Food shopping

I only buy meats when they are on sale and stock up, putting them in the freezer. Same with the steamable frozen veggies. If I can't have fresh they are a good alternative. As for fresh veggies, I don't buy a lot at one time. I try to focus on one or two fresh veggies a week. Some grains can be expensive too, like quinoa, but at least that lasts longer than a week!

Sift through the ads and plan your meals. If you know chicken breasts are on sale grab a bunch, plan a few meals with them, and you can eat healthy (your family too) while staying on a budget. If you have a second freezer, buy things on sale in bulk and hold them. I do this because that means I rarely pay anything but a sale price for my food (at least the expensive stuff like meat). It requires a bit more research but it's doable.

Very true. I tried planning out my meals before I went shopping this last time and saved a TON of money because I wasn't just grabbing stuff.

large oriental groceries tend to have fruits and veggies at much cheaper prices, so if you know of one in your area, you can check that out. and like other people said, look for meats when they're on sale and stock up on them in bulk .

my mom's a beast when it comes to shopping. she buys fruits and veggies every day , and buys meats every once in a while because they're stored in the freezer.

In the UK too - food prices seem to be always going up now so try to keep our weekly shop under £50 for the two of us for everything, food and non-food.

I often have a quick look at a few websites before deciding where to shop to check out any special offers and most weeks we call in somewhere like a Lidl or Aldi to save a bit there if poss before going on to do the rest of the shop at Asda, Sainsburys or Morrisons.

Helps me to make a list beforehand and as we're one vegan and one veggie I cook a fair bit from scratch but still buy things like frozen veggie burgers / sausages, chips, ice cream, biscuits etc. I don't so much plan the week's meals as plan what we'll have on the day to use up the fresh stuff before it spoils so's not to waste money throwing it away.

Another way we save is to buy more in-season fruit and veg as it's often cheaper then, also switched down to a cheaper brand or basic own-label a lot - reckon is worth trying the cheaper stuff once and if it tastes as good we stick with that from then on and save that way. We eat a lot of meals made with cheaper beans and legumes instead of meat for protein, like shepherds pie with green lentils, parsnip, celery, tomatoes, onion and mushrooms or spag bol with courgettes, tomatoes and kidney beans.

When we used to buy meat I'd buy a larger pack to save money then freeze it in meal-size portions and thaw one overnight in the fridge when needed, maybe something like turkey breast cut into strips for a stir-fry the next day.

If you've got a little garden space or even a balcony to grow some fruit or veg too it's another way to save a fair bit and what you grow tastes so much better, fresher too if you pick it just before eating so it doesn't lose nutrients like shop-bought stuff can. Grown baby salad leaves in small containers, courgettes (these get a bit big tho), cherry toms in pots, strawbs in wall troughs, runner beans up an old metal gate against a wall and a few fresh herbs like basil, coriander and parsley on the kitchen window ledge this year, all easy to grow and any spare seed in the packet will keep for next year.

I use mysupermarket.co.uk for our main shop.

tells you which supermarket your items are cheaper at and also gives you healthy swaps

For fresh fruit and veg I walk to our closest market or greengrocer for them every couple of days - gets the stuff fresher and burns calories at the same time. I do not buy it in bulk as it goes bad far too quickly.

If I had room in the garden I would be growing my own.