Food and drink prices have hit record highs, with experts claiming inflation has reached 17.1% to add a potential £811 to annual household shopping bills.
But there are still bargains to be found, so one Bristol shopper headed to our city's biggest supermarkets to find the best yellow sticker deals. Jackie Annett, who works as the Express' Money journalist, visited Bristol's Tesco, Asda and Sainsbury's and came out with some impressive finds.
She had a tip-off that the best time to go was around an hour before closing, so she set off around 9pm.
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"Before the cost of living crisis I used to love hunting for a yellow sticker bargain but I've noticed there isn't as much left on the shelves these days," she said. "Now, rather than go out at 9pm every day to see what I can find - I no longer make a special trip but browse the reduced section whatever time I'm there.
"However, this week for the purpose of my Express investigation I decided to visit all my local stores just before 9pm as the ones near me in Bristol close at 10pm."
Sainsbury's
Jackie said this store 'surprised' her the most. She said: "I'm not a regular shopper at the store yet I was quite impressed by its reduced food section.
"I found dauphinoise creamy potatoes for 69 pence, a Nigerian hot and spicy stew reduced from £2.50 to £1.24, Warburtons bread for 29 pence, a small cheese and onion quiche for 49 pence and beef loaded chilli and cheese wedges reduced from £4 to 99 pence."
She concluded: "While Asda had more choice, Sainsbury's offered the biggest reductions and I'll definitely be going back again."
Sainsbury's told Express.co.uk it's working hard to keep prices low for its customers. A spokesperson said: “We're committed to doing everything we can to support customers with the rising cost of living."
Sainsbury's has launched initiatives such as its Aldi Price Match campaign, Price Lock and My Nectar Prices, to help customers find low prices on the products they buy most often.
Tesco
This store "had very little left over in terms of bargains" and its discounts weren't enough to tempt her to put her hand in her pocket. Left on the shelves were British lamb kidney reduced from £3 to £2.25, smoked salmon discounted from £6.60 to £4.75 and a Mexican-inspired chicken tray bake reduced from £4.20 to £3.07.
Tesco said it provides two million meals a month to charities and community groups in the UK in conjunction with FareShare and FoodCloud. It has also recently launched a revamp of its Reduced to Clear sections in large stores, to make it easier for customer to spot marked down items.
Asda
There was slightly more to choose from in the reduced section at Asda including Italian-style meatballs reduced from £5 to £3.95.
There was also a boneless chicken dinner joint reduced from £4.40 to £2.95 and an Indian 16-piece sharer meal discounted from £3.75 to £2.25.
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