Ultimate Guide To Buying Yellow Sticker Food
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Buying yellow sticker food can be a great way to save money on food and help prevent food waste. This is my ultimate guide to buying yellow sticker food, including the best times for yellow sticker bargains, what to do with more unusual ingredients and a quick guide to what can and can’t be frozen.
Last week I was featured in the Daily Express Newspaper talking about buying yellow sticker food as part of a round-up of tips for dealing with the cost of living crisis.
Buying yellow stickers foods has saved me thousands of pounds over the years. It’s meant we’ve been able to have steak and other expensive foods at a fraction of the usual.
Now, I know that buying yellow sticker food isn’t going to solve the cost of living crisis for anyone. With millions plunged into fuel poverty, there isn’t much that can be done other than the government stepping in to help.
However, if this guide helps someone bag some cheap fruit and veg for their family or buy and freeze a bargain birthday cake for their kid that they wouldn’t have otherwise been able to afford, I’ll be happy.
Other Yellow Sticker Posts:
M&S Yellow Sticker Christmas Food Haul
10 Misconceptions About Buying Reduced Food
Best Items To Buy From The Reduced Shelf
10 Things To Do With A Reduced Food Haul
Buying Reduced Food For Christmas
Why Buy Yellow Sticker Food?
There are lots of great reasons to buy yellow sticker foods:
- Buying yellow sticker food helps prevent food waste.
- Can reduce the cost of your weekly shop.
- Makes luxury products, such as steak, more affordable.
- Great way to fill up the freezer.
- Encourages you to try new foods.
Which Is The Best Supermarket For Buying Yellow Sticker Food?
There isn’t one particular supermarket that I would say is the best for yellow stickers – I’ve seen food reduced right down to pennies in all of the big four supermarkets, budget supermarkets like Lidl, Aldi and more upmarket stores such as Co-op, M&S and Waitrose. I’ve also picked up yellow stickers from smaller chains such as Spar and Nisa.
The majority of my ‘best ever’ reductions have come from Morrison’s, but that might just be because Morrison’s is closest to where I live and it’s easy to nip in and take a look at the yellow sticker section if I’m passing.
I also make extra trips between Christmas and New Year as it’s one of the best times to grab yellow sticker bargains.
Here are a few of my best ever yellow sticker finds:
- Fresh King Prawns 5p
- Fresh Scallops 10p
- Rib-eye Steak 18p
- 2 Lamb Chops 20p
- Gammon Joint (1.5kg) 49p
- Raspberries 10p
- Loaf of bread 5p
What Is The Best Time Of Day For Buying Yellow Sticker Food?
See my full guide: Supermarket Reduction Times: The Best Times For Yellow Sticker Shopping
Different supermarkets have different times that they reduce food throughout the day. While the best bargains can usually be found in the evenings, yellow stickers can be found throughout the day. I’ve found yellow sticker items with 75% off at 8 o clock in the morning!
- Aldi – Aldi doesn’t seem to have a set reduction time and items with 30% off and 50% off can be found throughout the day.
- Asda – Reductions start at around 10 am at Asda and this is usually for fruit and vegetables. Other items are added throughout the day. Discounts vary but can reach up to 70% off.
- Co-op – Reductions at the Co-op can be found throughout the day, although the best reductions are from 7 pm onwards. Also, note Co-op reduction stickers are orange and not yellow!
- Lidl – Reductions of 30% throughout the store (orange stickers) and in the reduced area where you can find green stickered items for 90p, 70p and 20p.
- Morrisons – Reductions begin mid-morning although you might find some early bargains first thing. Mid-afternoon is best for reduced cakes and bread and from 7pm onwards for the most significant discounts.
- Sainsbury’s – Usually has lots of reductions available by midday but bigger reductions can be found in the evenings 8 pm or later.
- Tesco – Tesco reductions are different at every store so always worth checking your local one to scope out when the best bargains come out.
Could Yellow Sticker Foods Make Me Unwell?
You might be worried about buying and eating yellow sticker food because technically they should be eaten on the day of purchase.
However, most items from the reduced section should be okay for a day or two after this, if not longer.
If you are particularly worried you could always freeze yellow stickers items or for things like meat, cook and then freeze.
