As inflation drops to 10.1%, prices on the shelves are still high, but doing this one thing could help shoppers save money at the supermarket checkout.
Over the last few months, day-to-day prices have soared, from the cost of filling up the car with petrol to doing the weekly food shop, it's stung billpayers' budgets. Despite the rate of inflation falling to just above 10%, it's not enough to officially feel the effects of deflation, as food prices continue to rise.
At first, the drop in inflation figures released by the Office of National Statistics may come as a slight relief to consumers, but as further highlighted by the office, food like bread and cereals are rising at the quickest rate seen in the last 45 years.
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As the prices of staple food products show no sign of getting any cheaper, consumers are still looking for ways to save as much money as possible.
Getting rewarded for shopping at a certain supermarkets is one of the most common ways shoppers can claim back money, by using the points racked up on the next purchase. All of the major UK supermarkets offer versions of reward schemes, from Tesco's Clubcard points, Asda Rewards, Morrisons' More Card, Sainsbury's Nectar Points and the classic Sparks Card from M&S.
It's not the only step out there for shoppers to save, in fact, there's one cost-effective way buyers can use their supermarket rewards card to its full potential and get an additional percentage of money back into their bank account.
And it's all down to a specific setting on various online banking apps, which shoppers can activate on their debit card before heading to the checkout. The consumer team tried it out on a Sainsbury's food shop and got £5.24 back from spending £65, and here's how.
How to get money-off next supermarket shop
A handful of UK banks offer shoppers a percentage of cashback for using their bank card in certain stores, and supermarkets are one of the most frequently seen offers.
If you've ever spotted a small amount of money (between 45p and £5) debited to you from your bank you may have activated the offer without even realising. The first step to seeing if you could make use of the shopping 'hack' is to have access to a banking app, as this is where the offers appear.
On the Lloyds banking app for example, the cashback offers can be seen on the main app page, under 'every day offers'. Here is where the different retail offers can be found, all with varying prices. Including 8% back on Sainsbury's shops, 4% back from Booking.com, £50 back on SkyTv and 7% back from Argos.
Next, all shoppers have to do is activate the cashback offer on the app, to get the cashback all shoppers have to do is use their bank card in the offer store (or online) within the given time frame.
The options are endless and are likely to be different depending on who you bank with. Majority of UK banks offer their own versions of cashback offers to customers, Halifax, HSBC, Santander and Lloyds are just a few of the banks who give their customers money by shopping.
The UK banks that offer cashback
Banks includng Halifax, Santander, TSB and NatWest offer debit card holders cash bank through their separate online banking apps, so it's definitely worth shoppers checking their private account to find offers.
NatWest currently offer its online customers 6% cashback and its partners include Morrisons, Cafe Nero and Argos. Santander also has Argos on their list along with Greggs and Tesco as their main supermarket partner.
Halifax offers its customers up to 15% cashback on both debit and credit card purchases, with Sainsbury's as their main supermarket partner offers also include JustEat and Harvey Nichols (to name a few). Lloyds also up to 15% cashback offers to debit card customers.
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