Have you ever wondered how to save money on food without it being a hassle?
Yes you can use coupons and look for reduced items but this all takes time. Is there a way to save money without having to shop in several different stores at the very end of the day?
Yes there is. You can opt for the cheaper versions of the foods you regularly buy. Admittedly not all store-named products taste exactly like the big brand names, but a lot do. To help you get started we have put together a list of food products that can be switched for the cheaper version without anyone noticing the difference.
Tinned vegetables
Most of the tinned vegetables available in supermarkets taste the same whether they are brand named or store named. Potatoes and tomatoes are excellent examples, as are peas and carrots. If you’re buying tinned vegetables to go in a casserole or stew then the cheapest versions available will suffice.
Tinned soup
Some people may disagree that cheap soup tastes like brand-named soup but when it comes to the basics like tomato, oxtail and minestrone very few people can really tell the difference.
Frozen staples
Frozen chips, vegetables and kids favourites such as chicken nuggets, fish fingers, pizzas etc, can all be bought cheaper without your family knowing. Frozen chips in particular can be bought for half the price if you go for a store-named variety rather than a brand-named. And at the end of the day a chip is a chip regardless of its cost.
Ice cream
Why pay £4 for a tub of vanilla ice cream when you can pay less than half that for the same thing if you look past the brand name? If you check the ingredients in expensive ice cream and compare them with cheaper varieties you’ll see there is very little difference.
Breakfast cereals
Most supermarkets do their own versions of the big named breakfast cereals and in the vast majority of cases you can’t tell the difference between them. If you are wondering how to save money on food this is the place to start as you can easily save two or three pounds per box of cereal.
Biscuits
Plain biscuits in particular taste just as good when bought as a cheaper version. Digestives, rich tea, shorties, malted milk…they can all be bought as supermarket brands for half the price of the big names.
Yoghurts
On average, six supermarket branded yoghurts cost over a pound less than six brand named yoghurts. However as with the ice cream, if you read the ingredients you’ll see there is very little difference between the two types.
Rice and pasta
Once cooked, cheap rice and pasta looks and tastes exactly like the expensive stuff, especially when you smother it in whatever sauce you decide to have with it.
Cooking sauces
Leading on from the rice and pasta, cooking sauces can also be bought for half the price of your normal product without noticing the difference. Supermarkets want you to buy their products, so with items like cooking sauces they use the brand named products as a basis for their equivalent products in terms of the ingredients used. This means you can get virtually the same product for two or three pounds cheaper.
Obviously not everybody will agree with the list above but for those of you who are wondering how to save money on food it’s a good starting point. Swap just a couple of items to start with and see if anyone notices the difference. If not, swap more each week and watch your food bill decrease and your smile increase.
Image Credit: By By Wyroby z fabryki w Pudliszkach source: pl:Grafika:Pudliszki-wyroby.jpg