Can you save money at one of Britain’s most affordable supermarkets?

Asda is one of the UK’s biggest and cheapest supermarket chains but without Clubcard or Nectar prices can you save money shopping there? We look into ways to shop smarter at Asda.

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Sign up to Asda Rewards

Asda Rewards is the Asda loyalty scheme so it’s worth signing up if you’re shopping there. It differs from the likes of Tesco Clubcard and Sainsbury’s Nectar in a few key ways. 

First, instead of points it gives you cashback. Second, it doesn’t apply to all your shopping, just certain products and offers. The cashback you earn is paid into a “Cashpot” and used by converting your earnings into vouchers.

We’ve explained more about it, including how to sign up, in this article.

Buy Star Products

One way to earn cashback is to buy Star products. There are usually lots of products on offer, and they change regularly. It could be a percentage back, or it could be a fixed rate.

For example, recent Star Products have included 75p back on Terry’s Chocolate Oranges (which were already on offer at £1.50), and 10% back on Kellogs Crunchy Nut Cornflakes.

If you’re shopping online you’ll see which products are included, though you’ll need to check the app to see how much each one is worth. In-store you’ll usually see a label on the shelf.

Complete Missions

Missions are another way to earn cashback. Each mission is along the lines of spend £x on a certain category and receive £x. For example spend £10 on cleaning products and get £1 in your Cashpot.

Milestone Missions can pay out more on top. Usually these are based on cumulative spending over a set period, such as shop five times in a week or spend £50 in a month.

Don’t forget to use your reward vouchers

Money in your Asda Rewards Cashpot lasts six months, and can be changed to vouchers in multiples of £1, but you have to remember to spend the vouchers within ninety days. 

It often makes sense to convert into smaller value vouchers as you can only use each one if the total order is larger than the voucher value. 

So if you get a £20 voucher but only spend £15, you can’t use it this time. But if you had four £5 vouchers, you’d be able to scan three of them, and use the other one at a later date.

Check Asda Reward coupons

A new feature in the Asda Rewards app is a coupon section. You’ll find this in the Wallet tab.

Unlike Star Products and Missions, these coupons will take money off at the till. You’ll need to scan the barcode in-store, though online it’ll automatically be deducted.

At the time of writing I have a great saving of £15 off a £75 spend – but my colleagues at Be Clever With Your Cash don’t have anything as great as that in their apps so it does seem it’s a little selective but definitely worth checking before you shop.

Shop Asda Own-label

Just Essentials by Asda is their value range and easy to find on shelf with its bright yellow packaging. From strawberry cheesecake to joints of beef, there is a lot offered under the Just Essentials banner. 

Speaking from personal experience, I have found the quality a little hit or miss. But 95p for a pack of five oranges just can’t be beaten, especially if you’re just going to juice them!

Shop in the evening for yellow stickers

Although Asda reduces groceries all day, the final reductions tend to take place after 7pm, so timing your weekly shop for evening time could bag you some bargains. Don’t forget you can freeze so much and our Editor-in-chief, Andy has written a great guide to freezing food.

Find ‘Price Locked’ products

Asda have locked prices on lots of everyday items and promise to keep the price locked until at least the end of the year. Items that are ‘Price Locked’ have a green padlock on a yellow background to identify them on shelf.

This year, Asda are also price matching Aldi and Lidl, whichever is the cheapest, on hundreds of comparable groceries, which has brought the prices down on these products by an average 17%. You can find out what products are price matched on Asda.com.

Check cashback apps

Cashback apps like Checkout Smart, Shopmium and Green Jin have cashback offers on products at Asda so it is worth checking these before you go shopping. If you buy a product on their list, they will give you cashback once you have uploaded a photo of your receipt. You can find out more about cashback shopping apps here. At the time of writing, Green Jin had five products that were effectively free at Asda (you do have to pay first then claim the full cash back).

Consider the Asda Money credit card

Earning extra cashback on your spending by using an Asda Money credit card is a good idea if you regularly shop at Asda. They offer 1% cashback on purchases made online or in-store at Asda and also includes George and Asda petrol stations. 

There are sometimes welcome offers available too. When these run we’ll list them here – at the time of writing you can get £20 bonus cashback when you spend £50.

The only downside is that the cashback has to go into your Asda Rewards Cashpot and then be converted to vouchers. And as I already mentioned, there is a time limit on both the Cashpot and the vouchers so if you forget about this, you could end up losing any cashback made through the credit card.

Alternatively you could use a card that pays 1% at all retailers, not just Asda. You can find out more about the best reward credit cards in our great round-up

Buy discounted gift cards

Gift cards aren’t just to give to people. You can use them on your own shopping, including at Asda. With a number of ways to save money buying these gift cards, you could be saving every time you shop.

Sites like JamDoughnut, HyperJar and Cheddar sell prepaid gift cards to use at Asda and give you a little back as cashback. Here’s how they work. At the time of writing this you could get 3% cashback with all three of those sites – better than the Asda credit card!

Get Christmas saver bonuses

There are two ways to save for Christmas at Asda. You can pick up a saving card or cards in-store and register it online, allowing you to add up to £280 for a £15 bonus.

Or for Asda Reward members, you can transfer money earned from your regular Asda Cashpot to a Christmas Saver Cashpot, earning you up to a £5 bonus when you save £40.

However, don’t start saving in January. Instead you can put the money in an interest paying account up until the deadline, which is normally mid November. You’ll still get your bonus, but your money isn’t tied into being used at the supermarket until then. You can read all about how to take advantage of both Christmas savings schemes in this helpful article.

Shop via a cashback site

Both new and existing Asda online customers can get money back when they shop online via Quidco and TopCashback. Cashback amounts are subject to change but at the time of writing Quidco was offering £9 cashback to new Asda online customers spending over £40, or £2 cashback to existing customers.

TopCashback had a new customer deal, where the first online shop over £48 would earn £10 cashback, the second £5, the third £4 and the fourth £2.

And if you’re new to the two cashback sites you can get an additional bonus on top! Here’s how to get up to £18 when you sign up.

Be flexible with delivery slots

Asda offers grocery delivery and Click+Collect services with varying prices depending on location and time. Generally, if you can time your order for late at night or off-peak times, you’ll save money.

Buy a delivery pass

Asda claims to have the UK’s cheapest supermarket delivery passes so it is worth investing in a pass rather than paying for each delivery if you are ordering a lot.

They cost £3.50 a month for a midweek pass delivering Tuesday to Thursday, or £6.50 a month for an anytime pass.

However, you’ll save more if you pay annually. At £35 a year for the off peak pass and £65 a year for the full pass, you’ll save up to £199 a year (based on paying £4.50 each week for a one off delivery).

Is Asda the cheapest UK supermarket?

Asda is the cheapest of the ‘big 4’ supermarkets but is still beaten on price by Aldi and Lidl. Asda’s low prices are consistent and they offer so many more products and brands than the likes of Aldi and Lidl and this year they averaged around £3 cheaper than Tesco for a specific basket of groceries for a Which? analysis. 

In short, there may not be many ways to save money when shopping at Asda, but don’t forget, Asda has locked the prices of hundreds of items in a time of increasing grocery inflation and that is probably why they are the cheapest of the big 4 supermarkets in the UK.