Expert's tips on how you can save money on a shop to Aldi, Lidl and Morrisons

Prices at supermarkets are going up across the board as the cost of living bites, causing many to turn to budget retailers. The pandemic has changed the dynamics of supermarkets from the growth of click and collect, staff shortages and low-stock levels. Both Brexit and the Ukraine war have also had knock-on effects on our retailers, pushing up prices. Will Broome, founder and CEO of Ubamarket, a new shopping app, has provided some key tips and tricks to help you save money on your weekly shop at the biggest supermarkets. Here is how you can save money at Aldi, Lidl and Morrisons. What are some general tips to save money on shopping? Mr Broome advises customers to find out what automatic membership and loyalty schemes your supermarket provides or are starting to launch, to save money. Supermarkets are beginning to launch apps where at the end of the basket all the discount prices are taken into account. Online supermarkets also commonly put introductory discount vouchers to ‘capture’ new customers. He said it is a “good thing to look out for” and a “key way” to save money. Mr Broome also said to look out for the yellow reduced to sale stickers because they are the same product but just about to go past its sell-by date. “If you go late in the day there will be a lot of those but if you go too late they will be gone,” he said. Shoppers told MoneySavingExpert, Martin Lewis, that reductions in Morrisons tended to start late morning or lunchtime, but the retailer said it’s up to individual store managers. The site says that one customer tweeted to share that she goes to Lidl as soon as it opens to pick up ready meals for as little as 20p. For Aldi, Its half-price stickers start appearing from 8pm, according to one MoneySaver writing to the site. How to save money on a shop to Lidl Consumer group Which? named Lidl the cheapest supermarket for March. It was also crowned the winner in January and February too. It is worked out by basket price which compared the price of 21 items across the big name brands including fresh produce and household items. Lidl was found to be 31p cheaper than second-place rival Aldi. Mr Broome said Lidl in particular has a “very strong proposition for fruit and vegetables” and the “meat and fish have very good prices”. The retailer also has a good value fruit and vegetable ‘Too Good To Waste’ box. At just £1.50, the boxes contain approximately 5kg of fruit and vegetables from store shelves, which have become slightly damaged, discoloured or deteriorated, but are still perfectly good to eat. They are put together daily and are available to customers from opening until midday. How to save money on a shop to Aldi Mr Broome said Aldi is a “well-priced, budget retailer” but has “some very high quality produce and beautifully laid out stores.” According to YouGov Aldi is currently the UK’s most popular supermarket chain with 79% of that poll saying they liked it. Mr Broome said: “Meat and fish in Aldi have the best prices but have slightly shorter sell-by dates. “You will get really good prices on the fish but you might have to be shopping a little bit closer to the time that you are going to consume it.” He also advised shopping down the middle aisle as you can get great prices on household essentials such as candles and kettles. The middle aisle is great instead of “going to a more expensive technological or hardware store - genuinely useful stuff.” The reduced section on the retailer’s website is where you can find household items for under £10 to £40. How to save money on a shop to Morrisons Mr Broome explained how Morrisons has a lot of their own suppliers and farms, something which is not well-known. “They are very strong on produce. It is very high quality but at a competitive price - not always the cheapest,” he said. Mr Broome said eggs in particular are very competitively priced. However, Morrisons loyalty scheme will help with the prices. My Morrisons loyalty app offers tailored digital vouchers with money-off your next shop. You can also scan your digital in-app card at the till for automatic savings. If you have a physical card, you can swipe to receive money-off coupons at the till to enjoy your rewards. The Which? consumer test of 21 basket goods found that Morrisons doesn’t fare very well, with the retailer coming second last in March. However, the same test was done but for a bigger shop, and Morrisons climbed up the ranks. The test compared a trolley of 65 grocery items and Morrisons came third behind first place Asda and second place Sainsbury’s. A version of this article originally appeared on NationalWorld.com