Food for thought… MONEY SAVING TIPS to still eat good
When I’m feeling a bit cash-strapped, the food shop often feels like one of the burdens of the week.
Is it time to spend another twenty quid already? Maybe I can make this green pepper and carrot last another day…
But the next day, it reaches 6pm. You stare at that bare fridge. The stomach grumbles… and suddenly, you start to really fancy a takeaway. Before you know it, you’ve spent a tenner on a pizza, and you still need to do a grocery shop!
So, here’s the thing — there’s actually quite a few simple shopping hacks to help you to avoid this kind of situation and to eat well for less. Interested?
CCC’s
No, I’m not talking about County Cricket Clubs… Your CCC’s are your CUSTOMISABLE CUPBOARD CARBS.
There’s plenty of these, but the main three I focus on are pasta, rice and oats — some of the cheapest base ingredients available in shops.
Huge bags of each for pennies. 500g of oats? 65p. 500g of fusili? 75p. A kilogram of rice? 45p! Each with several portions, and because they’re stored in your cupboard, they won’t go out of date for a significant time.
But here’s the best part: let’s say you get really into pesto pasta, but then you start to get a bit sick of it… no worries! Time to customise your carb and make a creamy lemon pasta instead. Done with pasta for a while? Let’s switch it up and make egg fried rice today.
A quick google will leave you with options galore for how you might want to customise your next meal. Sometimes, I’ll even search for a CCC with an ingredient I already have in to use them up… who knew broccoli pasta was so tasty?
As for the oats, I was very late to the ‘overnight oats’ trend, but it has revolutionised my breakfasts. And the formula couldn’t be simpler…
Downshifting
Now this tip comes from your friend and mine, Martin Lewis. With a nickname like the Money Saving Expert, he probably knows a trick or two…
You’re probably under the impression that if something costs more, it usually tastes better, right?
Well here’s the catch — phrasing and promotional language often tricks our minds into justifying more expensive products. Words like ‘premium’ and ‘finest’ imply that they are a treat, whereas ‘basic’, ‘value’ and ‘savers’ come in bare-bones packaging.
In reality, many manufacturers’ finest and value products may well be made in the same factory, by the same people.
So, what is downshifting? The theory is simple:
The point of this isn’t to force you to drop down a brand level on every purchase, but to give you the power over the supermarket’s marketing tricks. Can you really taste the difference? If not, why pay more for it?
Planning effectively
The last trick seems common sense but, in reality, most of us fall short. If you spend £20 a week on groceries but end up throwing out £4 worth of food you didn’t eat, you could be hemorrhaging upwards of £200 a year.
The easy solution to this is to plan ahead, but that’s easier said than done. So instead, here’s a few quick tips that may help:
- Meal prep — work out how much food you actually need to buy. This should help you avoid spending too much in the first place.
- Work out what needs eating first — even if you have prepared what meals you’ll cook, some fresh ingredients may start to turn by the end of the week, so plan accordingly.
- Buy ingredients you’ll use for several recipes rather than just one, e.g., onions, eggs, CCC’s…
Have any other food shopping hacks that save you money? Pop them in the comments below!
