Times are tough right now – cost of living has increased, interest rates are on the up, and our wages aren’t doing the same. Feeding your family can be hard at the best of times, with waste a common occurrence, particularly if you have children.
If you are reading this and nodding your head, you are absolutely not alone. Through my work with families, I can assure you that there is a huge collective of parents raising their hands in solidarity with you.
Along with this increase in cost of living, the grocery bills of families have increased significantly. So, whilst we have no control over the price tag of items, there are some strategies I recommend to help feed your family in a more cost-effective way.
Watch: Simple budgeting with a banana. Post continues after video.
Meal plan.
Whilst it can take a while to get the hang of, and can seem a little laborious at first, meal planning is essential to keeping your grocery bill as low as possible. It provides you with direction at the supermarket, lessening the chances of you buying unnecessary items. It can also mean that you can plan meals to utilise ingredients throughout the week – we’re all guilty of buying a punnet of cherry tomatoes, using half for a meal and the rest slowly festering in our fridge.