Food is something that we all have to buy and it means that many of us find that it can be a major expense. The larger the size of our family; the more we are likely to spend on food. Many of us would like to spend less on food though so that we have more money available to spend on other things. This can be done by most people though, but it may mean making a few changes. It is worth trying some things though, if you really want to cut down what you spend.
Swap supermarkets
There are some supermarkets that are generally cheaper than others We are probably aware that some supermarkets are generally a lot more expensive than others. This means that we can choose to shop at a cheaper one. However, it is important to realise that the supermarket that is cheaper for us, may not be cheapest for others as it can very depend on exactly what we buy. The great things is that there is an online tool called mysupermarket.com which compares the prices of products between supermarkets. So, you can select a basket of shopping and then see which supermarket will be the cheapest for those products. Of course, you will also have to allow for the cost of the fuel to get to the alternative supermarket if it is significantly further away than where you currently shop.
Buy own brands
You will usually find that buying supermarket own brands will be cheaper than buying branded items. This is not always the case so you will need to check, but it can often save you a significant amount. Comparing prices within supermarkets like this can be a bit of hassle but you will normally find that items are next to each other on the shelf. It is worth noting that they might be in different sized amounts and so you will need to compare them per 100g to get a proper comparison unless you eat a packet or serving at a time and then you would need to compare this.
Set a budget
It can be a good idea to set a budget before you go shopping to try to prevent you from spending more than you can afford. It can be a good idea to find out how much you normally spend and then you can think about what you would like to spend. You will be able to set a realistic budget, perhaps reducing it by 10% or something like that. This will help you if you add up the value of your shopping as you go by self-scanning or by shopping online. However, if you do not do these things it can be really tricky to know exactly how much the value of the things that you are selecting are.
Plan your meals
In order to make sure that you eat everything that you buy it is a good idea to make sure that you plan your meals first. Some people do prefer to just buy things and then make sure that they are all used up. However, there are a lot of us that do not plan well and then find that things have gone off before they have been used up. You can avoid this by carefully planning meals and then only buying the things that you need for those meals. It can also be a good idea to swap out some of the more expensive foods that you eat for cheaper things. This could mean changing brands but also substituting the ingredients that are more expensive for cheaper ones. Cooking from scratch rather than using pre packaged meals is also a good way to reduce the cost.
Take a list
It can be a really good idea to write a list so that you know what you need form the supermarket. If you buy things that you already have then you will spend unnecessary amounts of money and some items may go off before you get a chance to eat them. If you forget things that you need then you will need another trip to the supermarket and while you are there you could be tempted to buy extras that you do not really need.
Reduce portions sizes and snacks
If you reduce the amount that you eat then you will not need to spend so much money on food. Some of us eat too much food and so if we reduce that amount then we will not spend so much on it. We often eat snacks which are not healthy for us such as sweets, chocolate, biscuits, crisps and cake and we could do without these and save money. We may also have puddings or large portions of food and we cut those down then we can save money as well.