I cut my shopping by nearly HALF and save £200 with supermarket timing trick

A SAVVY saver has revealed how she slashes her food shopping bill by almost £200 a year with a simple trick anyone can use.

Liverpudlian Sophie Reddy saves £180 a year by snagging yellow sticker bargains from her local supermarkets.

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Retailers put the stickers on items if they have damaged packaging, are excess stock or are nearing their best before date.

And you can often get heavily discounted prices without sacrificing much on quality.

Sophie picks up all kinds of yellow sticker bargains including bread, fresh fruit and veg and puddings.

She’s found soup reduced from £1.75 to £1.22, Stilton cheese for £1.88 instead of £2.69 and Warburtons bread for 98p instead of £1.40.

“Every week I scour the supermarket shelves for reduced items to add to my food shop,” she said.

“If you know when to get to stores, you can find popular items like biscuits, cheese, cupboard essentials, desserts and more at reduced prices.”

She added: “I normally go to the supermarket a couple of times throughout the week, and I’ve found I can save up to 44% by keeping an eye out for reduced products.

“This week I went to Aldi and Lidl and managed to find eight discounted items.”

Of course, there are some mistakes you should try and avoid when it comes to snapping up certain products.

Sophie warned: “You need to be careful buying fresh items, such as fruit and veg.

“Make sure you’ll be using them quickly if you manage to get your hands on them.

“For example, I managed to get some spring onions reduced from 49p to 39p, and Seedless Red Grapes down from £1.79 to just 99p.

“I make sure to prioritise using these items up early in the week.”

The best time to pick up yellow sticker bargains varies depending on where you go.

Plus, they’re not always yellow – some supermarkets label reduced items with orange or red stickers.

According to deal community website Latest Deals Aldi clears its stock from 8am, with up to 50% off, which can sometimes increase to 75% depending on the stock.

Meanwhile, Asda reductions start in the morning but the retailer sometimes rolls out a second round of discounts from 7pm.

Discounter Lidl marks its reduced items with orange stickers, usually starting in the morning and offering discounts worth 30%.

Sometimes it labels products with green “waste not” stickers at 20p or 70p too.

Tom Church, co-founder of Latest Deals, said: ““If you’re planning on following Sophie’s lead and hunting for reduced items in supermarkets, you’ll need to time your visit well.

“In my experience, the best time to visit shops varies.”

Here are the best times to visit your local supermarket to snap up reduced items:

• Aldi – clearance stickers are red and usually applied from 8am with up to 50% off. This may increase to 75% as food approaches its use-by date.
• Asda – reductions start in the mornings but there may be second rounds of discounts from 7pm.
• Co-Op – clearance labels are yellow and discount times vary store to store. Final reductions can be up to 75% off.
• Iceland – yellow stickers mark reduced items and discounts are made in the morning.
• Lidl – discounted items are marked with orange clearance stickers usually giving 30% off from the mornings. Sometimes there are green ‘waste not!’ stickers labelled at 20p or 70p.
• Marks & Spencer – yellow sticker items are marked down in the mornings. Discounts can be substantial, as M&S items usually have a higher starting price.
• Morrisons – the best reductions are in the evening. However, you can get £3.49 Magic Boxes through the Too Good To Go app which contain around £10 worth of food.
• Sainsbury’s – discounts are usually 25% off and are marked down at 1pm. They increase up to 50% at 5pm and then again up to 75% at 8pm.
• Tesco – yellow sticker items are reduced in the afternoons, particularly on fresh meat, fish, fruit, veg, and bakery items.
• Waitrose – discount times vary from store-to-store. Usually markdowns are made in the afternoon and reductions increase towards closing time.

How else to save money on your supermarket shopping

Picking up yellow, orange and red sticker bargains is just one way to save money on your next supermarket shop.

Another easy way to slash the cost of your next trip is by “downshifting” – a term coined by money-saving expert Martin Lewis.

It involves opting for supermarkets’ own-brand and lower tier produce instead of their premium lines.

For example, if you were in Sainsbury’s, that would involve buying from its “Basics” range instead of Taste the Difference range.

Martin Lewis has said the move could save you 30% on your yearly supermarket bills, which could be worth hundreds of pounds.

It’s also worth shopping around for the best deals and not sticking with the same retailer every time.

Websites like trolley.co.uk let you compare the price of thousands of supermarket products to find the best deal.

For example, we just used the site to try and find 150g tins of Heinz Baked Beans and four retailers showed up.

The cheapest is Sainsbury’s, offering the product for 65p while Tesco is also selling it for 65p.

But Asda and Ocado are selling the can for 80p and 90p respectively, meaning you’d save money buying from Sainsbury’s and Tesco.

Bear in mind, trolley.co.uk is just based on online prices so you might find specific products cheaper in your nearest store.

Either way, it’s a useful guide for checking how much retailers are selling a specific product for.

A third way to save on your food and grocery shopping is by using food waste apps, such as Olio and Too Good to Go.

Too Good to Go for example lets shoppers pick up food that is due to be thrown away at massively discounted prices.

It has seen foodies nab dozens of items for under £3 in the past.

Both Olio and Too Good to Go can be downloaded for free via the Google Play or Apple App Store.

Do you have a money problem that needs sorting? Get in touch by emailing [email protected].

Plus, you can join our Sun Money Chats and Tips Facebook group to share your tips and stories.

This post first appeared on thesun.co.uk