Some buying tips and tricks...

Here are a few buying techniques that can really cuts your bill; clearly this will not be applicable to every lifestyle or it might not be physical possible due to space limits.

• Buy in bulk:-
  Buying large bags of pasta, rice and other non-perishables will really save you money per gram; however this might not be possible if you live in small student accommodation. However choose one item you use a lot to buy in bulk this will save you money.
• Buy meat from a local butchers and NOT supermarkets:-
  Buying from small time butchers will help you multi-fold, firstly you will get higher quality meats, secondly better price per pound and thirdly you will get to know them and they will more likely give you better prices. Meat in plastic wrap on market shelves (even on 'offer') are not the best deals going and are often where people spend the most money.
• Keep you cupboard stocked with the basics:-
  Everyone should have the basics kept in the house to throw together a tasty and healthy meal without having to buy new ingredients every time! Keep posted for a post about this coming up soon!!!
• Use the reduced sections:-
  In almost every supermarket there are products that are marked down because they are close to expiry dates or because the packaging is damaged; either way they are usually amazing savings. This is a great place to buy meat, veg and tinned goods (usually there because they are dented); buy foods you can make into a freezable meal/ freeze itself to increase the shelf lives of these items.
• Cook once- eat twice+ :-
  This is really simple, it usually only costs pennies extra to make an additional portion of a meal (in fact most people make more than they need and then end up throwing it away!); so instead of ditching it tub it up and throw it in the trusty freezer for a quick meal another day. This is excellent for sauces such as bolognaise and chili but also for soups and casseroles.
• Use those left overs carefully:-
  Okay, so say you have cooked a chicken for the Sunday roast but the whole chicken wasn't used (I recommend getting a whole chicken for this very purpose- really cuts down on both money and cooking time!!!!!); so instead of throwing away the rest get as much of the meat off the carcass as possible and use it for additional meals, such as meat for wraps, meat to add to dishes the next day or even freeze the chicken meat and reheat when needed. Now the bones don't have to be wasted either, its extremely cheap to make your own chicken broth which can be added to a variety of dishes and is easily frozen. Now this isn't just for chicken but for most meats and veg too! All the recipes on the blog will have links at the bottom of the page to recipes that could easily use up the left overs.

I hope you find these tips useful; if I find more techniques for reducing food bills I will add them to this post so keep checking back :-)

Helen x