As food prices soar, families are finding it tougher to balance monthly budgets. Award-winning writer Fiona Beckett gets money-saving tips from the Nagle family.
Like most people in ‘credit-crunch’ Britain, Rob and Sam Nagle
(pictured), from Portishead near Bristol, are having to watch what they
spend.
Rob runs his own estate
agency in Bristol while Sam, a nurse, has increased her working hours
to help meet the growing food bills for the family, which includes
Isobel, nine, Emily, seven, and one-year-old Abigail. In total, the Nagles spend £450 a month on their food bills.
Check out Sam's cost-saving tips
- Draw up a menu before you shop. You may not stick to it, but at least you know you've got the ingredients for a week’s meals
- Check out mysupermarket.co.uk - a website that helps you decide where to get the best price for your weekly shop
- Find out what time of day your local shops reduce
their prices so you can pick up bargains before everyone else
- Visit a cash-and-carry and buy bulk buys of ketchup and brown sauce, etc, then decant into smaller bottles
- Buy budget ranges rather than branded products, especially for staples such as pasta and rice
- Buy meat, bread and fish when
they’re on special offer and freeze them
- Substitute Caerphilly or Wensleydale for feta and add a little salt and
lemon juice. Quark is also an inexpensive soft cheese, much cheaper
than ricotta
- Make mince stretch by mixing it with sausagemeat and some rolled oats
or breadcrumbs, then turning it into meatballs, burgers or meatloaf
- Don't waste money on ready made food; make your own pizzas with
ciabatta and cheap mozzarella, or bake your own bread using a
shop-bought bread mix
- We eat with our eyes, so thinly slice foods like meat and vegetables to give the illusion there’s more on the plate
- Have a No Shopping Weekend where you live off what you've got in the fridge and storecupboard
- Avoid eating out; take a packed lunch if going out for the day, or have a snack at home before going out in the evening
- If you're having guests for dinner, ask them to bring a course.
The Frugal Cook by Fiona Beckett, published by Absolute Press at
£14.99. Click
here to buy it on Amazon.
Feeling the pinch?
How retail prices have risen over the past year
Product
| July 2007
| July 2008
| Annual % change
|
| Thick sliced white loaf, 800g | 48p
| 72p
| +50
|
| Semi-skimmed milk, 3.41 litres | £1.68 | £2.12
| +26.1
|
| English salted butter, 250g | 56p | 94p
| +62
|
| 12 medium free-range eggs | £1.75 | £2.58
| +46.5
|
| British beef mince, 500g | £1 | £1.60
| +60
|
| Fresh chicken, 1.55kg | £2.78
| £4.48
| +61.1
|
| Maris piper potatoes, 2.5kg | £1.58
| £1.74
| +10.1
|
| Cauliflower | 84p
| 98p
| +16.6
|
Iceberg lettuce
| 65p
| 75p
| +15.3
|
Six salad tomatoes
| 69p
| 69p
| +0
|