How to save on food

No matter how you poured the oil of the TV screens (they say, the government controls the prices of goods in the food basket), the statistics - are stubborn things. The cost of a conditional minimum set food grows againCost conditioned (minimal) set of food. If in October 2017 it amounted to 3715 rubles, in May of 2018 it is already at the level of 3970 rubles.

Experts predict that prices will continue to rise. So, it's time to learn to save. We will tell you how to spend the least money on food.

In the shop

1. Keep a shopping list and stick to it strictly

To this end, develop a menu for the week: breakfast, lunch and dinner. Inspect the kitchen cabinets and refrigerator and make the shopping list of ingredients that is lacking for the preparation of the planned meals. Nothing extra!

Maintain your shopping list will help mobile applications.

2. Compare prices in different stores

Buy all in one supermarket - it's convenient. But sometimes, if you walk to the bakery around the corner, you can buy a delicious and cheap bread.

If monitoring is not time, try to be purchased once a week. "Today, buy cheese, and tomorrow I shall come and dokuplyu egg" - an approach that leads to unplanned spending.

Well, use special applications.

• 20 apps to help save money on purchases →

3. Visit agricultural fairs

they are usually held in the fall and spring, and there can be very profitable to buy farm products: potatoes, eggs and others.

4. Avoid impulse buying

Do not buy products from the list not only because they are cheap and suddenly felt: "Oh! Discount on Chinese cabbage! We must take, usually it is 10 rubles more expensive "(I'm sure it will be there?)," Mmm, cake! Want! I want to! "(What about diet?).

Do not take children to shop: they "want" harder to resist. One force will not save.

• How to deny a child to buy →

5. Use discount cards

Perhaps for its acquisition have to pay, but it's a one-time expenditure, but discounts will be accessible each time you visit the store.

6. us Hello wholesale

Flour, sugar, salt, pasta and spices are always needed. Plus they have a long shelf life. So, you can take for the future. Especially prices in wholesale outlets tend to be lower.

"Where do I so much? I have nowhere to store it, "- typical objections hostesses on board buy food in bulk. The solution is simple: merchandised into clubbing with friends. By purchasing a package of rice and divide it between them, you will quickly feel the benefits of this approach.

7. look down

According to the rules of merchandising the most expensive items are placed on shelves at the level of the eyes of the buyer, and the cheapest - at the lower shelves. Do not be lazy to bend down and examine the downstream range.

Also, do not look into the departments that you do not need (to withdraw the products from the list of groups: meat, vegetables, and so on). And do not forget that the store must attend full.

8. Turn off the "autopilot"

We often wander around the store, thinking about her, and mechanically adding products to cart. Remember how hurt when at home you find that apples are broken, and biscuits in the stack is broken. Choose foods carefully.

9. Do not overpay for name

Products of famous brands are more expensive. But this is not always a guarantee of quality and taste. Look to the less famous but cheaper counterparts. For example, brands of chain stores. As a rule, the taste characteristics of tradable goods (oil, groceries, etc.) do not differ from the brand.

10. Do not overpay for packaging

Milk in a nondescript package can be tastier and cheaper beverage in the bottle, and dry products in bulk advantageous packed in boxes colorful.

• How we cheat supermarkets 10 tricks that are worth to know →

11. Pay attention to the weight and volume

on the shelves often costs the same goods, but cheaper one another, for example, 5 rubles. Do not rush to grab something that is cheaper. Compare the difference in weight or volume of these products. More profitable to take "full" kilogram than 940 grams.

12. Do not buy a ready meal

They are a priori more expensive cooked yourself (from "A" to "Z") dishes. Do not allow yourself to be lazy: cook pelmeni, cabbage rolls and burgers themselves and store them in the freezer.

• Home meal: cook, freeze, we warm up →

And further. Sliced ​​bread and sausage are always more expensive. Can not you cut yourself a loaf?

13. Do not be afraid of delay

Discount policy network of grocery stores - a subject for a separate discussion. But when the life of the product expires, the sellers are willing to be really generous. As a rule, the products "Timer" is quite suitable. The main thing - to use them as soon as possible.

Exception - sour-milk products. They are easy to get food poisoning, so it's best to buy only fresh.

• How and how much to store milk and dairy products →

14. Do not spend on bottled water

Cheaper to buy one filter for cleaning.

15. Keep receipts

They will help to lead family budget.

In the kitchen

1. adjust your diet

For example, turn on the menu instead of poultry considerably the prices of fresh fish. Replace the ingredients for a cheap, whenever possible (instead of salmon trout, Adygei cheese instead of mozzarella).

2. Look to the by-products

There's nothing like a juicy steak tenderloin, but the liver, heart and other by-products can be prepared very tasty. Buy them from time to time instead of meat - save and pump culinary skill.

• How to cook a soft and juicy chicken hearts →
• How to cook liver, to surprise yourself and home →
• How to cook chicken livers: 8 dishes that you want to try →

3. Do not cook too much

There are housewives who have "little hand does not take." If you cook soup, in a large pot, if fry cutlets, then a full pan. Such waste usually finishes in that the half cooked flies in the bin. Learn to cook as much as eat.

As an option - not kulinarte until you eat cooked.

4. Keep an eye on cooking sites

There often appear low cost recipes. Keep them for yourself. They will help you make a weekly menu and a shopping list.

• How to cook a dinner for 100 rubles 10 budget recipes →
• How to cook a meal for 50 rubles 10 budget recipes →

5. Use seasonal fruits and vegetables

Salad of tomatoes and cucumbers in the winter can fly a lot of money. Cabbage and carrots in this time of year is much cheaper. Make a salad of them - will be just as tasty and healthy.

6. Prepare yourself

It's about what you can do at home. For example, kvass. The store polutoralitrovye bottle of this drink is worth an average of 50 rubles. Three liters of kvass home will cost you only 20 rubles.

• 6 simple home recipes kvass →

More can be saved for more cheese and yogurt.

7. do preform

It's not about the three-liter jar of pickles. At the present pace of life and urbanization is an amateur activity. But the freeze herbs and berries everyone can.

Finely chop the parsley, dill and other favorite herbs, put in a container and send it in the freezer. Aromatic seasoning is always at hand.

• How to freeze the vegetables and herbs for the winter →

8. Primarily eat perishables

Bought yogurt, put in the refrigerator, and five days later, when I remembered about him and wanted to eat, it turned out that he had expired. As a result, a few tens of rubles are sent to the trash. Familiar?

In order not to fall more in such situations, stick Perishable Produce bright stickers "eat until Thursday", "use before the end of the week" and so on.

9. Store food properly

Compliance with the storage conditions to prevent premature spoilage. The thrifty you feel about the food, the less will have to replenish food stocks.

Speaking of thrift. Many products can give a "second life". Bread began to dry out? Make crumbs and add to salads.

• 20 products which can be freeze →

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As you can see, in order to save on food, do not have to be a pedant. Follow these guidelines everyone can. But the main thing - do not be a fanatic. Sometimes it is possible and it is necessary to allow yourself something nice, or a favorite.

see also

• How to save electricity 25 simple but working tips →
• How to save in a big city, without losing the quality of life →
• How to save on gasoline and car maintenance →