13 money-saving tips to help you feed your family for £20 a week

Bristol resident joined 'food club' due to soaring cost of living

We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info

After the over indulgence of Christmas, January can feel like the longest month especially when it comes to making finances stretch to pay day. Experts who run the Facebook Group Feed Your Family for £20 have been sharing their best money-saving tips for the weekly shop to help people spend less.

From mixing sugar or tomato ketchup into home brand baked beans to optimise the taste, to filling an empty freezer with cardboard boxes and bottles of water to reduce running costs, there are ways to eat well and save money.

While most people tend to feel the pinch in January this year things have been made worse by the cost of living crisis and soaring food prices.

Ashleigh Tosh from MuscleFood.com said: “Christmas is an expensive time of the year for us all but more so this year when prices are at some high levels. 

“We wanted to team up with Lorna and her money save team at Feed Your Family for £20 to get some of their great advice to everyone struggling at the moment or for those looking to cut their weekly spend.”

 

Some of the ways people can save money is by shopping for yellow sticker bargains and buying meat in bulk.

Lorna Cooper from Feed Your Family for £20 said the Facebook group is busier than ever as people struggle to meet the cost of living.

She said: “We’re getting followers contacting us all the time asking how they can reduce their spend on food. I now put a weekly meal plan together which everyone can follow to keep costs down and bellies full.

“Price rises have been off the scale but there are lots of things we can all do to make sure we eat well, cheaply and keep running costs down.”

DON’T MISS:
Santander has increased interest rates for savers [UPDATE]
Reducing thermostat can knock £300 off energy bills a year [ALERT]
Pensioners urged to be ‘strategic’ as tax can apply to state pension [WARNING]

Experts at MuscleFood and Feed Your Family for £20 suggest these money-saving tips:

Bulking mince dishes
“When making minced beef dishes like spaghetti bolognese, shepherd’s pie or chilli con carne crumble a wheat biscuit or two into the mixture – it will make the mince go further. Try adding oats too. They take on the flavours and no one will notice the difference.” 

Freeze fruit and veg
“Buy end-of-day supermarket products such as vegetables and fruit and freeze them. They last ages and they’re often very, very reduced in price.”
 
Meal prep
“Meal prep and plan to save cash. Buy in bulk and snap up anything with a reduced sticker on, then spend one day prepping as many meals as you can to freeze for the week ahead.”
 
Cook from scratch
“Cooking from scratch is cheaper. Cook more than you need and pop in the fridge or freezer to enjoy another night.”
 
Never shop on an empty stomach
“Always do your food shop after you’ve eaten, so you’ll be full up and not wanting to buy everything in the supermarket.”

Another idea is to see if there is a local food club that sells discounted food where anyone can join.

A woman from Bristol told Express.co.uk how she saves nearly £100 a month by doing this.

One woman – 54-year-old Elaine Wishart – told Express.co.uk how she’s discovered a way to slash the cost of her food shopping by joining one of these clubs.

She said: “I’m between contracts at the moment and my gas bill has doubled.”

Elaine continued: “I used to be in catering so I know the cost of everything in every supermarket – things have risen by like 30 percent.”

The food club she mentions is in Bristol but a quick Google search shows there are others across the UK.

These clubs are run by groups of people who pool time and buying power to save on high-quality, healthy food that is delivered to a drop-off location.

It’s another way of getting hold of cheaper food like yellow sticker bargains without having to fight for them at the supermarket.

Source: Read Full Article