Savvy Household Shopping
As food and energy prices keep rising, here are some money-saving tips for household bills and family shopping. Family food guru Annabel Karmel and finance expert Jasmine Birtles explain what you need to do.
As food shoppers are hit by the highest price rises for almost 10 years, it’s becoming increasingly expensive for families to put meals on the table. Food inflation continues to rise, especially produce which has been impacted by poor harvests, labour shortages, and rising global food prices.
While analysts at Kantar have predicted annual food shopping bills are set to rise by around €880 on average. It’s possible to stop buying things like clothes and household goods when there are price rises, it’s tougher to cut down on essentials like food, particularly when you’re feeding a family.
“Providing for our families can be challenging at the best of times, but throw a global pandemic, inflation, and increased cost of living into the mix and it’s enough to get you into a stew,” says family cookery writer Annabel Karmel. “But there are many ways to cut costs, not quality, and feed the family on a budget, including batchcooking hearty, staple meals… like stew!”
Here, Karmel and Jasmine Birtles, founder of the money-making and saving website MoneyMagpie share their tips for savvy ways to cook and shop to help keep food bills down…
1>> STOCK UP ON STAPLES
Karmel says a well-stocked store cupboard full of cans and tins means you can still cook up a nutritious but cheaper family dinner.
She also points out that beans and pulses are versatile, affordable and packed with nutrients, and they also count towards your 5-a-day.
“It takes no time at all to create a quick tinned tomato-based sauce for pasta or use a tin of chickpeas to make a veggie curry, mini falafels, burgers, or a quick hummus,” she says.
2>> GO DOWN A BRAND
“If you usually do your supermarket shopping at an expensive store try a cheaper outlet instead,” advises Birtles. “And if you normally buy branded products, try the supermarket equivalent product instead.
It doesn’t always work out cheaper, but much of the time it does.”
3>> EAT VEGGIE WHEN YOU CAN
Birtles suggests eating vegetarian meals for at least one day a week, if you’re not already a vegetarian. “It does tend to be cheaper, and there are loads of veggie recipes online,” she says. “At least one day a week without the expense of meat can really bring the shopping bills down.”
4>> SHOP SEASONALLY
Keep an eye on what’s in season each month and seek out these ingredients, advises Karmel. “It encourages us to shop and support local, plus, in-season fruit and veg is often cheaper, ” she says.
5>> BUY PAST 'BEST BEFORE' DATE
As well as shopping at cheaper supermarkets, buy at stores that sell food that’s near or just past its best before date.
More than seven million tonnes of food and drink is thrown away every year because it’s past its best before date, even though it’s still perfectly good to eat. “Some supermarkets have out-of-season food, and quite a lot of packets and tins which are coming up to their best before dates and are really cheap,” says Birtles. Supermarkets often reduce food late in the day just before it reaches its use by date, and Birtles suggests buying lots of ‘yellow sticker food’ and freezing it immediately. “You can get really cheap fish and meat and just stick it straight in the freezer,” she says.
6>> BUY WONKY
Keep an eye out for wonky or so-called ‘imperfect’ fruit and vegetables which are often sold at a reduced price, advises Karmel, or check the discount bins for any low-priced, value items.
7>> BATCH COOK
“You can cook up a big meal at the beginning of the week and freeze the remainder,” says Karmel, whose latest book is the Fun, Fast and Easy Children’s Cookbook (Welbeck).
“If you can, double up the ingredients in your family meals and freeze one half for another day, this will save you both money and time.”
8>> USE LEFTOVERS
“Nothing should ever be thrown away,” advises Birtles. There are plenty of websites with delicious, easy to cook leftover recipes, like Love Food Hate Waste (lovefoodhatewaste.com).
“If you’ve got stale bread, for example, turn it into breadcrumbs, put it in a bag and store it in the freezer to be used later. We have to be more like the chefs and use absolutely everything we have” Karmel adds: “A blender is your best friend when it comes to making the most of your fruit and vegetable leftovers, and smoothies and soups will be your go-to.
Savoury muffins and frittatas are also a fantastic base for using up any vegetables you’ve got left at the end of the week and making it go further.”
EASE THE SQUEEZE
Household energy costs and petrol prices are pushing up bills, while supply chain disruption has had an impact on many sectors. Here are four ways to make a bit more wriggle room in your budgets…
1>> TAKE A LOOK AT YOUR SAVINGS
Interest rates on savings are below the rate of inflation, so the value of those savings is effectively being eroded. Many people have money sitting in high street bank accounts paying annual rates as low as 0.01%. For savers earning little or no interest, it’s worth finding a deal which, while it might not beat inflation, will at least have a better rate. It may also be worth taking an overview of all your savings pots and working out what might potentially be better off invested.
As a rough rule of thumb, keep some savings - about three to six months of outgoings - easy to access, just in case.
2>> DON’T LET HOUSEHOLD BILLS JUST ROLL OVER
Traditionally, households were able to shop around to save on their energy bills, but surging gas prices mean cheap deals have vanished. There might be other ways you can save on household bills – by making sure you don’t simply auto-renew your car and home insurance and broadband contracts, for example.
Make the most of comparison websites to find the best deals.
3>> DITCH OR SWITCH YOUR SUBSCRIPTIONS
Many of us signed up to subscriptions to keep ourselves entertained during the lockdown – but you might want to trawl through your bank statement to see if there are regular payments still coming out for services you no longer use.
If you do still use some, perhaps there’s a way of getting these services cheaper, such as finding an alternative gym or just going to specific classes.
4>> SELL IT
With supply difficulties making items harder to source, you might find items you no longer use are just what others are searching for and you could also get a decent price if you’re listing items on websites such as eBay. Some stores such as Ikea also have 'buy back' schemes if you’re ready for a change.
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