One savvy mum has explained how she saves more than £500 a year on her food bills and has shared an “amazing” simple shopping hack to help other families.

Donna West, who has six children and is a grandmother of seven from Middlesbrough, started yellow sticker shopping by accident – then became “hooked” on the bargains.

The 57-year-old has found everything from beef reduced from £23.50 to £3.50, to bottles of Innocent smoothies slashed from £3 to 19p.

How to save money

Now, Donna hunts yellow stickers a few times a week and says all the little savings really add up to make a big difference in her monthly outgoings.

“I love yellow sticker shopping,” Donna told money-saving community LatestDeals.co.uk.

“I found yellow stickers one day when doing my normal shop.

“I’d gone to Morrisons one day, roughly at 5pm and I noticed people standing around, then a tray of food items coming out reduced and people taking from it.

“I then saw the yellow sticker reductions.

“I saw pieces of beef reduced from £15 to £4.50 so I took two.

What’s the cheapest item of food you have found with a yellow sticker on? (Image: Donna West/LatestDeals.co.uk) “I also got a birthday cake reduced from £11.50 to £1.50, which was amazing.

“I got some great reductions, and that was it – I was hooked on the amazing savings. 

“I then showed my best friend what I’d got and we decided to go back the next day.

“Again we got an amazing haul: another beef joint slashed from £23.50 to £3.50, saving me £20, and which was big enough to cut in half for two meals.”

Donna added: “I found I was saving lots of money doing yellow stickers so now I do it a few times a week or if I see one randomly which is worth it, I grab it.

“I’ve saved lots doing yellow stickers and these days it’s the way to go.”

“I freeze the majority of my hauls and things like eggs I use in baking cakes or pies.

“I bulk cook then freeze it also.

“I’ve made meals like chicken casserole and worked out I’d spent £1.45 on all the ingredients including the chicken fillets!

“It’s a great way to save.”

When is the best time of day to shop for yellow stickers?

Donna revealed: “Different stores will start reducing prices at different times.

“Our local Morrisons start their big reductions from 5pm daily and from 2pm on a Sunday.

“I usually get Too Good To Go bags also – they’re really worth the money.

“To save money, make sure you freeze your food wherever possible.

“Don’t worry about sell-by dates – as long as you freeze it by the last date shown it will be fine.”

Some sausages with a yellow sticker on were reduced to 57p (Image: Donna West/LatestDeals.co.uk)

She explained: “Doing yellow sticker shopping saves time too as you’re not up and down the aisles but in one place in the store, and you can get all sorts.

“There may be a few people pushing and grabbing but you can still get good deals.

“I’d say to others to ask nicely at their local stores what time reductions are and go from there.

“I go to my local one stop shop daily as they have some amazing reductions and they know me now so tell me what’s going out the next day!

“I also share my hauls with friends and family – after all we’re all in the same boat trying to save a few pennies.

“I can’t work due to long term illnesses so doing yellow sticker shopping is a great help.

“I’ve always got a chest freezer full of food through yellow sticker shopping.

“I’ve lost count of how much I’ve saved over time – my last count for the year was over £500!”

Is it cheaper to cook with an air fryer or oven? 

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Tom Church, co-founder of LatestDeals.co.uk, commented: “Donna is a super shopper!

“She is proof that small savings over time really do add up and make a huge difference.

“I see Donna is a fan of Morrisons’ yellow sticker reductions.

“One of my favourite tips is to use voucher codes such as for Morrisons to save money. You can often get £20 off your first online shop.

“It’s always good to keep your eyes peeled and see what your favourite retailers are offering, as more often than not there’s a discount or code to help you save that bit more on your shopping.”