Food: Crosslight’s money-saving tips

 Food shopping

• Check unit costs e.g. price per 100g kg to compare products: 

  • Larger amounts usually better value but not always 

  • Use to check if an offer is really a good deal or not 

• Buy in bulk if practical and needed (if you have the freezer / cupboard space for extras of course!) 

• Consider frozen alternatives, especially for fruit & vegetables: 

  • Often cheaper 

  • Often fresher e.g. vegetables frozen as soon as picked, fish once caught 

  • Useful for items such as garlic, ginger etc where using small amounts 

  • Check out Love Food Hate Waste for some great tips on using your freezer to maximum effect 

• Yellow sticker reductions – get to know your local supermarkets’ timings for reducing soon-to-expire food items

• Don’t shop when you’re hungry! You often end up buying more and less healthy food, and hunger can also cause you to spend more money on non-food items which you don’t actually need

• Shop online to ensure you don’t go ‘off list’ and are not tempted in-store 

• Shop savvy instore – beware marketing tricks e.g. chocolate bars by the tills! 

• Watch out for BOGOF and similar offers that you actually don’t need 

• Look up and down on supermarket shelves – we often choose the product at eye-level (which is where the biggest profit-makers are displayed) but better prices may be found above or below 

• Check out different aisles eg rice in the ethnic section as well as the rice & pasta aisle 

• Try using the hand-held scanners in-store to see a running total as you go round, ensuring you can stick to your planned budget 

• Try the brand downshift challenge and see if you can really tell.  Downshifting brands on your whole shop could save up to 30% of your grocery bill! 

• Shop around for specific products: 

• Try Trolley to find the cheapest supermarket for specific items 

• Try different shops for particular items eg pound shops for bin bags, local butchers for meat

• Make the most of loyalty / reward schemes: 

• Familiarise yourself with how the reward schemes work for any supermarkets you shop at and ensure you’re making the most of them.  

• Don’t forget the option to trade in points for vouchers to be used at other retailers, or petrol discounts etc.  

• Consider grouping up with other people / families and buying wholesale from e.g. Costco (check out the list of qualifying employment groups) to save money on certain items 

Meal planning and cooking

• Meal plan in advance, make a shopping list, and include using up ingredients - this enables shopping to be done in one go at the cheapest retailer (avoids expensive convenience top-up shops) 

• Batch cooking to save on ingredients, electricity/gas, and time (gives you a no-cook night whenever you use a pre-prepped freezer meal!) 

• Consider vegetarian (at least some of the time), for cost and health benefits  

• Consider growing your own fruit, vegetables and herbs – lots of help and inspiration on the RHS Gardening website 

• Check out low-cost recipes ideas such as those by Jack Monroe (Cooking on a Bootstrap), Beat the Budget or Thrifty Lesley; also ideas for budget meals on BBC Good Food, Sainsbury’s, Tom Kerridge’s and Jamie Oliver’s websites 

Reducing food waste

• We throw away almost 8 tonnes of usable food each year in the UK – the average family of 4 could save £60 per month if they cut down on their food waste

• Focus on fruit & veg as they are the most wasted item – freeze, make smoothies, use in other dishes  

• Use systems like arranging fridge in use-by date or app eg Kitche 

• Try online tools that suggest meals from your leftover food items e.g. Supercook 

• Understand food safety so that you can make the most of the food you have – see Best before and use-by dates | Food Standards Agency

Freebies / discount food

• Check out apps offering free or reduced food: 

• Olio offers free produce from local supermarkets & cafes etc 

• Too Good to Go offers the chance to buy unwanted items from cafes, restaurants etc at discount rates, as ‘magic bags’ that are always a surprise! 

• Sign up to other retailers whose products you like to be sent details of offers, freebies etc. e.g. a free cake on your birthday, or a free coffee when you download a café’s app etc. 

• Try a social supermarket or community grocery store, for no-stigma food shopping at bargain prices – check out The Message or Your Local Pantry, or try typing ‘social supermarket’ or ‘community grocery’ + the place you live into a search engine to find options close to you.  

• If you can’t afford food at all and need support from a foodbank, start by calling the Citizens’ Advice helpline on 0808 2082138 who can support you with additional needs and make a referral to a Trussell Trust Foodbank; you can also look at the IFAN website for a list of foodbanks that may not require referrals.