How to carry on munching through credit-crunching times

Tips on how to carry on munching through these credit-crunching times

Food prices have increased dramatically over the past few months, in fact there has been a 5.8 percent rise in food bills since the start of the year according to retail analysts Verdict. This has added an extra £800 to the average food bill a year – which is a lot of money in this current credit-crunch climate.

1. Change your supermarket
‘Budget supermarkets’ such as Aldi and Lidl have already seen a rise in sales recently as many savvy shoppers are now turning to these no-frills supermarkets. Although you might miss the bag packers and trolley collectors, what you will get is quality products at lower prices. In fact, even before feeling the pinch, I have been known to make a special trip to Aldi just for their hazelnut and chocolate cookies (and Lidl’s vanilla ice cream is dreamy).

Other cheaper supermarkets are also cashing in and making further food reductions, for example Asda is now selling its basic sausages at 16p: that’s 2p a sausage.

2. Go back to basics
Whilst we would all like to eat organic food the simple fact is that many of us simply can’t afford to do so. Money can be saved on the supermarkets own brands and in fact their basic, no-frills range is often just as good - its the packaging that’s usually basic – not the product. In fact someone I know who worked in one of the supermarkets informed me that their basic bread was exactly the same loaf as their regular bread – they just wrapped it in a different wrapper and charged 20p more!

3. Make your own
It often works out much cheaper to make your own meals rather than buying ready-made products. A vegetable soup is very nutritious, would feed a large number of people and costs the price of a few vegetables. Try this lentil soup, all you need is an onion, 2 carrots, red lentils and veg stock and would easily feed a hungry family of four. Check out the soup section on Recipe Network for great cheap and hearty soups.

4. Plan ahead
If you can, work out your weekly menu in advance and stick to buying only the necessary ingredients. This way you save a lot of waste, and only buy what you absolutely need. Earlier this year a government funded research programme showed that we are throwing away a third of our food – nearly 6.7 million tonnes a year. Instead of throwing out leftover food, there are many ways to use them up. Make croutons or breadcrumbs with leftover bread and freeze, and blanch and freeze raw vegetables.

5. Check out reductions and BOGOF offers
Often supermarkets reduce the price of items that are coming up to their use –by date or have damaged packaging. Meats and poultry can be frozen that day and used later. I would avoid damaged tinned food as damage to the can might affect the food inside. Also, shop in the early evening for further reductions as some stores reduce prices in order to shift the products that day.

Keep a look out for Buy One Get One Free offers – but don’t be tempted into buying up produce thinking its a bargain if you aren’t going to use it, thats false economy. If its a product you use frequently, bulk buy if you have the storage room.