Mum Of 3 Uses Clever Japanese Hack To Make £3.44 Groceries Last
- Abi, 37, saves on groceries by doing one large shop with regular smaller ones in between
- She tries to only buy what is on offer to keep it interesting for the whole family
- Her local supermarket is Morrisons and she has worked out how to keep costs low
- She saves on the kids’ lunches by creating Japanese-style bento boxes full of treats
We all have our favourite supermarket to shop for groceries, but it can sometimes be easy to get carried away and spend more than you intended. However, one savvy mum of 3 has proven it’s possible to make incredible savings every week with some planning and discipline.
Abi Morley, 37 from Wiltshire and mum of 3 children aged 10, 15 and 18, told money-saving community LatestDeals.co.uk: ‘My nearest shop is Morrisons and I don’t spend much on family groceries. Usually I get heavy and bulky items every fortnight or so and then do smaller shopping trips about twice a week.
‘It works out at £70 to £100 a week depending on deals. Recent bargains include a pack of 6 creme caramels for 20p, two packs of fresh noodles at 48p each instead of £1.60, a £3 ready made spaghetti bolognese down to 90p and a Covent Garden soup for 66p.
‘The best bargain I picked up in recent times was a whole fresh salmon for just £7, so I bought some for the freezer too. Other great discounts have included 5p loaves of bread (again, I stocked up the freezer!), 15p puff pastry bakes, 2.5kg of luxury range baking potatoes for 40p and a whole chicken for £1.49. I keep the groceries interesting by trying to only get what is on offer, purchasing bulk packs, going for multibuys and exploring the yellow stickers.
‘There are 5 of us, that's myself and my husband, two sons aged 10 and 15 and a daughter aged 18. When possible I rope them into coming shopping with me to help carry everything. With their help I can pick up supplies for very low-priced meals.
‘Recent cheap meals have included fresh salmon with home mixed salad (all yellow stickered or multibuy offers), roast chicken with all the trimmings, and recently I used the fresh noodles with veg I already had from Morrisons (price cut, naturally) and Quorn from the freezer to do a stir fry.
‘I freeze as much as possible and by doing the bulk shop I can get the bulk buy deals, then the regular smaller shopping trips mean I can make the most of bargains that can't be frozen.
‘The cheap ranges aren't bad, and if there isn't a good price on the mid range or branded items, I always go by price per quantity. There are exceptions (free range is something I do not shift on), so when it comes to animal products if I can't get free range I substitute with vegetarian meal options.
‘Vegetables, especially when they’re frozen, are cheap enough to bulk out dinners, and salad is quick and easy. I use these options to do a lot of bulking out so that I can make the more expensive parts of the meal go further.
‘For example, I made a big stir fry which was probably less than £2.50 total for all of us. I have also done pizza for all of us plus guests for about £3, when pizza dough was down to 30p a packet. I topped it with tomato puree and mixed grated cheese, along with a packet of pepperoni slices to go on that. Recently I also bought a whole host of groceries which only came to £3.44.
‘I also make food go further by using bento boxes. I use big packs of the same ingredients, then portion them in the same combination. For example I will get cream cheese or chocolate spread in a little tub and breadsticks to dip in, or I might cut ham and cheese into the size of a cheese biscuit and use a bento lunchbox to keep them separated along with said biscuits or own brand mini cheddars to make budget lunchables. Using this trick means the boxes have paid for themselves over and over.'
Tom Church, Co-Founder of LatestDeals.co.uk, said: ‘These Japanese lunch boxes are a clever hack for making the kids’ meals more interesting - and it’s much cheaper than buying branded products. I’ll have to give this a go with my son once he’s in school!’
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