What a crazy few years it's been.
Covid, Brexit and war in the Ukraine have made the world a stressful place.
But who would have thought that in 2023 that the price of food would be so extreme. The whole world has been affected , but at home in the UK we have been hit hard. Food prices are up by an extraordinary 19%. The price rise is so sharp it feels like it went up overnight. The price of Basic food items like milk, butter and vegetables are now getting making families consider where and even if they should buy certain items.
It only feels like a few years ago where supermarkets were reducing their prices to record levels to compete for our business. Now even Aldi and Lidil are noticeably more expensive, which is something I thought I'd never say.
Personally I started to notice the difference in a somewhat silly way. In my house we have a treat bag. I say treat, but it's pretty much an everyday day bag, full of chocs and crisps that the family loves. I filled it up every week or so from Tesco. I picked Tesco as they always had great deals in their crisps and chocolate isle. Every treat had a great price deal on it. But one day I started to notice less of these, until there was literally none. Of course this became the norm for all food and drink and the norm for all families on a budget.
Below are 4 money saving things I've learnt the hard way. I'm not an expert but we've found there's tips handy.
1. Batch cook.
Now this takes time and effort but it's definitely worth it. Take the time to buy the ingredients for a meal that you really like and cook enough for a week. I often find myself going to a shop after week and buying something easy to cook. The thing is easy to cook these days usually means expensive. Batch cooking can get you real value for money and will keep you away from daily supermarket visits. We do this for lunch and dinner and have found it's made a real difference to our budget.
2. Bulk buying
It's time to defrost that freezer and make some space. Take take to consider affordable meals for the week or even month and what ingredients you will need. And then buy them. Simple as that. The trick is to avoid going to the supermarket so much. You will only end up spending more.
3. Avoid food waste
Now we like to fool ourselves into thinking that we will be eating healthy every month. Don't get me wrong. We should all be eating healthy, but in my family at least we end up buying lots of fruit and veg on the big shop, but then getting rid of them when we forgot we bought them. The best ways to avoid food waste we've found is to, only buy fruit and vegetables when we are definitely going to use them, buy tinned fruit or veg, or buy frozen veg. Simple when you think about it. We've also found it useful to literally take the time once a week to look at the contents of the fridge. We've wasted so much food that we've simply forgot existed as it was at the back of the fridge.
4. Buy cheaper brands
Sacrilege I hear you say. Now I'm not saying you switch the wife's Diet Coke for Rola Cola, but when it comes to certain foods it's worth trying different brands including supermarket own brands. If you really can't do without Heinz fair enough, but if you can handle the cheaper options sometimes, you will start to see a difference in your bank balance. You will be really surprised in the quality of less well known food brands and even supermarket own buy.
We'd love to hear any ideas you have for getting more value out of your family's food shop. Leave a comment here or on our Facebook page.
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