The cost of living crisis is making it harder and harder for low-income families to put food on the table. From buying frozen, to stocking up on bulk pasta, here are a few tips on how to feed your family for less.
Buy in bulk
Kitchen staples are fantastic to buy in bulk, simply because it drops the cost of each meal substantially. This is particularly great for non-perishables, but if you’ve got a large family with hungry teenage boys, then relying on bulk purchases can improve meal costs across the board.
Canned goods are also great for bulk-buying, thanks to their long shelf life and ease of cooking. Foods with low PH or acid levels, such as tuna and soup, last for longer than more acidic canned foods such as tomatoes and pickles. This, interestingly enough, is because the acid starts to corrode the tin can.
Try not to expose the cans to extreme temperatures; the US dept of Agriculture recommends discarding dented or bulging cans.
Cut the crud
Buying pre-prepared or individually wrapped snacks is a huge waste of money. All you’re doing with this purchase is paying more for extra packaging which you’ll still need to throw in the trash can. If you must buy snacks, get the full-sized version and use small freezer bags or tupperware to portion it out yourself at home.
Also, pre-made meals including microwave dinners and rotisserie chickens are massive wastes of money when you compare it to their unprepped versions. Rotisserie chickens may sell for £8 each, but the tiny chicken itself will only go for £3!
Buy At the Right Time
One of the major influences on the cost of a product is how far it must travel to get to your local grocery store.
At this time of the year, in-season produce includes apples, apricots, artichokes, asparagus, avocado, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, carrots, celery, collard greens, lettuce, mushrooms, peas, radishes, rhubarb, spinach, strawberries, swiss chard and turnips. These healthy vegetables can be nabbed for less at this point in time, and some of these freeze remarkably well. Keep an eye on the seasons and your grocery bill will reflect this.
The other major influencing factor for the price of food is basic economics: when demand is high, prices are high – and the flipside – when demand is low, prices are low.
Most people out shopping are not planners. This means that they shop on the go, when their wants arise: when a lot of consumers want the same food items at the same time, prices shoot up and queues around the christmas turkeys increase.
For seasonal purchases, you will see a lot of people shopping at precisely the wrong time – and they’ll certainly be paying the price. Buying and freezing the turkey and christmas pud ahead of time – or buying the non-perishable items to make it yourself – a month or so in advance and save yourself some festive cash.
Alongside this planning ahead, sometimes it’s necessary to ditch the recipes. Sometimes it’s easy to get laser-focused on shopping for fresh produce for a specific recipe. Unfortunately, a lot of the time that means you’re spending more for some items just because they are not in season.
Frozen
Fruit and vegetables in the frozen foods aisle are often picked and frozen at the very peak of freshness. This means they’re more fresh than some of the produce that has to travel from farms, to packing facilities, to the stores, then finally to your kitchen counter.
Frozen produce also helps to reduce food waste. Frozen berries and green beans can last up to a year in the freezer. However, if you accidentally were to leave fresh berries in the fridge or on the kitchen counter for longer than a week, you end up with sticky, moldy berries and sad limp green beans that you’ll have to throw away.
Buying frozen can save both your wallet and the environment, which is a great life lesson to teach your kids!
Turn to the Food bank
Finally, if you’re struggling so much that the above tips seem optimistic at best and completely impossible at worst, then have an honest look at the options around you.
Some parents feel guilt or shame about turning to a food bank, but at this point the most important priority is to have food on the table for your kids and yourself. Sometimes, it comes to this for any family – parents that are willing to put the needs of their kids first and can turn to a foodbank are parents that truly care.