Although food has reduced in price a lot in recent decades, it still makes up a big part of the money we spend each month. This means that it can make a big difference to the money that we have left at the end of the month or to us making ends meet, if we can reduce our food bills. Below are five tips on how you can save money.
Cheaper Supermarket
Supermarkets vary in their prices and this means that if you pick a cheaper one then you will save money. However, many supermarkets claim that they are the cheapest and it can therefore be difficult to know which will actually be the cheapest. This is also tricky because it will depend on the specific items that you buy. You will find that for certain foods one supermarket is cheaper but for others it will be another place that is cheaper. It is not efficient for most people to visit multiple supermarkets and if you are driving it will cost money in fuel, so you need to do some research first. Luckily there are online tools that can help you. There is a comparison site where you can put in a typical shop and see which supermarket will be the cheapest as well as comparing prices on specific items. You can use this to work out which will be the cheapest supermarket for you.
Cheaper items/Own Brands
When you are in the supermarket you will find that for many food items there is a selection of choices. If you look carefully you will see that they will vary in price. You will normally, but not always, find that the supermarket own brands will be cheaper than the branded items. There will also be likely to be a selection of brands to pick from. Do make sure that you are comparing like for like though. The quality of the products will vary and you will need to also compare the sizes. Sometimes a much cheaper product is smaller or not such good quality so you will need to consider whether you are interested in just saving money or whether value for money is important to you.
Reduced items/vouchers
Looking out for vouchers or deals on foods that you normally buy can be a great idea. If you can reduce the cost even more then you will obviously spend less. However, you do need to be very careful when looking at special offers or vouchers. There will be lots that are on foods that you do not normally buy and you can be tempted to buy extra items that you do not need. If you make a substitution because it is cheaper, then this will save you money but if you buy extra items, then you are likely to eat them as well as the other foods you buy and will end up spending more money.
Cut out the junk food
Although there are some disagreements as to what junk food is, you will have an idea of what you consider to be junk food. These foods may look cheap, but they tend to be low on nutrition and quality and they are not usually very filling. This means that if you buy these sorts of food, you could end up spending more money because you have to buy a bigger amount of food. You may also snack on junk food and if you cut out your snacking, then you will save a lot of money and have the bonus of being healthier as well.
Cook from Scratch
There are lots of foods in the supermarket available so that you do not have to cook. Lots of pre-prepared meals, sandwiches and snacks are available to buy wherever you shop and these are very convenient. However, they are an expensive way to buy food and therefore if you buy your own ingredients and cook your food, you will save money. It should be a lot healthier as well as pre-made meals often have a lot of extra ingredients that you would not add including unhealthy fats and sugars. These are just a few ideas on how to save money when food shopping. There are lots of things that you can try and you should be able to find a few ways to save money without feeling that you are being deprived or being really inconvenienced.