A SAVVY SHOPPER cleared all her debts and saved £22,000 – here’s how she did it.
Following the Christmas period and as we continue through the cost of living crisis, many of us might be struggling with debts and wanting to cut back.
Leia and her partner Greg have managed to save thousands by being smart shoppers
Leia takes advantage of the yellow sticker offers in supermarkets
Leia Winch, 38, from Telford, has saved thousands of pounds and shares her money successes on her Instagram page, leiasbargains.
She has spent the past five years picking up yellow sticker bargains, using cashback apps, couponing, and doing surveys in order to save money.
Since slashing her food and living costs, Leia has managed to pay off her £8,000 debts, and is now hoping to buy her first home with the money she’s saved.
Leia said: “I went through a long phase of living beyond my means, and ended up maxing out my credit card, and found myself constantly stuck in my overdraft.
“I ended up taking out a £4,000 loan to try to pay off the debts but carried on living and spending the same way so just ended up being in more debt with a loan that needed paying off.
“In 2017, I decided to try to turn my life around, and began shopping exclusively for yellow sticker items.
“I cut my monthly costs massively and managed to clear my debts incredibly quickly.
How to cut costs when food shopping
Leia said her and her partner focussed on the items that were on offer in supermarkets.
She said: “After clearing my debts, I carried on buying yellow sticker items, and carried on with the cash back apps and surveys in order to save money to buy my first home.”
The careers adviser spends less than £150 a month on food for herself and partner, Greg, 29, averaging at a cost of around £2 each per day.
She added: “Greg and I are both big meat eaters, so I always love finding meats in the reduced section.
“After Christmas is always a great time to grab some bargains, as I’ve just managed to snag a few beef joints for 80 pence each, and ten sausages for just 23 pence.
“I tend to freeze the meat if I bulk buy, or I’ll batch cook meals packing them full of reduced vegetables like 10 pence bags of potatoes and carrots.
“One of my favourite meals to make is cottage pie, which usually costs less than £2 for four portions altogether.
“I also love buying double cream, and use it to make butter, I recently managed to get four pots for 40 pence which will last me a while.
“Greg and I actually managed to get our weekly shop from Sainsburys for just £3.58 reduced from £48.58, as we used some of the points we’d saved up and converted them to vouchers and got a lot of reduced foods including meats, ready meals, and vegetables.
Another tip the smart shopper offered was using different stores for different deals.
Leia said: “I try to shop around at different shops as each one always has different deals, even the more expensive places like the Co-Op and M&S.
“I treated myself to a cake from M&S for £4.05 down from £15, and at the Co-Op I managed to do a small shop for £4.28 instead of £22.40.
“With the cashback apps and survey sites, I tend to get a lot of free items, like four bottles of shampoo from Boots, or big bags of dog food which I gave to friends and family.
“I’ve also managed to get four free jars of coffee, which actually costs £5.50 per tin in store.”
Leia’s family and friends love her bargain hunting and are always eager to find out the latest deals she’s spotted.
Leia adds: “I love sharing all my freebies with my family, and they always reach out to see where I’ve got my latest bits and pieces from.
“I joke that Greg is now my apprentice, as he’s just as eager to find yellow sticker and reduced items each time we go out shopping.”
You don’t have to sacrifice your lifestyle
Leia hasn’t had to sacrifice her lifestyle, but has instead found alternative ways to do things, including using Meerkat 2for1 offers for cinema trips, and survey sites for takeaway vouchers.
She said: “Everyone is really supportive of our frugal lifestyle.”
With the money she’s set aside from saving on her weekly shops, Leia is now hoping to become a homeowner for the first time.
She continued: “Greg and I currently live in a flat we pay rent for, but after saving up £22,000 we’re hoping to buy it.
“I’m aiming to be mortgage free by retirement age, as well as having a hefty sum of more savings to be comfortable for retirement as I don’t think a state pension will cover it anymore.
“I really think yellow sticker shopping and using cashback apps are the way to go in order to save money.”
If you are looking for general help and advice to help you manage your debt, there are a number of charities and organisations that may be able to help:
You can contact National Debtline on 0808 808 4000, StepChange can be reached on 0800 138 1111, while Citizens Advice is also available on 0808 800 9060.
Whatever you do, it’s important to not bury your head in the sand as it’ll only make the problem worse.
We’ve also rounded up popular ways to clear debt.
Do you have a money problem that needs sorting? Get in touch by emailing [email protected]
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