Saving money shopping and cooking

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Use your mobile phone to create a shopping list or to take a picture of inside your fridge or cupboard to avoid buying double. There are lots of free apps available for making a shopping list
Try and avoid shopping when you are hungry. It’s much easier to stick to your list if you’re not hungry
Buy stores own brands instead of well-known ones – they are usually cheaper and often taste just as good, if not the same as the well-known brands
To limit the calories from oil in your cooking, you can pour your cooking oil into a clean spray bottle (do not use a spray that has previously contained cleaning products) You can buy spray bottles in many discount shops.
Check prices at local suppliers or independent markets as they can sometimes be cheaper than regular shops and big supermarkets
Canned or frozen fruit and vegetables can be cheaper than fresh ones and they are just as healthy. Choose the reduced salt and sugar versions and those in water or natural juice if you can
Swap grated bags of cheese for a block of cheese. You will be surprised how much more you get if you buy a block and grate it yourself
When buying fresh fruit and vegetables, choose those in season. They will not only be cheaper, but they will taste better too
Plan your meals around what’s in season or freeze some in freezer bags to eat later if you buy too much
The most expensive item on people’s shopping list is often meat so start having one or two vegetarian meals every week as a cheaper and healthier way of eating
Vegetables and pulses are cheaper than meat and are full of important vitamins, minerals and fibre. Try eating more vegetarian meals like stews, Dahls, soups and stir fry
Look out for foods in the reduced section as you can often find meat, fish or fresh products that are close to their sell by date. You can then either freeze them as they are, or cook them that day to freeze and eat in the future
Look out for special offers as it may work our cheaper when buying fresh produce to buy in bulk and freezing to use later

Swap how you cook!

Sometimes swapping the way we cook our food can make a healthy difference

Top tips:

Where possible, grill or roast your meat instead of frying
Vegetables can be boiled or steamed – steaming is a great way to retain all the goodness and flavour
Roasting vegetables like peppers, tomatoes and onions instead of frying – means you will only use a little oil
Steam or bake fish instead of frying. Cooking your fish in a steamer or oven-baking in a foil parcel keeps the fish moist and full of flavour
Cook using a small amount of sunflower, olive, or rapeseed oil instead of ghee or butter
Try a homemade tray bake of roast vegetables using carrots, parsnips, cauliflower, butternut squash or potatoes. Cut them into chunks and roast in a tablespoon of oil with your favourite herbs and spices for extra flavour