FORGET roaming the aisles endlessly for yellow stickers – I’ve uncovered a much easier way to bag massive savings on my food shop that anyone can try.
In fact, my latest basket load of shopping was worth £19 but I only paid two quid due to a trick very few people know about.
The cost of living crisis is making it harder than ever for many households.
More than 14 million people across the UK faced the devastating prospect of going hungry last year due to money problems, according to recent data from the Trussell Trust.
And prices are still going up even though rises are slower.
The inflation rate for food and non-alcoholic drinks was down to 4.5 per cent for the year to September.
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Fortunately there are some ways to lower your food spending – and it’s all accessible from your smartphone for free.
Here’s how I fared when trying them out.
Basket shop for £2
You may have heard about supermarket surprise bags on Too Good To Go from Asda, Morrisons and more.
Well, now Iceland is getting in on the act from another app, Olio.
Olio is better known for finding free reduced short-dated items at the end of the day.
But Iceland has partnered up with the platform to start offering lucky dip bags for only £2 from more than 900 Iceland and Food Warehouse stores across the country.
The key difference to other supermarkets here is you get at least eight items guaranteed, which is effectively a basket shop.
Bags are released daily – so reserve one early – and you’ll get a notification closer to closing time to confirm if a lucky dip bag is available.
The first time I tried it, I sadly got a notification saying there was no surplus food available from my local Iceland.
But I tried again when visiting my parents and was successful – and I was extremely surprised by how good the contents were.
There were two packs of chicken slices, chicken Fridge Raiders, lettuces, oranges, raspberries, posh cheese and more.
I went on Iceland’s website after to check out their original prices and it all totalled £19.
Obviously, it is all short-dated goods, but with things like fruit and veg especially it lasts much longer.
Some were double ups, so I offered them around to family so nothing went to waste.
If you’re looking for these sorts of offers from other supermarkets, the Too Good To Go app is worth a look.
As for my Olio experience with Iceland, I was really impressed and can’t wait to do it again.
All you need to do is download the app on Android or iPhone and sign up for free.
Set the location at the top and it’ll show you what’s nearby in the “Lucky Dip bags”.
Tap an offer you’re interested in and tap the “Claim bag” at the bottom.
It’ll tell you when to turn up at the store – this is usually in the final hour of trading.
Don’t go early, as I explained previously, the store needs to check it actually has any short-dated items available.
Shortly before it’s time to collect you should receive a notification.
Go to the Iceland store and tell them you’ve got an Olio lucky dip bag, which you pay for at the till.
Finally, go back to the Olio app and scan the barcode on the side of your bag so they know you’ve successfully collected the goods.
Rating: 5/5
Getting yellow sticker products faster
Yellow sticker reductions are a total random lottery – but a new nifty trick I have found makes it easy to see what’s on offer before you arrive at the supermarket.
Using the Olio app, you can see exactly what yellow sticker discounts are on offer from your local Iceland in real-time.
I saw my local store had 450g chicken breast fillets going for £2.15 instead of £4.30.
So I went over and grabbed them for dinner that night (though they’re perfectly freezable too if needed).
That works out at half price, saving me £2.15 – and did the job nicely for an easy curry night.
Of course, there’s always a risk they can get nabbed by someone else in the time you take to get there so watch out.
And have notifications on for your local store to keep up-to-date with any additions.
Sadly, this feature is only available for Iceland at the moment but I’m hopeful more will join in the future, especially as they’re all looking to reduce waste.
But for now, to find reduced products from Iceland, simply open the Olio app and look for “Reduced food” along the top.
You can see the exact product and how many are available there and then.
Rating: 4/5
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Don’t forget about the Trolley app too.
With prices and offers changing regularly I find it hard to keep track of what is a reasonable price.
I’ve tried looking at each store’s website individually previously but this is incredibly time consuming.
That’s where Trolley comes in.
Type in the product you want and see exactly how much it costs at every available store.
I use this to plan my shopping accordingly and pick the supermarket with the best offers – or if I’m in the town centre, dot around several shops for the cheapest.
It’s especially good for branded items too.
As a bit of a Coke Zero fan I always use Trolley to find the best 2L bottle deals.
It includes the main supermarkets but also other shops like Poundland and B&M.
However, there are some big names missing – Amazon, Lidl, and Farmfoods – which Trolley’s owners are working to add next.
Rating: 3/5
More apps to try for food shopping savings
I haven’t thoroughly tested these apps but they’re well worth looking into as well to trim more money off.
- Shopmium
This app offers cashback on purchases just by uploading a photo of the receipt.
It makes some products heavily discounted while others end up being totally free.
For example, at the moment you can get a bottle of 7UP or a pizza for half price. - Airtime Rewards
Airtime Rewards isn’t just good for your food shop it provides an extra load of cashback that pays off your mobile phone bill.
And best of all, you don’t need to upload any receipts, it’s all detected automatically once you’ve linked your bank card to the app.
Offers vary from week to week, but at the moment you can get 4 per cent back from a shop in Morrisons.
Once you hit £10, it’ll be used to pay your phone bill. - Use any existing providers you have
Many mobile, TV and broadband providers offer special perks for free or discounted that often get forgotten.
For example, Sky customers get a free food item from Sainsbury’s every week in the Sky VIP app – this week it’s cookies.
All you need to do is redeem in the app and scan the QR code at the checkout. - Don’t forget the supermarket apps
Supermarkets themselves offer discounts within their apps these days too, so it’s always wise to check those before.
My favourites are Sainsbury’s and Co-op because they’re personalised based on what you buy – every week they update and you’re likely to find a regular favourite of yours in there.
