A new report has shown supermarket deals costing customers £1000
Is there a way we can stop getting drawn in by supermarket offers?
A report by The Money Advice Service has shown that supermarket ‘deals’ are costing us more than we think.
The report found 76% of people regularly spend more than they mean to in grocery stores due to the deals and “bogof” (buy one get one free) offers.
Consumers said they were spending on average £11.14 more than they intended on each shop visit – that is an extra £1,274 spend per person per year.
Meanwhile the research also found those who make a shopping list and stick to it typically spend £200 a year less than those who rarely or never did so.
The study also asked more than 2,000 consumers to select the cheapest options when presented with four sets of offers as they might be found in a supermarket.
Just 2% selected the best value option from all four sets of offers while 74% answered at least one question correctly.
My 5 top tips when it comes to grocery shopping to stop you getting drawn in by these ‘deals’ are;
- Write a shopping list – as the report shows, you are more than likely to save money if you stick to the list
- Buy loose fruit and vegetables. Pre-packed fruit and veg costs more – next time you are in the supermarket, weigh a pre-packed bag of bananas and see how much cheaper they are 😉
- Leave the kids at home – They will fill your trolley with lots of unnecessary items such as sweets, magazines, toys etc.
- Wander into aisles. Special offers are always put on the end of aisles to tempt you to pick up which means you can’t compare to similar items. You can often get the same product by a different brand (or even supermarket only brand) that is cheaper.
- Shop online. I do this most of the time as it fits in with my busy lifestyle and I can keep track of how much I am spending. If something is short dated, I can simply call the customer service helpline and get refunded for the item plus get to keep the short dated item which I just put in the freezer 🙂
