There are seven people in my house to feed on a weekend, this can make food shopping costly, especially when eating right!
I have to accommodate two adults, a teen, two pre teens and two fussy eaters, one being a pescatarian!
Money is tight, you want the best for yourself and your family, please see some of my tips I follow to help keep costs down when it comes to food shopping.
Know your budget:
Whether you get paid monthly or weekly, you separate your bills so they are paid, why not separate your food budget too.
When you have calculated your monthly/Weekly bills look at what is left, then split into what you can spare for food.
Personally I put my food shopping in a separate account so I know that is all I have, then you can plan accordingly, I know others that withdraw their cash and place it in an envelope too, whatever works best for you.
The big shop:
This may work better when you are paid monthly, but when I know how much money I have I do one big shop at the beginning of the month, this is for toiletries, household cleaners, pet food etc... I also buy all my store cupboard essentials from spices, pasta to tinned goods.
Use your freezer:
As part of my big shop, I go to a local wholesaler butchers open to the public and buy my meat for the month in bulk, it works out so much cheaper in the long run! I then separate it into freezer bags into portion sizes, firstly this controls what portions me and the family are eating and it also prevents waste.
Another way to save waste and be more savvy with your money is to freeze those leftovers! Nine times out of ten if I cook a meal (granted I cook for an army) I have one to two portions left, I pop them in tubs and freeze. Saves a night of cooking :-).
Plan your meals:
This goes without saying, if you plan your less likely to waste and you are less likely to buy food that you simply will not eat. I you buy in bulk as above, you know what you have in the freezer/store cupboard to use and you can plan for it, that way when you buy in your fresh goods you only buy what is needed.
Tips on where to buy:
From my experience I have found buying Toiletries and household cleaners and pet food are great to get from Amazon and often cheap because of how much you are buying, equally for smaller families the pound shops are great too. If you don't mind un branded products I recommend Aldi.
My go to for all my store cupboard essentials is Aldi.
I find fruit and veg do not stay fresh for long enough there though, I would recommend if you can going to your local market, you can get so much for your money and it lasts so much longer!
As I stated above I use a local butchers for all my meat, if you can't find one that sells meat in bulk, check your local market the butchers vans usually have some great deals.
Leftovers:
Okay so I have discussed freezing your leftovers this goes without saying but sometimes you can get creative, for example Roast Dinner, you always have leftover meats, do not chuck it, save it for sandwiches or you could make a curry or salad or healthy pie!
Sometimes we cook too much pasta, save whats left and put it in your lunch the next day or kids lunches.
Vegetables about ready to go over, use them for soup and then freeze. There are so many ways to use them.
Bulk your meals:
Add lentils or vegetables to your meals to bulk them out and stretch that bit further, they taste great and keep you on track, for all you SW followers they make your meal that bit speedier. This also helps to batch cook meals.
Store cupboard:
Use your tinned goods too to save on meat, you can make some great meals with pasta tinned tuna and tinned veg.
Don't be afraid:
My last tip, do not be afraid of trying new meals, we try recipes on our lifestyle changes all the time to help us lose weight, why can't we tweak our own meals and try new things with what we have in that cupboard of ours.
Make an effort to use all of your store cupboard items (providing they are diet/lifestyle change friendly) before you go out and shop for the above.
I hope this helps you budget a little better, I am sure I am not telling you anything you do not already know, sometimes just reading tips can inspire you to do this.
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