Sainsbury's shopping tricks, tips and hacks to save money

Regularly shop at Sainsbury’s? Use these tips to save money when you shop online and in-store.

Join the Nectar scheme

If you join the Nectar scheme, you’ll get one point for every £1 spent in-store and online and for every litre of fuel bought in a Sainsbury’s fuel station.

You can also collect Nectar points at lots of retailers, including Argos and Esso, while you can spend your points at the likes of Caffe Nero, British Airways and Eurostar.

Some Nectar partners, including eBay, will offer bonus points just for linking your accounts.

So, it’s worth checking where you can collect points on the Nectar website or the app.

Get discounts on your favourites

If you’re a regular customer, the supermarket can use your shopping habits to customise your discounts.

As part of its Your Nectar Prices initiative, Sainsbury’s will offer up to 10 weekly personalised discounts based on your regular purchases.

Your Nectar Prices are only available to customers who have registered with Nectar via the app or website.

Save a packet on school uniforms

If your kids have returned to school and their uniforms are now fitting a little too tight, Sainsbury's is selling school uniforms from as little as £3 for kids aged two to 16.

Buy your wine in batches

If you have room to store it, then you should look at buying wine in bulk.

Sainsbury’s regularly runs promotions where you can save 25% off the cost of wine in the run-up to bank holidays when you buy six bottles or more.

You may be able to combine this with other deals to get a reasonable bottle of wine at a discounted price. 

Invest in a delivery pass

If you regularly have your shopping delivered, Sainsbury's estimates you can save up to £168 per year with a delivery pass.

An Anytime Delivery subscription lets you book up to one slot every single day, at any time, and costs £80 for the year.

Alternatively, you can get this pass for six months (£43) or £7.50 per month.

If you’re happy getting your shopping on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday, you can get a midweek delivery pass, which is just £40 for a year or £4 per month.

£2 fruit and veg box

If you're visiting a larger Sainsbury's store, you may be able to pick up a 'Taste Me, Don’t Waste Me’ box of surplus fruit and veg for £2.

These boxes contain fresh fruit and vegetables that would have otherwise gone to waste.

Sainsbury's says the boxes are a permanent feature, though they will be subject to availability.

What you'll get is completely random, though Sainsbury's says typical contents could include: apples, bananas, broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, courgettes, oranges, peppers, plums, red cabbage, and swede.

Downshift your brands the clever way

Each supermarket offers a generic own-brand version of branded goods, at a fraction of the price. The standard advice is therefore to switch from a pricey brand to own-brand and save a fortune.

Of course, that assumes that the generic copy is the same, and while sometimes it’s a close match – or even better – sometimes it’s not a patch on the original.

Most people will tell you to experiment with a few switches each time you shop. If you don’t like the generic version, you can switch back to the brand, but if you do like it, you can stick with the own brand.

Fill up for less at Esso

As a Nectar customer, you can use your points to get a 5p discount if you swap 300 points at Esso garages.

To participate, you’ll need to scan your card or app to collect one point per litre of petrol at most locations.

Approximately 1,000 are participating in the promo, although those with Tesco Express shops attached are exempt.

And of course, don't let loyalty points determine where you fuel up, as Esso may not be cheapest.