How To Save Money At Sainsbury’s
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Sainsbury’s is the most expensive of the big four supermarkets but it’s also my favourite to shop at thanks to its quality meat and the large range of products. Here are my tips for how you can save money at Sainsbury’s.
How To Save Money At Sainsbury’s
While we do our main shop at Lidl, we’ll pop to Sainsbury’s for anything we aren’t able to get, for example, Lidl has quite a limited range of herbs and spices.
While it’s certainly not the cheapest supermarket to shop at, there are still plenty of ways to save money at Sainsbury’s if it’s the closest or most convenient supermarket for you.
Make Sure You Have A Nectar Card
While you should never shop anywhere just for the loyalty points, if you’re a regular Sainsbury’s shopper then it’s worth having a Nectar card.
Nectar points are worth 0.5p each so 100 Nectar points are worth 50p and you earn 1 Nectar point per £1 spent instore. You can also link up your Nectar card with your eBay account and earn Nectar points at some retail outlets, such as Argos.
You can spend Nectar points in £2.50 increments. Many people save up their Nectar points throughout the year to spend on their food shopping at Christmas.
How Do I Get A Nectar Card?
You can either pick up a Nectar registration card in-store at Sainsbury’s or you can join online via the Sainsbury’s website, where once registered they’ll send you a Nectar card within 14 days.
Are Nectar Cards Free?
Yes, Nectar cards are completely free.
Download The Nectar App
If you have a Nectar card already, I would definitely recommend downloading the Nectar app.
The Nectar app has personalised offers for extra money off some products and extra points when you purchase certain items but all of these need to be activated in the app.
You can also earn bonus points each time you shop – I tend to get 5 or 10 bonus points but it may be more if you’re regularly spending more.
The Nectar app has a section of offers for those who want to use Smart Shop and these are for money off rather than extra points – a bit like in Tesco where you have Clubcard-only offers.
Save Money At Sainsbury’s: Nectar Coupons
Once you have a Nectar card (or if you have one already!) it’s worth signing up for marketing to be sent to your home address.
We are regularly sent discount vouchers for £3 off a £20 spend to be used in-store or online and there is usually four or six weeks’ worth.
Earn Nectar Points On Fuel
You can also earn Nectar Points on fuel, 1 point per litre, at all Sainsbury’s fuel stations and at any Esso branded garages.
With the price of fuel what it is, it’s not worth searching out somewhere specifically for the Nectar points, but if it’s the cheapest fuel in your area anyway, it’s a nice, if rather small, added bonus.
RIP Nectar Double Up
Sadly, Sainbury’s no longer does their annual Nectar double up. This event usually ran towards the end of November and gave double value to any points you’d accrued eg £5 of points were now worth £10 if spent on certain things in-store, which included toys, homeware, Christmas gifts and clothing.
Many people, myself included were left very disappointed by the decision as it was a great way to make the points go further and get some bargains ready for Christmas.
Can You Use Coupons At Sainsbury’s?
Yes, you can use coupons at Sainsbury’s provided they are Sainsbury’s coupons or branded manufacturers’ coupons, eg a coupon for 50p off a Heinz product that can be used at any Supermarket.
Easy Sainsbury’s Vouchers Hacks
Sainsbury’s Till Spit Coupons
If you’re a regular Sainsbury’s shopper you’ll know that there are machines at the tills that like spit coupons at you after you’ve paid for your shopping.
These can be for a range of offers, including £18 off your first online spend of £60 or more, £5 off a £30 TU clothing spend or extra points Nectar points when buying certain products.
Save Money At Sainsbury’s Using Cashback Apps
One of my favourite ways to save money at any supermarket is to use cashback apps such as Shopmium, Greejinn and Checkoutsmart.
With these apps, you look through the offers available, buy the product, upload a picture of your receipt and then are refunded the full or partial cost of what you’ve bought.
Offers are available for Sainsbury’s on all of the above apps but I find Greenjinn has the most.
Always check you’ve got the right size of products before purchasing otherwise your cashback might get declined.
Read more on how to use cashback apps in this post: Awesome Free Food Apps
Yellow Sticker Shopping At Sainsbury’s
I love buying yellow stickers and it’s a great way to save money on your shopping. Some of my best-ever yellow stickers have come from Sainsbury’s, including a joint of gammon reduced from £7.50 to 49p.
