Saving with Food shopping

Let’s face it shopping for food is an essential so how can we save a few pounds here?

Firstly the easiest thing to do and probably the most obvious – make a shopping list and stick to it. It is surprising how many people don’t do this and end up buying things they already have plenty of at home. Also planning meals ahead of time can also save money and more importantly save food waste. Wasted food is wasted money so plan ahead and save.

Next is what was put out as ‘the downshift challenge’. Put simply move down one rung on the brand you buy. So if you buy a top branded item try the top-of-the-range shop’s own (if is cheaper that is) if you buy the top of the range shop’s own try the shop’s own standard and so on. If you can’t tell the difference then stick to the lower level and save – ok it may only be a few pence but this added up over the entire shop and over the year it will soon add up. In the same vein my mum used to play a bit of a stunt as my brother would only eat the one brand of corn flakes and if it was any other on seeing the box he would refuse to eat them. So mum once tried buying the shops own and simply transferred the inner bag to the branded box – my brother only saw the box and still ate them and didn’t know the difference so she continued to do it only buying the branded one if the box design changed or became damaged.

Then there is always the ultimate downshift challenge – try a cheaper supermarket. In the UK the two supermarkets referred to as the ‘budget stores’ have seen an increase in sales as people have started shopping there to save money and seeing there is little difference – if any at all in the food quality they have stuck with them.

If you have the storage space buying bigger packs can work out cheaper as the price per 100g is lower. Now this may need a bit of maths at times as shops do not always display the prices in the same way. Some may be ‘price per 100g’ where another larger pack may use a different unit or different number of grams for the ‘price per’ bit.

Now we have the issue of the best before date on many items. This is exactly what it says – it is at its best before this date. This date has NOTHING to do with food safety and the food is still safe to eat after this date presuming it has not been opened and how it is stored. Hence just because this date has passed by a few days – or even a few months (or for tinned items even years) does not mean it should be thrown away. Again these dates are responsible for tonnes of food waste hence wasted money a year. 

However, you should never eat something which has gone past a ‘use by’ date unless you have frozen it as these are to do with food safety and are used on meat, fish, dairy produce etc.