One of the most immediate ways to save money on your spending is to cut back on your grocery bills.
This doesn’t mean eating less, it just means eating smarter so that you save money on food.
If your family is anything like mine, then they eat a whole lot.
And it’s not just the kids that I can blame for this. As me and my husband no longer go out to eat as much – because, parenthood – we now look to make nice meals at home.
We have often fallen into the trap of deciding we don’t “fancy” any of the food we have in the fridge or freezer. Then we either go to the supermarket and spend more money on food to make something extravagant or we end up having a takeaway.
So while going out for fewer meals at restaurants is saving us money, we have still been guilty of overspending on our weekly grocery budget.
Unfortunately food prices have skyrocketed recently, making it hard for even savvy shoppers to save on their grocery bill. There are still things you can do however!
These brilliant tips can help you to instantly cut back on your weekly spending, putting extra pounds in your pocket.
Using these could cut a third or more off the average cost of your weekly food shop.
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Ways to save money on food shopping
If you’re looking to save money on food shopping then follow this guide.
1. Pick your supermarket carefully
Most of us find a supermarket we prefer geographically and practically and stick with it. However we could save hundreds a year by switching.
Opt to shop at budget supermarkets such as Aldi, Lidl and Asda in the UK, for example. You will see a big difference to your weekly grocery bill when compared to Waitrose, Sainsbury’s and Tesco.
The consumer website Which? found that shoppers at Waitrose can pay as much as 24% more for their food shop compared to Aldi in their supermarket comparison.
If you have the time, you could shop around and buy fresh produce from your preferred supermarket then household cleaning and non-perishable foods from cheaper supermarkets.
Use the website Trolley to compare prices easily between supermarkets and see where would work out cheapest for your needs.
2. Meal planning
It’s often easier said than done to stick with your weekly meal plan, but by doing this you will waste less food and save more money.
By meal planning you can avoid expensive top-up shops in between your main weekly shop and keep yourself from succumbing to takeaway temptation.
I suggest sitting down with your other half and your kids to discuss what everyone would like for food in the next week.
Have a look at new recipe ideas that have caught your eye. I often bookmark recipes I have noticed online to try on another day.
Try to make fresh ingredients last for more than one meal. For example, when buying a roasting joint for Sunday lunch think about what you could use that leftover meat and veg for the next day.
I often use the leftover meat and roast potatoes in a curry. Or I chop up the potatoes and fry them in a pan then serve them as fried potatoes with the cold leftover meat.
If you’ve bought a whole cauliflower which you won’t eat in full in one meal for your family, plan another meal that uses the other half of the cauliflower so it doesn’t end up in the bin.
3. Be wise to fake offers
Supermarkets have really upped the ante with deals. Every aisle you walk down there are deals everywhere you look.
But they are not all real deals! Tesco introduced its Clubcard Prices not too long ago, and while the scheme makes it absolutely worth it to have a Clubcard and always bring it shopping with you, some of their deals are a little misleading.
For example I’ve seen a Clubcard price drop on a bag of rice, but then noticed the larger quantity of the same rice is priced the same by the gram. So it’s not really a deal.
The lesson here is to only buy what you actually need, and be really savvy to what constitutes an actual deal and what doesn’t.
4. Stock up when prices drop
Supermarket prices fluctuate all of the time. It’s kind of infuriating!
While I can’t keep track of exact prices all the time, I do have a vague idea of the key items we buy and what they should cost.
That means when I see the prices fall to the best price – ie on our favourite OJ or rice – then I will buy extra so that we are stocked up. The price is bound to rebound up to the more expensive cost soon, so I buy when the price is right.
5. Visit the supermarket once a week
Once you have your meal plan make a really good list and stick with it.
Only visit your supermarket once a week, so that you avoid expensive top-ups that you don’t really need.
The more you’re at the supermarket, the more likely you are to buy little extras that you don’t really need such as snacks.
6. Restrict your takeaways
Give yourself a treat once in a while, but stick within your budget.
We have takeaways roughly once a month, but often less these days. I find it impossible to find a takeaway for less than £20 so this is a big saving for us.
Bonus tip!
7. Stock check
Always keep an eye on what you already have!
When you’re making a shopping list for your weekly supermarket trip, shop your own kitchen first.
You won’t need to buy more rice if there’s already half a pack in the cupboard.
