Food is often a massive expense for people and it’s not hard to see why. Between grocery shop visits, takeaway and eating out, the costs add up! Once you have a bit of an idea of how much you spend on groceries each week, budgeting becomes a lot easier! We’ve come up with some great tips to help you save some much-needed money on groceries, that can then be saved or spent on something exciting!
- Plan your meals
Take some time to plan what meals you’re going to cook for the week ahead and buy your ingredients based on that. It’s good to have a list and not just go to the fruit and veg shop and buy aimlessly – it’ll help with waste too!
- Avoid special/rare ingredients
If you stumble across a recipe that has a rare ingredient, try to substitute it with an ingredient you always use. Rare ingredients can be expensive, and you’ll realistically only use a little bit of it and may end up wasting the rest (which isn’t saving money!)
- Pick the cheapest option
Ask yourself if you really need the chickpea pasta, and instead choose the cheaper wheat pasta – we promise if you spruce it up with the right sauce, you’ll love the taste all the same! Whether it be opting for the cheaper salt and pepper over the Himalayan pink salt, you will find you’re saving a lot more money than before.
- Look for specials
Although it may seem annoying, subscribe to those marketing emails and pick up the weekly catalogues. That’s where you’ll find the specials for the week ahead, and you’ll be surprised how much you’ll save when you start looking for specials! Two mangoes for $4? Yes please!
- Cook in bulk
Who doesn’t love leftovers? Meal prep, or just make a big batch of something, and you’ll not only save on cooking time for the week, but you’ll also use a lot of your fresh produce all at once, which will ensure you’re not wasting food!
- Shop at the right time
Try to avoid shopping on an empty stomach… it’s a recipe for disaster! Your eyes are always bigger than your stomach, and you’ll generally find yourself buying unnecessary snacks and food that you wouldn’t normally buy. Always shop with a shopping list and stick to it!
Good luck with your shopping! Go save that hard-earned money of yours!