FEELING the credit crunch yet? Spiralling food prices are adding £750 to the average family's annual shopping bill.

But we have to eat, don't we?

Ask anyone who has had to buy bread, rice and butter recently, and they will regale you with horror stories about how prices have risen.

There is no mystery as to why prices rise in a free market: supply and demand. If demand begins to outstrip supply, the price goes up.

But there is a way to cut back on your weekly budget: head for the reduced aisle in your local supermarket.

There is no need to splash the cash on premium brands if you don't want to. We have been out and about across Swansea Bay, finding out if you can dine like a king on a beggar's income. What we found surprised us.

Sirloin steaks at £3 for two, bread at 20p, whole chickens at £2 and king prawns, again at £2. And that's just for starters!

Princely treats can be found without too much trouble. And it is in some of the unlikeliest chains that you will find the best deals.

Tesco and Sainsbury's have been at it for years, of course. But our best buys of all were in Marks & Spencer in Swansea, of all places. It has just started discounting food for the first time in years.

Choose your shopping time correctly there, and you will halve what you might otherwise spend.

If it's a bargain you are after, put off your shopping trip until after 2pm at least. That's when the price cuts start to show up.

Other peak times are 5pm and again at 9pm.

Sell-by dates can be a bit of an issue, with many reduced lines right on the deadline.

But a lot of it can be frozen, making it a good investment for the canny shopper.

M&S says its price cuts have been launched nationwide after successful trials.

"It is now being rolled out in all stores,'' added a spokesman

"This means we are selling food that has reached its 'display until' date at a reduced price."

The new policy covers everything from packaged fruit to salad and vegetables, meat, fish and desserts.

"It is going very well indeed," one worker told us as we shopped there.

"Everyone loves a bargain."

Council worker Liz Morgan, from Killay, says she swears by the bargain buys now hitting the supermarkets in a big way.

"I always used to go for premium brands from the big four supermarkets," she says. "But experience has shown me it is not always the best.

"Buy well at places like Tesco and M&S, and you can really make some great savings.

"The first aisle I go to when I hit the supermarket is the reduced section. Choose properly, and you will be amazed."

Liz says that at a time when just about everybody is belt-tightening, it makes sense to buy wisely.

"Just because it is at or near its display date doesn't mean there is anything wrong with it. I freeze lots of stuff and use it weeks later. It saves me an absolute fortune. But they key is to time your visit correctly. Tesco has its best price deals on reduced food from the afternoon on."