Consumer champion Martin Lewis has delivered a crucial message to millions of UK households: hold off on your big Christmas food shop until December to bag the best bargains.
The Festive Forecaster's Advice
Appearing on his ITV show, The Martin Lewis Money Show Live, on November 18, the founder of MoneySavingExpert.com advised viewers to be patient. He explained that major supermarkets like Asda, Sainsbury's, Tesco, and Aldi typically engage in a Christmas price war to lure customers, with the deepest discounts starting in December.
"Christmas veg: lots of these are discounted between 8p and 15p," Martin stated. "It starts on December 7 until just before Christmas. It’s a battle of the loss leaders between supermarkets, so if you’re buying your Christmas veg, between all of those stores you’ll probably want to wait until then."
Last Year's Supermarket Price Cuts
To illustrate the potential savings, Lewis highlighted the rock-bottom prices from the previous year's festive period. The discounts were heavily focused on essential vegetables, making a traditional Christmas dinner significantly cheaper.
Aldi in 2024 sold carrots, broccoli, spring onions, and potatoes for just 8p to 15p.
Asda offered carrots, broccoli, potatoes, and parsnips for 8p a bag.
Lidl matched this with carrots, potatoes, parsnips, and swede also at 8p.
Morrisons provided the same deals for customers with a More card, selling parsnips, carrots, and swede for 8p.
Sainsbury’s sold carrots, parsnips, and swede for 15p each.
Tesco offered parsnips, carrots, broccoli, and swede for 15p each, but required a Clubcard to access the price.
Urgent Tesco Clubcard Alert
In related money news, Tesco has issued a critical alert for its 24 million Clubcard holders. The supermarket giant warned that vouchers worth a total of £16.5 million are set to expire at the end of this month.
These vouchers, which are valid for two years, must be exchanged before midnight on November 30. Customers have several options to use them before they lapse.
Vouchers can be exchanged for double their value with more than 100 Clubcard reward partners. One of the new deals includes Tesco Tuesdays with Cineworld, where members can get cinema tickets for Tuesday showings for just £5 (or £2.50 in Clubcard Vouchers).
By following Martin Lewis's strategic waiting game, savvy shoppers can significantly cut the cost of their festive feast while also ensuring they don't lose out on valuable existing savings from loyalty schemes.
