At the times when money is being tight, there are still ways that can save you hundreds of pounds every month. In our article we bring you 5 creative ways how to spend less and enjoy your life more.
Supermarkets
Supermarkets are great at making us spend more money. They have developed many strategies like marking sale items which are actually not on sale.
Often you can find cheaper products in your local store. These include price marked packs which you will rarely find in the supermarket. Moreover, if you buy meat or vegetables at your local corner shop you can be sure that what you are getting is fresh and tasty food which is not older than a month. In the supermarket the food can be even months old.
In the supermarket you can save money by bulk shopping the items with longer sell-by date.
Shop your larder first
Before you go shopping check your larder, set up a budget and stick to it. At the end of the month if you see that you are nearly hitting the budget limit, spend less on groceries and make use of what you have in your larder instead. This will help you not only save money but the food you have already in store will get used and not thrown away.
Stop for a minute and consider how much food you must trash because you simply did not manage to eat it before it went off. Buy smaller portions of food more often and do your next food shopping only when you used up the previous stock.
Stock up with flexible recipes
To stop wasting food that you do not know what to do with, stock up with recipes that allow various alternations. These recipes are usually very simple, flexible yet tasty. They feature rice, lentils and legumes which are cheap, have a long shelf life and most importantly they are healthy.
Use sites such as Supercook which suggests hundreds of recipes for the items left over in your fridge or cupboard. Alternatively, you can try sites like Old Style Recipe Index where you can scroll down to the relevant ingredient.
Resell your kids clothes
Considering how fast kids grow, a good way how to save some money is to resell their clothes. Of course the money will go right back to their next wardrobe, but still you do not have to pay it all out of your pocket (at least not directly).
Free entertainment
Lots of families spend their free time with children going to the nearest supermarket which offers lots of possibilities of entertainment. However, you will end up paying a considerable amount of money as well.
When you have some time off with the kids try to hit the park, the library, nature trails or go to the lake. If you want to make it even more enjoyable, prepare a family picnic and take the food with you. Going for a family walk or playing games can save you hundreds of pounds and you can still have a great time together.