A man has shared the secret of how he paid just 16p for his Christmas food shop. Mathew Roberts said he was “feeling very accomplished” after making the massive saving
Christmas can be a real wallet-drainer, so shoppers are always on the hunt for clever ways to trim their spending during the festive period. However, one savvy customer took bargain-hunting to a whole new level, managing to walk away with more than £238 worth of goods for just 16p.
Taking to the Dull Men’s Club Facebook page, Mathew Roberts uploaded a photo of a till at his local Tesco, displaying his final bill after everything had been scanned and all discounts applied. Remarkably, it revealed he’d slashed a staggering £238.12 off his shop, leaving him to fork out just 16p.
Mathew posted: “Sat at home, feeling very accomplished after completing the Christmas shopping at 6.30am this morning, for a grand total of 16 pence. Will be sat with my feet up watching the darts, thinking of all the chaos I’ve avoided at the UK’s supermarkets. No banana for scale, couldn’t afford one.”
When Thomas Alexander Yates responded asking: “How on Earth did you do this?!”, Mathew revealed his secret: “Clubcard vouchers saved up through the year.”
The loyalty programme gives shoppers one point for every pound spent in-store. Each point equals 1p and can be converted into vouchers to spend on future purchases, reports Devon Live. Tesco also runs Clubcard Prices, where cardholders get access to reduced prices across various products. These reductions would have been included in the saving shown on Mathew’s receipt.
The supermarket occasionally dishes out bonus points for purchasing certain items, while customers can rack up additional rewards via Tesco Mobile or Tesco Bank. Shoppers on Facebook were gobsmacked by Mathew’s post, with others revealing their own impressive savings.
Abi Fawcett wrote: “I had a shop this week…£186 and got it for £0.06p.” And Donna Roper said: “We did the same yesterday and the whole Christmas shop cost us 50p.”
Hatty Battle-Ronaldson said: “I used to work in Sainsbury’s and loads of people did this, saves their points all year so they could splurge on their Xmas shop. Biggest was over £500. It helps you get points for petrol too.”
However, some were left scratching their heads over how Mathew had racked up such a massive points haul. Amber Connors said: “I get a weekly food shop. Give or take a few weeks a year we might miss one, that’s not to mention all the trips to my little Tesco Extra down the road from me… £87 in vouchers. £80! Considering I do a minimum of £150 on a weekly food shop I was quite disappointed in the voucher value to be honest! How much you must spend in Tesco to get over £200.”
Yet some pointed out Mathew could have squeezed more value from his points by converting them into vouchers for partner firms, effectively doubling their worth. Partner schemes cover everything from restaurants and hotels to holiday companies and family days out.
Jo Powell wrote: “Hmmm. You used Clubcard vouchers to pay? Whilst I understand that this is a popular option it’s not the most economical option.
“I used £300 of Clubcard vouchers this year to get £600 off a holiday but, they also had a promotion where if you booked a holiday, you got £100 in vouchers so my £300 in vouchers got £600 off a holiday but I got £100 in return.
“As a side note, in the past, I’ve had two cars for free from Tesco Clubcard vouchers, a Disney holiday, two TAG Heuer watches, plus furniture and numerous meals out.”
Amy Warren commented: “Clubcard vouchers are better used for days out or meals out etc as you get a 2X multiplier (used to be three!) So you get more for your money. Although this is still an awesome way to use them for sure!”
