10 Top Tips on Beating The High Food Bills!

With ever-increasing food bills, it seems that doing the weekly shop is likely to get you into serious debt. As this is not an inviting prospect, here are my top ten tips to save money on food:

1: Abandon takeaways and eating out. For the price of a meal out, you could feed the family for a week. Yes it´s fun to eat out, but by the time you´ve added drinks, starters and coffee, it´s also expensive.

2: Cook in bulk and freeze the extra. This means that you won´t be tempted to get that takeaway when you can´t be bothered to cook, you can simple heat up a portion from the freezer.

3: Don´t be tempted by supermarket special offers. They want you to buy huge quantities of food that you will end up throwing away because you can´t use it up in time. Then you have to buy more.

4: Find out when the supermarket puts reduced goods on the shelf, and do your shop then. Bear in mind the caveat above, and don´t buy vast quantities of fresh food that you can´t use or freeze.

5: Cook vegetarian meals. They are cheaper and healthier than meat, especially if you buy packets of pulses, cook in bulk and freeze them. Soya mince may not be the most appealing food in the world, but it is cheap, versatile, an excellent source of protein and a little goes a long way.

6: Cook from fresh ingredients rather than buy ready meals. Healthy, as you can avoid additives and too much salt, not to mention much cheaper. Is it really that difficult to make a pasta sauce? Get a recipe book from the library and have a go.

7: Investigate your local discount supermarket, even if you are a food snob. Some excellent products can be found, at bargain prices, and it is worth trying anything once. If you find a product isn´t of good enough quality, though, don´t buy it again, that will be a false economy.

8: Find some space in your garden to grow some vegetables. Many are happy growing in tubs, and you can be sure that they are organic.

9: Buy in bulk where a product has a long shelf-life, or split the cost with a friend or neighbour.
10: Make a little effort and grate your own cheese or carrots, and chop your own salad, rather than buy ready-chopped packets at premium prices. It really doesn´t take that long …