Food is something that we all need to stay alive and be healthy, and for most people, food takes up a large portion of the monthly budget – especially if you are feeding a family. The good news is that when it comes to grocery shopping, there are several things that you can do to save money on food while still eating well. It’s a common misconception that eating healthily costs more than being unhealthy, but with a few savvy money-saving strategies you can eat a balanced and varied diet for less and throw a few treats in too.
Consider Short Dated Food Items:
Many cupboard staples, tinned goods and snacks will be fine past their sell-by date. In fact, this date is only used as a guideline for supermarkets and is more about letting the supermarket know when they can no longer sell it rather than telling the consumer when it needs to be eaten by. You can often get away with eating long-life foods after they have gone out of date and if you don’t mind that, short dated food suppliers UK can be a great option for saving money. Low Price Foods is the cheapest online supermarket offering a range of cheap food online simply because it’s close to or past the sell-by date. You can get tinned and canned items that will still be perfectly fine to eat or snacks like chocolate and biscuits that should continue to last a while. If you want to save on products that are half the price you’d pay at the supermarket, check out Low Price Foods for the cheapest online food shopping.
Shop Around:
Going to one supermarket to get all of your groceries can be a convenient option but the truth is that shopping around can definitely be worth the little bit of extra time when you consider the savings that you can make. While it might not be possible to do this often if you do not live close by to many stores, consider checking out different supermarkets and budget stores wherever you can. If there aren’t that many grocery or bargain shop options near you, consider shopping online where you can often find long-life food items available to purchase in bulk at much cheaper prices.
Loyalty Cards:
Many supermarkets offer loyalty cards like Tesco Clubcard, Sainsbury’s Nectar Card, and Morrison’s More Card. If you shop at any of these supermarkets on a regular basis, you’re missing out if you don’t sign up for the loyalty scheme. They are all free to sign up to and provide you with a number of money-off benefits the more you shop. Using the card each time you make a purchase allows you to earn points every time you spend and these can later be converted into money-off vouchers to use when you shop, so it’s a great way to let your grocery shopping work harder for you. Recently, Tesco has introduced a new feature called Clubcard Prices, with many items discounted exclusively for ClubCard, members along with the points that you collect.
Have a Vegetarian Day:
Vegetables, pulses, beans and other vegetarian foods tend to be much cheaper to buy compared to meat items, so you can save a lot of money over time by committing to meat-free Monday or similar with your family every week. One day where you only eat vegetarian dishes will reduce the amount of meat that you need to buy for the week and it can actually have a much bigger positive impact on the planet than you might realise, which is great if you and your family want to try and do more to be kinder to the environment but aren’t quite ready to go fully vegetarian or vegan.
Plan Your Meals:
We’re all guilty of going grocery shopping and throwing things in the trolley just because they are on offer or because we like the look of them, only to find that we don’t really have anything that we can use to make the item into a meal. Going through your fridge, freezer and food cupboards before you go grocery shopping gives you the opportunity to plan some meals for the week ahead using what you have and decide which other items you are going to need to add to your shopping list to achieve them. And, you will also save money since you have a clear idea of the meals you’re planning for the week ahead, making it easier to stick to only buying what you need and avoid impulse buying when you’re at the supermarket.
Write a List:
Trying to remember everything that you need off the top of your head when you are in the supermarket can be frustrating. But it can also lead to you forgetting to get key items or buying things that you don’t actually need. Writing a shopping list is a simple exercise that will help you rescue the risk of overspending while food shopping and make it easier for you to ensure that you get everything. Stick to your list as closely as possible. If you don’t like written lists, there are several shopping list apps that you can download to your smartphone that can be very useful. If you live with housemates or a partner, a collaborative shopping list can be a great idea as you can all add the items that you need to one master list.
Try Some New Recipies:
When it comes to making your food for the week stretch, learning some new recipes can be a great idea as you might pick up some ideas that you weren’t even aware of. There are plenty of food blogs out there designed to help you make delicious meals for less; do some online research for budget-friendly meals and come up with a plan to spend less on each meal that you make. And, get adventurous – sometimes the best meals can be the ones that you come up with by using the ingredients that have been sitting in your cupboard for weeks.
Prepare and Freeze Vegetables:
While there’s an argument that fresh vegetables and meat always taste better, they do often tend to be more expensive, and then there’s the additional problem of them going bad if you don’t consume them quickly. Purchasing frozen goods is often a better idea since they last longer, but you can save even more money when you purchase fresh foods and pre-prepare them before placing them in bags in your freezer to use later. This is a great idea for frozen foods that are often more expensive due to the convenience of them being prepared such as chopped onions or mushrooms. If you’ve put together a meal plan for the week, this can help you save time too when you’re preparing your meals since you’ve done the bulk of the chopping and preparation work already.
Food is a necessary expense for most people whether you are living alone, as a couple, as a family or with friends or housemates. No matter what you like to eat, the good news is that there are plenty of savvy strategies that you can use to spend less on food without having to settle for unhealthy, cheap meals.
