Newcastle shopper cuts food bill to just £5 by…

Newcastle shopper cuts food bill to just £5 by sticking to Asda's Just Essentials range

A savvy shopper claims to have saved hundreds of pounds on her food bill after successfully cutting her budget down to just a fiver.

Eilish Stout-Cairns, from Newcastle, decided to rethink the way she shopped for food amid the rising cost of living by comparing prices before she heads to the supermarket. She now sticks to Asda 's new Just Essentials range, and has shared what a typical £5 shop looks like to show others looking to save their money that a little can go a long way.

The 26-year-old explained: "Before the rise in inflation, I used to just go to the supermarket with a bit of a list in my head and buy whatever I saw that looked good. Now that money’s tighter, I’ve started comparing prices before I go to the shops, sticking to value ranges, and now I only go in with a fiver."

Eilish compares prices across different supermarkets by checking products via the online money-saving community LatestDeals.co.uk, which helps her to find out about decent offers without having to trawl around the shops. And the smart shopper added that Asda is her favourite supermarket because of its Just Essentials selection - introduced earlier this year to help make cupboard staples more affordable for customers.

"I actually try now to only go in with a £5 note," Eilish said. "If I stick to value products I can normally get enough food for quite a while."

Eilish picks up a range of items including main meals and snacks for under £5 in total (Eilish Stout-Cairns)

Here's what a typical £5 shop in Asda's Just Essentials range looks like for Eilish:

Minced Beef & Onion Pies, £1.10
Mushy Peas, 25p
Cheese & Broccoli Pasta, 40p
Garlic Bread, 40p
Bread, 39p
Cheese Slices, 55p
Chicken Pasta, 28p
Vegetable Soup, 24p
Chicken Curry & Rice, 90p
Chocolate Chip Cookies, 39p

The shopper explained: "Those are the basics I buy most weeks, and they come to just under £5. Making cuts on essentials like these makes the rest of my food shopping easier - if I’ve saved on bread and cheese I don’t need to worry about buying things like fruit, or a cheeky chocolate bar.

"This won't be all I buy, obviously I still need to get toiletries and odd bits," she added. "But I definitely think switching and going in on a budget has saved me hundreds each month."

Tom Church, Co-Founder of LatestDeals.co.uk, said: "Eilish has the right idea; planning your food shop and getting the cheapest prices on weekly staples allows you more freedom with the rest of your shop. We’ve seen a 500% increase in searches of our supermarket price comparison tool as inflation bites.

"Another money-saving tip would be to shop in the evening. Searching for yellow sticker items - these are items that are nearing their best before date so are reduced in stores - can really cut food costs."

Tom added: "Signing up for membership cards is another easy way of saving and earning rewards on your shopping. There’s Tesco Clubcard, ASDA Rewards, Nectar Card, myWaitrose, My Morrisons and many more. Morrisons is doing more exclusive deals for members now to copy Tesco, so watch out there."

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