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A woman who slashed the price of her weekly shop from £100 to £6 - yes, SIX POUNDS - has said she has so much food that she actually has to give it away.
Donna Dee West, 55, loves a yellow sticker bargain when she does her grocery shopping, and has even shared her top tips for getting to the supermarket JUST at the right time for them.
West, from Middlesborough, claims she’s able to buy enough to last her up to two weeks, saying it’s important to get what you can when food is reduced – also adding that she often buys enough to share with her friends and family, too.
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After cutting back to save money, West was amazed to see she could go from spending £100 a week to under a tenner, saving nearly 80 percent on food.
She said: "If I were to do a full food shop for the week without yellow stickers it would be anything between £80 to £100 as I like to make sure the family have a variety of fresh foods however, if I do it with yellow stickers I can easily half that and more.
"In this day and age you need to get what you can for your money.
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"People tend to turn their noses up because of the dates on the items, many of which are that days date but when you have fridges and freezers at home you can practically keep them fresh even longer especially freezing them.
"I have all my meat stored which includes a meat joint, sausages, liver, chicken, beef mince and more and it cost me a grand total of £14.
"I was trying to save money where I could as inflation hit bit by bit and as the gas and electricity bills were getting higher and higher, I needed to compensate and pull things back to manage the costs and I discovered yellow sticker shopping.”
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West picked up most of her food for less than £1, and regularly scours the supermarket shelves while also using the Too Good To Go app.
When she has too much to get through herself, she gives it away to friends or uploads it to Olio, a website where users can share items with others to reduce waste.
She continued: "Between yellow sticker shopping and Too Good To Go bags, you don't need much more to stock up.
"I don't work currently due to illness, so I am saving where I can. I always stock up and then share them with friends and neighbours or cook big meals and share it amongst the street so we all get a bit of something.
"Living in the North East and the cost of living energy suppliers and food price hikes we all need to do our bit to help each other out.
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"If you have a local Morrisons nearby I'd recommend to try there between 4.45pm and 5.30pm and I guarantee you will find something.
"You'd be amazed at what's on offer at times, even the alcohol. I've seen wines go from £15 to £1.50 and a bunch of £20 flowers for 80p.
"My family think it's great and it means we can have some treats we couldn't normally afford things from food items to flowers. "Many reductions are 50% off and then reduced again around 7pm to 70 percent off so it's great when you can get a £15 topside beef for £3.30 saving £12."
She added: "I once got some Cadbury's Heroes cupcakes that were normally £8 for 80p and a great big chocolate gateaux style birthday cake for £1.50 it's amazing.
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"I've now got my family and friends at it with me, so on occasions three or four of us will go together and see what we can find.”
West also advises never being ‘shy in asking at the supermarket’, saying you’re only ever ‘saving the food from being wasted’.
She suggested just remembering that there can sometimes be restrictions, saying she recently saw six eggs for 35p that were limited to two boxes each.
"There's also the free Olio app or the Too Good To Go app where you can also buy surplus foods at a fraction of the prices from places such as Morrison's Greggs and the Co-op,” she said.
"One member of staff was knocked over just bringing the reduced goods out to put on the shop floor by customers. It's a free for all and some do go mad.
"Our local store has a juice system where we all help each other out and if someone can't reach then someone else will pick it up for them and pass it round.”
Featured Image Credit: CatersTopics: UK News, Food and Drink, Money