If you’re worried about products being short-dated or going off quickly, here are a few posts that might help ease any concerns you may have:
Difference Between Best Before End and Use By
Does Reduced Food Go Off Quicker?
10 Things To Do With A Reduced Food Haul
Keep an eye out for reductions on non-perishable goods too, in particular sauces, confectionery and crisps. Sometimes these are shorted dated, other times it’s due to re-branding or a line coming to an end.
In recent weeks there has been 20p mayonnaise, 20p popcorn and 20p bags of snack-sized mars bars. All great for filling up the cupboards!
What Is The Best Time For Yellow Stickers At Sainsbury’s?
No matter what time of day you shop, it’s always worth taking a look at the reduced section to see if there are any bargains.
Sainsbury’s often has reductions available by midday but these tend to be around 25% off. The best reductions at Sainsbury’s are late in the evening – from around 8 pm when items get reduced by as much as 75%.
You could also try shopping at 3.30pm on a Sunday when the store will be closing a 4pm and check times over Christmas and New year for early than usual closing.
Supermarket Reduction Times: The Best Times For Yellow Sticker Shopping
Save Money At Sainsbury’s: Buy Sainsbury’s Value Brands
Sainbury’s rebranded its basics range a few years ago and it now falls under a range of brands including:
- Hubbards
- Mary Ann’s
- Stamford St.
- House 24/7
- Greengrocer
- Lovetts
- Daily’s
The idea behind the rebrand was to make the packaging more appealing and give it a more upmarket look rather than the very basic white and orange.
It was also hoped it remove any stigma around people buying very cheap food as the products would look just like any other brand. It does, however, make them slightly trickier to spot on the shelves
This is in stark contrast to Asda who recently relaunched their own value range with very stark white and yellow packaging.
Many of Sainsbury’s basic range products are price matched with Aldi although it’s worth noting that Lidl was actually cheaper for the first five months of 2022 according to Which.
Discounts For Shopping Online At Sainsbury’s
There is a voucher widely available online (just do a quick Google, I didn’t link to one as they are often short-dated) for £18 off your first £60 spend on an online shop at Sainsbury’s.
Sometimes you can add certain products to your shop for free, so that’s always worth looking out for too – this is usually a page on the website or it might ask if you want to add those products before completing your payment.
I always grab these even if there aren’t items we’d use as I and then donate them to the local food bank.
Don’t forget some offers on cashback apps mentioned earlier in this article can also be used online so make sure to add these to your online basket before checking out!
Cheap Toys At Sainsbury’s
When it comes to buying toys, Sainsbury’s might not be your first thought, but they do have really good discounts throughout the year, as well as their annual half-price toy sale.
Recently I bought a doll for a friend’s daughter’s birthday which was reduced from £20 to £6 and was still full price at both Smiths Toys and The Entertainer. The best bargains seem to be at the end of the season, so look towards the end of summer and in the post-Christmas sales.
If you have lots of children to buy for, I recommend checking out the toys each time you shop and grabbing things that are heavily reduced to put away for Christmas and Birthdays.
The Sainsbury’s (up to) Half Price Toy Sale takes place during November and most toys are reduced in price a third or by half. I’ve compared prices with Amazon and usually found the third-off prices match Amazon and the half-price toys do tend to be a good deal, coming in about 20% cheaper than Amazon.
Finally, I’ve also spotted that leftover toys from the half-price sale can sometimes drop to 70% off in the weeks after it’s finished, so another one to keep an eye on if you want a mega bargain.
Look Out For TU Clothing Discounts and Sales
Personally, I am a big fan of the TU clothing range, while more expensive than George or F&F it does tend to be better quality and more stylish, although is more expensive too.
Sainsbury’s used to run a 25% discount on TU clothing a few times a year but this has now dropped to 20%.
The good news is that this applies all across the board, even to sale items so raid the sale rails while the 20% off is one and you should be able to find some fantastic discounts.
I recently grabbed a pack of three pairs of socks for £1.50 down from £5 without the 20% off so it’s always worth taking a look if there are things you need.
Looking to save at some other supermarkets? I’ve got you covered:
6 reasons Co-op is My Favourite Supermarket
Lidl Vs Aldi: Which is Better?
Morrisons Early Morning Yellow Sticker Reductions (70% off at 9am!)
M&S Yellow Sticker Christmas Food Haul
How To Find Lidl Vouchers For Extra Savings
