Along with rent, bills and council tax, the food you buy is likely to be one of the biggest regular expenses to exit your bank account. If you’re not careful, you can end up blowing your budget and wasting money on grub you could get at a fraction of the price. Here are 5 easy ways to save money on your next food shop:
1. Buy discounted gift vouchers online (and save £5+ on your next shop)
If you’re looking to save money on your food shopping, Zeek is a great tool to use. Basically, it’s an online marketplace that lets you buy other people’s unwanted gift cards online – at a discount. I’ve tried this myself and it gets my seal of approval.
If you do your weekly food shop at Sainsbury’s and Tesco, you’ll consistently be able to save money on your weekly big shop by purchasing gift cards from Zeek in advance. (You’ll also be able to use vouchers and your Nectar Card or Tesco Clubcard alongside this).
If you’ve never used Zeek before, you’ll get £5 extra towards your first gift card purchase if you use the promo code 2LINA2YS. You can sign up and get your free £5 in a matter of seconds here.
To learn more about Zeek, check out my top tips to buying and selling unwanted gift cards online. By following that link and reading my Zeek guide you’ll also learn how to get free £5 gift cards on a regular basis.
2. Buy food that’s past its ‘sell by’ date – but perfectly edible and delicious
Just because something’s past its ‘sell by’ date doesn’t make it inedible or less yummy. And if you’re willing to overlook these often completely arbitrary dates, you could save a decent amount of money.
Approved Food is a website which sells food that supermarkets no longer want. When a product exceeds its sell by or best before date (not the same as use by), a supermarket will donate it to Approved Food to sell at a discount.
You won’t be able to buy perishable items such as milk or meat, but you will be able to buy tinned food, cereal, rice, pasta, herbs & spices, snacks, tea and coffee, soup, baking supplies and most importantly – alcohol!
Since everything on the Approved Food website is perfectly safe to eat, you could find yourself filling up your cupboards at a fraction of your usual weekly spend. Take a look at the Approved Food website here.
3. Only do one food shop a week
I know how tempting it can be to pop to your nearest Tesco Local on your way home from work every day to buy the food you plan to eat that evening. But by doing lots of little supermarket trips rather than one weekly ‘big shop’, you’re probably going to end up spending more than necessary.
Think of it this way, each time you visit your supermarket, you’re subjecting yourself to a world of temptation. All those pizzas, doughnuts, biscuits, bottles of whiskey – it’s all stuff you don’t really need. By subjecting yourself to these tempting (but completely unnecessary) treats less frequently, you’re likely to spend less in the process.
Visit the supermarket once a week and you might come away with a handful of naughty goodies. Visit the supermarket seven times a week and you’ll come away with seven times as many naughty goodies!
4. Don’t go coupon crazy
I don’t want to get a reputation for hating on coupons but…I kinda do hate ’em. To paraphrase Mama Boucher, coupons are the devil, Bobby! Okay, there are people out there who use coupons to their advantage & save plenty of money by using them wisely, but if you’re not careful, you may end up spending more on things that you really don’t need and probably wouldn’t even buy if it weren’t for that godforsaken coupon!
Control the coupons, people, don’t let the coupons control you!
5. Take the ‘Downshift Challenge’
Hate to break it to you but those expensive baked beans you’ve been buying probably don’t actually taste that much better than the cheap tin on the bottom shelf. You just think they taste better because of the fancy packaging, the price, and the fact you’ve gotten into the habit of buying the same brands over and over again. Take the ‘Downshift Challenge’ and swap all your pricey brands for the cheapskate alternatives. I’ll let you into a secret – Sainsbury’s Basic Jaffa Cakes taste no different from the Jaffas we’ve known and loved for so long.
This list is by no means exhaustive and there are tons of other ways to save money on your food shop. I’ll be sharing more tips very soon! If you’ve got a brilliant tip to help people save money on their food shopping, please give us a shout in the comments below.
*Please note that this post does include some affiliate links
