I save £1,000 on my food shop by planning meals – you can too by following these easy tips
SHOPPERS are having to get more creative than ever to combat cost-of-living rises.
The average weekly food shop is rocketing, with customers paying £180 extra compared to last year.
As we reach day three of our special money-saving series, The Sun on Sunday’s Squeeze Team is working harder than ever to help readers with budgets.
The team’s Naomi Willis, who co-founded the blog SkintDad with husband Ricky, said: “There are still ways to save on your food shop, which can off-set other costs coming our way.
“Plan well, shop smart and take advantage of tech that can save you pennies that add up to pounds.”
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Laura Light, 36, says planning is the key to her saving nearly £1,000 a year on the average family shop.
The mum-of-two, who blogs at savings4savvymums.co.uk, husband Matthew, 41, a retail manager, and kids Holly, nine, and Abigail, seven, plan the shop each Sunday and spend less than £50 a week.
Laura, of Southampton, said: “We write down everything we are going to eat and drink and go through our cupboards, fridge and freezer to see what we already have. We let the children plan two meals so they feel included.”
She uses her slow cooker twice a week. For items not in her usual store, she sets up alerts on Google, to know when they are on offer elsewhere.
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Families waste an average of £720 on unused food a year, according to Waste & Resources Action Programme. But Laura only buys items in deals if she’s certain they will get eaten.
Bryony Lewis, 37, cuts costs buying yellow sticker items in her supermarket. The mum-of-two, who lives near Portsmouth with engineering manager husband, Dan, 36, and kids Theo, five, and Isabelle, three, runs T & Belle, selling parenting essentials and gifts. She said: “I got a large piece of beef, originally £10, which was down to £2.50 with a sticker.”
Bryony has also swapped brands for own-label items and uses a market-research tool where she has a scanner to zap goods and gets points to swap for vouchers.
Jenny Christian, 41, from Borehamwood, Herts, is mum to Carter, six, and twins Cooper and Cameron, four. She saves thousands with clever food shops and free days out. Jenny, who blogs at meplus3under3.wordpress.com and is married to IT manager Dean, 46, said: “There’s a parks website, freeparks.co.uk, that lists them.”
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Victoria Sully, 36, from Newquay, Cornwall, who blogs at lyliarose.com, uses a mix of cashback apps and store loyalty schemes, and got £600 back last year.
She, husband Ben, 38, and kids Bella, nine, and Reuben, seven, use apps such as SnapMyEats, Shoppix and HuYu.
BEAT THE 'BEST BEFORE DATE'
FAMILIES throw away food worth on average £303 a year due to it being past its “best before” date, says anti-food waste company Too Good To Go.
Co-founder Jamie Crummie said: “To tell if a food is good to eat, look at it, smell it, taste it and trust your judgment.
“Food with a “use by” date should not be eaten after that date, so try to use or freeze these.”
Below are the times past the best before date that you can use items.
BREAD: Store in the fridge to use for up to two weeks past the date.
CHEESE: Cut off hard edge then grate and freeze the rest.
CRISPS: Usually OK a month after.
YOGHURT: If it passes the look, smell and taste test, eat it up to a few weeks after best before date.
WHITE RICE: Keep in an airtight container and it can last for years.
BISCUITS AND CEREAL: If unopened or well stored, should be fine six months after the date.
PASTA AND PULSES: Keep for up to three years in airtight container.
TINNED FOOD: Safe to eat years after the date.
EGGS: Put in a bowl of water. If egg sinks, it’s fine. If it floats, it’s not.
MILK: If it’s gone off, it will go lumpy, smell funny and taste sour.