You may also want to take extra causation if you are in a venerable group such as the elderly, those who are pregnant or those with limited immunity.
Buying Yellow Sticker Food: Use By Vs Best Before
Full Article: Use By Vs Best Before Dates
You may be concerned that some yellow sticker food that you buy has a use by date. Use by dates are the dates food should be consumed by to ensure that it is safe to eat.
Supermarkets aren’t allowed to sell food past this date, which is why they reduce the cost of it using yellow stickers.
However, that food doesn’t suddenly become poisonous at 12.01 am on that date and most yellow sticker foods are fine for a day or two, if not longer, after this date.
Of course, if the food looks or smells bad, you should ditch it.
The use by dates cause a huge amount of food waste and in a world where we already waste one-third of the food produced and this is something that needs to change. Some supermarkets are helping with this, such as Morrison’s who are removing the use-by dates from their milk.
Best before is slightly different in that it’s more about food quality than safety. Food is fine to be eaten after the best before date, it just might not be at its optimum quality.
Related Posts:
Is It Okay To Eat Potatoes That Have Sprouted?
Can You Eat Out of Date Chocolate?
Should You Eat Out Of Date Food?
Freezing Yellow Sticker Foods
As I mentioned above, if you’re worried about yellow sticker items going off quickly, one option is to freeze them.
Bread and pastries generally freeze really well and you can make toast from frozen meaning having a loaf of bread in the freezer can be handy for a quick breakfast.
You could also make yellow sticker bread into a bread and butter pudding to make it last a little bit longer.
With yellow stickers meat, you could put them in the freezer as they are, cook and freeze them or use them in a dish, for example, a curry and then freeze that.
The same goes for most vegetables, which can be blanched and frozen or made into soup and frozen.
Did you know you can freeze whole birthday cakes? If you see a yellow sticker birthday you think would be perfect for an upcoming birthday, buy and freeze it. Simply thaw for twenty-four hours before it’s needed.
The majority of yellow sticker food can be frozen but occasionally there might be the odd product that has previously been frozen and therefore shouldn’t be frozen again – I tend to find this is most common with bakery goods such as muffins and doughnuts.
Full guide on what you can and can’t freeze.
Yellow Stickers On Non Perishables
As well as fresh foods, you might occasionally spot yellow stickers on non-perishables too. There are a few reasons for this:
- The item has passed or is approaching its best before date.
- End of line due to the supermarket no longer stocking the item.
- Change in item packaging.
- The product is being withdrawn by the brand or supplier.
- End of season, ie Christmas Chocolates in January, Easter Eggs after Easter.
- Damaged Packaging.
These can be found in various areas in the supermarket – sometimes they’ll be on the shelves with all the other products and sometimes they’ll be on their own reduced shelf at the back of the supermarket.
Post-Christmas and New Year it’s also worth checking out the freezer section for reduced party food and desserts.
Buying Yellow Sticker Food: Etiquette
Now, I know you’ve probably all seen the articles about people getting into fights over yellow stickers, harassing staff and so on.
I think when buying yellow sticker food, there does need to be some etiquette involved to ensure there’s enough for everyone and the staff feel safe in their jobs.
- Do not harass the staff. If I see someone adding yellow stickers I tend to go for a wander around the store and come back when they’re done.
- Only take as much as you need and know you will eat. While it can be tempting to grab everything in sight, it’s not worth it if you end up wasting food and money.
- Be considerate of other customers, they probably want bargains just as much as you do.
- If you end up with surplus food, you could always share it on the Olio app.
Combing Yellow Sticker Food With Other Coupons & Discounts
Full Article: Combing Yellow Stickers and Cashback
As I said at the start of this post, buying a few yellow sticker items each isn’t going to solve the cost of living crisis for anyone.
However, what I do find that works for me to reduce the cost of the weekly shop is combining yellow stickers with coupons, discount vouchers, cashback and buying already discounted produce such as wonky fruit and veg.
This post is a great example of how I combined yellow stickers and cashback curry sauce to make a super cheap beef curry.
I hope you’v enjoyed this guide to buying yellow sticker food and it helps you save some money in the near future!
