Eating On A Budget
Aside from monthly bills, food is often the next biggest expenditure. Average households in the UK waste £470 worth of food each year, £700 if the household has children.
So what can you do to reduce your monthly spend?
- Swap expensive brand names and ‘organic’ items for supermarket own-brand versions
- Buy food in bulk
- Cook in batches and freeze for future use
- Plan meals
- Write a shopping list
- Reduce meat consumption and increase plant intake
- Avoid faddy and expensive diets
- Avoid ‘free from’ foods unless you have a medical reason to do so – studies have shown that gluten-free products can be up to 159% more expensive compared with gluten-containing products. They also tended to be higher in fat, sugar and salt and lower in fibre and protein.
Homemade vs. processed:
It is drilled into us to avoid processed foods altogether. However, potential physical and time restraints can hinder cooking in bulk so don’t entirely rule out convenience foods. Plenty of affordable and healthy processed options are available, including frozen fruit and vegetables, tinned fish, tinned pulses, hummus and wholegrain bread.
Take a look through our full recipe collection to start your meal planning now!
