'I tried a Martin Lewis challenge on my Asda big shop and saved a lot of money'

The cost of living crisis has seen food prices soar, leaving many families dreading the weekly shop as they try to make ends meet.

In a bid to keep costs down, shoppers are increasingly skipping those little luxuries and sticking to the bare essentials. But even with a tight grip on the purse strings, most of us can't resist sneaking in a treat or two.

Enter the 'Downshift Challenge', a savvy shopping strategy promoted by ' Money Saving Expert site, designed to help you 'slash food bills' without much fuss. The idea is simple: switch from your regular brand to one that's cheaper, and if the taste holds up, make the swap permanent, reports .

"The point of this system isn't to force you to drop down a brand level on everything, but to ensure you're not spending money for no reason," the Money Saving Expert site advises. "If you can't tell the difference between the lower brand level goods, then why pay more for it."

Curious about its effectiveness, parenting editor Emma Gill decided to put the 'Downshift Challenge' to the test during her latest haul and the savings were surprising.

In some instances, it meant swapping the big brands she'd typically purchase for Asda's own and with others, it meant opting for its cheapest Just Essentials range. Many of the budget items are located on the bottom shelf.

Some of the price differences were actually quite shocking. For instance, a pack of 12 Asda Beef Stock Cubes cost her 80p, while a box of a dozen Oxo cubes would have set her back £2.40.

The same was true for the gravy - £1 for a 200g tub of Asda's Gravy Granules, but £2.80 for a smaller 190g tub of Bisto.

There were plenty more examples too, like Asda Red Cabbage £1.30 for 420g and Baxters Red Cabbage £2.40 for 440g, Asda's 12 Yorkshire Puddings 95p compared with 10 Aunt Bessie's for £2, and Asda's Butter for £1.89 compared with Country Life for £2.50.

Ditching some other big brands worked too. Asda's Wholemeal Bread Flour cost Emma £1.05 for 1.5kg, whereas the Allinson's brand is £1.70 for 1kg.

Asda's Gold Tea Bags were £1.39 for a pack of 80, compared with £2.50 for Tetley and they were just as good. And while Emma's kids are usually quite fussy over the Ski Smooth yoghurts for £1.45 a pack, they were just as content with Asda's Greek Style Strawberry Yoghurts for 99p.

Asda offers a fantastic deal on Heinz products, being one of the few where you can snag five for £5. However, it's even cheaper to opt for Asda's own brand tins, with Ravioli priced at 79p and Beans and Sausages at 56p.

Naturally, there are some compromises to be made when trimming costs, and only you can determine if a product meets your standards. Emma found Maris Piper potatoes to be the best for mashing, so stuck with those, and at £1.79 for 2kg, the price matches Aldi's.

To find lower-priced meatballs, she had to choose the 12% fat option, which was on sale for £2.60 per pack, instead of £3.75 for the reduced-fat version. The Honey Roast Ham for £2.75 for 400g contains 76% pork, compared to the Finely Sliced Honey Roast Dry Cured Ham, which is 97% pork and costs £4.

Among the swaps Emma made, there were very few that she wouldn't purchase again. She said: "The Creamy Tomato Pasta Bake for example was a big hit with the kids and cost just 69p for a 500g jar. Homepride's smaller 485g jar is £2.50.

"I found it was the same with household items too, like bleach for 70p compared to Domestos for £1.50, Sponge Cloths for £1.50 compared to £3.50 for the Spontex brand and a four-pack of Asda Microfibre Cleaning Cloths for £1.80, compared to £3 for the branded ones."

Abandoning other big brands also resulted in significant savings. Asda's Lemon Slices were priced at £1.10, a stark contrast to Mr Kipling's £2.75.

However, it's not a one-size-fits-all strategy. When Emma reached for the chicken breasts in the Just Essentials range, she noticed that the £6.19 per kg price was actually higher than Asda's main meat range, which was £6 per kg due to a Price Drop offer. This is something Money Saving Expert advises shoppers to consider when undertaking the challenge.

"Of course, let's not go extreme on this," it suggests. "If there's a 2for1 on a higher brand (and you'd use both packs) making it cheaper than downshifting, stick with the higher brand."

According to MSE, "downshifting typically reduces grocery bills by 30%. Even if you only swapped half the items, that's still a 15% saving."

In Emma's own shopping experience, she saved an impressive £45.49 on the products she swapped. She said: "It's definitely something I'll be doing again, whichever supermarket I'm in."

An Asda spokesperson said: "Asda is consistently recognised as the best value traditional supermarket in independent price comparison surveys, including the Grocer 33 basket comparison and the Which? monthly big shop trolley comparison. This is despite these surveys now including loyalty pricing.

"In addition to offering the lowest prices of any traditional supermarket, our customers can make further savings by using the Asda Rewards app. The app gives them money back into their Cashpot each time they shop, which they can use to reduce the price they pay at the till. In less than two years since its launch, Rewards is now used by over six million customers who have saved more than £580.5m in total."