Saving Money on Groceries

I read on a forum (moneysavingexpert.com) that some people are doing without certain foods because of the price.  One food that was repeated was corned beef.  I am a veggie so I wouldnt eat it OH would but according to the forum it is up to £1.99 in price!!

I am speechless.

The only item I do not buy very often is kitchen roll as I find it totally uncessary at home.

So what do I do to keep my costs down?

I go to the supermarkets at reduction time and freeze items usually bread, rolls, quiches and sometimes for lazy evenings I buy pizza usually reduced from £4.00 to a £1.00 in Sainsburys.

I buy value items for some foods namely, kidney beans, tomatoes and sometimes crisps.  I always buy crisps they are my downfall but I try to buy the low fat ones - no matter how much I try I cannot give them up. My OH loves Sainsbury's value cornflakes!

I do use vouchers but only if I am buying the item anyway, for example, I had a coupon for a brand of Brie but it was cheaper to buy the shops version.

We drink fizzy drinks and was spending a fortune on cola so we bought a soda stream so we make it for pennies, again try as we might we cannot give up our fizzy drinks!  We don't drink gallons of it though.

I also check the following website to see if what food is cheap and where this week but be careful as some of the vouchers are often for brand items and the shop's own can be cheaper of course however, you may prefer one to the other in terms of quality it depends on your taste! 

http://www.lovemoney.com/blogs/money-saving-tips-bargains-and-freebies/bargains-and-discounts/15248/frugal-friday--13th-april-2012

That links to frugal Friday however do have a look around.

I also wait for offers on products I buy, they do not happen on every item but I buy toothpaste on offer or from the pound shop and my hair product I buy as much as I can afford when they are two for one or half price.

Aldi is good for some items especially their fruit and veg, I bought 6 pink lady apples for £1.99 as a treat this week.  They are more than that at the other supermarkets, I also bought a bag of carrots for 39p! Less than half the price in another supermarket I went into afterwards.

I try to buy naughty things such as biscuits in pound shops.  I have also recently bought items from approved food - not all naughty and I will do a separate post about that shortly!  I also buy soups where I can from the pound shops.

Luckily I live in town a road behind the High Street and amany shops are within walking distance i.e Sainsburys, Tesco, Iceland, Asda and Aldi. Lidl is too far away they built it out of town although we do use it when we are on holiday and it is close by when we are self catering.

Once I have shopped I scan my shopping and I get vouchers in return!

If I go out for a meal I can use my tastecard which I won last year, or I look for offers.  I know these may have to stop given our potential financial situation however, we have used our Tesco vouchers for meals at Prezzo and we have taken advantage of Pizza Hut's buffet for about £6.95 yummy.

I also earn luncheon vouchers for giving my opinion on items I get about £8.00 a month and is ideal if I want a sandwhich from Greggs!

What do you do to save money on groceries?  I am sure there is more that I do!!