Save money with good food habits
You’d be surprised by how much money you can save on food by making small changes to your routine.
How much money could you save?
We know that keeping an eye on your money is likely to be front of mind right now. We want to help you make your food budget stretch further so you can spend your money on the things that matter most to you. It might not be on your radar - life gets busy after all - but throwing away food that could have been eaten is a bit like throwing money straight in the bin. The savings soon add up as you take a few steps to use up food before the use-by date, creating one or two more meals from each trip to the supermarket.
Time is precious and life is busy, so it’s about making small, easy tweaks to your approach to food and having a few extra skills and ideas up your sleeve.
The average UK family could save £83 per month, around £1,000 per year, by saving food from the bin.
Small actions really do add up
A great way to get started on keeping more food on your plate, and less in the bin, is to take a look at your weekly food routine and choose a few changes you could make so that it works better for you and your pocket.
Our favourite budget-friendly recipes
It’s easy to rely on recipes we know and love when we want to whip up a quick meal. But cooking the same meals at home on repeat can lead us to neglect certain ingredients we have hiding in the freezer or the back of the cupboard (and let’s face it, to reach for the takeaway menu!).
Explore our tasty recipes, designed to help you use up the food you’ve got and save money in the process. Here are some of our faves - tried and tasted by the Love Food Hate Waste team!
This classic lentil soup is a treat for vegetarians as well as meat eaters, and can be further enhanced with lots of different vegetables.
These muffins are ideal for using up ripe bananas. You could also use other fruits that need using up, such as apples, cranberries, oranges, pears or even some tinned fruit!
This is a great alternative to a classic roast dinner, and so easy: all you really need to do is chop some veg!
Here is a tasty mid-week family meal that uses up store cupboard ingredients and spices with extra meatballs to freeze for a second meal.
This tasty side dish or snack is a great way to use up potatoes.
This recipe is great for when you find those stale slices of bread left at the end of the loaf.
More money-saving tricks
As well as learning a few more recipes to inspire you to use up more ingredients, finding different ways to plan and prep, getting to grips with your fridge and freezer, and storing food in the right places all help you make the most of your food. (Some of our tips, like checking the temperature of your fridge, you can do once and not worry about again!)
Here are a few of our best food tricks to help you save money.
Adopting some simple food habits into your usual weekly routine will remove a lot of the stress around food, saving you both time and money - while shopping and at home. It'll also ensure your food is eaten and not binned!
- Save time and money
- Food shopping
Nine ways to save money on your food shop
Here are nine ways to help lighten the load on your wallet when you get to the checkout… and save food from the bin, too!
