Trolleys at Dawn

These times, friends, are difficult times. We are, at this moment, caught up in a grisly war. But these armies fight not with bombs or guns, but with loyalty points and discount vouchers. The Great Supermarket Price War is upon us.

Tesco seems to be losing. Well, if you call owning a majority market share losing. First they were forced to back out of rivalling ASDA's lower price guarantee and now their Big Price Drop has been labelled a Big Price Hike. It seems that a lot of the products they pledged to reduce the cost of, they had increased the cost of in previous weeks. Cheers to the Times for spotting that one.

They have also announced their worst sales figures in 20 years. People are quite literally shopping elsewhere.

ASDA's Price Guarantee shows no sign of slowing, though I may grow tired of fishing through other people's receipts in order to claim a 15p money off voucher.

Sainsbury's is also assembling its troops, offering money off vouchers on branded items if their prices are not the same or lower than other supermarkets.

The practical upshot for us is not as brilliant as it might seem. Supermarkets are vying for our attention, but they still want our money more. So, no matter how much they offer to drop the price of one item, they're still going to raise the price of others.

My advice is, just ignore them. Tesco supposedly put half a billion pounds on the "Big Price Drop". That might sound like a lot, but we won't see an awful lot of it. Also, they wouldn't have put half a billion in if they didn't think they'd get it back.

They are after our money. Remember though- we are after their food.

Doing the accounts

I've been doing my accounts. Forgive me for being mental, but I actually enjoy it. I feel like I'm getting something done, taking control of my life. I've been budgeting for the year ahead, and I've realised that I don't have to give things up in order to be comfortable with my finances. Here are a number of tips:

-Get a job. Too many students dismiss it. It doesn't even have to be hard. Apply for every bit of zero-hour and part-time work you can. When something turns up, you'll be grateful for it. An extra £50-100 a week can make a significant impact on your finances.
-Write lists. Think of all the things you want or need, money no object. Then prioritise them. Then, when you feel compulsed to go shopping, get the items at the top of the list. That way, you avoid making impulse buys you'll regret later.
-Be aware of when payments come in and when they go out. It's no good thinking you'll be alright at the end of the month if your pay comes in on the 21st but your rent goes out on the 18th. I certainly made that mistake with my mobile phone contract. Money that goes out next week is money you don't have.

If anyone has any other tips they'd like to share, comment, or email sachtastic@aol.com

Moneytastic is online!

Welcome to Moneytastic, an offshoot of the Sachtastic blog dedicated to the less boring side of financial matters. From handy saving tips with your home finances, to humorous discussion of the economy, it's all here, every Wednesday.

Just a quick tip on how to save on your food shopping- ASDA, as you will probably know, are advertising their Price Guarantee, whereby you enter the receipt details and, if your shopping is less than 10% cheaper than it would have been at their competitors, they give you a voucher for the difference.

I'm not saying shop at ASDA. I'm just saying, if you do, this is well worth it. I've done it five times, and out of those five, received a voucher twice. Not for life-changing amounts of money, but still, for money.

As with loyalty card schemes, the trick is not to get too swayed by the offer. The money back is a reward for shopping with the company, and not an incentive to do it again.