Double check your non-perishable items before you go shopping, so that you don’t end up doubling up.
And don’t forget to check the freezer for leftover meals, meat and veg. I often find half finish bags of frozen chips in there, so it means I can cross that off my list to buy!
If your kitchen is anything like mine, then you could use the space anyway!
8. Buy in bulk
Larger packages of meat such as mince will generally cost you less overall.
If you cannot cook it all then freeze it, portion out the meat into freezer bags and freeze for another day.
It’s the same principle with packets of rice and pasta and flour. The bigger the pack, the less it costs you overall.
Organise your kitchen so that you can cope with larger bags of rice and pasta. Try decanting them into plastic boxes to make them easier to dispense.
9. Bulk cook
It’s much cheaper to make three meals for your family in one go than it is cook that same meal three separate times.
Get your large package of mince or other meat, as described above, and make one huge pot.
To store, try using these fab little foil boxes which help you to portion the food out much easier, and they stack neatly in the freezer.
Good meals for bulk cooking include:
- Pasta sauce (chuck in loads of vegetables for extra goodness)
- Curry
- Bolognaise sauce
- Shepherd’s pie
- Casseroles
10. Look for food on sale
If you go shopping in happy hour, which is the last couple of hours of store opening time, then you will find lots of deals on meat and other produce.
Most stores have a section for products they need to sell that day. Sometimes you will need to be eagle-eyed to spot the yellow discount stickers.
If food is going off that day, be sure you will be able to consume it on that day or that it is suitable for home freezing.
11. Freeze your bread
We eat a lot of bread so it doesn’t get a chance to go mouldy in our house!
But if you don’t eat that much, try freezing half of your loaf after getting it home from the supermarket.
In hot weather especially you will find it goes mouldy way too fast and you end up binning most of the loaf.
You can toast bread straight from the freezer.
12. Eat your leftovers
When you cook a meal, plan to have the leftovers for lunch the next day.
My husband will often snag the children’s uneaten fish fingers and put them into sandwiches for lunch the next day.
13. Freeze your veg
If you blanch fresh veg in boiling water for around a minute, then plunge into ice water to cool and pat dry, you can freeze it!
This is perfect for green beans and other veg! Be sure to freeze it in an airtight container.
You can also freeze your fresh fruit, no need to blanch it! For delicate berries, spread them out on a tray and put that into the freezer first. Once frozen, transfer to a box or container.
14. Organise your kitchen
Make it easy to find things in your kitchen to avoid losing jars and packages at the back of your cupboards.
I use these amazing boxes for the top shelves of my cupboards. It means I can pull everything out of the cupboard quickly without having to climb to the top of a ladder to see.
With your fridge, have a system for organising things so that different types of items are kept on different shelves and take stock regularly.
When things are getting close to being out of date, think of a way you can use them up, even if it means freezing what you cook to avoid wasting items.
15. Try these great value recipes
Find recipes that use fewer ingredients and that work with what you already have in bulk in your store cupboard.
- Spaghetti with vegetable pasta sauce
- Jacket potatoes with chilli or cheese
- Ratatouille
- Casserole made using cheap cuts of pork or beef
16. Buy a whole chicken
A whole chicken works out as better value for money than buying breasts and thighs separately.
You could butcher the chicken raw, or cook it whole and then use the meat for two or three different dishes depending on how many are in your family!
I often make a large chicken stretch over three days. I’ll make a roast dinner, then a chicken curry and then chicken sandwiches for lunch. You can then boil up the carcass to make stock and/or soup!
17. Ditch brands
I’ve been so guilty of assuming a branded product must be better than a supermarket-own product.
They can be more than half the price and yet do exactly the same job, or taste the same.
Next time you’re shopping try swapping your branded goods, from flour to eggs and painkillers to tinned foods, and see if you can really tell the difference.
Also think twice about buying supermarket’s own “elite”, higher end products which can be way more expensive. The packaging may look nicer but really you won’t tell the difference once it’s cooked.
18. Cook for the whole family
Try to cook just the one dinner for your entire family. This can be tricky with fussy eaters, so find creative ways to hide the veg, such as blending sauces so the veggies are hidden.
If the grown-ups in your family want something with spice, but the kids aren’t keen, cook a mild version first and then remove a portion for the kids, then add spice to the pot for the adults.
19. Eat less meat
Bulk out your meals with lots of veg, beans, pulses or rice and pasta.
