Fancy avoiding the travelling, the screaming children and unforgivable queues? Well now you can – by simply shopping online. If you haven’t already signed up for one of the supermarkets’ delivery services then it’s time to give it serious consideration. If you go about it the right way you should end up better off – both in time and money.

• Save time, petrol and money by ordering your groceries online and getting them delivered.
• How much it costs to get your shopping delivered
• Sign up with Tesco or one of the other supermarket sites for free
• Use MySupermarket to find out which supermarket can supply your shopping cheapest.
• Cheap supermarket shopping tips

Even if you live on your own, with a bit of planning you can save a lot of time and money just by having groceries and other supermarket goodies delivered. You might have done it a while ago and then got bored. Think about doing it again. There are advantages if you’re clever at it.

Before you start…

What we do recommend is that you sign up to MySupermarket by clicking here. It’s a fantastic website where you select your chosen supermarket (from Adsa, Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Ocado), and do your online shopping through the easy-to-use MySupermarket site. It keeps a running tab of how much it would cost you at the three other major supermarkets and if you find at the end that you’d like to switch supermarkets you can do this at the click of a button.

What you save by getting shopping delivered

• Loads of time and energy that can be put to excellent money-making use by completing an online survey, signing up to rent out your driveway, or loads of other money-making ideas.
• Having to lug loads of washing powder, potatoes, tins and whatever else all the way home.
• Having to queue and wait while the person in front slowly finishes packing their bags before painstakingly fingering through their purse to find insufficient small change to pay for the shopping.
• Having to plan the child-friendly, military-style shopping trip.
• Having to persuade your kids that those shiny chocolate bars do not form the basis of their diet.
• The environment and your wallet because you’ll save on petrol.
• Most importantly; money. Shopping online means you go straight to the items you want and you don’t end up being tempted by special offers on items you don’t need.

What it costs

• Tesco charges £4 – £6 for a delivery depending on the time of delivery (to deliver within a two-hour slot). Be aware that you do have to have a Clubcard to shop online.
• Asda charges £3.50, £4.50 or £5.50 depending on which day you require delivery.
• Sainsbury’s charges £3.50, £4.50 and £5.50 for delivery.
• Waitrose don’t charge for delivery, but you have to spend at least £50 on your order.

We reckon this is easily a price worth paying for the added convenience of having the stuff delivered – and the cash you can save by stocking up with heavy bulk items rather than grabbing the easiest option.

However, if you were to drive to the supermarket, the journey would cost you at least 35p per mile (according to AA estimates), plus potential parking costs. So to get to an out-of-town shopping centre the cost plus parking will easily be £1 or £2.

So let’s assume that you are making the most of the delivery and having as much of your weekly/monthly shopping dropped off as possible. How much time will this save you – one hour, two? An hour of your certainly should be worth the £3 extra if you are following our money-making tips. The links are repeated at the foot of this article so there are no excuses!

The next steps

1. Sign up for one of the supermarkets, such as Britain’s biggest Tesco, online shopping and delivery programme. It’s free and you are not obliged to buy anything. Remember that you can still collect loyalty points from shopping online, so make use of your Nectar card or Clubcard when you shop. You can also use points that you collect online and get even more than you would instore.
2. Make a shopping list of all the items that you are going to need over the next week or two.
3. Find a time/day when you will be at home to receive the stuff and place the order by the morning before.
4. Use the time you have saved to do at least one money-making fun activity, like the ones we suggest in our Make Money section.

Extra tips

• Make full use of the shopping list provision that Tesco and some of the other supermarkets offer where you see your last shopping list and either submit that again or change it a little. It makes it faster and easier and is even safer for you because it stops you being tempted to buy something you don’t want (they’re getting cleverer online just as they are in the shops).
• Get together with a friend or neighbour and buy together. That way you only have to pay one delivery charge between you. If you use your clubcard for the order then you get all the points!
• Don’t forget the non-food items that you can get online at supermarkets too. Clothes, furniture, bikes etc can all be ordered and delivered and you can get points for them too.
• If you check out MyVoucherCodes.com before you reach the online checkout of your chosen supermarket you might be able to find a promotional code for either free delivery or discount on your ‘basket’. Simply enter the code when they ask you for it.
• When it comes to paying for your shopping, remember to use a rewards credit card if possible (if you’re the sort of person who pays off your bill every month) to maximise the points. You could use the American Express Platinum MoneyBack Credit Card  and get cashback, or get Avios with the Lloyds TSB Duo Avios Credit Card Account. Do this and you could get a holiday out of your supermarket shopping.

Useful links

• 12 top money-saving tips for families
• MySupermarket
• Tesco
• Asda
• Sainsbury’s
• Lloyds TSB Duo Avios Credit Card

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