Slash your food bill apps

We all want to save money on food shopping, but we all know that pop to the shop scenario too well…you run into the shop to grab a few things for tonight’s dinner, and end up dropping 20 quid on a basket full of items you didn’t even plan to buy. Worse still, because we’re all haunted by the eternal question of what to have for dinner, you’ll have to do the same again tomorrow!

If you regularly find yourself shopping for groceries throughout the week spending £££ each time, but never really feeling like you have anything in the cupboards, then you could make huge savings with just a little extra planning and the help of some simple apps.

Food shopping can feel overwhelming, but don’t worry – in this post we’re going to break down the serious money you could save money on food shopping by doing a well-planned weekly shop versus lots of smaller trips, plus our favourite apps to make your cash go further.

It’s easy to lose track of exactly how much you’re spending if you’re heading to the shop more than once. Spending £20-30 at the supermarket a few times a week (which is way too easily done) can quickly add up. Not to mention your time and the travel wasted making multiple trips. 

Planning your weekly food shop upfront can have cost saving benefits. For example:

• Buying ingredients in bulk for the week makes the cost per portion cheaper
• Planning means you cut down on waste and actually use up everything you bought, rather than just a single serving
• Avoiding the shops makes it easier to steer clear from unnecessary purchases and impulse buys
• Having a tasty meal ready for dinner means there’s much less temptation to order expensive takeaway or grab a quick meal out on the go.

Let’s look at a quick example. This young couple live in the city and are prone to stopping by the Sainsbury’s Local and Tesco Express on the way home from work to pick up meat and vegetables for dinner, as well as a few bits for lunch the next day. They easily spend £20-30 each time they do this and often turn to a food delivery service for a pick-me-up on a Thursday evening.

The average cost of a weekly food shop for a couple in the UK is £67.* 

This means that by switching to a single, weekly planned food shop they could save up to £80 per month. That’s an extra £320 each month and £4,160 each year!

Even just saving £100 per month could be the difference between building up your emergency fund, saving for that summer holiday or avoiding turning to buy-now-pay-later when you want to splash out on a pair of trainers.

However, planning food for an entire week isn’t the simplest of tasks. That’s why we’ve put together a list of our favourite apps to make your life a little easier.

Switching from frequent trips to the shop to a single, planned weekly food shop is a simple change that can make a big difference. By planning ahead and making use of helpful apps and services like Gousto, Paprika, BigOven and TooGoodToGo you can cut down on costs, reduce food waste and, of course, avoid the temptation to order an expensive takeaway! The main question is, what will you do with all of the £££s you manage to save?