After the over indulgence of Christmas, January can feel like the longest month especially when it comes to making finances stretch to pay day. Experts who run the Facebook Group Feed Your Family for £20 have been sharing their best money-saving tips for the weekly shop to help people spend less.
Experts at MuscleFood and Feed Your Family for £20 suggest these money-saving tips:
Bulking mince dishes
“When making minced beef dishes like spaghetti bolognese, shepherd’s pie or chilli con carne crumble a wheat biscuit or two into the mixture – it will make the mince go further. Try adding oats too. They take on the flavours and no one will notice the difference.”
Freeze fruit and veg
“Buy end-of-day supermarket products such as vegetables and fruit and freeze them. They last ages and they’re often very, very reduced in price.”
Meal prep
“Meal prep and plan to save cash. Buy in bulk and snap up anything with a reduced sticker on, then spend one day prepping as many meals as you can to freeze for the week ahead.”
Cook from scratch
“Cooking from scratch is cheaper. Cook more than you need and pop in the fridge or freezer to enjoy another night.”
Never shop on an empty stomach
“Always do your food shop after you’ve eaten, so you’ll be full up and not wanting to buy everything in the supermarket.”
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Look low
“Make sure to look on lower shelves in supermarkets. This is where you’ll find the cheaper or budget options. The branded products tend to be at eye level.”
Joint a chicken
“Learn how to joint a chicken properly and you can buy a reduced fresh chicken, get a couple of meals out of it plus a soup and stock from the scraps and the bones.”
Bulk out
“Bulk out meals with lots of veg and lentils, and use markets, local butchers and even pound shops for bargains. Grate carrots and other veg into dishes such as spaghetti bolognaise to bulk out and get vegetables into unsuspecting kids.”
Compare online
“Plan your meals and compare prices online before going to the supermarket, and when you do only take the amount the website has said in cash so you can’t be tempted to impulse buy.”
Cooking lessons
“Really learn to cook, then you can make the most of any bargains you spot in the supermarket.”
Save energy costs
“If your freezer is empty towards the end of the month, fill with cardboard boxes and bottles of water – an empty freezer uses more electricity than a full one!”
Leftovers
“Use up leftover food for mish-mash dinners. Try an ‘eggy mess’, which consists of throwing five eggs, a chopped-up onion, a few slices of cold meat, cheese and boiled potatoes into a frying pan for an omelette style dinner the family will love.”
Freezer inventory
“Make a list of what is in your freezer and update it every time you take something out, this way you won’t end up with anything forgotten at the back of your freezer. Take the list shopping with you so you don’t buy duplicate products.”
Elaine continued: “I used to be in catering so I know the cost of everything in every supermarket – things have risen by like 30 percent.”
The food club she mentions is in Bristol but a quick Google search shows there are others across the UK.
These clubs are run by groups of people who pool time and buying power to save on high-quality, healthy food that is delivered to a drop-off location.
It’s another way of getting hold of cheaper food like yellow sticker bargains without having to fight for them at the supermarket.
