Save on your shop with TikTok Auntie
CUT THE COST AT THE TILL WITH THESE TOP TIPS FROM BUDGETING EXPERT
ANN Russell, aka TikTok Auntie, regularly shares invaluable cleaning tips with 2.3 million followers online. She’s also a money-saving expert, having lived her life on a tight budget for years. Here are her top tips for saving cash when shopping in-store and online…
Plan your in-store route with care
Ignore temptation! I only have to slow down as I walk past the cheese counter in Waitrose to magically buy £40 worth of cheese, so I’ve learned a route that avoids it entirely and walks me through the wine aisle, which is still tempting, but, for me, it’s easier to abstain from impulse buys.
Ignore goods at eye level
While you’re actually in a shop, school yourself to go straight to the section you need without being waylaid. Then, when you reach your area, try to ignore any goods at eye level and make sure to look both high and at floor level, as often these shelves have the items that are better value.
The key thing is to learn the tricks retailers use and work out how to resist them – companies spend a lot of money researching your movements inside their store and learning how the positioning of goods affects your buying and how best to manipulate you into parting with more cash than you originally intended.
Avoid special offers
Unless they genuinely offer good value, often special offers just trick you into buying more of something. The trick is to stop and think; to be conscious of how you’re being played.
Bulk buy online
Shopping online for food can really help prevent impulse spending and, if you pick your timeslot carefully, it can save on petrol too. Sadly, though, the discounters don’t tend to deliver (or at least, they don’t in my area). I bulk buy heavy stuff online.
For example, my son drinks a daily can of energy drink, so whenever it is on offer, I bulk buy online from a wholesaler and get it delivered. It then gets stored in the shed and saves not just money but time and
effort.
Things like dog food, loo roll, nappies and other awkwardly large or heavy items can also be delivered – just be sure you have space to store them.
Check prices before sales start
Sales very often aren’t actual sales – it’s a well-known trick to advertise items for a few days at a vastly inflated price in order to claim a huge (but wholly fictitious) saving for the next month or so. If you are thinking of snagging a high-priced item in the sales, then start looking a few months before. Then you will know if something is a bargain.
Beware of ‘special purchases’
They are often goods bought in specially to sell at cheap prices. This is what can feel so misleading, as the ‘special purchase’ goods are often not the quality you would expect from that brand.
The ‘closing down’ sales trick
Social media, of course, is riddled with ‘closing down’ sales from companies that are clearly not actually closing down at all. Don’t bite!
How To Save Money by Ann Russell, Headline Home, £12.99
ANN RUSSELL