From off-peak eats to saving money at supermarkets with yellow stickers – why TIMING it right can save you serious cash
TIMING is everything when it comes to saving money.
Here, we reveal how to cut the cost of food, travel and supermarkets by being a little bit more tactical with your timings.
FOOD
There are now a host of restaurants and other outlets where you can save on eating out by going at less busy times – or by grabbing a so-called ‘off-peak eat.’
Oliver Townsend, assistant deals editor at MoneySavingExpert, said: “We’ve spotted an increase in restaurant brands offering ‘supply-and-demand’ pricing. By eating out when outlets are less busy, you can often bag cut-price food.
“This is usually after the lunch rush, near closing time, or on a particular day of the week when selected menu items may be between 20% and 70% cheaper.”
Head to Greggs after 4pm, once the lunchtime crowd has come and gone, and you can get a pizza and drink from £2.85, compared to the usual £3.50.
If you fancy bottomless pancakes for a fiver, then head to Bill’s on a Friday. At other times, a five-stack of pancakes will cost you £11.50.
At Burger King, get your hands on selected burgers for just £3 between 2pm and 5pm, as opposed to the normal £7-£8. Check out the offers tab within the Burger King app.
Get the McDonald’s ‘wrap of the day’ for £1.99 (usually £3.49) by asking for the right wrap on the right day. This includes ordering caesar and bacon chicken on Mondays and Saturdays, and Katsu chicken on Wednesdays.
Similar rules apply at Ikea, meaning you can get a ‘dish of the day’ for £3 on weekdays (compared to £4.95-£6.95).
You just need to remember to request, for example, salmon fillets on a Monday and meatballs on a Wednesday. You’ll also need to be a member of the store’s free loyalty scheme, Ikea Family.
Check out restaurant booking platform, First Table, which offers 50% off your food bill to early birds who book the first table at breakfast, lunch or dinner at participating restaurants.
Elsewhere, the TooGoodtoGo app also operates on a kind of ‘off-peak’ basis. If you head to certain local supermarkets and eateries around closing time, you may be able nab yourself a ‘surprise’ bag of leftovers for just a few pounds.
This is a way for businesses to shift their excess stock at the end of the day, while also saving you money – and helping to bring down food waste.
TRAINS AND FLIGHTS
With a bit of forward planning, off-peak travelling can land you a cheaper train or plane ticket.
If you’re not a commuter – and can be flexible about when you go – it’s worth making train journeys at quieter times as this means fares will be lower.
On many routes, ‘off-peak’ means travelling outside of the morning rush hour and from mid-afternoon to early evening.
More specifically, off-peak hours tend to begin at 9.30am from Monday to Friday in cities and large towns, and at 9am everywhere else. Weekends and Bank holidays are also classed as off-peak all day.
Off-peak tickets are ‘semi-flexible’ tickets that may come with time or date restrictions.
Just be aware that actual cut-off times can vary from one train company to the next. Be sure to check these carefully if you purchase this type of ticket.
Aaron Peak, personal finance expert at CredAbility said: “If you can dodge peak travel, fares are often much cheaper. Even shifting your journey by an hour could mean huge savings.”
When it comes to plane travel, you may be able to save by booking flights on a weekday, as opposed to booking for Saturday when prices tend to be most expensive.
Experts say that Tuesdays and Wednesdays can be the very cheapest days to fly, with prices up to 20% cheaper than a weekend booking.
For further savings, it’s worth being aware that evening flights can also be cheaper than morning ones.
SUPERMARKETS
Time your trip to the supermarket carefully, and you could bag yourself a basket-ful of bargains.
While some stores vary the time they reduce groceries with yellow stickers, the best time tends to be between 7pm and 9pm – after the school run and rush hour shoppers have left.
Some supermarkets will do ‘early’ clearance discount stickers, too. Aldi and Lidl can often be good for an ‘early’ bargain.
Alternatively, head out on a Sunday after 3pm, just as stores are starting to close up and shoppers are rushing to get out of the door. This is another prime time when items get reduced.
If items are fresh and about to go out of date, you could always pop them in the freezer.
Try and familiarise yourself with where the reductions are, as stores do move them about.
Also be sure to use your Tesco Clubcard or Nectar app – or other loyalty scheme – so you can still get points on reduced goods.
