How to save on food: useful tips

The unstable economic situation has led to the fact that an individual or family is forced to save on food. No matter how sad it may sound, but you need to reduce the budget for certain foods in order to fully exist. To understand what is being said, pay attention to the main aspects of economy.

How to save on food: shopping

Make a list
Take the habit of displaying on a piece of paper everything you need to buy. From now on, the list is the main ally. Without it, you jot down an extra basket and spend a much larger amount.

To make a list correctly, create a diet for a week. It should include breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea, lunch, dinner, possible snacks (if necessary).

It is on this principle that all successful and healthy people eat. Then browse the products that you already have. List in the list only those components that are missing for cooking.Do not type too much!

Check prices in different stores
It's no secret that every supermarket or store exposes its price for the same product. Therefore, the cost can sometimes vary very much. After all, the final price is influenced by various factors.

Compare pricing policies of stores where you used to buy. When making the list, specify in which supermarket this or that product will be bought. So you will save a lot.

Buy for the week ahead
Of course, to get everything in one grocery store is very convenient. But do not be lazy and buy expensive goods in the supermarket, if the same is in the shop around the corner, but at a lower price.

Take the habit of buying groceries for a week. Otherwise, tomorrow you will not have ingredients from which to prepare food. You will go to the store, and this will lead to unplanned expenses. In addition, near the house products are more expensive.

Do not be lazy once a week to allocate time to go for groceries. In this case, you must take a list of ingredients with the marks, what and in what market to take.

Keep your emotions

Keep yourself in hand. Do not buy sparkling water (which you do not drink) just because it is a discount of 10-20 rubles. The same applies to other products that are not listed. Pass them by.

Remember that the most expensive products are located at eye level. Therefore, when choosing pay attention to the shelves located at the top or bottom. As a rule, products are cheaper in these places.

Focus on
Studies have shown that buying any goods is a pleasure. Food is no exception. When a person enters the store, he automatically begins to add all products from or to the list to the cart.

Such an "autopilot" leads to the fact that closer to the ticket office you have to grab your head, because there are too many unnecessary goods.

We advise you to concentrate and enter only the necessary departments before going to the hypermarket. If you need household chemicals, do not go to cosmetics.

Do not pay more for brand and packaging.
Promoted brands usually ask for a larger amount for their products than those who have just entered the market.

Moreover, the high cost does not mean the quality of the product. On the contrary, the new manufacturer wants to earn a name for itself, therefore it produces goods that meet all the requirements. Do not pay for the name.

Beautiful packaging is, of course, good, but it is not worth 20% of cheating. It is better to take a less bright pack, transparent or monotonous, which will have the same quality products.

Avoid cutting and semi-finished products
Everyone knows the fact that sliced ​​sausage / cheese / bread costs several times more. Is it difficult to cut yourself? Not at all! Buy one-piece products, do not overpay for it.

Discard the semi-finished, ready-made meals that should only be reheated. Prepare burgers, dumplings, dumplings yourself. Cut out for this time on the weekend. Keep the finished product in the freezer.

Buy in store
There are various wholesale bases where you can buy products in bulk at a very attractive price.

Pay special attention to cereals, pasta, sugar, flour and other ingredients,which will never be superfluous and have a long shelf life.

So, instead of one pack in a supermarket, you buy two at a wholesale base. The profit is obvious! You should not discourage yourself with the words “I have no place to keep all this”, there will be a place later. You can negotiate with friends and go to the bases together, everyone will pay for their own.

Eat before going to the store
This is the most important rule that must be put in the first place. Before you go shopping, eat tight. And the meal should not only fill the stomach, but also bring moral satisfaction.

It is proved that a hungry person collects much more food in the basket, because he thinks only about food. And we can not say that these same products will be useful. As a rule, snacks, buns, cakes, chips and other “muck” are used.

Use discount cards
Today, almost every store offers its customers to use discount cards. And they do not have to be paid.

