Savvy mum saves thousands through yellow sticker shopping and funds family trip away

A savvy mum has revealed how she saved thousands of pounds by shopping for yellow sticker produce, putting away enough to take her family away on their first holiday in years.

Michelle Newton, 49, from Runcorn, Cheshire, has always looked for ways to reduce spending on her food shopping, regularly scouring the shelves for yellow sticker bargains.

But, after noticing the cost of food rising, she now shops almost exclusively in the ‘reduced to clear’ section, which has enabled her to save thousands of pounds as a result.

The mum-of-four buys a selection of fish, meat, bread, fruit, and vegetables from these aisles to feed her family – husband Kalvin 54, and children Holly, 14, Alfie, 15, Ben, 18 and Georgia, 26.

With the money saved, Newton decided to take the family away, bagging herself a bargain break within the UK.

"I’ve been yellow sticker shopping for a while now, but am doing it even more now with the current cost of living crisis," she explains.

"I can confidently say I've saved thousands shopping this way."

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Newton says if she hadn't started shopping reduced and yellow sticker goods, she anticipates her food shop would set her back a lot more.

"We're a fit and healthy family who exercise a lot so we eat a lot of fish for protein, but if we bought fish not reduced, it would cost a minimum of £30 to feed the whole family," she explains.

"However, using those yellow sticker aisles I've been getting deals like two pieces of bass for just £1, or a whole chicken for just £1.65, which is amazing!"

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But while she enjoys huge savings on fish, the best deals she's managed to uncover are on meat.

"On Boxing Day, I got a whole leg of lamb for just £4," she says. "I've also got deals like 1kg of mince for just £1.75.

"Sometimes stuff appears in the reduced section you'd never expect, like duck breast for £3.25. The great thing about meat is it can be frozen, and so can bread, which I've bought reduced to 50p before.

"We don't tend to buy much reduced fruit or veg unless we plan to use it that day, but we do buy fruit to bake in pastries or to blend up in a smoothie."

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As well as the money it saves, Newton's savvy shopping also extends to treating herself and the family.

"With all the money we've saved I decided it would be fun to look for a cottage weekend away with the family," she explains.

"This was around August, so in the middle of the holidays, and the lodge should have been £1,200. I got it for £449 which was split between us making the cost even cheaper.

"I hate spending money unnecessarily and I refuse to be ripped off, which my husband loves because of how much money we save!

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And Newton has some advice for other's looking to reap the benefits of yellow sticker shopping, including not just buying for the sake of it or because something is on offer.

"It’s really important to be smart about your shopping," she suggests. "So try to buy produce that will work for many dishes like mince, which can be used in bolognese or lasagne.

"I normally head to Sainsbury's at around 4 or 5pm because they have the best reduced deals, and then I’ll head to Lidl on a Sunday morning at around 10am which is when they start to reduce food."

Newton isn't the only one turning to yellow sticker shopping to save money during the cost of living crisis.

Earlier this year another mum shared how she has managed to slash her monthly bills by £750 largely by snapping up discounted food items in the supermarket.

Emily Harris, 35, has reduced her monthly bills – excluding rent – from £1,090 to £340, not only by smart food shopping but also ditching phone contracts and switching electric providers.

And last month another woman, who regularly hunts for yellow stickers to help her financially at home, shared how she managed to stock up on more than £40 of food for just £1.40.

Additional reporting Caters.