Don’t forget to look at cosmetics and beauty products as they often get discounted too.
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Odd boxes – plenty of retailers offer slightly misshapen fruit and veg or surplus food at a discounted price.
Lidl sells five kilos of fruit and veg for just £1.50 through its Waste Not scheme while Aldi shoppers can get Too Good to Go bags which contain £10 worth of all kinds of products for £3.30.
Sainsbury’s also sells £2 “Taste Me, Don’t Waste Me” fruit and veg boxes to help shoppers reduced food waste and save cash.
Food waste apps – food waste apps work by helping shops, cafes, restaurants and other businesses shift stock that is due to go out of date and passing it on to members of the public.
Some of the most notable ones include Too Good to Go and Olio.
Too Good to Go’s app is free to sign up to and is used by millions of people across the UK, letting users buy food at a discount.
Olio works similarly, except users can collect both food and other household items for free from neighbours and businesses.
Yellow sticker bargains – yellow sticker bargains, sometimes orange and red in certain supermarkets, are a great way of getting food on the cheap.
But what time to head out to get the best deals varies depending on the retailer. You can see the best times for each supermarket here.
Super cheap bargains – sign up to bargain hunter Facebook groups like Extreme Couponing and Bargains UK where shoppers regularly post hauls they’ve found on the cheap, including food finds.
“Downshift” – you will almost always save money going for a supermarket’s own-brand economy lines rather than premium brands.
The move to lower-tier ranges, also known as “downshifting” and hailed by consumer expert Martin Lewis, could save you hundreds of pounds a year on your food shop.
HOUSEHOLD GOODS
When it comes to purchasing household items, an ‘off-peak’ trick called ‘seasonal shopping’ can save you cash.
Damien Fahy from finance site, Moneytothemasses.com, said: “If you buy out of season, you may be able to pick up certain items more cheaply.”
Sunglasses, for example, tend to be a steal during February, with few people purchasing them in the middle of the winter, while December is usually the cheapest month to buy a BBQ, as everyone else will want to buy theirs in the spring.
Damien added: “If you are in the market for a new lawnmower, you might be best waiting until June when prices tend to be at their lowest. When it comes to buying a new laptop, January offers the best savings.”
Just be aware that such trends may start to change with more and more stores getting involved in dedicated shopping events, such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
‘I love getting a surprise bag of food for a fraction of the price’
Mum of one, Ana Clarke, likes taking advantage of the ‘off-peak’ TooGoodToGo model as a way to save on food costs for her family.
The 40-year-old life coach and business strategist lives in a village outside Tunbridge Wells, Kent, with her partner, and nine-year-old son, Noah.
She said: “With the cost-of-living crisis showing little sign of letting up, we’re all feeling the effects and are looking for ways to cut our spending.
“I’ve really noticed food bills going up, so I love the idea of going to local businesses around closing time to get a ‘surprise’ bag for a fraction of the usual price.”
For Ana, the thought of reducing food waste makes this even more appealing.
“I recently paid £3.50 for a surprise bag from Aldi and got four cheesecakes, two packs of sausages and ham, as well as salad and veggies for a week,” she said.
“I also often get a bread-only ‘surprise’ bag from Plaxton Bakery, a local business.
“This costs just £2.66 and includes six bread rolls, a seeded loaf, a malted loaf, white farmhouse bread, six hot cross buns and a sourdough loaf.”
She added: “As this is enough to last us for a couple of months, it all goes in the freezer. It’s really good value for us as a family.”
‘Going off-peak and sale shopping saves us money’
Mum of two, Emma Bradley, from Mums Savvy Savings (mumssavvysavings.com) is a big fan of off-peak train travel.
The 46-year-old blogger lives in Gloucester with her 21-year-old son, Dylan, and daughter Erin, 15.
She said: “When I’m doing a trip to London in the summer, I always make sure we travel off-peak.
“This generally means departing after 9am and then leaving London either before 4pm or after 7pm.
“Before booking, I always take a look at ‘super off-peak’ options, too, as this can mean even bigger savings.”
At the same time, the savvy mum is also a regular yellow sticker shopper.
She said: “The key to getting the best deals is to either shop really early – or late, usually after 7pm.
“Just last Sunday, I was able to pick up two Tesco ‘Finest’ gammon joints for £3 each. The original price was £10. This was a great little find.”
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