How to Save on your Food Shopping in 2020

By Editor1SYS | March 30, 2020 0 Comments

These days, we all spend a lot of cash on many different things. Some of us find ourselves constantly overspending on clothes and entertainment, while others have a problem with signing up with subscriptions. However, you can consider yourself to be a relatively frugal person, and still struggle with your cash for one big reason – food shopping often costs a fortune.

Food is one of those things that you can’t afford to just throw out of your monthly budget. You’re always going to need to shop for food. However, there are things that you can do to bring down the costs of these essentials. 

• Buy a Bigger Freezer

You don’t need to be a money-saving expert to know that frozen foods and meals are often a lot cheaper than their fresh counterparts. Even if you have to take out a personal loan to change up your kitchen, buying a bigger freezer could make it easier for you to save a lot of cash in the long-term. Not only can you stock up on frozen items that you know your family enjoys, but you can prepare and freeze foods in advance too.

Prepping your meals in advance ensures that if you ever come home from work and you feel completely exhausted and unable to cook, you can just throw something in the microwave or the oven and have a great meal in a few minutes.

• Stop Ignoring Other Brands

It’s easy to get into a routine with your shopping. You tell yourself that you need a specific brand of margarine or pasta when you go to the supermarket, and you refuse to buy anything else – unless you happen to see an offer from another well-known brand nearby. While a lot of shoppers are gradually becoming more flexible when it comes to their brand choices, they still ignore the supermarket-own products most of the time.

The truth is, however, that supermarket-own products usually include the exact same ingredients as the items that you’re paying for from a big brand name. The only real difference is that you’re paying more for a fancy label and packaging.

• Try Getting Food Delivered

This will only really work if you’re willing to do some math. Figure out how much you usually spend on driving to the supermarket, getting all the items that you want, and getting home. You should also factor a couple of other things into this expense, such as paying for snacks that your kids demand when you go shopping and buying items that you didn’t want because you were enticed by marketing. 

If you find that you spend quite a few pounds more than you expect to every time you go shopping, then shopping online could be the easier option. This way, you can follow a list to add everything that you want to your shopping cart. Although you will pay a small fee for delivery, it could be a lot less than the price of everything mentioned above.

• Get Rewarded for Spending

If you’re not taking advantage of supermarket rewards cards yet, then now is the time to get started. When shopping for anything, make sure that you consider retailers that are willing to give you something back in exchange for your loyalty. Only earning a few points at a time for everything you buy might not seem like the best way to save money in the long-term, but it’s a great way to get vouchers and freebies for basically nothing. 

While you’re at it, consider signing up for email newsletters and VIP clubs that get voucher booklets and discounts sent either to your door, or your email inbox. This means that you’ll be the first to know about opportunities to save cash. 

• Be Careful with Discounts

Finally, although discounts can come in handy when you’re shopping for food on a regular basis, it’s important to make sure that you’re not caught out by them. Special discounts, like buy-one-get-one-free deals can sometimes look better than they are. For instance, there’s no point in buying a new shampoo that’s on offer if you know that you’re just going to buy your preferred brand later too. 

Think about whether you’re really going to use the items that you’re buying, or whether you’re just purchasing them because you think you’re going to get a good deal as a result. Remember, bulk buy deals are usually the best – provided that they’re for products that you use.