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Save money on groceries by buying supermarket own brands

There are many ways to reduce your monthly grocery spend, but the most effective I’ve ever come across is breaking our addiction to “brands”.

As ridiculous and exaggerated as it may sound, I would argue that your addiction to brand names (and the cost of certain brand name groceries) in every day life is having a big negative impact on your financial future.

Let’s look why, and at practical steps you can take to save money on groceries by buying supermarket own brands.

1, 2, 3, 4, I declare a brand war!

We are a nation of brand lovers. The most famous British companies have become rich by selling products to us at premium prices. But, more often than not, we are paying for the name and very little else.

Often, we tell ourselves that we are paying for the quality of the branded products. “I couldn’t possible eat any baked beans that aren’t Heinz”. Well, guess what, you are wrong!

The majority of people who take taste tests cannot identify the branded product compared to the supermarket own brand.

Therefore, I challenge you all. Take the downgrade challenge. Next time you are about to buy a branded product, buy one branded and one of the supermarket own brand (or ideally, the supermarket “value” brand). Then, get your partner, friends, parents or children to give you a blind taste test.

Unless you can truly tell the difference, and you find the supermarket version uneatable, then you should make the change in your next shop and ditch the brand.

How much could I save by buying supermarket own brands?

Below, I attempted to determine how we could save money on groceries. To do this, I look at the difference between buying branded products and discount products on the items which we use every day.

Throughout my day, I noted each time I consumed a product. For each product, I compared the price on the Tesco online site. The results were as follows:

1 Performed twice per day

2 Performed 8 times per day

I realize that my analysis includes item you would not have every day. However, I feel it also omits other things which we do use. Therefore, I feel it is representative of the average.

It concludes that the average person could save £8.43 on groceries per day. £8.43 each day just by choosing supermarket own brands rather than the most expensive well-known brands.

This equates to £3,076 per year in savings.

Saved at an annual return of 10% for 25 year – check the following post to see how this is possible – this would equate to a saving on groceries (including interest) of over £300,000.

As one supermarket rightly says, “Every little helps”. This is definitely true for buying cheaper supermarket own brands.

Money saving tips – how to save money on groceries

Unless there is a significant difference in the quality (and efficiency) of the product, stay away from branded products and buy supermarket own brands (particularly the value products if you can bear them!).

Save money on groceries by taking the “downshift challenge”. The challenge is to try dropping one brand level on your usual supermarket shop. Then see if you can tell the difference in the quality of the product. If you do not notice a significant difference, switch to the cheaper one and discover huge savings.

To understand the how you could save money on groceries, why not make your own table like the one above. Keep it up to date for a couple of days to make the impact of the savings more real.

Make sure you only buy what you need. Keep a shopping list and don’t deviate from it.

How else can I save money on groceries?

Have you ever heard of approvedfood.co.uk?

This is a great website which I personally use where you can buy short-dated products. All products are certified and pose no health risks. However, they are much, MUCH less cheaper than the standard price.

Check out my review of approvedfood here.

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