How to save money when Food Shopping

All too often we return home from a shopping expedition and we are shocked at how much we have just spent. Here are a few frugal tips to help you control your grocery costs.

I have listed thirteen way of how to save money and the solutions are easy to follow. The thrifty, the bargain hunters and the frugal shoppers all know these tips and they use them everyday to save themselves hundreds of pounds a year.

• Always make a list before going shopping and try not to deviate from your shopping list.

• Always look for vouchers or coupons in your local newspapers or otherwise go online and search for vouchers or coupons and print them off.

• Whatever you do don’t take your children shopping as you will probably find it really hard to say no when they ask for something by them. They will end up costing you more at the till which will increase your shopping bill.

• Consider having your supermarket shopping delivered, it’s a great way of ordering what you actually need to maintain your weekly budget. If you look on their websites you will often see a free home delivery voucher or coupon worth £5.00.

• Try and cook all meals from fresh, they are healthier than ready-made-meals and far more nutritious. Invest in a cook book if you lack inspiration or knowledge or search the internet for a recipe and youtube now have videos showing you how to prepare anything from a hard boiled egg to a Beef Wellington.

• Look for a local Farm Shop with a butchery attached; our local Farm shop sells half a Lamb for £20 and half a Pig for £30 they are already frozen ready for the freezer. What a bargain! Great value for money if you have a large enough freeze.

• Consider using the supermarkets own-brand products rather than their premium brands as they are often the same or similar quality as the branded products but without the brand name and price tag.

• When last did you shop at your local town market?  The food is generally cheaper and fresher from your local market as they have lower overheads and can therefore pass on the savings to you.

• Use the discount supermarkets like Asda, Aldi and Lidl. There are big savings to be made here. Don’t worry about shopping here; the food is quality and the car park is full of expensive cars, which suggests that everybody is now shopping here – rich or poor were are all looking to save money on our shopping.

• Always ask yourself the BIG QUESTION “Do I really need that product or service?” Always consider alternatives. Don’t be enticed to buy the special offers like, buy-one-get-one-free promotions or the 30% off discount offer. It’s not a bargain if you don’t need it in the first place. Remember a bargain or an offer is either priced to get rid of stock quickly for a reason or it is priced into the product to start with.

• If you use Tesco’s or Sainsbury’s then I would recommend you obtain one of their loyalty cards. Over the course of a year you can accumulate many hundreds of loyalty points on these cards.

• Believe me when I say it’s great to go shopping and pay using your loyalty card. I currently have over £95 available to spend on my Sainsbury’s card. Whilst Tesco regularly send me £12.50 to £27.50 depending on the amount of shopping I have done in their store. They also give out 5p off a litre of petrol which can save you money. Most supermarkets have loyalty cards.

• Other ideas to consider are “best before date” these are foods and product that have passed their best before date. There is nothing wrong with the food or products. They are extremely cheap to buy and represent good value for money.

• Bargain hunters and frugal shoppers know that supermarkets have shelves where they offer products at a discount. Here you can find clearance lines, short-dated, out-of-date stock and produce about to go-out-of-date. My son lives off these shelves when we are on holiday and he has to fend for himself. He then tells us that it only cost him £18.28 to feed himself for a week. These shelves tend to full up at around 8pm in the evening.

• If you are on a very tight budget then consider using the self-check-out-tills. They allow you to scan all you’re shopping through the till yourself and you can see how much shopping you have bought and it allows you to control how much you buy. This prevents any embarrassment of going through a till with a big queue and finding you don’t have enough money and you have to ask to remove some of your shopping.

Your thoughts, experiences and comments are welcome. You can join the discussion below and leave your thoughts and experiences.

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