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6 Tips for Saving Money on Food – CNUK Frugal Foodie Campaign

money saving food

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Cutting down the cost of our weekly food shop has been a mission of mine for over 3 years now. We’ve tried various different money saving tips that we’ve heard of from others. Some have worked really well and others have been a waste of time. 

Today I’m going to share with you my top 6 tips for saving money on food but first I want to let you know about the CNUK Frugal Foodie Campaign…

CNUK Frugal Foodie Campaign

Contact Numbers UK has asked me to take part in their Frugal Foodie Campaign. They want to hear my best tips for saving money on food including utilising club cards, taking advantage of deals, saving money and other frugal foodie tips.

Who are Contact Numbers UK? They are a specialist service that allows customers easy access to a database of telephone numbers such as Sainsbury’s, Morrisons and Tesco, perfect for when you want to get in touch with them to see if you’re getting the best deals and the most out of your club card!

Below are my tips, all from our personal experience. Our weekly food shop on average is now between £40-£55, (it varies depending on whether Mummy needs wine that week or not!) That amount is for a family of four and one dog.

How to save money on food

6 Tips for Saving Money on Food

Don’t meal plan!

6 Tips for Saving Money on FoodI know you are probably going to think I’ve lost the plot with this one. Every money saving expert will tell you that meal planning is a must if you want to save money but hear me out.

If you meal plan you have a very rigid list of items that you require. So what happens if those particular items aren’t on offer that week? You end up paying more than you might another week.

The one thing that has drastically reduce our weekly food shop bill is going with the flow. Every week we go into the store and see what’s on offer that week. We then create meals around what we’ve bought. This does require a bit of thinking on your feet but worth it for the cost savings.

Check Out The Reduce Aisles

You know that aisles that you always ignore. The one where the food has those big yellow stickers on them and you don’t want to look like a cheap skate by hovering by it? That is where you are going to find the best deals of the day.

Yes, most of the food is at its best before date but it’s not a use by date. The difference is best before has nothing do with the safety of the food. In other words, it won’t harm you if you eat it but it may not be at its best.

The use by date, however, is another story and could potentially cause harm if eaten after that date. Once you know the difference you can snap up some great bargains.

One thrifty blogger I know managed to get 2 weeks worth of meat for under £5! She froze it all as soon as she got home.

Don’t Skip The World Food Aisle

This is a tip that I have only recently discovered myself and I’m so glad I did. The world food aisle at your local supermarket is hiding a secret from you. It’s where you can get items that you would ordinarily buy in another aisle for less money!

Naan bread is a good example. I used to get my naan bread from the ‘normal’ section with the Indian sauce jars, the rice packets and so on. All with brands that I recognise. However, if you take a trip down the world food aisle you can often find naan bread that is 20p cheaper.

The savings don’t just stop at naan bread though. You can also often find chopped tomatoes, chickpeas, instant noodles and even ham cheaper. Take a look the next time you’re in store and see what savings you can make.

Saving Money on Food

Buy Supermarket Own Brands

Don’t discount the supermarket own brand items. A lot of them are very good and you wouldn’t know the difference between them and the leading brands.

We experimented with different ones until we found switches that we liked. We now buy supermarket own baked beans, ketchup, butter, cheese the list goes on. Don’t be a brand snob as it will end up costing you more.

If you really can’t get over having supermarket own brand items in your cupboard then why not consider having glass jars that you can transfer the items into when you get home. No one will know and you’ll save yourself money in the long run.

Use up Your Leftovers

Before you even get into the supermarket you can make savings at home by using up your leftovers. 13 billion pounds of edible food waste was thrown away from UK homes in 2015. *Love Food Hate Waste

We use all of our leftovers. A meal that you had one night will still be good for 3 days after you’ve cooked it if kept in the fridge. Just remember the 3 days and out rule. If you’re not going to eat it before then you can always freeze it for another day.

There are also lots of things you can make from leftovers. Like crisps from your potato skins. They’re really easy to make, don’t cost you anything and taste great.

Related Post: Homemade Potato Crisps

Reduce food waste

Take Advantage of your Club cards 

Using your club cards every time you shop is a great way to get some extra bargains. Personally, around September time we start to only shop at one supermarket instead of shopping around like we normally do.

We then remember to use our club card for that store every time we go. Normally this gives us a good amount of money saving vouchers just before Christmas. One year we did this at Tesco and they had their triple points offer on. I managed to get £85 worth of presents for nothing! That was a good year.

Tip: Remember to use your club card when getting fuel. The other half does a lot of miles so this really ramps it up for us.

Do you have any frugal foodie tips for saving money on food? If so I’d love to read them in the comments section below. 

Gina Caro

*Collaborative post with Contact Numbers UK*

2 thoughts on “6 Tips for Saving Money on Food – CNUK Frugal Foodie Campaign”

  1. Fantastic! I love the ideas you bring here. I bet there are many readers of your blog who have changed their point of view after reading it!

  2. Pingback: 6 Tips You Need To Try if You Want to Spend Less on Food

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