10 Money Saving Shopping Tips

So by now you’ve taken down the last Christmas decoration, gone up a notch on your belt and after a sideways glance at your bank statement gone into a state or mild panic, or is that just me? Anyhow January is the perfect time to reign in the spending after the expense of Christmas so if you’ve never joined in the Credit Crunch Munch linky (which I run with Helen of Fuss Free Flavours) or are a regular contributor now is the perfect time to join in and share your thrifty dishes. I’d love to see some leaner dishes this month as I think I may have eaten a year’s worth of chocolate over the festive period and really need to get back to some healthy eating.

In recent month’s I have become a bit of a bargain shopping expert sharing my spoils over on Instagram and Facebook with the hastags #CreditCrunchMunch and #FabFoodBargains. If you like to share your bargain finds with me then do tag me – @fabfood4all – I’d love to see them! I’m often asked for my shopping tips so I thought I’d share a few with you today!

10 Money Saving Shopping Tips

1. Most serious bargains appear on the shelves after 4pm and in many cases around 7pm. Get to know your local supermarket’s reduction habits as they all vary. On a Sunday 2pm onwards is a good time.
2. Don’t buy more than you can eat over the next few days or freeze. It’s not a bargain if you end up throwing it away!
3. Always check the world food aisle before buying any spices, tinned beans/tomatoes or grains or any sort plus more exotic ingredients like sriracha or tahini paste, they are always cheaper here!
4. Don’t go shopping when you’re hungry.
5. Don’t take your kids shopping with you, nine times out of ten they will want to try some new yogurt/cereal/drink that after one mouthful they will tell you they dislike intensely!
6. Have a shopping list for your basics but be flexible, have an idea of what you’d like to cook over the following days but if you see cheap fresh ingredients then adapt your menu! If you don’t know how to cook something or it’s new to you then Google is your friend and you may discover a new ingredient that you love!
7. Try to stick to the healthy raw ingredients that are on offer or discounted, bringing home all the cheap donuts and cream cakes is tempting but stay focused!
8. Watch out for 3 for £10 type offers as you’ll often still get the discount at the till even on reduced items (but not always so check your receipt). This way you end up with mega bargains.
9. Get to know your fellow bargain hunters, be generous with them and they will return the favour. No one likes a hoarder! I like nothing better than letting other shoppers know where there’s a fabulous bargain to be had!
10. Finally don’t ignore the “Value” brands in your supermarket, staples like basmati rice, pasta and flour are far cheaper with no tangible difference in quality.

So back to this month’s Credit Crunch Munch, things you might like to consider could be:

Dishes using cheaper ingredients – cheap cuts of meat or vegetarian
Meals using leftovers
Meals using up the ends of packets
Substitutions of cheaper ingredients
Packed lunches
Meals that use less energy to cook
Pressure cooking
Slow cooking
Faster cooking – less oven time for example
Batch cooking for the freezer
Sustainable foods
Food you have grown yourself
Meals from reduced food in the supermarket

CREDIT CRUNCH MUNCH
To take part, simply blog about any money saving idea or recipe that is vaguely food related. We do a full round up so I will be mentioning all the recipes that are submitted.

There are a few rules
Please link to this post, and the Credit Crunch Munch page on Fuss Free Flavours
Please use the Credit Crunch Munch Badge
Tweet using #CreditCrunchMunch and tag @FabFood4All & @FussFreeHelen
Closing date – last day of the month – 31st January 2016
You are welcome to link up one or two old posts, but please republish them
By entering you are agreeing to let us use an image from your entry on this site, and to pin to Pinterest
If blogging a recipe from elsewhere on the internet or a book please be mindful of copyright
But feel free to send to as many other events as you like, let’s help everyone save money!
Please visit a few other blogs who take part plus comment and share
This is a blog hop so please grab the code and share the linky on your site too.
We look forward to seeing your entries!