This is just a continuation from my previous article about food shopping tips. I know a lot of the tips may seem like simple thing to most of us. And no doubt many of us already do these things, but if you are one of these people that do follow most of these tips, just think back to shopping trips you have been on and any people you have noticed who just pick up the first thing they see, or just fill the shopping trolley without even thinking!
After a lot of nagging from my wonderful Nan, I was forced into watching 'Junk Food Kids', which is a television documentary that has recently aired on Channel 4 in the UK. So I logged onto catch up and finally watched the program last night. I was horrified! Mainly because of how these parents were bringing up their children, but that's a different story.
Back to topic. There was a Mother on the show being followed around by camera crews and in one scene she was off to the local supermarket with her children, to do the weekly shop. The first thing she went for was the ready made sandwiches, sushi, salads etc. She picked up a sandwich for her son and a packet of sushi for her daughter. She told the camera crew she needed to get the kids something to eat whilst walking round. This woman has already wasted money doing that alone. She went on to fill her trolley with random food and then she hit the crisp aisle. If you read my last post you will understand why I am mentioning this. She saw that crisp were half price so she bought 2 big bags. So just in those few minutes she had already 'broken' some of the simple shopping 'rules', this just proving that not everyone knows or follows these wonderful, money saving, shopping tips.
6. Don't shop on an empty stomach!
This one is a classic, almost everybody has heard this saying before but unfortunately I think it needs repeating. I will hold my hands up and admit on occasion I do this and every time it proves to be a huge mistake. Think of the times you have been shopping when you are hungry, did you end up buying things you really didn't need? It's a proven fact we spend more money when shopping, without eating before hand. So this tip is very simple, eat before you shop! Trust me, your purse will be thankful for it.
7. Plan your meals!
Whether you shop monthly, weekly or daily this tip will help you to stop wasting food and start saving pennies! Planning your meals before shopping and then writing a list of what you need to buy will save you a fortune in the long run. When we shop without a list or meal ideas in place, we end up buying many things we don't need or want. We come home with lots of food, start to go through it and then realize we didn't buy what we needed for proper meals. Planning your meals and writing a list makes life so much easier and healthier! I speak from my younger self and before I did this I was guilty of just randomly putting together whatever I could find in the freezer. We didn't save money and we didn't have a healthy balanced diet either. Totally ashamed to admit this but I once had noodles, beans, fish fingers and chicken nuggets on a plate for my dinner. Was a totally gross and an unhealthy meal! Thinking back now it actually turns my stomach haha. What a random mix! So plan your meals and write a list!
8. 'Value' vs Branded
When I say 'value' I mean a mix of supermarket value products and their own brand products. Over the years I have come to realize some own brand products are just as good as the leading brand. We have slowly picked up on what we love and what we hate when it comes to 'value' food. This tip I know many people won't want to try, but if you do want to take my advice, just give it a shot. At first you may feel you have wasted money testing out a product and realizing you don't like it, but over the long run you may end up saving lots of pennies by swapping! The way we did it, was once a week we would buy the value or own brand version of an item that we usually always bought branded of. We'd test it out and if everyone was happy then we would swap for good and enjoy the savings. But obviously on occasion we came across the odd yucky one! So why don't you give it a try, test out an own brand or value product today!
Oh before I move onto the next tip, thought I might mention one example of this. My children love coco pops and shredded wheat. My son is so picky and can tell the difference between almost everything. After constantly buying the branded versions, I one day bought the supermarkets own brand and they went down a treat! Haven't bought branded for a long time since (excluding when they are on offer and work out cheaper! haha). But value cornflakes, huge no no, but own brand cornflakes, not too bad.
9. Reduced Food.
It's pot luck when it comes to reduced food in supermarkets. Some days you will find a nice range of products, other days you end up with a reduced fridge full of liver (I can't stand liver). The great thing though about reduced food, especially fresh meat, is you can save the pennies and still get great food. One thing to remember though when buying reduced fresh meat, unless you are going to eat it that day, I suggest you freeze it straight away.
Easy tip, check out the reduced fridge every time you shop! You could find a nice little bargain!
10. Check your receipt!
I shall leave you will a nice simple, easy tip that majority of us probably already do. Check your receipt before leaving the store! It doesn't happen often but sometimes you can be charged higher than the price labeled on the product shelf. Sometimes items have been scanned by mistake twice and on occasion, your 2 for 1 offers or maybe 3 for £1 don't show up when they have been scanned through the til.
This tip probably won't save you much money but it could save you the odd pence throughout the year.
Just remember, 'Look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves!'
Hope you enjoyed my second installment of shopping tips to save the pennies. And hopefully you either learned a few new tricks or were reminded of some you may have forgotten.
Good luck shopping and enjoy your saved pennies!
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Checking your receipt can make a big difference...especially with Tesco offers! Grrr
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