Reduce your food bill – four ideas that really work

Worried about rising food costs? As you know from my last post, I definitely am. Here are four ideas you can try to save money off your food bill:

1. Explore new shops and new ways to shop:

If you haven’t already, I suggest you give online grocery shopping a try. Many large supermarkets deliver in Fife and while a minimum spend and a delivery fee apply, getting your food delivered can still help you save money.

First, create a shopping list of your weekly staples, preferably on each supermarket website you want to use. Then check out where these items are cheapest each week by adding the whole list to your shopping basket. Often this just takes one click. Once you know which shop is cheapest, click on the special offers tab and add the ones you want. If your basket comes in over budget, the online system makes it very easy to delete items to bring the total down.

Don’t shop at the same website every week. Supermarkets will try to get you back by emailing offers to your inbox. For example next week I will to take advantage of two emailed discounts from a supermarket I don’t normally use: £10 off a £50 shop and free delivery.

I also stock up at discount retailers. The food is mostly own brand, but their fruit and vegetables are cheaper than most other supermarkets. They also now sell meat from British farmers. However, some brands our family doesn’t want to miss, so if you feel the same, shop at one of the local wholesaler’s if you can. They offer many brands in bulk which works out cheaper.

2. Shop less

Once you buy in bulk or take advantage of supermarket offers you can stock up on food when it is cheap and store or freeze it. Shopping less often also means fewer chances of overspending; saving is easier if you don’t need to resist temptation quite so often. This idea works best if used together with bulk cooking techniques.

3. Shop More

Food waste is an acknowledged problem in households all over Britain. It doesn’t just cost resources; throwing food away means throwing away money. But if you have taken care of the staples through online shopping or bulk buying, you can now concentrate on getting only perishables directly in the shops, as and when you are about to use them. Yes, you are shopping more often if you buy only small amounts of fruit, dairy or meat, but you will throw less of it away.

4. Shop differently

The Moneysaving Expert website has tons of advice, both on its official website and its very active message-boards. You’ll find lots of tips about saving money off your food bills, but the one intriguing me most right now is the idea of downshifting: swapping brand products for store own brands and store own brands for the budget version etc. You might not always be able to tell the difference. If you have already tried the other three ways of food shopping, maybe this one will help you save more.

No garden? No problem!

I am in the process of moving into a new flat which only has a small garden which is paved. It got me thinking of alternative ways of having gardens and growing herbs and vegetables in a more non-traditional way.

Windowsills

I was unsure what could really be grown effectively on a windowsill. Here’s what I found out:

• Basil, beans, carrots or salad seem to be good choices for windowsill growing providing the windowsill gets plenty of sun.
• Keep windowsill growing on a small scale as putting too many in one container will cause overcrowding and therefore growth will be minimal. 
• Use proper container compost as this will retain water and have nutrients to make growth better.
• Water often – containers dry out easily on windowsills.
• Plant flowers in containers with veg to add a bit of colour.
• Use some imagination and design your own containers instead of buying them.

 Indoor Growing

• Mushrooms can be grown indoors in a dark cabinet or cellar by following some simple steps.
• Cress can be grown on a paper towel! (I remember doing this as a kid)
• Peppers, radishes, green onions, small tomatoes, lettuce and garlic are all possible to grow indoors providing you have the correct conditions.

Container Gardening

If you have a paved area, patio or even a big enough front step you can have a go at growing something lovely in a container. Tomatoes are a good choice and there are even pre-sown mats to make planting even easier! Pots, troughs and grow bags are all good for container gardening, the deeper you can get the better to help to retain moisture.

Rent an Allotment

Another idea is to rent an allotment if you want a bigger space to grow more. There are many benefits to having an allotment. These being:

• It’s an affordable way of growing your own healthy food.
• It reduces your exposure to pesticides as you know exactly how produce was grown.
• Gives a great sense of achievement and satisfaction.
• Great for the environment.

Come and join in at our community orchard!

We have a community orchard in Ravenscraig Walled Garden in Ravenscraig Park. We welcome new volunteers even if you have no gardening experience but are keen to get involved come on down to our volunteer sessions. These are held every Friday 10am until 1pm or every Saturday 1.30pm until 3.30pm. For more information email @greenerkirkcaldy.org.uk.