How do I save money on food and meals?

How can I save money when buying food at the supermarket?

When you go food shopping at the supermarket, you may find that you spend more than you planned to. One possible reason is that supermarkets are specifically designed to tempt you into buying items you may not necessarily need.

These simple tips can help keep your food costs down:

• Write a list: This can keep you from buying items on impulse. Once you’ve checked what you have in stock, write down what you need and do your best to stick to this list while you’re shopping. If you don’t want to write a list out by hand, you can use a phone app instead. Most of them are free, and some have alerts to remind you when you need to restock an item.

• Visit the ‘reduced section’: Supermarkets must get rid of food items by the ‘best before’ date. However, these items are often perfectly good to eat for some time afterwards. The best before date indicates when the food is at its best condition to eat. The ‘use by’ date is different, and tells you the absolute latest date for eating or using the item.
• Find out if there are more than one reduced sections in the store, for example on the fresh produce, chilled, and ‘stock cupboard’ aisles. Make sure you check all three 
• Only buy fruit and vegetables that you’ll use within the next two days (or freeze them), otherwise, you’ll end up with food wastage 
• Freeze meat or fish as soon as you get home, if you’re not using them straight away, and including them in your next meal plan 
• Use supermarket coupons: Before you go shopping, check the supermarket’s or product’s website to see if there are any coupons available. You can then print them off at home or, in some cases, use on your phone to get a discount. As with all special offers, only use coupons on items that you know you need.

How can I save money on fruit and vegetables?

The NHS recommends that we eat at least five 80 gram portions of fruit and vegetables a day. Vegetables add bulk to your meal, and because they contain a lot of water, they help you stay hydrated. However, fruit and vegetables tend to go bad quickly, which can be both frustrating and costly if you don’t use them up in time.

Studies have shown that frozen fruit and veg are just as nutritious as fresh fruit and veg, if not more. The frozen variety is often cheaper and can last much longer.

Buy frozen fruit and veg where you can. If you have fresh fruit and veg, try freezing it before it goes bad. Fruit and veg can usually be kept in the freezer for up to a year, so there’s plenty of opportunity to use them up.