October 24, 2019

Buying Reduced Food For Christmas

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As money is tighter than usual this year I’ve been looking at ways to save as much money as I can on the Christmas food shop. While I know lots of people like to save up Nectar or Tesco vouchers for their Christmas shop this isn’t something we do as the majority of food shopping is done at Lidl. I’m going to be buying reduced food for Christmas to see how much I can save.

Buying Reduced Food For Christmas

A couple of years ago we were hosting a New Years Eve party and the week between Christmas and New Year I popped to Asda to do a little top-up shop.

I took a peek in the reduced section and felt like I’d the jackpot – there was so much reduced food there – exactly the sort of thing you’d buy for a party too – all sausage rolls, mini pies, prawns in various guises. I grabbed a load and ended up with almost £40 worth of food for a tenner. My guests would be fed and I’d spent very little.

As money is tighter than usual this year I've been looking at ways to save as much money as I can on the Christmas food shop.

This year I want to try and do the same but build up my stash of Christmas food over the next two months. I really love nice nibbly bits and party food. There are some things I’ll make myself, of course, but there are things I’d like to buy ready-made as well. I’ll be checking that everything I buy is suitable for freezing too.

Buying Reduced Food For Christmas

Here are some tips for buying reduced food for Christmas and how to start stashing bits away at bargain prices.

The best days for buying reduced food at Christmas are Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve – as most supermarkets will be closed the following day there are usually huge reductions to be had.

But I can understand not wanting to leave that late for certain items – especially if they’re needed for Christmas Day or Boxing Day.

As money is tighter than usual this year I've been looking at ways to save as much money as I can on the Christmas food shop.

It’s now late October so the majority of Supermarkets will have started releasing their Christmas ranges. Here are some of the things I’ll be looking out for in the reduced section in the run-up to Christmas

1. Buying Yellow Sticker Joints Of Meat

While we’re having Christmas Dinner at a family members house this year, we’re often so busy over Christmas it’s nice to have cold cuts in the fridge ready to grab for an easy sandwich or meal with some pickles and salad. One year I got two gammon joints in Sainsbury’s for 49p each!

2. Party Food

Things like battered prawns, mini quiches, mozzarella sticks. We’re bound to have a little gathering over the festive period so these will be perfect for that.

3. Yellow Sticker / Reduced Vegetables

I’m in two minds about this as vegetables usually go mega cheap on Christmas week anyway.

However, I love spiced red cabbage and cauliflower cheese so if I see these reduced I’ll be grabbing them to pop in the freezer until the big day.

How To Blanch Veggies For The Freezer

4. Yellow Sticker Cheese

Cheese freezes well and there’s nothing better than cheese and biscuits in front of a Christmas special.

I picked up this selection for half price in Asda and popped it into the freezer until Christmas eve.

5. Yellow Sticker Desserts

It wouldn’t be Christmas without a nice pudding and most should freeze quite well.

Some supermarkets don’y have their best desserts out until Christmas week so you might need to do a risky Christmas eve dash if you want to try to get one of these reduced.

6. Fancy Bread and Pastries

these make a perfect Christmas morning breakfast and bread is also perfect for adding to cheese boards and making nice sandwiches.

If you follow me on Instagram you’ll have seen my obsession with buying fancy reduced loaves from my local co-op.

I’m going to give myself a budget of £15-£20 to get all of the above. I usually buy products when they have a minimum of 50% off but aim for 75% to 90% off when I can. I’ll add an update after Christmas to let you know how I got on.

Tips for Buying Reduced Food At Christmas

Local shops are a great shout for finding reduced goodies.

I have a small co-op at the end of my road that always has a good reduced section anyway, but in recent weeks I’ve noticed they’re stocking things like party food and pigs in blankets.

I’m not sure how much of this they will sell in October so I can see it getting reduced pretty frequently in the run-up to Christmas.

If the M&S Christmas advert has you drooling but it’s not somewhere you’d usually shop due to the price, popping in near closing time in the coming weeks could see you grabbing a bargain.

M&S Yellow Sticker Christmas Food Haul

This is something I did last Christmas and I got some fab bits including a reduced Brisket Joint and a stuffed turkey breast.

I’d always recommend getting to know your local supermarket reduction times but here are some general ones to get started with.

Waitrose – Various yellow sticker reductions added at different times of day – reduced fruit and veg usually in a separate basket on the shop floor.
Co-op – Biggest reductions are usually from 5pm although orange sticker bargains can be found throughout the day – checkout smaller stores and franchises too for more savings.
Morrisons – Reductions begin around mid-morning and can be big depending on the items. I’ve had 10p raspberries at 11am before.
Sainsbury’s – Usually reductions available by Midday but best and biggest savings are late in the evening. Try 8 pm onwards.
Asda – Yellow Stickers start in the morning of fresh fruit and veg. Other items are added throughout the day. Best bargains after 7pm.
Tesco – Apparently varies hugely between individual stores so always worth checking when you shop.
Aldi – Reductions are usually 30% or 50% off and can be found at any time of day from as early as 10am.
Lidl – Reductions of 30% throughout the store during the day. Bigger reductions from 3 pm although fairly sporadic. Check reduced section and the shelves. Also look for £1.50wonky veg boxes as these are brilliant value.