Food is great. When done right, Food feeds the soul but it can be an expensive business. When you choose life without meat, you already cut down on your food bills. But there’s even more ways to cut them down. Shopping with a savvy eye and making your food last longer are key to saving yourself pennies. Here, we list our 8 Thrifty Shopping Tips. They’re all worth knowing even if you already do some of them yourself. They’re simple tricks to keep your wallet big and belly full…
8. Turn Leftover Drinks Into Ice Cubes:
When you next find yourself about to throw away wine that’s been out for a while. Stop right there, because you can make it into ice cubes! Don’t worry, it’s not as mad as it sounds. When you’re ready to cook a tasty meal, throw in a wine cube and let the flavours explode. And white wine cubes are great for keeping your next glass of white wine chilled for a little longer without it getting watered down.
7. Buy Essentials in Bulk:
Even though buying in bulk means lugging home a tonne of (often big) shopping, you can save yourself lots of money. Though, it does take a little bit of planning. You want to avoid buy anything perishable in bulk unless you have a plan for using it soon. Buying in bulk also means you can get to grips with making and freezing meals for weeks ahead. Saving you lots of cash in the long run. Always remember to check the per ounce pricing to make sure you’re always getting the best deal. Sometimes, your local supermarkets might have better offers on…
6. International Supermarkets Save The Day:
If you haven’t already, hunt down your nearest international supermarket – they’re amazing. You can get all sorts of wonderful ingredients that would otherwise be hard to find. But more important, they’re a winner for finding and buying all the spices you could need on the cheap. It still baffles us how expensive little pots of spices are in the main supermarkets. And when you love cooking as much as we, you’ll know they barely last. International supermarkets offer spices in a range of sizes. You can get huge packs of spices for a fraction of the price. Then you can get a little creative and pour them into whichever pots you fancy when you get home. If you’re stuck on which to get, here’s our top 10 must-have spices for the kitchen cupboard…
5. Buy Food in Season
There’s so many benefits of seasonal eating. One of which is that it saves you money. Often food will be far cheaper when it’s in season. This is because it’s taken less money to produce as it’s at its natural point of harvest. Plus, when we buy food out of season, it’s often produced in a different climate. Which means high transportation and storage costs to account for in the price. Your local garden centres and farm shops will often stock locally grown food. But take some time to suss out where’s best for you to buy as supermarkets do a good job of stocking seasonal produce too.
4. Shop Later in The Day:
We all have a little local supermarket which we often shop at for convenience. Take some time to get to know the staff when you pop in and out during the week. Become one of their favourite locals and they’re bound to tell you when your favourite foods go on offer. Shop later in the day too as this is often when foods that are about to reach their best before dates get marked down. And FYI…
3. Best Before Dates Don’t Mean the Food’s Unsafe to Eat!
Best before dates are about quality, not safety. So don’t be afraid to bag those markdowns. All it means is that those foods will gradually lose their flavour and texture after that date, nothing more.
2. Freeze Bread:
Bread is a great one to get when it’s reduced too. I know this might seem crazy because fresh bread wouldn’t last long at all in that sense. But you can buy a load and pop it in the freezer when you get home. The only thing to remember is bread post-freezing won’t last much longer than a day. So be sure to defrost it the night before you use it. But in all, this tip will save you money; and means you can make up some lovely lunch rolls for much cheaper. Also, we find it’s hard to get through a loaf of bread unless you’re buying for a family. So another tip is to freeze loaves of sliced bread before it gets mouldy – it’s perfect for toasting!
1. Always Shop on a Full Stomach:
Haha, this one makes us laugh! Have you ever gone food shopping when you’re very hungry? You walk in and literally want to buy (and eat) the entire shop. You impulse buy every yummy thing you see and you come home with barely anything practical. We’re all guilty of this one. So next time, remember to shop on a full stomach. That way, you’ll be shopping with a logical brain. Buying only the things you really, REALLY need. Goodbye spending your wages on chocolate, ice cream, crisps and dip. HELLO healthy and nutritious foods to see out the month!
So there you have it, 8 Thrifty Shopping tips that are bound to save you some pennies. What’s your best thrifty shopping tip? We wanna know – comment your ideas below. If you found this article useful, feel free to share it with friends. Then don’t forget to follow us on Instagram and Facebook to keep updated with future posts!
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