Yahoo Finance Woolworths shopper 'notices pattern' to score huge $180 saving: 'Hit the jackpot'
The mum of two reveals how she got lucky, scoring some items at more than 90 per cent off the usual price.
A savvy Woolworths shopper snagged a trolley full of groceries for less than $20 after noticing staff members following a simple pattern when marking down products. Amelia, a mum of two, paid just $19.50 for $198 worth of groceries after visiting her local Woolworths.
Keen to score a bargain, she took notice of when staff members reduced items each time she visited the Young store, in regional New South Wales. She then estimated Sunday at 4.30pm was the best time to shop for discounted items.
“I would normally duck into Woolies after work to grab a few things and noticed there were reduced items in two areas of the shop - near the berries and in a fridge at the back,” she tells Yahoo Finance.
“I noticed a pattern so I went in a bit earlier each day and I got lucky that day.”
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How to get cheaper groceries
Often spotting price reductions of $1 or $2, she never thought she’d find such huge discounts with some items marked down by more than 90 per cent.
In the lead-up to securing the massive markdowns, she observed staff members reducing items and leaving them on shelves until the day of the best-before date and then moving them to one central place with all the other discounted items.
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“I have also noticed the deli marks things down that they already wrapped up. This happens about the same time at my store,” she also revealed.
Among the significantly reduced items were one-kilo packs of BBQ sausages for $1.25 instead of $12.50, 500gram packs of sausages for $1.47 instead of $14.75, Kafta burger patties for $1.25 instead of $12.50, chunky beef, red wine and mushroom pies for 80 cents instead of $8, Fish Slider kits for $1.30 instead of $16.
Apart from the crazy meat haul she also saved on a bag of potatoes for 38 cents instead of $3.80, a two sesame bagel 4-packs for 45 cents instead of $4.50 and several tubs of seedless grapes for 55 cents instead of $5.50.
Although some of the food was “very close” to the best-before date, Amelia said she was stocking all the food in her freezer — even the grapes — to help save on the increasing cost of living.
“My kids kill my pocket with their fruit bill and the price of meat, especially halal meat, is outrageous these days. This massively reduced my grocery shop for the week,” she said.
'I never see any specials!'
Sharing her huge haul on a budgeting social media page, the 27-year-old couldn’t contain her excitement at how much money she had saved.
“I feel like I hit the jackpot! I never see any specials,” she wrote.
Dozens of other shoppers agreed her haul was one of the best they had seen.
“Omg now that’s a stash,” one person commented with another adding “I wish my Woolies had specials like this.”
“If groceries weren’t so expensive there wouldn’t be so much to mark down! But a good find for you,” added a third.
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How you can score these bargains too
So what's the key to securing such huge savings of more than 90 per cent off? Unfortunately, it's usually a matter of being in the right place at the right time.
A Woolworths spokesperson previously told Yahoo Finance that markdowns could happen anywhere at any time, with the decisions made on a store-by-store basis.
“In terms of specific markdowns on products in-store, we use them from time to time to minimise food waste,” the spokesperson said.
“The availability of markdowns will vary from day to day and store to store based on stock levels and demand.”
