I’m the Del Boy of bargains – the 10 top tips I swear by to turn a fiver into a tenner, from Vinted to shop-sweeping

PUSHING a shopping trolley Sophie Bradbury, 25, is on a shelf-sweeping mission.

The mum-of-one, from Brighton, East Sussex, knows what bargains are on offer, has written a list and is taking no prisoners.

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Eyes on the prize, she heads straight for the discounted items in her local Asda.

First she grabs all the Lenor Scent Booster Beads bottles which are reduced by half price, saving £25

Then the former teacher grabs the last remaining 10 fabric softener bottles also reduced by 50 percent.

The haul is enough to keep her family’s laundry scented and soft for more than a year and is saving Sophie a staggering £50.

While other shoppers look shocked at her shelf-sweeping tactics Sophie isn’t bothered.

“I’m the Del Boy mum of shelf sweeping and money saving,” she says. “I refuse to pay full price for anything. People may be shocked at my money saving and money-making tactics. I don’t care.

“It’s helped my family save thousands. I’ve saved almost £1,200 for a family holiday using money saved by employing my Del Boy tactics.

“I stock up on discounted items and refuse to pay full price.

“I’ll flog charity shop finds on Vinted and eBay for a profit. You’re a fool if you don’t do the same.

“I’m addicted to bargains, money-saving and making money from nothing.”

She’ll turn a fiver into a tenner

“Give me a fiver and I’ll turn it into a tenner,”  she says: “It’s my tried and tested method to beat the cost-of-living crisis.”

Sophie lives with her long-term partner Adam Stenning, 27, an accountant, and their three-year-old son Albie and admits she wasn’t always so bargain conscious.

Before Sophie had her son, she always paid full price. 

“I was all new, all the time, desperate to keep up with everyone else,” she says.

But after Albie was born in July 2020 Adam decided to retrain as an accountant.

“I was on maternity leave,” she says. “Adam was back at college and had a part-time job at Costa. We had to radically cut our costs and save money. 

“Adam and I did a spreadsheet in September 2021 to look at our incomings and outgoings. I realised if we were to survive, I had to become a budget mum.”

Maternity leave = cost-cutting

Sophie started by working out every cost the family had.

“I set myself the task of seeing if I could find items cheaper and was shocked to see I was being lazy in not shopping for cheaper alternatives,” she says. “It didn’t matter if it was a duvet or doughnut, you can save money.

“When I first started, I second-guessed myself and was anxious. Then when I started seeing the savings I was converted. I didn’t care if people thought I was a cheapskate. All I cared about was our family saving money.”

She also started planning menus and sticking only to that grocery shopping list.“I decided to swap posh labels for own brand labels and tested it on a birthday party for Adam,” she says.

Sophie spent just £25, catering for 10 guests and bought only own-brand items and used yellow label items she’d frozen. 

“I served prawns, chips, pizza, mini canape sausages, chicken bites, crisps, nuts and a selection of dips and cheeses,” she says.

“Everyone told me how posh the food looked and how they loved the mini buffet style. No one guessed it was own brand. In the past I would have spent £200. I shocked myself.”

Successful budgeting

Spurred on by her success, Sophie hosted an own-brand barbeque, spending just £20 to feed 15 adults and children.

“I bought only own-brand canned goods and frozen meats,” she says.

“I stalked yellow label discounts and own brand sections for two weeks and saved up veggie burgers, beef burgers, sausages and own brand hot-dogs.

“I made potato salad from my own brand and mini potatoes, coleslaw using own brand mayonnaise, yellow sticker halloumi and dips I’d nabbed for 20 pence. I even served own-brand juice mixed with own-brand lemonade and own brand tinned fruit pieces as mocktails.

“When I told some guests it was all own brand and had cost £20 they refused to believe me.”

Sophie also believes in stockpiling bargains and says it made her an even more determined shelf sweeper.

“Many people take one item from a discount stand,” she says. “Other people ‘um and ahh’. I don’t. I know you have to ‘grab and go’. You can always take some back when you reach the cash register. 

“I’ve swept washing powder, tea towels, deodorant, baby bubble bath, baby clothes and more. If I see a massive discount I think of people I can gift it to or know I can on-sell it on eBay for more than I pay.

“Baby clothes discounted to 50p will definitely sell for more if you are willing to put in the effort on Vinted, eBay, Facebook Marketplace or other selling forums.

Sophie who has built a following of more than  110,000 followers on Instagram, Tik Tok, Youtube and her blog says it’s charity shops and car boots that bring out her real inner Del Boy.

“I go into vintage shops or vast car boots and give myself a £5 challenge,” she says.

“I will offer to take a box of items for a fiver rather than one for a quid and many car boot sellers will agree. It means I can get a box of baby clothes, or gardening supplies, kitchen utensils or other household items for a huge discount.”

At home Sophie picks what she wants to keep and use and then sells the rest on.

“I know when my local charity shops put out their new donations and plan my shopping then,” she says. 

“I will buy name brand items like Zara, Ralph Lauren, All Saints, and Armani by the bag because I know they resell online well.

“I will pay a quid for men’s Ralph Lauren shirt and sell them on for a fiver excluding postage. I’ve found Zara items and nabbed them for 50p or a pound and on sold them for a tenner or more.”

But there’s more hacks…

“You must be patient,” she says. “You might have to relist the item five times, but they will sell. It may sound tiresome but for me it’s money for nothing.”

Sophie refuses to gift new presents for birthdays or Christmas.

“I upcycle gifts or find a way of value adding to them. I’d rather gift a basket of homemade brownies made using own brand products than spend £15 on a designer batch from a posh cake shop.”

Sophie keeps track of her purchases and bargains and knows how much she saves each day or week.

“People get excited about saving money and then ‘fall off the wagon’ when they don’t get instant results.”

As part of ‘no spend January’ Sophie has fed her family on just food they have in the freezer. 

“I also encourage people to check their Tesco Clubcard points and any vouchers they might have and not know how to use,” she says. A proper Del Boy never lets a chance go by.”

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