FOOD bills are going up – but you could stand to save money by using supermarket discounts and price promises.
To help households keep down the cost of their weekly groceries, we’ve rounded up the top supermarket discount promotions.
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Prices, spurred on by inflation and the cost of living crisis, mean that the cost of a weekly shop has soared – with annual food bills increasing by around £533.
There are ways shoppers can combat the costs, from yellow sticker bargains to schemes and grants that offer the most hard-up a helping hand.
Some shoppers even change up where they shop to go the extra mile and claim the cheapest prices
From Asda to Sainsbury’s, we reveal how supermarket schemes compare.
Asda
Shoppers at Asda will find the same prices on more than 100 items as the supermarket as they do in Home Bargains.
The latest price match includes branded items like Lenor, Johnson’s baby shampoo and Dettol wipes.
Most of the price matched items are household goods including toiletries, cleaning items and medicines like Calpol and Sudafed.
Shoppers will be able to spot these items on the supermarket’s shelves where there will be labels saying “Home Bargains price match” and “save a trip it’s the same price”.
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Anyone shopping with Asda online will also be able to spot the items with a price match logo.
Price match offers are updated weekly and you can view the full list of items on the Asda website.
You don’t have to be a member of the Asda Rewards loyalty scheme to benefit from the price match.
Tesco
Tesco introduced Clubcard Prices in 2019 where prices are discounted in store and online for members only.
To find the best discounts, all products included in Clubcard Prices in store will be marked with a promotion label.
Offers will also be highlighted for shoppers buying online.
Then all you need to do is present your Clubcard at the till or enter your member number before paying online.
It doesn’t matter when you signed up, so customers can still become a member now to access the deals.
Signing up is free and you can become a member online on the Tesco website.
But if you order online, remember you’ll face an extra £4.50 for delivery costs. or £1.50 if you opt for click and collect instead.
If you’d rather become a member in store, you can find your nearest Tesco with the online branch finder.
As well as offering discounted prices for Clubcard members, Tesco also price matches hundreds of its products to Aldi.
Tesco matches against comparable products at discount supermarket Aldi, or identical branded products.
You can look out for the Aldi Price Match bubble in-store or when you fill your basket online.
Sainsbury’s
Sainsbury’s regularly slashes the price on more than 1,000 of its items.
This is known as the price lock and it takes place online, and in store, every eight weeks.
The supermarket locks its prices on a range of products including food, household, drinks and toiletries.
Its part of the supermarket’s pledge to price match Aldi.
Shoppers can spot price-locked items by looking for a padlock online, or on labels in the supermarket.
But you should be aware that the price lock is not available in Sainsbury’s Central or Local stores.
Aldi
Every two weeks Aldi carefully selects six products to feature in its Super Six offer.
Currently, you can buy an assortment of fruit and veg from just 59p in the deal.
As the deal is refreshed every two weeks, shoppers only have a short window to make the most of the offers until they are changed.
This one you can claim in-store though, or via click and collect with an additional charge of £4.99, but you can’t have the discounted products delivered to your door as Aldi doesn’t offer the service.
How to spot a good deal
Personal finance expert and savvy saver Julian House said that while supermarket price promises can seem like a good deal, you should always compare prices.
You can look up items yourself online before heading to a store, or by using a handy comparison website like trolley.co.uk.
Julian also said it’s important not to get sucked into buying something, just because it’s part of a time-limited price promise deal.
He said: “An exploding offer is a special deal that, allegedly, will only remain available for a certain amount of time.
“For supermarkets, they’re designed to make a customer make an impromptu decision on the spot about buying the product.”
For example, Sainsbury’s says that its price lock items can sometimes go down rather than up, at the end of the eight-week period.
Julian said it’s also worth signing up for supermarket loyalty schemes, rather than just taking advantage of their price promises.
This way, you can make the most of their existing deals whilst also getting access to member-only offers.
He added: “You should consider signing up for multiple loyalty schemes so that you can make the absolute best of various bespoke discount deals – but don’t get tricked into travelling miles to hit every shop in your vicinity because petrol is mighty expensive these days.”
The Sun has put together a handy guide to the best and worst supermarket loyalty schemes.
We also revealed the UK’s cheapest supermarket for a big shop – and it’s not who you would think.
