How to Save Money on Food Shopping Without Making Food the Enemy
A lot of us are trying to figure out how to save money on food shopping right now, and for good reason.. Food shopping used to feel fairly predictable. You might grumble when butter went up by 20p, but you roughly knew what your weekly shop would cost. Then came Covid and the supply chain disruption, Brexit-related trade changes, soaring energy prices, the war in Ukraine and years of unusually high food inflation. Suddenly people who had never worried about grocery bills before were double-checking every receipt.
Why Are Food Prices So High in the UK?
Food is one of those expenses you really notice. Most of us shop every week or so, actively choosing what goes into the trolley rather than paying a fixed direct debit. Unlike your broadband, it's difficult to ignore. And, of course, you can't save money on food shopping by simply opting out of eating.
Inflation peaked after 2022 and food inflation was higher than overall inflation for quite some time. Energy costs affect the whole farm to plate process - growing the products, transporting them and storing them - so there’s a premium at every stage affected by inflation. Climate change has increased crop failures and as global supply chains remain fragile as a result of all the factors above, there is every chance that further climate change will make them more fragile still. In other words, this wasn't just supermarkets deciding to charge more. Costs increased throughout the supply chain, and many of those increases ended up being passed on to us.
Can you remember when MRSA (and other antibiotic resistant bacteria) was all over the news every day (ahhh, simpler times)? It felt strange to realise that something previous generations had largely stopped worrying about could suddenly become a threat again. Food security gives me a similar feeling. For decades many of us in the UK have assumed supermarket shelves would always be full and affordable. Climate change is a reminder that some of the things we've taken for granted aren't guaranteed forever. Wild, eh?
Food Doesn’t Just Have a Financial Cost
Another thing to point out is the emotional labour of household food. It’s not just buying calories so that you, and the people around you, can survive and thrive but planning meals, remembering what’s in the fridge, thinking about nutrition (whilst up against an increasingly fervent diet culture), balancing preferences and making the budget stretch. It’s not only women that do this but it is a job if we’re honest in most cases it mainly falls on us, and I would say, specifically mothers. It’s a mental load that should be acknowledged and appreciated.
So, if you are struggling, understand that those are structural issues - not an individual fault of yours. That doesn't mean there's nothing we can do. We can't control global food prices but we can make thoughtful choices that reduce waste, stretch our budgets and help us eat well. That's what this post is about.
Here's What Actually Helps
1) Waste less.
This might be the biggest saver in most households. According to the NGO WRAP, UK households throw away 6.4 million tonnes of edible food waste a year. I can’t even begin to imagine that but… it sounds like a lot!
The obvious solutions include eating leftovers, freezing portions, planning meals around what you already have and trusting your sense of sight and smell before best-before and sell-by dates (sensibly of course) but one thing that has absolutely worked for us is having an ‘eat me first’ box in the fridge.
I must admit, this worked better in our previous flat where we had two full size fridge freezers (for no discernible reason) so we had a lot more space. Nowadays, I simply move what we need to remember or be aware of down to the shelf just above the salad boxes which is where my eye immediately goes when I open the door. I do this especially with fruit and even more especially when I have delicious new fruit that I’m excited about - that goes at the top back and the stuff that’s going to turn to mush tomorrow gets pride of place. It works!
Another thing I’ve been actively trying recently is simply googling for recipes for stuff I’d usually chuck out. In this way I found a recipe for pineapple skin syrup which is delicious and pickled watermelon rind which we weren’t so bothered about but you might be!
2) Shop from your cupboards first
A challenge I’ve been trying is, before going shopping, I shop from my cupboards - I’m including fridge and freezer in that - and I plan two entire meals from what’s there. I often think it’s going to be impossible, there’s nothing there, it’s bare - but I’ve been doing this for around six weeks and I haven’t failed yet! I do give a little grace for fresh veg, because sometimes there really isn’t enough of that, but I’ve also started buying frozen veg so that’s less of a problem.
