How to Save Money on Grocery Shopping?

kubet6886

Hi everyone,

I'm trying to cut down on my weekly grocery expenses and would love to hear some tips from the community. Currently, I usually shop at big supermarkets and use discount coupons, but it doesn’t seem to be making a significant difference.

Does anyone have any effective tips or methods for reducing these costs? I'm also considering shopping at smaller stores or local markets—would this actually save more money?

Thanks a lot!

elsien

To be honest, it depends what you buy.
Most of the coupons I see are for things I wouldn’t buy in the first place. 

I think it’s as much about your food use, planning and any wastage. 

Do you cook from scratch or buy more prepared meals
Do you do a big shop? Some people reckon that helps them not to overspend but  I find for me smaller shops works better as long as I’m strict and stick to my list rather than impulse buying because  I throw less away.

Have you looked at your shopping receipts to see what the more expensive items are? You can make things go further by eating less meat or bulking out with lentils for example, but a lot will depend on your eating habits. 

gorgeousme

What is your average weekly spend? And how many people are you feeding? 

Cornucopia

Work out what you can get from discounters (Aldi, Lidl, Home Bargains, Farm Foods, B&M, Savers, etc.) if/where those items will be cheaper than you pay now and still acceptable quality.

itsthelittlethings

To spend less on food, you have to accept that you will eat less nice food. There is no way round it. People will tell you all kinds of hacks. They don't work. So, you like a prawn stir-fry once in a while. Prawns are nice! You can't have them any more. No Prawns.

itsthelittlethings

Markets should be cheaper,  smaller shops are generally more ethical but more expensive. 

FlorayG

If you eat cake, make your own. This works out so much cheaper and nicer. In fact, making your own of most things is cheaper and nicer, lasagne, pancakes, bread, everything.
I never make a shopping list for fresh food, I buy whatever is on special offer or reduced and fill my freezer. I never buy prepared meats except for ham, always raw meat, cook it myself, slice for sandwiches. Pre-cooked meat is very expensive
Buy the strongest cheddar, it's slightly more expensive BUT you need to use so much less of it than you do a mild cheddar
And every now and then I have a 'Wossin' day - eat up 'wossin' the fridge and not buy anything

pumpkin89

FlorayG said:

If you eat cake, make your own. This works out so much cheaper and nicer. In fact, making your own of most things is cheaper and nicer, lasagne, pancakes, bread, everything.

People always say this but in my experience it's not true.  The only thing on your list that I've found to be cheaper is pancakes.  Cake and bread will certainly be nicer when homemade but it won't save money, especially when you factor in energy costs for baking.

p00hsticks

pumpkin89 said:

FlorayG said:

If you eat cake, make your own. This works out so much cheaper and nicer. In fact, making your own of most things is cheaper and nicer, lasagne, pancakes, bread, everything.

People always say this but in my experience it's not true.  The only thing on your list that I've found to be cheaper is pancakes.  Cake and bread will certainly be nicer when homemade but it won't save money, especially when you factor in energy costs for baking.

Yes, I agree, homemade doesn;t necessarily equate to cheaper.
I always make homemade lasagne as it's so much better and  tastier than the ready meal variety, but it's certainly not cheaper by the time you factor in the cost of all the ingredients - 5% steak mince, extra mature cheese, milk, lasagne sheets, onions, tomatoes etc....and that's before the cost in terms of energy and effort. 

viv0147

I advise doing a weekly menu, printing it out, sticking it on the fridge, and then shopping accordingly! you will have less waste and your costs will come down. 

MrsStepford

If you live near a coast, buy fish from the fishermen as it will be at least cheaper than Waitrose, fresher and tastier. If you want to make a fish pie though, even if you buy frozen fish pie mix, it will be more expensive than a cheap fish pie ready meal. 

Fish processed in China is cheaper but they don't have to supply us with fish which meets EU standards anymore. Chinese standards can be woeful e.g. Growing garlic in sewage water, cutting the root off and bleaching it.

Eastern European food in supermarkets meets EU standards and is cheap. I buy Lowicz kefir, Piatnica Serek Wiejski cottage cheese and Bakoma live soured cream and they are all delicious.

Use supermarkets and other stores on your regular journeys. If you go well out of your way for a few pence of savings, you may actually lose money.

Use www.trolley.co.uk for price comparisons. 

Don't shop at Tesco online, unless you have a Clubcard and can really vacuum up the offers as it's a minimum £50 order now. 

In supermarkets, shop protein then veggies and fruit. Try to avoid the middle aisles full of processed food. It's expensive junk. 

I won't buy food over its Best Before date but I still pick up bargains at B&M, Best Before It's Gone, Home Bargains, Poundland and The Bargain Warehouse.

Milk & More delivers to your door free of charge and there's no minimum order. They price match to Sainsbury's. 

Keep an eye out on the websites of your local convenience stores as they often have offers on loo rolls, soft drinks, booze, pizza and ice cream.

Frozen veg can be more economical and there's less waste, too. 

 Cheap ready meals don't have to have horrible chemicals, read the ingredients. 

Takeaways are expensive. Instead, stash some Indian, Chinese, Thai ready meals in your freezer. 

If you cook from scratch and batch cook, work out the cost of both ingredients and energy. 

It has been disproved that fat makes you fat and clogs arteries. Lard is an extremely cheap fat for frying. Dripping is more expensive but in days of yore, people would make it themselves - have a look on YouTube. 

Don't shop when hungry. Have a shopping list. Try to avoid taking children shopping to avoid pestering.