Here’s 10 tips for saving money on your weekly shop, these are things that I do, of course there are loads of ways to save money so leave us some comments at the bottom with your ideas too.

1. Shop at Costco/Makro/Bookers These are big wholesale supermarkets. If you don’t qualify you can get a card on a friend’s account. You need to buy in bulk, but many things are significantly cheaper. For example fresh chicken breast average price in a ‘normal’ supermarket is around £10.00 per kg whereas in Costco it is normally £7.00 and even less if you buy the frozen packs.
2. Buy in bulk when things are on offer in the supermarket and freeze if possible. Buy spices in bulk,buy the refill bags and store in airtight jars, they
   will keep for ages. The Natco brand is available at Sainsbury’s, most Asian supermarkets and online at www.natco-online.com
3. Make soups, this is inexpensive and and provides a substantial,
   tasty meal.
4. Make your own packed lunches for yourselves and for the children. To make a wholemeal bread, ham, lettuce and mayo sandwich costs approximately 46p, yogurt 25p, apple 15p = 86p in total. To buy a ready-made
   ham salad sandwich is around £1.80.
5. Use things up at the end of the week, use the veg that’s coming towards the end of its life. If you chop up all the leftover veggies and roast them in the oven for about 30 minutes you can add some stock and simmer for 5 minutes and then blitz it and have Roasted Vegetable Soup
6. Freeze leftovers, If you just have enough left for one portion, freeze it. Save up the single portions till you have enough for everyone to have their choice and you have a ‘no cook’ night.
7. Bread, put whole sliced loaves in the freezer and only get bread out when you need it, as it is so quick to defrost. This way you don’t waste the dried-up slices and you always use fresh bread. If you buy loaves than are not sliced, divide in half, cover well and freeze. If you have leftover pieces of bread that have dried up a little make into breadcrumbs and freeze. saving money
8. Store food well. Keep things covered in the fridge so they don’t dry up and become unappetizing. I have a cheese box in the fridge, which is a great way of keeping smaller pieces of cheese fresh.
9. Make a menu for the week and a shopping list so that you only shop for the things that you need. If you go around the supermarket without a list then you will probably buy lots of things which will not be used during the week. Shopping on line is an even safer bet and most supermarkets have some free delivery slots during the week.
10. Buy ready frozen meats and fish as most of the time they are cheaper, for example a frozen chicken in Sainsbury’s is £2.39 per kg whereas a fresh one is £3.00 per kg.