Save money this festive season by ditching brand names
With Christmas upon us, your shopping bill is likely to rise greatly as you stock up on all the food and goods you’ll need for the festive period.
It’s definitely a time to eat, drink and be merry, with friends dropping by and relatives staying over. Catering for all these guests can be very expensive, but you can still rustle up some tasty meals without breaking the bank. All you need to do is be a little more savvy in the supermarket.
One sure fire way of reducing the amount you shell out at the checkout is by ditching the big name or premium brands and selecting a supermarket’s own version.
It is easy to think that cheaper means lower quality, but that is far from the truth. Premium brands make you think their products are better though snazzy advertising campaigns and fancy packaging. Often, though, all you are paying extra for is the presentation.
Supermarkets now work very hard to produce quality products at lower costs because they provide them with greater margins, and for the consumer the difference is barely noticeable, if at all.
As you’ve probably seen, TV money saver Martin Lewis is a major advocate of stepping down a brand, and he predicts that the move can slash your shopping bill by almost a third. But you can go further than that; you can step down an entire supermarket if you wish.
The German supermarket chain Aldi is the fastest growing in the UK and it is easy to see why. Whereas once it was a place filled with boxes of cheap and obscure brands, the chain now has many established names on its shelves and is attracting business away from the likes of Morrison’s, Tesco and Sainsbury’s.
Lastly, you can drive down the cost of Christmas further by taking advantage of special offers and vouchers. By looking online, you can find vouchers for the majority of supermarkets and brands. There is no shame in taking up these fantastic savings. Just be careful not to get drawn in by a deal if it is for a product that you do not actually want or need.
