What is the cheapest supermarket to shop at and do any give special discount?

[Queengrimsby]

I am finding it really hard at the moment and was hoping for some advice

Get the Too Good To Go app, some supermarkets (as well as restaurants, cafés and bakeries, etc) are on there and they sell their surplus food for a much lower price. I've seen posts about people getting really good grocery hauls from places like Morrisons for about £3 -£4.

I be think it's different depending on what you get. I find Asda really expensive now and their reward scheme isn't worth it.

I shop at Lidl. It's my second closest supermarket and I find it cheaper than Tesco our closest, for what we buy. I go to Tesco for occasional offers. I've found Sainsburys are very expensive.

Lidl have an app that has some discounts, if you can game the system they work out okay. There are small rewards, then 10% off a shop when you spend £250 in a month. So if you just hit the £250 then spend, say £100 in one big shop the next week then it's a tenner off.

Asda have 10% off with a blue light card if that’s relevant? If you order online there are also cashback offers for most of the supermarkets on Topcashback.

Lidl is reasonable, get the app for additional savings eg free bakery loaf after £50 spend, £2 off when I got £100 got free chocolate when I hit £150 (never made the £250 as not loyal enough). They don't sell everything so you need to be more flexible. Got 60% 3 lots of reduced to clear meat today which I froze.

Writing a meal plan and shopping list is the best way to save wherever you shop, then adapting if there's bargains

Used to shop at Tesco.

I now do my weekly shop at Lidl.

The same food now costs me £180 instead of over £200.

It depends what you have near you.

I find Aldi considerably cheaper overall, for a full shop week in, week out.
But I don't have a Lidl near me - I understand they are similar.

Generally, Waitrose and Co-Op are more expensive.

Not sure there is a huge difference between Morrisons, Sainsburys and Tesco.

In my mind, Asda were always a bit cheaper than those 3, but a pp said she isn't finding so at the moment.

However, if you have a long drive, or have to pay for a taxi rather than walking or whatever, that all factors in too.

M&S own range is often cheaper than other super markets. Bread, milk etc they also have good deals on certain fruit and veg and it tastes nicer. I use M&S and Aldi

Aldi & Lidl are the cheapest supermarkets for most groceries, but the price gap between them & Tesco / Asda has narrowed in recent years. Another benefit of shopping at Aldi / Lidl is that they have much smaller ranges, so there is less temptation to spend money you didn’t intend to.

I agree that M&S are now very competitive on a small range of basic items, which are promoted as their ‘remarksable value’ range. The idea being, obviously, that you go in for these items but also buy some expensive treats while you’re there.

I've found M&S remarksable value to be good. Tesco costs more than Sainsbury's, even if you'd expect the opposite.

I do my core shop at Aldi and pick up the things they don't stock at M&S or Sainsbury's.

Just to add I think you need to shop around and know the prices.

I googled the price of arborio rice and it was significantly cheaper in Tesco than Asda but I know other things it will be the other way round.

We like anchovies but I buy those from
Aldi as I know they are best value there.

If you have the means (storage and time and transport) you can get the best deals but you have to have a good knowledge of the different prices!

We find Teaco the cheapest for our shops, lots of their own brands are decent enough. Lidl aren't bad, but work out a tiny bit more for us and don't always have all that we need. It really depends on what you normally buy.

I do our main shop at Aldi then spend the same amount in one fecking bag in Tesco's

Well after quick look there all lots of supermarket price comparison apps , so maybe use that .

Be flexible if possible, if you bought the exact same basket in different shops not only would the price vary between them it would vary week by week too.
Look for the special offers in store.
Check price per kg for bagged items.
Have a note in your head ( or written down)of an acceptable price for items, if it's too high then perhaps buy a different brand/type, it'll be on offer somewhere else most likely.
Use trolley app to find the cheapest place to buy particular items.
Check nectar prices/clubcard prices for things you usually buy before you go but don't buy things just to gain points if not going to buy anyway.
Hth.

Do you have anyone in the family that could get a job in one, even just a few hours on a Saturday? Most have a discount scheme for employees. I have family that work at Morrisons so get 10% all shops (15% off at special times of the year).

My work do a scheme where you buy an electronic gift card and get 5% off, so load £95 and get £100 and I can use that with my family discount card. Which makes a huge difference.

I use farmfoods for freezer items and store cupboard items, butcher for meat (delivery once a month)and the local market for veg

M&S

We used to do our weekly shop in Sainsburys and we earned enough nectar points over the year to buy all our Christmas food, alcohol, treats etc.

We don't live by a sainsburys now so we use Morrisons who are expensive and their reward cards are pretty crap.

I find Iceland good for prices but it doesn't have the best range. Also they don't charge for delivery if you spend £40.

I make a meal plan, then I make an online order (I use Sainsbury's and Iceland) then my carer wheels me to the local community shop and I cross off my list anything I can get there and depending on what they have I might buy something not on the list, they had whole brie this week, I was tempted with that.

OP

I agree with Olio and 'too good to go' but also check out if there is a community shop / pantry near by.

I think Iceland plus Too Good to Go might be better. Frozen stuff will last longer and they have the basics in terms of fresh and store cupboards. The TGTG boxes usually have fruit and veg so between the two (especially with free Iceland delivery) that might save you quite some money.

I should have said anything I get from the community shop I take of the supermarket order.

There's no easy answer any more, it depends what you're buying. There used to be a very useful website that would let you compare your shop at different supermarkets but it was pulled about a year or so ago, I've not tried any of the apps, will have to check them out. I now find the online shop takes a lot longer as I end up checking the cost at different supermarkets and often there's a big difference for the same items.

We also use:

• Tesco Clubcard
• Nectar (Sainsbury's now have differential pricing if you have their loyalty card, same as Tesco)
• Lidl app
• Blue light card discount at Asda

We've also used Ocado now and then and found it sometimes surprisingly good value for basics. We've not got a Costco card yet but I have colleagues who use one, I think you mostly have to buy in bulk though?

Morrisons which was our standby all through the pandemic has gone incredibly expensive and the quality has dropped since it was bought by the American company. And we also get some food locally or through various box schemes.

Forgot to add, we also sometimes buy storage type stuff (tins of tuna etc) from B and M, Home Bargains etc though it's pot luck as to what's in stock. Though these days that applies to the big supermarkets too.

Definitely join the loyalty scheme for your most frequently used supermarket but don't be swayed too much by the special offers: look for the cheapest prices for what you want, which will normally be the cheapest own brand. Sainsbury's and Tesco have rebranded their budget own brands to new names.