I’ve been creative because of it, and we’ve had some weird meals, but the best bit has been remembering long forgotten recipes that we used to love and just somehow got out of rotation (I remembered a version of this cod cooked in a tomato sauce last week, made with frozen cod portions and half fresh tomatoes, half tinned - it did us for two meals and a lunch for Dr Chris!).
3) Buy ingredients rather than meals.
Instead of a ready meal pasta bake, buy the pasta, tomatoes and cheese. Instead of flavoured yoghurt, buy plain yoghurt and fruit. It’s kind of obvious that this will be better for your physical health but it will be overall cheaper. Now, I have some caveats for this of course because things aren’t necessarily so straight forward.
First, only be buying stuff you’re going to use. There is absolutely no use in buying a bag of lentils that will sit in your cupboard for six years.
Second, there is nothing wrong with ready meals or convenience food - for busy people, disabled people, poorly people, tired people, depressed people, older people and even just people who like ready meals sometimes. This is not a moral thing at all and if a ready meal is what’s going to get you fed, get on with it! It also doesn’t have to be all one or the other, frozen chopped onions might save time, energy, avoid pain and reduce food waste but mean that you actually make a home cooked meal - win, win, win, win, win!
Third, a bit more difficult I think, there’s a very real argument that ready meals/highly processed stuff is cheaper to buy than ‘real food’ and I can totally see that. I read a post from a guy on Reddit who said he buys seven £1 ready meals from Iceland a week and lives on porridge and toast the rest of the day - he did this because he was trying to retire early, not out of necessity. It’s hard to argue that that’s cheaper, takes less cooking and absolutely reduces the mental load, but there’s no way that’s as nourishing for the soul or the body. It’s a means to an end and that’s fine but if we’re talking about living a good life - let’s get cooking.
I priced up some stuff on Asda’s website for a pasta bake that would do us for two meals and a couple of Dr Chris’s lunches) I chose pasta, tinned tomatoes (two tins), onions and some cheddar cheese (of course we wouldn’t use the whole lot but you can’t buy precisely what you need…) the total was £4.54. Add in some garlic and some lentils (again you wouldn’t be using the whole lot but you have to buy it) and the total is £6.98. That’s £1.16 for each meal, plus some time and electricity.
I know we all know this but it’s worth keeping in mind.
4) Stop buying food for the fantasy version of yourself
Stop buying aspirational vegetables.
We all have a version of ourselves where we cook beautiful meals every day, eat all of our fruit and veg, use exotic spices and expensive herbs and never order takeaway. And then they rot away in the fridge.
You’re allowed to not be the best version of yourself, you’re allowed to take it easy, you’re allowed to provide for the person you actually are and not the one you think you should be.
I am looking at this for the next couple of weeks. I’m volunteering on four separate days for Stockholm Pride, I’ve got a couple of client coaching calls, a friend is coming to visit and because I’ve booked quite a bit of time off the hotel job because of all of that, my manager has obviously scheduled me in for every day I said I could actually work. I am looking at a pretty solid couple of weeks honestly, some exhausting physical and mental work and lots of social time, means I won’t have the capacity to be my ‘best self’.
I’ve already cooked some stuff ahead and frozen it, bought some extra milk and frozen that too, I picked up some stuff from the cheap shelf which we wouldn’t usually try (frozen paella??? Well, you only live once…), I’ve got some cereal in which is unusual for us and I’m planning one big shop later today to prepare. I’ll try after that to only shop once throughout the period to top up on fresh stuff. I’m aware of what’s coming and I’m expecting to eat a bit weirdly. It’s fine.
5) Spend more on what matters to you
This is absolutely about the intentional spending piece which applies in every space you’re spending money but especially with food.