Either put less meat in your cooking, making your packages of meat stretch for more meals, or have at least one meat-free day a week!
Meat-free Monday is a growing trend and there are tons of ideas for what you can do on these days. It’s good for your diet too to make an effort to eat more vegetables.
20. Choose cheaper cuts
Opt for cheaper cuts of meat to save cash. Choose lamb shoulder instead of chops and pick beef silver side joints instead of fillet.
If you cook these cuts in a slow cooker you can make them tender and delicious.
21. Don’t buy pre-prepared veg
Veg that’s been cut for you might save you time, but you pay the price for that. Choose raw vegetables and do the peeling and chopping yourself.
22. Eat before you shop
Never shop hungry!
You will be tempted to buy way more, and I always end up buying more snacks and unhealthy foods when I have an empty stomach.
23. Take advantage of store cards and points
Always sign up for free store cards. When you get your vouchers or collect your points, remember to cash them in.
Although some of the store reward schemes are very disappointing these days – we’re looking at you Sainsbury’s and your decision to ditch Double Up! – it’s still worth using them. Otherwise you’re losing money on your shop.
For example Sainsbury’s now has a My Nectar Prices scheme with offers specifically for you and offers throughout the shop. It’s similar to Tesco’s Clubcard scheme.
Always have your store cards with you.
We often save our Sainsbury’s points up and use them on the Christmas shop at the end of the year. It means that shop, which is always the biggest of the year, is normally free or just a few pounds.
24. Replace fresh with frozen
Buy frozen veg and fish fillets so that your produce is less likely to go off before you get a chance to cook it.
It also often works out cheaper to buy these items compared to fresh.
Some foods are as much as 50% cheaper per kg – including things like chicken breasts and green veg – when you buy frozen.
While the taste and texture may be slightly different, once you’ve got used to using it you won’t notice much of a difference.
25. Make sauces with tinned tomatoes
Jarred pasta and curry sauces can cost up to £3 or more a go.
A tin of tomatoes costs as little as 35p. You can add spices and herbs from your store cupboard to flavour the tomatoes up and transform them into a stew, curry sauce, pasta sauce or ragu.
26. Avoid corner shops and petrol stations
While shopping local at corner shops does support small businesses, you may also find they’re a lot more expensive.
Petrol station shops owned by large supermarkets also tend to be quite a bit more expensive than the larger branches, so avoid buying any of your food from these.
27. Choose dried beans and pulses
Canned beans and pulses are more convenient but they are also more expensive to buy than bags of the dried products.
The dried beans may take a little longer to prepare as you will need to soak them before cooking, but if you plan ahead the saving will be worth it.
28. Use a slow cooker
We have this slow cooker. I love it and it’s so easy to use!
Your slow cooker can make cheaper cuts of meat more succulent and tender, plus slow cooking sauces makes the flavours really amazing!
Thanks to the large capacity of slow cookers, you can also use them to bulk cook so that you can freeze the extras for another day.
By bulk cooking you’ll purchase larger packs of meat and veg, which often does work out cheaper overall.
29. Use cashback
Although you may get as little as 1% cashback from some stores, it’s still a regular saving worth having.
My favourite supermarket cashback app is JamDoughnut. You buy gift cards for the big supermarkets through the app then use them at the checkout on your phone.
I’ve earned well over £50 since I started using it.
30. Grow your own herbs
Instead of buying bags of fresh herbs every time you need them, try growing your own in your garden!
You can actually use leaves from a bags of herbs to grow new herb plants. There are lots of tips for growing herbs from cuttings on the RHS website.
31. Try Too Good to Go and Olio
Both these apps aim to cut food waste.
Too Good To Go works by selling your a Magic Bag of mystery food that is set to go past its sell-by date shortly.
Big shops such as Morrisons, Aldi and M&S are on the app, as well as local cafes and restaurants. The only issue is you don’t know what you will get, and some bags are really hard to put together a coherent meal.
It’s not good for fussy eaters. Read my Too Good To Go review.
The Olio app connects people with excess food with people living close by. You browse the app for foodstuffs in your local area, then arrange to collect it. The food is free.
Final thoughts on saving money on your food shopping
So there you have it! With a little more forward planning and creativity you can save a ton of cash on your grocery shopping.
Remember to treat yourself occasionally too, so that you don’t fall off the wagon.
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