Cut your Food Shopping Bills

Published September 2008

This page is part of  a series of articles on this site devised to give practical advice for saving money and preventing unnecessary food wastage. That's extra money in the bank to spend on other things.

See also:-  Introduction  |  BOFOFs (Buy one Get One Free)  |  Money Saving Foods   |  Credit Crunch Recipes

General Food Shopping Tips

With time at a premium, it’s all too tempting to make one trip to the supermarket more profitable by stocking up. However this method of shopping is one of the major contributions towards higher shopping bills and food wastage.  Whilst it seems easier to load up the shopping trolley with everything you think you’ll need for the coming week, with sell-by dates getting seemingly shorter and shorter, shopping this way makes it more likely that you’ll end up with uneaten and even unwanted food.

It’s therefore better to plan on shopping at least twice a week. The extra you may spend on petrol, you’ll most certainly make up for in money saved, not only by not throwing away so much food, but also by getting  items which may be reduced due to shorter sell-by dates.  You’ll also be less tempted to impulse buy because you know you’ll be visiting the store in a few days’ time.

If time is your enemy, remember it takes less time to pick up fewer items plus less time at the checkout, so that will cancel itself out,  and unless your supermarket is well out of the way, it’s likely be going past it on some other errand, so with the reduced shopping time involved in buying fewer goods, you’ll be able to fit in the extra stop.

Furthermore, shopping this way tends to concentrate your mind on utilising what you have in your fridge or store-cupboard and before you know it, you’ll be dishing up tasty new versions of favourite meals made up of what you have available.

A brief word about Credit Cards

The way you pay your bills can also save you money. Try not to use credit cards unless you pay off the balance at the end of each month as the money you save on your bills will be offset by the interest the bank or credit card company charges you on outstanding balances.