakfast. Some things aren’t great when they have been hanging around a while!

Too good to waste boxes

Lidl does a Too Good To Waste box for £1.50, containing around 5kg of fresh produce. I have found the best boxes arrive in my local Lidl at around 8 am on a Monday morning. They are usually near to the tills, so have a scout round to see if you can find one before starting your shop.

Here is one I picked up recently. They can be amazing if you get to them first thing. However, I have found that later on people have started cherry picking the good stuff and leaving behind boxes of items like potatoes and very wrinkled lettuces! I think this is something Lidl need to counter in some way.

Yellow sticker treasure hunting

Finally, make use of so-called ‘yellow stickers’ – reduced food near the end of its best before date. Retailers generally start discounting a few hours before the close of business, but the absolute bargains can often be found just before they shut. It is worthwhile chatting to supermarket staff to find out the best times to arrive for the discounts. 

My local Coop is great on a Sunday afternoon or any evening. I have found fantastic reductions in Morrisons on a Monday morning, and Asda is good on a Sunday around 3pm. It is worth noting exactly when you find bargains and revisiting at a similar time.

There are other ways to pay less for your groceries, such as meal planning, eating less meat, going for supermarket own brands, etc. But I like the fact that the suggestions above also help stop perfectly good food going to waste, as well as saving money.

What tricks do you use to pay less for your groceries?