How to Save Money On Everyday items



Meh, just writing the title bores me, I HATE food shopping. Household shopping is dull and expensive, but after speaking to some people (my mum, colleagues, friends etc) I realise how much money you could be potentially loosing on something as basic as food. So here is my top guide on how to save money on boring stuff... so you can buy more makeup (haha) 

here is my guide to how to save money and still spend makeup, worth checking out once you are finished this one of course :)





1. DON'T BE BRAND LOYAL. 
Simple yet effective, things like cheese, there are a million different brands and types. Branch out and always shop the offers. There is always one on offer, always. I never end up buying unbranded cheese, because I will go for half price brand ones which end up being better deals. Just have to accept that one week it will be Cathedral City.. the next seriously stong. Cheese is Cheese. Do not be afraid of own brand either, quite often it is made in the same warehouse as your branded alternative. EG. I have heard Golden Wonder make Tesco, Asda and sainsbury's crisps too (just slightly different recipes)


2. IF YOU ARE BRAND LOYAL - SHOP DEALS. 
There is some brands I love so will try to stick with them when I can, things like Nutella, Biscoff spread, juice, crisps, and washing liquid I like what I like and stick with it... but I refuse 100% to pay full price, especially when I know once a month they will be on some form of offer. My example is always Persil Mighty 40 wash. £10 typically, but once a month it's on offer for half price. For the past 3 years I haven't once spent more than £5 on one, everytime it goes on offer I buy 2-3, which always lasts me. I wouldn't dream of spending full price. NO WAY! lol


3. MEAL PLAN
Nothing angers me more than spending £60 on a food shop and not even having meals for the week. This happens everytime I go to a store without thinking what we want to eat that week. Sit down and write up what meals you want and when, is something going to leave leftovers?  Plan them in. Be flexible too, if mince is on offer swap your chicken burgers for mince. The minute you start doing this things will fall into place.


4. WRITE A LIST
Meal planning really does lead onto this, writing a list really does stop you from impulse buying rubbish. A good deal is only a good deal if you would normally buy it anyway. Don't stray from that list, shop the deals but don't buy anything outside of it, all those £1 offers add up, to a whole load of stuff you don't need.


5. PLAN TO BE SPONTANEOUS 
I always try to have at least once meal which won't spoil or can be frozen, so if we think "ach lets just have a chinese" I can leave pasta to next week.. or put the chicken in the freezer.. be flexible so you can have a random meal out or treat yourself.


6.  DON'T BE LAZY AND DON'T LET PACKAGING FOOL YOU. 
Supermakets will show you how much you are being charged per roll, per gram for packaged items, sometimes you think you're getting a good deal, but it turns out you would be better off with another. Check how much product you are getting for your money... this leads me onto the "easy option" for items. good examples are things like Cheese, buying it in a block is much cheaper than buying it in slices or grated. It takes minutes to grate or slice... save yourself the money and spend it elsewhere!

Porridge is the worse for overcharging per gram, its so easy to make porridge the normal way, save yourself 81p (pots) or 60p (sachets)  per 100g! so for every 1kg bag I buy of porridge oats I save an epic £8.10 or £6.00. And what is the extra money on? Mainly packaging, and some extra ingredients like sugar and Soya Lecithin to stop it from boiling over. *sigh*


6. BUY LOOSE
Fruit and Veg comes out of the ground/falls from the tree loose, extra time taken to package things means it will go off quicker in your fruitbowl/fridge they will also charge you for the packaging and the packaging process too. Same goes for pre chopped items. They go off FAST. Buy whole and cut it up yourself when you need it. Yes figuring out prices of loose items can be tricky instore, to make sure you are getting a good deal... which leads me onto...


7. SHOP ONLINE/USE SCAN AS YOU SHOP
Shopping online is a total godsend. Not only is someone else actually doing the shopping and carrying it up the stairs for you, they also pack it for you, plus the customer service is fab, you have a problem? refunded. But my favourite thing about these is being able to see how much you are spending before you get to the checkout, you simply cannot do that normal shopping, and your gonna look silly getting to £50 then telling the cashier to take some things off cause it's just too much, but online and scanning as you shop you just take it off, goodbye item.. didn't need you, don't want you.

8. IGNORE THE ADVERTS
Every single brand is bad for advertising, they all claim to be the best and the cheapest. Don't watch them.. of course they are going to say you will save £30 by switching to them, you would be buying all home brands, could save that by doing it in all the supermarkets. Or the "we are half the price on pringles of X supermarket" - yes but they have doritos half price and they had pringles half price last week when you never. It's all marketing, do not believe it. They are all as cheap as each other. And if you really wanted to bargain hunt the best way to shop would be to go to every supermarket every week and get your full shop on offer - but that is just extreme.. I ain't got time for that!

9. BEING LOYAL COUNTS 
Sometimes it's good to be loyal. Supermarkets like Tesco and Sainsbury's offer points when you buy with them, they will very quickly add up, 1 point per pound doesn't seem much, but when you are weekly shopping it adds up fast. Tesco also offers "Boost" so their vouchers are worth 2x - 4x the value. Last year I got £100 in vouchers, which was worth £400 in goldsmiths. Hello new watch - just for buying things I would buy anyway.

10. TREAT YOURSELF
As much as I say SAVE, you should have items in there which really are a treat, want that bar of chocolate thats full price? or walkers sensations... or ben and jerry's cause its that time... sometimes its worth buying full price as a treat - its not worth waiting for. Use the porridge pots for work? keep doing it and save elsewhere, Don't limit yourself too much :)


I stick to this as much as I can, I feed a family of 3 (2 adults & 4yo) for about £45 a week, which I would say is pretty good. 

Hope this guide helps, and let me know if you think I have missed something? Do you have any more tips? Let me know in the comments below, has this encouraged you to cut back next time you are in a supermarket?

6 comments

  1. Great post! Can't believe how low your weekly shop is, that's amazing! I'm still at home, but the other day I brought stuff for 2 meals and some fruit/juices and ended up spending just over £30! Interesting fact about the crisps - I never knew that! I brought tesco economy crisps for my homeless gift bags at Christmas and tried them for myself, was amazed to find out they tasted just as good as normal. When I've stayed at my boyfriends for the week and we've done a weekly shop, I do plan the meals in advance and make sure I only write the stuff we need for those meals. Definitely a lot better and easier than walking around trying to figure out.

    Love Hannah xx

    HannahHawes.com

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  2. Great tips, we always shop about for the best deals and frequently use Aldi & lidl as they are such good value, I have 2 teenage boys and they can EAT ! lol
    http://katecloset.blogspot.co.uk/

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  3. Oh my, it's crazy how similar we are in this sense! I'm exactly like you in that I hate paying full price for those brands that I love and I love shopping around. Meal planning has also helped me so much!

    Musings & More

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  4. These are really great tips and I should really be more effective with my shoppings. I love shopping at the supermarket though and could spend so long in there, but that's jut my problem, I always have time to find new interesting things :D I really need to stick to my lists :)
    Thanks for the great tips gorgeous!
    Have a lovely week <3
    Emma xxx

    www.wellemma.com

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  5. These are great tips, Erin! I am pretty good at most of these things and there are things I need to improve. One of the things I noticed in the supermarkets was packaged potatoes or any vegetables/fruits cost more than the loose ones so I make sure not to get the packaged ones :)

    Ela BellaWorld

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