“I’ve cut my food bills by £175 a month - here’s how I do it”

• Kerry Morton, 54, has reduced her food shopping bills by £175 a month
• She spends between £60 and £70 a week on feeding a family of four
• Kerry says the key to saving money on food is staying super organised

The cost of living crisis is making food shopping and cooking an expensive and stressful task for many families - but one savvy mum has revealed how to significantly slash your food shopping bills.

Kerry Morton, 54, a mum of three from Colchester, is a seriously organised shopper - and she’s got cooking for a family of four down to a fine art.

Kerry, who works in a primary school, spends between £60 and £70 a week on feeding herself, her husband and her two hungry teenage sons aged 14 and 17.

She estimates that her food shopping tricks have saved her £175 a month, thanks to preparation, organisation and forward planning.

One of Kerry’s top tips for saving money on food shopping and cooking is to be super organised.

She ensures that she writes a comprehensive shopping list, and checks what food she has in stock to avoid buying something twice and then possibly wasting it.

Kerry has also got shopping in her local area down to a fine art, making sure to visit the right supermarkets on the right day to get the best discounts.

Kerry shares her budgeting tips on YouTube at www.youtube.com/@budgetcookinguk, releasing regular videos explaining how she’s cut down on costs and sharing recipes for her viewers.

“Plan, plan, plan,” Kerry told money-saving community LatestDeals.co.uk. “I write down the main meal of the day on my shopping list and add food items I need after doing a quick stock check.

“Doing a quick once over of stock to avoid buying twice is a real budget saver. It can also determine what I will be cooking depending on what's in stock.

“Stock checking is key: old first, new last in terms of using up.

"So if I have mince in the freezer, and yoghurt in the fridge I just need kidney beans to make a banging chilli con carne.

“I also try and shop early, I've found my supermarket Lidl has a lot of marked-down meat in their fridge on a particular day, so I've worked my shopping day around that.

“I appreciate a lot of people have different demands on their time, but many supermarkets reduce items late in the retail day. Always head for the reduced aisle before doing your main shop.

“Check sell-by dates while shopping, as sometimes a later date is at the back of the shelf, giving it a longer shelf life at home.

“I shop in Lidl predominantly because it offers the best price but other supermarkets are beginning to offer decent budget ranges.

“If I shopped without a list, I know I would buy a lot more duplicated and unnecessary purchases.

“I also use a calculator, so if I hit my budget, I put back items that are not vital to the household.

“I use mine on my mobile, as there are no surprises at the till and if you've found discounted items, it'll be less at the till than what's on your calculator - just tap in the advertised price to make calculation easy.

“Always stick to your list and do not deviate. Supermarkets are designed to sell you stuff as you walk around - they are very clever where they position items.

“But a list keeps you from straying especially if the budget is tight.

“Avoid brands: if you choose to stick with non-branded goods, you’ll save an awful lot of money.”

Kerry also recommends using apps and supermarket offers to your advantage. Her favourite is Lidl’s app, where you can get a free bakery item once a month and 10% off your next shop every month when you hit a certain target.

“I’m saving this for my next big shop, so potentially, if your shop costs £70, you'll save £7 without any effort involved,” she explains.

“Lots of discounted offers are released every Thursday - they are available for seven days, so there is plenty of time to use them effectively.

“Check your local area and evaluate where you shop.

“Are there better more budget-friendly supermarkets near you that you haven't tried?

“Find out when your usual supermarket marks down its food, and check where the reduced aisle is.

“Ask if your supermarket offers a Waste Not box. “Lidl does a big box for £1.50 and I managed to eke out four meals from it as an experiment. They are sited near the tills and are often all gone by early afternoon.”

Once your food shop is over, though, that’s only half the battle: cooking efficiently at home and not wasting ingredients is key to keeping costs down.

Kerry says that cooking your own food from scratch is by far the best way to save money, compared to buying ready-made food.

She recommends buying larger, discounted packs of food and freezing where possible, being savvy with leftovers and sticking to a strict meal plan.

“I have tried to weather the cost of living crisis by planning, stock checking before shopping, freezing wherever necessary to keep food from going off, especially in hot weather, splitting larger packs for multiple meals and keeping my meal planner in plain sight on the fridge so I stick to it,” Kerry adds.

