A caution regarding extreme frugality
Before you read this post and become a happy bargain hunter, I would like to sound a note of caution to those readers who pursue an extreme version of the “savings strategy”. Please first read my articles on building wealth: How to build wealth and why saving but not frugality belongs in the picture and, remind yourself now of the wealth attraction warning message that I posted in that article:
Wealth Attraction Warning
Extreme frugality as a savings strategy is not the optimum route to wealth not least because obsessive saving causes your unconscious to become fixated on downsizing instead of wealth creation.
The ideal income profile of the bargain shopper
Now despite giving this warning, I would nevertheless recommend a frugal savings strategy if you’re in a tight spot, have a very low income and are time rich. In particular, it should be considered by those people who plan to or are doing an IVA. Insolvents that have opted for an IVA have to live with extremely tight budgets, typically with ridiculously low allowances for food. Therefore this article should be useful as skimping at the supermarket is an efficient way of stretching those meagre food budgets.
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Having concluded that the best course of action for you for now is to hit the bargain aisle running, let me explain how this thing works and how to get your little grubby hands on all those Tesco bargains:
How it works
The main supermarkets have a huge turnover of food and inevitably some of it does not sell. The result is that some produce is left lying around close to its “sell by” or “best before date”. With the introduction of advanced inventory management technology it is easy to track and adjust the price of all this stuff. In order to sell off the old stock, the supermarkets therefore start to reduce it by 20%. The reduction rate can then increase from 40% to 50% and finally 80-90% of the original price. Pictured below; a selection of pizzas reduced from £2.15 to 30p each.
When To Get Bargains
In Tesco, the most substantial reductions take place late evenings of the sell by date of the product. Therefore this time to get a bargain is about 11/2 hours before closing time. However early mornings can sometimes also be a good time. Typically 24 hour supermarkets will do reductions in the late evenings between 7:30 and 8:30
What bargains to get?
Much of the bargains will be freezable so make sure you have plenty of room left in your freezer for products such as pizzas and meats. Take some fresh products too such as salads but not many. They won’t last much longer than a day and anyway it’s not nice to be greedy!
Bargain Etiquette
Observe the unspoken, but generally understood bargain etiquette, unless you would rather become a social/supermarket outcast. For example, I once observed a customer at Tescos, who I knew owned a catering business, pack 15 loaves of bread into his trolley. Needless to say he wasn’t popular with the other shoppers who were left with none!
In addition, those who beak the rules will probably at some point endure the wrath of the supermarket management. For example, one ladies greedy tactics resulted in swift retribution. She had snapped up all the items that were due to be reduced and filled her trolley to overflowing. She had hoped that she could then return at the moment staff were scheduled to reduce the items. Instead she was expelled and permanently banned from the premises.
Click here to see more images of Tesco bargains: