How much do you spend on food every month? Go and have a look at your online banking and write down all those expenses you’ve spent at Asda or Tesco or perhaps at the corner shop. What do you spend on takeaways each week? If you’re looking at cutting the pennies and looking after the pounds, you need to start thinking about being frugal. We’ve got some of the best frugal living tips for you to help you spend less money on your food shopping.
Plan & Preparation
In order to be frugal you need to plan and prepare. Having these skills in your arsenal as integral. You know what you need and have plans in place about what you’ll be cooking when. What you need to get out of the freezer for what date and how long things will last for once you’ve bought them. When you get into the mindset like this, you’ll be able to easily work through a preparation list of a food plan for the week ahead.
Make A List & Stick To It
Impulse purchases are what make supermarkets and shops the extra money that boosts their profits. Do you really need that bar of chocolate at the tills? If you make a shopping list (preparation!) and stick to it when you’re going round the shops, you’ll only buy what you need.
Cook From Scratch
One of the best frugal living tips is to learn to cook from scratch. You’ll save money and get more taste! Making your own pasta dish is much cheaper than buying a ready meal. Create your own sauces, develop your own recipes, know what you like and how you can make it from scratch. These life skills will set you and your family up without relying on prepackaged meals.
Make Double The Amount
When you are cooking, double the ingredients and pop those extra meals in your freezer. You need to learn to love your freezer and make it work for you. Individual lasagnes in aluminium containers can easily be cooked from frozen. You’re likely to get a better deal if you buy more of the ingredients. Larger packets or amounts usually work out cheaper per 100g. It also reduces the amount of time you spend in the kitchen.
Take It With You
Instead of spending money on a coffee on the way to work or when you go out for the day, take a flask with you! You should also make your own lunch for the workday and this stops you spending a minimum of £3 a day on a meal deal. That’s £15 a week! Imagine what you could make for yourself for a week of lunches for £10 or less, saving you at least £5 and eating far more healthily!
Swap To Cheaper Cuts
Some meat is very expensive and this is where frugal living tips can come into play. Look at cheaper cuts which can be amazingly delicious in a slow cooker. Those cuts that aren’t perhaps quite as popular. You could even buy a whole animal and do the butchering yourself at home. Even if you don’t fancy that, there are some great pieces of meat which are affordable and just as delicious as the expensive cuts. You could even consider ditching meat altogether?
Grow Your Own
Have you considered growing your own food? Being self sufficient certainly helps when there are certain situations going on in the world. You’re less reliant on others providing your food. If the Covid-19 pandemic taught us anything it’s that shelves can be stripped bare in no time at all. If you have your own supply of food, even rearing your own chickens perhaps, you can survive longer. Even a small herb garden will help you add flavour to your food whilst cutting things from your weekly shop.
Love Leftovers
So many food leftovers go in the bin. I always remember the scene in The Incredibles where they are enjoying leftover night when Frozone turns up. Maybe you could introduce a leftover night to your weekly meal plan? Or use leftovers for the next day’s lunches? Perfect in a box to take to the office!
Make Your Food Go Further
If you’re making a chilli, bulk it out with beans to make it go further. Find ways to eat well and healthily without adding too much of an extra cost. If you have a large family with many mouths to feed, extra vegetables is a great way to fill the plates and it helps nutritionally too! You can even make one chicken last all week!
Following these frugal living tips and you’ll be able to live the life you want, without spending a small fortune on feeding yourself.
