‘How I slashed my food shop bill with a Martin Lewis tip at Asda’

Brits are enduring the pinch as food prices rocket, with the weekly grocery shopping trip now a source of financial anxiety for families across the nation.

In an effort to dial down expenses, consumers naturally resort to skipping those non-essential luxuries that once found their way into the shopping trolley.

But cutting costs can only go so far, before it hits the reality of hungry bellies and the occasional indulgence everyone craves.

Enter the ‘Downshift Challenge’, a savvy spending tactic from Martin Lewis’s team at Money Saving Expert, designed to significantly trim food bills and it’s a breeze to adopt.

Embrace the art of ‘brand downshifting’, essentially opting for a lower-tier brand than usual; if the off-brand product passes your taste test, make it your new go-to on future supermarket excursions, reports the Manchester Evening News.

“The point of this system isn’t to force you to drop down a brand level on everything, but to ensure you’re not spending money for no reason,” the website advises.

“If you can’t tell the difference between the lower brand level goods, then why pay more for it.”

Keen to put this method to the test, parenting editor Emma Gill embarked on a major haul at Asda to gauge the potential savings against herregular shopping bill – the results were unexpectedly impressive.

In some instances, this meant trading the major brands she’d typically purchase for Asda’s own, and in others, it meant opting for its most affordable Just Essentials range.

Many of the budget items are located on the bottom shelf.

The price differences were quite astonishing in some cases. For instance, a pack of 12 Asda Beef Stock Cubes cost Emma 80p, whereas a box of a dozen Oxo cubes would have set her back £2.40.

The same was true for the gravy – £1 for a 200g tub of Asda’s Gravy Granules, compared to £2.80 for a smaller 190g tub of Bisto.

There were numerous other examples as well, such as Asda Red Cabbage at £1.30 for 420g versus Baxters Red Cabbage at £2.40 for 440g, Asda’s 12 Yorkshire Puddings at 95p compared to 10 Aunt Bessie’s for £2, and Asda’s Butter at £1.89 compared to Country Life for £2.50.

There were numerous other examples as well, such as Asda Red Cabbage at £1.30 for 420g versus Baxters Red Cabbage at £2.40 for 440g, Asda’s 12 Yorkshire Puddings at 95p compared to 10 Aunt Bessie’s for £2, and Asda’s Butter at £1.89 compared to Country Life for £2.50.

Abandoning some other major brands also proved beneficial. Asda’s Wholemeal Bread Flour cost £1.05 for 1.5kg, while the Allinson’s brand is priced at £1.70 for 1kg.

Asda’s Gold Tea Bags were £1.39 for a pack of 80, compared to £2.50 for Tetley, and they were equally good.

And while Emma’s children are usually quite particular about the Ski Smooth yoghurts for £1.45 a pack, they were just as satisfied with Asda’s Greek Style Strawberry Yoghurts for 99p.

Naturally, there are some compromises to be made when trimming your budget, and only you can determine if a product meets your expectations.

Emma found that Maris Piper potatoes are superior for mashing, so stuck with those, and at £1.79 for 2kg, they’re priced the same as Aldi’s.

To find cheaper meatballs, she had to settle for ones with 12% fat, which were on sale for £2.60 per pack, rather than £3.75 for the leaner version.

The Honey Roast Ham she purchased for £2.75 for 400g contains 76% pork, in contrast to the Finely Sliced Honey Roast Dry Cured Ham, which is 97% pork and costs £4.

However, among the substitutions Emma made, there were very few that she wouldn’t purchase again.

Emma said: “The Creamy Tomato Pasta Bake for example was a big hit with the kids and cost just 69p for a 500g jar. Homepride’s smaller 485g jar is £2.50.

“I found it was the same with household items too, like bleach for 70p compared to Domestos for £1.50, Sponge Cloths for £1.50 compared to £3.50 for the Spontex brand and a four-pack of Asda Microfibre Cleaning Cloths for £1.80, compared to £3 for the branded ones.”

Downshifting her shopping habits allowed Emma to indulge more in sweet treats like biscuits and cakes. She was thrilled to find Asda’s own version of the Biscoff spread priced at just £1.99, a significant saving compared to the usual £3.20.

However, it’s not always about going for the cheapest option. When she reached for the Just Essentials chicken breasts, Emma noticed they were priced at £6.19 per kg, actually more expensive than Asda’s main meat range at £6 a kg due to a Price Drop offer.

This is something Money Saving Expert advises shoppers to watch out for during such challenges.

“Of course, let’s not go extreme on this,” they recommend. “If there’s a 2for1 on a higher brand (and you’d use both packs) making it cheaper than downshifting, stick with the higher brand.”

MSE notes that ‘downshifting typically cuts grocery bills by 30%. Even if you only swapped half the items, that’s still a 15% saving.

Emma raved:”With my own shop, I saved a whopping £45.49 on the products I swapped, which was way more than I expected. It’s definitely something I’ll be doing again, whichever supermarket I’m in.”

An Asda spokesperson said: “Asda is consistently recognised as the best value traditional supermarket in independent price comparison surveys, including the Grocer 33 basket comparison and the Which? monthly big shop trolley comparison. This is despite these surveys now including loyalty pricing.”

They further highlighted customer benefits, stating: “In addition to offering the lowest prices of any traditional supermarket, our customers can make further savings by using the Asda Rewards app.

“The app gives them money back into their Cashpot each time they shop, which they can use to reduce the price they pay at the till. In less than two years since its launch, Rewards is now used by over six million customers who have saved more than £580.5m in total.”