5 Ways To Cut Your Shopping Bills

We all have budgets to stick to, but we don’t necessarily want to compromise on the quality of what we buy. By remembering a few simple points, it’s possible to trim pounds off your shopping bill, whilst still buying the items you want.

1. Read labels carefully. Don’t always assume that a bigger pack of something will save you money. Sometimes two smaller packs can work out cheaper than one large one, even when the larger one is supposedly on offer. I recently saw a bag of oven chips marked ‘bigger pack, better value’, although by buying two smaller ones I definitely got a better deal. The trick is to read the label on the shelf where it states the price per 100g/100ml – the maths is done for you – it soon becomes obvious which is the cheaper option.
2. If you find a big pack of an item which does work out cheaper, don’t be put off from buying it because it’s too large to handle e.g. huge bottles of fabric softener that can be quite weighty to pour. Be sure to keep smaller, empty containers for such items to decant a small amount into at a time. I have done this with squash, coffee and washing liquid too.
3. Make the most of the ‘3 for £10’ meat and poultry deals offered by some supermarkets. Tesco and Sainsburys both offer good quality meat in their £10 deals, including steak mince, pork chops, casserole steak, chicken pieces and sometimes whole chickens too. All the meat that I have bought from these deals has been of really good quality, whilst feeding the family for a little over £3 per meal. You can always stock up on a few of these deals at a time to fill the freezer.
4. Stock up on goods on offer. Make the most of half price offers etc when they arise, providing the items have a reasonably long shelf life. Short on kitchen cupboard space? Then find a handy storage space elsewhere to keep stocks, e.g. a cellar, understairs cupboard, spare room or dry shed. Some items come on offer fairly regularly, so by buying these at offer times and storing them, you need never pay full price for them again. In my case, I find this applies to products such as packs of Branston Beans and Heinz Soups, various cereals, Ariel Excel Gel, fabric softeners and tea bags, to name a few.
5. Look to the floor! Confused? Allow me to explain. Less expensive product ranges tend to be placed on the lower shelves in supermarkets, as stores tend to place premium ranges at eye-level to grab your attention. Budget ranges are often found on the lowest shelf, where they are not as instantly noticeable. So remember – the lower the price, the lower the shelf!

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