Food&Drink Writer Cara Scott tells us her 10 inventive ways to save money without having to compromise on food and drink this Christmas
For many, luxury food can be very tempting, particularly around Christmas. Christmas brings special festive treats on sale, along with ‘easy’ meals, such as microwavable meals or frozen pizzas, which can be very tempting to buy with all the deadlines coming up as we move closer to Christmas.
However, I want to show you that you don’t have to spend lots of money to enjoy food and drink. You can make quick, simple and nutritious meals using cheaper ingredients.
So here are my top 10 tips when spending money on food and drink this Christmas (and all year round in general):
1. Pasta – You can save an awful lot of money buying cheap packets of pasta – a 500g bag of penne pasta costs 29p in Aldi!
I cannot stress the importance of always buying fresh food
2. Fresh food – I cannot stress the importance of always buying fresh food. I always make sure I have my meals planned out for most of the week so if I am buying fresh fruit and veg, I know that I will eat it that week. This is a really good habit to get into and avoids food waste. It is also so easy to chuck fresh vegetables into almost every dish, so if you see your tomatoes or peppers have tomorrow’s date on, throw them into tonight’s meal.
3. Chocolate – Like Sali Hughes says in this recent Guardian article, ‘For most of life’s occasions, a cheap Curly Wurly, Whole Nut or Twix is precisely what’s needed.’ I couldn’t agree more. Cheaper chocolate can taste just as good as branded expensive chocolate like Lindt. You can still enjoy chocolate and sweet treats and not feel like you have to spend too much of your student loan on it.
4. Hot Chocolates – We all love a good Christmas costa hot chocolate (the Terry’s chocolate orange one this year is delightful). However, if you aren’t too careful, you can end up spending a lot of money on treats like these during the festive period. Why don’t you try making your own? You can buy a 350g tub of orange hot chocolate powder from Sainsbury’s for just £2. If you have a travel mug, you can even take your hot chocolate into your seminar with you!
Buying basic, cheap food that you can keep in a cupboard and is a must
5. Stocking up – Buying basic, cheap food that you can keep in a cupboard and is a must. Foods such as rice, jars of pasta sauce and curry, and tins of peas and beans are really handy for making quick and easy meals on a budget. This way, if you have a lot of deadlines at the moment as we near Christmas, you can always find 10 minutes to cook something basic but hearty.
6. Cutting Down on Meat – Even if you love eating meat, you could cut down and use alternatives to save a bit of money. It is really easy to find meat alternatives around Christmas, even to items such as pigs in blankets!
7. Reduced Offers – If you go food shopping on a Monday morning, you can always find reduced items that go out of date in the coming days.
8. Looking out for special offers – Always handy for spending less.
9. Alcohol – As we near Christmas, many of us may be buying more alcohol for the festive period. Buying supermarket branded alcohol can save money and will still do as good of a job as expensive branded alcohol.
10. Always use leftovers – Keep food you have left over in the fridge for the following days. It will mean less cooking for the week, especially if you batch cook. This also cuts down on food waste.
I hope these tips have helped highlight some creative ways to save money on food and drink this Christmas!
If you have enjoyed these tips, have a look through other articles from Food&Drink:
Comments