tipking About
HomeMoney Tips › Food Shopping Tips

Food Shopping Tips

Cutting a weekly shop without buying things you will throw away.

Money Tips

EnergyFood shoppingFrugal livingBills
Appliance Running Cost CalculatorWhat any appliance costs per use, per week and per year, plus eighteen worked out for you at today's rate.Open the calculator →
The rule that covers most of them

Plan from what is already in the house, shop to that plan, and store things properly when you get home. Those three things beat every voucher and loyalty scheme put together.

Cutting a food bill is mostly about buying less of what gets thrown away, not about buying cheaper versions of everything. UK households bin a significant share of the food they buy, and almost all of that is food that was bought with good intentions.

Every tip in food shopping

2007
How to cut a food bill without eating worse

Plan the week's meals from what you already have, write the list from the plan, and do not deviate in the shop. Waste, not price, is where most of the money goes.

The basics
2008
Whether own brand is actually worse

Usually not, and often it is the same product from the same factory. The way to find out is to drop one tier at a time and only go back up on the things where you notice.

The basics
2009
How to make a fridge stop wasting food

Set it to 5C or below, keep a single "eat me first" shelf at eye level, and put new shopping behind old rather than in front of it.

Waste
2010
What is actually worth buying in bulk

Dry goods, tins, cleaning products and loo roll, if you have somewhere dry to keep them. Almost nothing perishable, and nothing you have not already proved you use.

The basics
2011
How to use a freezer properly

Freeze in portions, label everything with contents and date, and keep it full. A full freezer is cheaper to run and things actually get eaten.

Waste
2012
How to know whether an offer is a real offer

Ignore the "was" price, look only at the price per unit on the shelf label, and ask whether you were buying it anyway.

The basics

Tipking is general household information, not professional advice. Test anything on a hidden patch first. Full disclaimer.