Frugal Food: How to save money on your food bills

Lydia 17th Feb 2023 One Comment

Reading Time: 3 minutes

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Frugal food, it’s a concept that we’ve been thinking about a lot at MoneyMagpie. We’ve recently launched our Freeganism campaign which focuses on food waste and food poverty. More and more, we are seeing the negative impact the rising cost of living is having.

We’ve rounded up some of our favourite money-saving tips to eat more frugally.

Don’t shop when you’re hungry
Do you really need the brands?
Meal-plan ahead of time
Shop later in the day
Get a loyalty card
Become friends with your freezer

Don’t Shop When You’re Hungry

We’ve all gone shopping when we’re hungry before and ended up filling our baskets with sweet treats from the in-store bakery. It’s not only bad for our wallets but it can also cause unnecessary food waste as we are less likely to eat the food we needed. Try to have a quick snack pre-shopping or go after you’ve eaten, you’re meal to avoid the temptation of filling your basket with snacks.

Do you really need the brands?

Branded items often come with a large mark-up compared to those supermarket own brands. Try switching out your branded biscuits and beans for a supermarket own brand. It’s amazing how quickly you’ll see the savings add up.

Meal-plan ahead of time

I often feel overwhelmed when I go to the shops without a list, it is like I’ve suddenly forgotten how to put together meals. Instead, I chose to plan ahead of time, this allows me to check my cupboards to see what I have to use up. It also means I can see if I need to stock up on any basics like pasta or frozen veg.

Shop later in the day

If you shop later in the day, you’re more likely to come across yellow sticker discounts. If it’s something you know you’ll eat that day or something that can be put in the freezer, pick it up if you can afford it. Even better if it’s something that’s already on your shopping list for the week.

Get a loyalty card

Loyalty cards are a great way to save money on your shopping. You don’t pay more for your shopping and in some places, you even get big discounts. Tesco’s Clubcard can grant you massive discounts in-store as well as allow you to save up points. The nectar card is another great option when it comes to points cards, you can collect and spend points with loads of great partner companies.

Become friends with your freezer

Your freezer is your best friend when it comes to saving money whilst shopping. It means you can bulk buy frozen produce to keep you going for a long time. You can also use it to store batch cooked meals if you have to use up some food from your fridge.