SAVVY shopper Kat Leech knows all the best snacks to pick up in M&S – and the ones that are best avoided.
The 29-year-old from Manchester has more than 130,000 followers on her popular TikTok and Instagram accounts, where she’s known as Kat Saves.
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She does this full-time helping shoppers find the best deals in their favourite supermarkets – and she’s exclusively told The Sun her recommendations for M&S shoppers.
The posh supermarket is known for its good quality food, and Kat says some of their items are identical to or even better than the branded versions.
One of her top picks is the tomato ketchup, which is only £1 for a 495g bottle.
“I honestly think it’s better than Heinz, it’s better than any other ketchup I’ve tried,” she raves.
For comparison, a 460g bottle of Heinz ketchup costs £2.50 on the Ocado website – so that’s a saving of £1.50 and you’re getting a slightly bigger bottle.
Another great dupe is the M&S Salt & Double Vinegar Extreme Ridge Cut Crisps, which Kat says is “completely identical to the Salt and Vinegar McCoy’s”.
You can get a six-pack of the McCoy’s Salt and Malt Vinegar for £2.35, while a 150g packet of the M&S version costs £1.70.
If you have more of a sweet tooth, Kat recommends the Extra Cream Custard Creams.
She says the biscuits are “so much nicer” than the custard creams you get in most supermarkets.
“I think normal custard creams don’t seem to have much cream in the middle these days, but the ones from M&S have got loads more in there,” she says.
Plus, they’re only 50p for a 175g pack.
Another of her picks is the High Protein Vegan Chocolate Crunch cereal, which is perfect for those wanting to get more protein into their diet.
“It’s one of those things I just buy every time I go to M&S – I just think it’s really nice,” she says.
It costs £3 for a 500g pack.
Kat also recommends that shoppers look out for the supermarket’s Pizza Night Dine In deal, which lets you get two pizzas and two sides for £12.
“All the pizzas in their pizza deal are also amazing and great value for money as well,” Kat says.
She likes the Mighty Meaty pizza in particular, which comes with marinated chilli chicken, pepperoni and dry-cured, oak and beechwood-smoked bacon.
The sides include onion rings, chips and mac and cheese bites.
M&S might have a reputation for being on the expensive side, but Kat says a lot of its fresh produce is good value.
“A lot of the salad vegetables, tomatoes, cucumber, lettuce, they’re exactly the same price as any other supermarket,” she says.
“But I think the quality is just a lot better. They last longer in your fridge.
“I’ve seen a lot of people complain that if you get like a cucumber from Aldi then it will just go off the next day or something. But I think with M&S, things like that just typically last a lot longer.”
Kat’s ultimate M&S pick
There’s one thing that Kat says stands out as her favourite M&S product of all time.
She says the ready-to-bake cookies are a must-try and she’ll go back for them “over and over again”.
You’ll find them in the freezer section in packs of six.
Kat says all you need to do is pop them on a tray in an oven and then bake, and you can eat them warm and fresh.
You can either get the 6 All Butter Triple Belgian Chocolate Cookies Frozen or there’s the Ready to Bake Belgian Milk Chocolate Cookie Dough.
The Triple Belgian Chocolate ones cost £4.50 while the Belgian Milk Chocolate ones are slightly cheaper at £3.50.
They might be a little on the pricey side but Kat says they’re “so worth the money”.
What should you avoid in M&S?
While Kat is a huge M&S fan, she says there are some products that aren’t worth the money.
For example, she isn’t a lover of their pasta ready meals as she says you can get similar ones much cheaper at other supermarkets.
“I tried the carbonara ready meal and I thought it might just have been a little bit expensive for what it was. You can get better or the same and cheaper elsewhere,” she says.
Kat also recommends avoiding ready-to-go lunches section as she believes they are “way overpriced for what you get”.
This is partly because M&S doesn’t do lunchtime meal deal offers, apart from in its train station or petrol station outlets.
She says that if you’re wanting to grab a quick ready made lunch, you’re better off trying elsewhere for better value.
The blogger says she recently got a caesar salad for £4.25 and it “had nothing special about it” despite the price.
“Something like that you could probably make yourself for a lot cheaper as well and probably make it nicer,” she says.
How to save money at M&S
Kat is also an expert at saving money on her supermarket shop.
As with all supermarkets, she says you should go in with a list so you don’t get tempted by the expensive desserts and snacks.
The 29-year-old also says to look out for M&S’s dine-in deals which pop up from time to time.
There’s the pizza one we mentioned earlier but there’s also similar deals for pasta, Indian food and date nights.
Plus M&S often has multi-buy offers like three for £12 or three for £8 on things like picnic food.
M&S does have a loyalty card but it works a little differently to the other supermarkets so you should familiarise yourself with how to use it.
Rather than letting you collect points, Kat says the Sparks card can help you get discounts off certain items or even free things.
She says the Sparks card works best if you shop at M&S regularly as it will give you more tailored offers – but that shouldn’t mean you spend there unnecessarily.
She will usually check for what offers are available on her loyalty card before she goes into the store.
Another of Kat’s tips is to stick to the M&S value range, which is known as Remarksable Value.
She says a lot of the prices in this range are similar to budget supermarkets like Aldi and Lidl.
But don’t forget to do a price comparison before you go to the shops.