Savvy saver shares the secrets on yellow sticker food shops

“Buying groceries is an essential weekly shop for us all – so it’s not like we can cut it out to save money.  According to data from the Office of National Statistics, the average UK household spends £3,312 each year. There are however ways to drop that sky high food price down a little bit.”

“Finding yellow stickers in the supermarket is one really useful way to save the pennies and can save you a lot of money. I’ve managed to save money over the years just by being a bit more savvy with my food shop.

Some people have saved hundreds even thousands of pounds a year just by picking up yellow stickered items at the end of the day but they can be hard to find so here are some of my top five tips to save money with yellow stickers.”

Jordon shares his yellow sticker tips with us

Yellow Sticker Tip One – know the right times to go

“Its important to realise that food items are red and you can reduced throughout the day however if you want the cheapest prices you’re going to want to go in the evening. Thats when supermarkets really start to slash the prices and you can really make some big savings”

“It’s said the highest reductions of food in most supermarkets are after 8 pm where you can make savings of up to 90% off the retail price! The only issue is that stock may be low the longer you leave it so really make an effort to get there at the right times.”

Get the best food price reductions at these times:

Asda – 7-8pm

Coop – 50% during the day, and 75% after 8pm

M&S Food – 1 hour before closing

Morrisons – 7-8pm (but varies per store)

Sainsbury’s – 8pm (varies per store)

Tesco – 7-8pm

Yellow Sticker Tip Two – 2 check the chilled aisle

“This is probably the best place to find expiring food and where big savings can be made.

Ready meals, fresh meat and fish are all up for grabs, as they are the most likely things to expire quickly! Check around all the chilled aisles in your supermarket – and you should find a section of reduced items like this. I managed to save almost £2 on this rump joint.”

You can make massive savings at the chilled food aisle – a £1.72 saving on this rump joint

Yellow Sticker Tip Three 3 –  look around for damaged goods

“In some supermarkets, you can find these shelves of items that are damaged and cannot be sold for full price. Some items have a drink missing or two less eggs, so sell the rest to you for a discount.

These can be great, as the item that’s left is usually fine, and sometimes food items are discounted just for having a battered box. I managed to save £2 off this box of cider simply because the packaging had been damaged.”

Looking for damaged items can be a great way to save. We had £2 off this case of Strongbow simply due to a battered box.

Yellow Sticker Tip 4 Patisseries and bakeries can be gold mines

“Do make sure you head over to the bakery section. Fresh bread, cookies, cake are all on offer if they’re soon to expire – so it’s a good way to get a sweet treat for a discount.

Quite often you can get whole loaves of bread for dirt cheap that can be frozen.”

You can make massive savings on bread & cakes in the Bakery aisle – these cookies were half price.

Yellow Sticker Tip 5 – Scope out the sandwiches

“If it’s after lunchtime, it’s worth heading over to the meal deal fridges to see if any sandwiches, wraps or rolls are reduced.

If you’re lucky, you can pick up sandwiches that need to be used by the end of the day. They make a perfect quick snack or dinner if you manage to find one.”

Meal deals are a goldmine – sandwiches, wraps and rolls are reduced after dinner.

“By using these tips, and a bit of luck on the day, you could find food for a big reduction with yellow stickers – and it could add up to £100s or even £1,000s over the course of a year.”

I am a Blogger, financial writer, podcaster & speaker. Likes saving money 'a bit too much'. Got £600 of groceries for 4p once. Visit my Linkdin Page here.