Even in the latter case, you will make a small amount once, but then you will enjoy discounts for a long time.
You should also connect the notification of new promotions via SMS. You will receive a message on the phone, that soon there will be an action on sausages with a 40% discount, etc.

Match the product price
Before you buy vegetable oil volume of 950 ml. Look at the same product for the same price, but with a volume of 1 l. Extra 50 ml. help you out at the right moment.

It is worth noting that you do not need to be afraid of expired products. Some manufacturers make a good discount when the aging on pasta or cereals comes to an end. Naturally, this rule does not apply to milk and other perishable products.

Buy seasonal vegetables and fruits
In most cases, vegetables and fruits are grown in our country. Therefore, the cost of raw materials should not be high.

In the cold, it is quite possible to purchase inexpensive apples, beans, vegetables. All components are suitable for nutritious and tasty dishes. In this regard, it is better to buy products on the market.

Give up the little things
When visiting supermarkets, quite attractive and useless goods are often placed at the box office. However, our subconscious craves to get them.Calm down and ignore the urge.

This is a marketing move, while standing in a queue, you involuntarily begin to look through various trivia. You will definitely be interested in them and unknowingly put them in the basket. Do not give in to this temptation.

It is important to understand that a simple chocolate can cost much more, for example, 1 kg. flour or vegetables. In this case, standing at the cashier, you do not need to look around and look at various treats.

Be careful at the checkout
After you put the products on the tape, carefully observe how you punch the goods. The cashier may make a mistake and break something twice.

In large stores, the price may not correspond to the product. Feel free to ask why the amount exceeds the stated amount. Use the discount system.

After you have paid for the purchases, carefully review all the items in the check. Perhaps there will be one product punched several times. It should immediately make a complaint. No one is insured against the mistakes of the cashier’s operator, so be vigilant.

Saving budget in the kitchen

1. To minimize the budget spent on products, it is necessary in advance before going to the store to adjust the new diet.In this way, you can accurately represent what products you need. Try to replace the usual components with cheaper ones.
2. Pay attention to offal. Everyone understands that a juicy steak of red fish or beef does not compare with the heart or liver. But offal can also be cooked tasty. So you will periodically alternate the components of the new menu.
3. If you spend enough time on the global network, it is worth visiting culinary blogs more often. In them you can find cooking recipes of quite interesting and budget dishes. Get a separate folder on your desktop and save notes. Weekly menus and shopping can vary considerably.
4. Try to cook almost all the dishes and pastries yourself. Believe me, so the family budget will be reduced significantly. Various drinks, milkshakes and sauces can be made with your own hands. If desired, you can bake bread, which will be much tastier than the purchased one.
5. When cooking, pay attention to the seasonality of vegetables. The usual summer salads can do quite expensive in the cold season.Simple carrots and cabbage can also appear on the table as a vitamin dish.
6. Do not cook in store. Meals of large sizes, as a rule, are not fully eaten and later fly to the garbage can. You can find a way out. You should not cook new foods until the old ones are eaten. Learn to cook evenly and wisely.
7. Take it as a habit to always make various blanks. This is not about pickles. Enough to start freezing vegetables, herbs, fruits and berries. Chop the components and pack them in a sealed bag or container. Send the raw materials in the freezer until better times. Fragrant greens can always be at hand.
8. Do not forget to apply in the first place products with a limited shelf life. In the shortest possible time use for the purpose of fermented milk and similar products. Thus, you will not face the problem of rotten and not applied composition, which you simply throw out.
9. It is important to store products correctly, do not forget about it. Always follow the conditions recommended by the manufacturers. If necessary, stick the stickers on which there will be a note that the product should be consumed in the coming days.The dried bread, in turn, can be used as crackers for salads.

To cut the budget for food does not mean to limit everything in oneself. You can eat tasty, but pay less money for it. Watch your behavior in the store, always make lists and follow them. Do the work yourself.

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