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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Business
Levi Winchester

Expert reveals EXACT times you should visit Tesco, M&S and Aldi for cheapest prices

Yellow stickers are a great way to save money - and help avoid food waste - in the supermarkets.

But with food prices skyrocketing over the last year, one consumer expert tells The Mirror how the reductions have been tightened up.

Scott Dixon, who runs The Complaints Resolver blog, says both timing and discounting have changed in some supermarkets.

Here, he reveals what to expect when you next visit Tesco, M&S and Aldi.

Keep in mind this is just a rough guide - reduction times do vary across the country and between supermarkets.

Scott, who lives in Edinburgh, said: "Supermarkets have tightened up on their price reductions as so many shoppers are hunting for bargains.

“Easy pickings are increasingly hard to find, but all is not lost. Here are my tips to find the yellow stickers with the biggest discounts."

It comes as food costs are up 19.1% compared to a year ago, according to the latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) data.

This means a basket of food that cost £50 a year ago is now close to £60.

Scott Dixon shares tips on how to save money in supermarkets (Scott Dixon/The Complaints Resolver)

Tesco

The times for the discounting has not changed, says Scott, although he has noticed the final reductions are now only 50% instead of 75%.

"The 25% reductions start in the morning and carry on throughout the day," said Scott.

"The 50% reductions are only applied during the day on items which are hard to shift, with general 50% final reductions made from 7pm onwards."

Aldi

Scott told The Mirror how Aldi staff start the 30% reductions for food with use by dates "on the day" and next day in the mornings, which has not changed.

But the final 75% off reductions are now starting later, he said.

"Final 75% reductions were 4pm mid-week and 3pm to 3.30pm on Sundays. This is now about 5.45pm mid-week and 4.45pm on Sundays," he said.

"Strictly speaking, it's 6pm mid-week and 5pm Sundays, but the staff will make a slightly earlier start if it's quiet and there is a lot of food to discount.

"Go food shopping at these times when nobody generally does their food shopping."

However, he warns shoppers to double check their receipts in case of any errors when staff are scanning yellow stickers.

Staff have to manually add the discounts by hitting a 30% or 75% button, which means discounts aren't automatically applied.

M&S

Some of the reductions Scott has nabbed at M&S (Scott Dixon)

M&S shoppers are in luck, as Scott says the times and amount of reduction given to yellow sticker food remains the same.

"The 25% reductions are made overnight and are available in the morning, so chances are you can pick up a reduced lunch or evening meal on the way to work," he said.

"The 60% final reductions can be found from about 3.30pm onwards on sandwiches, ready meals and snacks.

"You can expect to find meal for one spaghetti bolognese and chicken & bacon pasta bakes reduced from £3.50 to £1.40 (60% off) and large trays of lasagne are reduced from £5.25 to £2.10.

"They all freeze well and are handy to keep as a standby lunch or evening meal."

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