Spending more on some excellent bread is likely to tip the needle more than a brand name ketchup (for me anyway…). Home-brand pasta is as good as any other dried pasta - but doesn’t excite me as much as a gorgey fresh pasta. If buying some proper quality olive oil will make you eat more salad - go for it!
I’ve concentrated on supermarkets here because that’s the reality for a lot of us, but shopping locally where possible or in zero-waste and organic shops for items that you love can absolutely be a part of spending intentionally in this area, and i would totally encourage that!
This is optimising value rather than pennies.
6) Don’t chase every bargain.
My friend Rachel once told me that three for two on elephants is only a bargain if you actually want elephants. And I don’t want elephants, definitely not three of them…
I am a huge cheap shelf fan! This particular proclivity is something I inherited from my dad who was a true cheap shelf connoisseur, much to my mum’s chagrin… He would buy more or less anything from the cheap shelf but I have rules for myself to stop that:
Anything that I usually buy and can be frozen or stored is a big fat yes.
Anything that I can make a meal of or swap out for one of my planned ingredients is a yes.
And then, anything that really catches my eye - a cheese I haven’t tried, some fancy sweets or crisps, a drink that would usually be too expensive for me to test out in case it’s terrible. I buy my standard ingredient food stuff in my main shop and get most of my treats from the cheap shelf.
7) Really utilise your freezer
It’s quite amazing what can be stored in there:
Bread.
Cheese.
Butter.
Fresh herbs.
Cooked meals.
Milk.
Fruit including bananas - although many of them go kind of mushy so they’re good for baking and smoothies after that.
Nuts including walnuts and brazil nuts - and probably should if you don’t eat them that much, the high oil content means they can go rancid quite easily.
Left over coffee can be frozen to make ice cubes for iced coffee. Tea the same. Wine the same but for sauces (left over wine???).
I save meat bones and ends of stock vegetables (onions, garlic, carrots, celery etc.) in a bag in the bottom of the freezer and once it’s full I make a big pot of stock… which I then freeze…
8) Think about nutrition, not just calories
And I’m talking about actual nutrition, not dieting.
Food isn’t just fuel, it isn’t a ‘necessarily evil’, it’s a tool for life and joy and has such a deep effect on concentration, mood, energy and sleep. It’s creative and delicious, it can bring us together, it can show how much we care for others - and ourselves. Shitty food which leaves you exhausted, hungry or depressed isn’t good value. This is a necessity, a part of looking after yourself and living a good life - it’s not a luxury.
9) Find your ‘good enough’ supermarket
Aldi might be the cheapest for you but if it means you have to spend £5 on fuel to get there or an hour each way waiting for the bus, it might not be worth it. The same if you need specific food - like gluten free, or vegan options. If Tesco has everything you need, takes two minutes to get there but maybe isn’t the cheapest - it’s probably good enough.
10) Decide before you get there - the case for a loose meal plan
A meal plan, a shopping list, a budget. Never shop when you’re hungry or stressed, don’t shop ‘for ideas’.
I do think there’s value in leaving yourself open for little bits of excitement though - I’ll write ‘salad stuff’ and that could mean very different things one week than the next depending on what’s on special, what catches my eye or what’s available. But I know I’m buying that rather than ‘roast veg stuff’ which would also vary week to week.
This is also where th cheap shelf stuff comes in, a cute little space for something a bit weird to sneak in. You know you’re old when you’re feeling whimsical about yellow stickers.
Further Reading
If you’re interested in this stuff I found a great article from Clearscore about household food budgets broken down by gender, age, area of the country and even into comparisons with average caloric needs. It’s quite geeky but I loved it!
Saving Money on Food Isn’t Bbout Spending as Little as Possible
Not necessarily anyway. It’s about being intentional, thinking ahead so you can make good decisions, wasting less, treating yourself preciously and balancing good value with joy.
Your food bill is one of the few places where your money, health, relationships, values and the environment all meet so it’s definitely a place we should be putting some consideration on.
Love Eleanor. xxx
