I’m a regular Tesco online shopper, using their delivery saver pass, and I was curious about whether I could save money with Tesco’s Clubcard offers. So, I created a weekly meal plan and a snack list (below) and began filling my digital trolley – the first time, I shopped only using Clubcard discounts, and the second, avoiding Clubcard offers.
By using the same shopping list, this price comparison would be a fair test; the basket totals would be for the exact same items, rather than one containing meat and alcohol and the other processed snacks. If an item on the shopping list has a Clubcard-only price, that’s the one I’ll choose; if there isn’t, then both lists will share the same item, the four pints of milk, for example.
My meal plan is based on feeding a family of four for a week, as well as relying on store cupboard staples such as tea bags, gravy granules, and ketchup.
When shopping online, you don’t get the privilege of getting yellow sticker items, so keep in mind, your shop may be cheaper in-store.
Meal plan for the week
Meals
- Pork meatballs, pasta sauce, and pasta (a pack of 24 meatballs so I’ll have some for leftovers)
- Chicken curry and basmati rice (leftover rice for another week)
- Pork sausages, hash browns, and baked beans
- Chicken drumsticks, marinade, new potatoes, and sweetcorn (2kg of drumsticks so we’ll have plenty for lunch)
- Sweet and sour chicken stir fry with noodles
- Two pizzas and oven chips
- Roast chicken, potatoes, vegetables, and yorkshire puddings (two different types of veggies)
Store cupboard and snacks
- 2x four pints of whole milk
- 2x packs of biscuits
- Six packets of crisp
- Cake
- Nine single Twix bars
- Family pack of ham
- 500g of Clover spread
- Large block of mature cheddar
- Two loaves of white sliced bread
- Punnet of grapes
- Six apples
- Honeydew melon
- Bottle of concentrated orange juice
- Plus a family size trifle for dessert on Sunday
The Clubcard vs non-member price comparison test
For this comparison shop, I’ll hit the virtual aisles of Tesco and buy everything on the two lists above, but with different approaches:
- For the first shop, I’ll take advantage of every Clubcard deal possible.
- For the second, I’ll buy the cheapest product possible, discounting any Clubcard prices.
The goal? To see whether taking advantage of Tesco’s loyalty scheme makes my overall shop cheaper, or if it’s better to go old school and choose the price tag with the lowest number.
In nneither shop did I include the cost of home delivery.
As it turns out, the Tesco groceries with the Clubcard discounts tend to be the branded products. My Clubcard shop had a lot of branded sauces, crisps, and sweet treats, while my second non-member basket contained a lot of own-brand and knock off items.
We all know most own-brand items taste incredibly similar to their name brand alternatives and shopping exclusively for brands is a thing of the past, so the difference between the two shops is no bother to us.
Clubcard vs non-member shops total prices
- Shop one, total price: £87.37, with a total of £27.01 saved through Clubcard discounts (£114.37 before ‘Offers’ taken into account)
- Shop two, total price: £75.60, with a total of £9.94 saved through non-Clubcard related offers (£85.54 before ‘Offers’ taken into account)
With the second shop, there were more options. For example, I could buy tinned tomatoes to make my own pasta sauce to serve with the meatballs. I could also buy a bag of white potatoes over a frozen bag of roasties and precut oven chips.
With a Clubcard, I can buy any two Tesco stonebaked pizzas for a fiver; without a Clubcard I can get two Hearty Food Co pizzas for around £2.10. There’s less choice, but we can always make the toppings more exciting using leftover sandwich fillings and dinner meat. DIY toppings would be healthier, too – they’ll also make pizza night more interactive and fun,
It’s difficult to compare the headline value of cheese due to varying pack weights. For cheese, it’s best to compare unit prices. Cathedral City Mature Cheddar cheese costs £7.27/kg with a Clubcard (£4 for 550g); Tesco Mature Cheddar costs £6.71/kg (£4.70 for 700g). For 70p extra, you gain 150g of cheese, and when feeding a family of four, you can never have too much cheese.
It’s a tale as old as time: just because a product has a sticker on it saying ‘discount’, it doesn’t mean you’re actually saving money. Our how to shop on a budget and Ninja air fryer deals articles explain how to get the most out of your money and how to spot an actual discount without getting drawn in by misleading deals.
You also don’t have to shop at Tesco. Which? might’ve named Lidl the cheapest supermarket in July, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t shop around to find the cheapest supermarket for you.