“Planning really is the saviour here - take five minutes to write down seven meals under the weekdays on the right and on the left is your shopping list. It helps to keep you focused while shopping.

"In hot weather, I keep my bread in the fridge, as it keeps for a lot longer rather than going mouldy in a warm cupboard.

“If I know I'm planning two chicken dishes over two weeks, I would buy a larger pack of chicken drumstick or thigh fillets and split contents into two, freezing the second one for the following week, saving me having to buy chicken on the second week.

“Drumsticks or thigh meat is a lot cheaper than breast and nicer too.

“Or if the meat is on offer, and your budget allows that week, buy it and freeze it until needed.

“It's a long game but pays off when you come to cook it on the week you've saved by not having to buy a joint or pack that week.

“Food has a strict three-day lifespan once cooked, so any leftovers are used in a lunch the next day or the day after for food safety purposes.

“If you have leftover ingredients, Google what to cook them with and there will be a ton of ideas to pick from.”

Kerry is also mindful of her bills while cooking. To keep costs down, she batch-cooks sauces and soups, which saves time and money.

She’s also a dab hand at bulking out sauces, picking flavours that taste delicious but are wallet-friendly.

Kerry is a keen air fryer fan, saying they can be up to 50% faster than an oven, and therefore cheaper, and are fantastic at reheating food.

“You can bulk out a frozen bolognese sauce that's not the usual amount for a family of four by throwing in a can of chopped tomatoes for 39p or if you want it to taste richer, a jar of pesto for 99p from Lidl,” she reveals.

“I started using my air fryer predominantly when electric and gas bills were going through the roof.

“They’re often 50% faster than an oven. I absolutely love mine.

“I've rarely use my oven and in my previous house, the oven was in disrepair with seals failing so air fryers were a lifesaver.

“I've found that when reheating from frozen or defrosted, the air fryer is king.

“Food is superior in the air fryer when reheating compared to the microwave and a lot quicker than the oven for certain foods like leftover pizza or roasties.

“Even leftover chips can be reheated in the air fryer with great results.”

Kerry shares her tips and tricks on her YouTube channel, including everything from meal planning to how to create a “fakeaway” for less.

“Rather than having a takeaway, try doing a fakeaway,” she suggests.

“Everybody deserves a treat but takeaway prices have also gone through the roof.

“I've recreated a Five Guys burger which costs a staggering £12 to only 99p for a homemade one - it was super easy and quick to recreate as well.”

Kerry says she understands from personal experience how stressful the cost of living crisis is - and she swears by being organised to keep costs down.

"So many families in the UK are not lucky enough to have budgets or deep purses where they do not have to worry about whether or not they can afford to buy the food they need to feed their families on their weekly shop”

"Too many, especially during the last year with the cost of living impacting food prices so negatively, thereby creating further strain on already strained purses, may make choices where they limit food for themselves in order to ensure their kids are fed.

"I've been there and know from personal experience how tough that is.

“Careful planning really only means spending 10 minutes or so writing down what you're eating for main meals for the following week checking cupboards, the fridge and the freezer to see if you have ingredients that you won't need to buy or even to help decide to use for a meal, helping to reduce wastage.

"And to walk around the shop with a mobile phone calculator in hand (to keep you on track) and sticking to the shopping list!

"The more you apply this, the better you'll get at the rest, like batch cooking, using up leftovers and so on.

"Cooking from scratch is in the main the cheaper option and there are a wealth of cooking vloggers out there on YouTube.

“I'm just an ordinary person who decided to start a YouTube channel when I bought my first air fryer nearly two years ago.

“I show my mistakes as well as my successes. My viewers are the best, they have a wealth of budgeting tips and recipe suggestions.

“Many have become good friends and I appreciate each and every one of them!”

Tom Church, co-founder of LatestDeals.co.uk, comments: “With busy work schedules, kids to look after, and bills to pay, it’s easy to see why food shopping can become a bit chaotic - and therefore expensive.

“But Kerry has suggested some super ways to keep costs down, if we just take a little bit of time out of our busy schedules to really organise our food shopping and cooking.

“Simple tricks such as doing stock checks, batch cooking and walking around the shops with a calculator are genius, will really help to keep costs down, and can be actioned by anyone!

“She’s managed to cut her bills so significantly I highly recommend that every shopper takes her lead.”