In these tough economic times, it makes sense for every family to be more frugal about the way they shop. Whether this means cutting down on luxuries or moving to cheaper brands, every family stands to make substantial savings if they are willing to make a few minor changes. Here are some ways to saving money on your food shopping.

 

Change Brands

If you have always bought the branded products then try making a switch to one of the less expensive brands or the supermarket’s own brand and see if you really notice the difference. There used to be a rumour that all beans were made in the same place and that the manufacturers either stuck a Heinz label or a Sainsbury’s label on the finished tin. While this is not entirely true, there certainly are fewer differences between branded and own-brand products that you might initially think.

 

By making a single step down the chain, you could be saving you and your family hundreds of pounds on food shopping over the course of the year. This means that if you buy branded products, step down to the supermarket’s own brand. If you are already buying the own-brand produce, switch to the ‘value’ or ‘basic’ range and see if you notice the difference. If you don’t, then stay with the cheaper product. If you do, then you can always change back to the product you usually buy and have lost nothing by trying.

 

Food Bargains

Do you ever buy things from the reduced section of your supermarket? If not, then you should take the time to check out these bargains to see what you could buy for less. Food waste is a massive problem in the UK, so supermarkets try to do what they can to shift their produce at any cost before if goes out of date and is unsellable. This means you could pick up some high-quality food at a reduction of 70% or more because the shop would rather sell it at a loss than pay the penalty of not selling it at all.

 

 

Fresh food that has a short shelf life really should be used within or very close to the use-by date. Not only will it not taste very nice if it is left too long, it could also carry bacteria which cause food poisoning, making it unsafe for your family. If you are buying fresh food that is close to its use-by date, make sure you have a firm plan to eat it soon. Otherwise it will end up in the bin and will be money wasted.

 

Other foods such as products in packets and tins will have a best-before date, but this doesn’t mean they have to be used by then. Things such as chocolate and soups will still be sold off cheaply by the supermarket as they are not allowed to sell beyond the best-before date, but can be bought in bulk and kept a little longer at home if you wish to do so.

 

This article was written on behalf of http://www.soswitch.com/