Clever Shopper Reveals How She Saved £15,000 With 28p Bargains
- Leia, 37, has saved over £15,000 in four years by finding hugely discounted groceries and toiletries
- Bargains include 80p beef roasting joints and a 28p spend on a £33.50 shop
- She reveals the apps she uses to collect cashback offers and make huge savings
Buying bargain groceries can easily become addictive, and one savvy woman has turned her love of shopping on the cheap into a regular hobby.
Leia Winch, a 37 year old Careers Adviser from Telford, can often be found in supermarkets and budget stores with her partner Greg Ward. She posts her finds to Instagram on leiasbargains and includes tips on where to find discounted goods with her followers.
Speaking to money-saving community LatestDeals.co.uk, Leia said: ‘I started bargain hunting at the end of 2017 in an effort to pay off debts and save money. I started with food and then moved onto bargains such as cleaning products and toiletries. I have now managed to pay off my debts and save over £15,000 since then.
‘I like to pick up bargains in the meat and poultry aisles where possible, as huge savings can be made. For example, I paid £2.18 instead of £9.29 for two packs of beef and a pork shoulder joint in Aldi. The Ashfields extra lean diced beef cost £2.55 per pack and the pork shoulder was £4.19, so I saved over £7.
‘Morrisons is also a good place for discounted meat. I got a huge haul which included three packs of eight Walls Thick Sausages, two packs of Morrisons smoked salmon, eight Peperami snack pots and a pack of breaded fish, plus some packs of meat from the butchers. I only paid £4.83 instead of the original £47.30! Considering the Walls sausages alone were £2.25 a pack originally, this is a massive saving.
‘My favourite ever bargain is one I picked up in Asda. I got a large roasting joint of Irish Beef reduced from £10.78 to 80p! On another trip to Asda I picked up 2 packs of Shazans Chicken Mini Fillets for 61p each instead of £4.15 each, so I saved over £7 on that haul.
‘I also look for general bargains to make weekly savings on my groceries. For example, I paid just 28p instead of £33.50 for one shop, which included four packs of Love Corn, four packs of Pick Up chocolate biscuits and 16 Piccolo yogurts. The yogurts were originally £1.25 each, the corn was £1 a bag and the Pick Up packs were also £1 each so I was very impressed with what I ended up paying.
‘When I’m planning to shop I make use of the Shopmium and CheckoutSmart apps whenever I can. For example, I got a haul for £5.67 instead of £28.30 by using both of these and a cashback offer. I managed to pick up a box of Cheerios, a box of Shreddies, two boxes of Shredded Wheat, six boxes of Off The Eaten Path sticks, two Chocolate Hazelnut Graze bars, two Salted Caramel Graze bars and two cans of San Pellegrino for just over a fiver!
‘I also make use of the Too Good To Go app, and I was impressed to receive two boxes of Belgian buns, four sausage rolls, two baguettes, two packs of two Yum Yums and two packs of four pink sprinkle doughnuts in a bag which only cost £5.
‘Bargain hunting is also good for special occasions. For example, I got a birthday cake from Marks and Spencer which was originally £7. It got reduced to £4, then the price was knocked down again to £1.17 through yellow stickers.
‘I had a wedding to go to so I went to Boots and made use of a Boots £5 offer combined with a £5 off No7 products deal on my Advantage card app to get a free No7 kit which featured makeup removing wipes, facial sun protection, lip balm and waterproof mascara.
‘In Boots I also picked up reduced Cow and Gate products for my baby nephew. I got the Rice Pudding, Butternut Squash Chicken and Pasta, Apple Crumble and Cottage Pie jars of baby food for just 20p each instead of 80p a go.
‘My bargain hunting also extends to cleaning products and toiletries. At Wilko I got four 25 packs of Ariel tabs and a Bold pack of the same size. These were reduced to £2 each - originally the Ariel ones were £4.25 each and the Bold one was £5.
‘The Boots sales are also great for picking up deodorant and body washes. For example, I have spotted Nivea Men’s deodorant for 25p reduced from £1, Right Guard for 38p, Lynx body wash for 75p and Boots body fragrance for 10p. The 63p Lynx shower gel black was sold out!
‘In Superdrug I have bought Aussie conditioner for 47p, Imperial Leather shower gel for 49p and Hask conditioner for 40p and 25p. The Aussie conditioner is usually £4.50, the shower gel is usually 98p and the Hask conditioner was £6.99.
‘If you want to start buying bargains of your own, my tips would be to research the stores in your local area and see when the reductions are offered. You can even ask staff.
‘I would say to be polite and courteous to staff and other shoppers. Sometimes you are just in the right place at the right time and sometimes you’re not.
‘It gives me a buzz to find bargains because I know I’m saving money and working towards my goal of home ownership and financial independence.’
Tom Church, Co-Founder of LatestDeals.co.uk, said: ‘Leia is truly an inspiration for anyone who is shopping on a budget or wants to reduce their spend. She has proven there are always bargains to be found.
‘Apps like Too Good To Go, Shopmium, CheckoutSmart and Olio are rising in popularity as people look to save money on their everyday shops.’
Save More With These Discount Codes
Read More Money Saving GuidesDoesn't feel bad for not leaving anything for other people, you know, share the good fortune, rather than be selfish and greedy, and hoard it all for oneself. #meanspirited
Evening Karina . I hope you’ve read the article because if so you‘d know, some of the stuff my sister gets comes to my children, I have the nephew she’s referring too in this article. I also have her niece who she gets things for, we’re also very lucky to have her in our family as she gives stuff to us too! Oh and the local food banks are extremely lucky considering Leia donates to them as much as she can. I would personally love to know how she “doesnt leave anything for other people” when she shops in shops in ONE city / town, not thousands. But you obviously know her so much to make such a big accusation and judgement. While we’re talking about mean spirited, please be careful what you say online. As some things can come across really aggressive, mean and could upset somebody. especially when assuming things you know nothing about. Enjoy your evening sweetheart. And hopefully one day you will have a pure kind heart, just like Leia
KarinaN foolish comment. If you bothered to read the article you would have seen leia does infact share discount codes and bargains to other people I used to work with her partner and they would always share treats with me and even give my dog treats. Please do you research and read the article before being bitter and making false assumptions...