Mum saves £3k a year on family food shop with tips to beat inflation

Mum shares food shopping hacks that save thousands a year (Image: GETTY) With overall food inflation hitting 25.8 percent, one family has managed to cut their weekly bill to £50 – potentially saving £3,000 a year. After following popular shopping tricks, Sarah Boyce felt ’empowered’ as she could ‘play supermarkets at their own game’. The mum of three was spending £100 a week on shopping, however now she regularly spends just over £170 for the month. The latest Which? research compared the prices of 25,000 products across eight supermarkets. The tracker found that food and drink inflation was running at 15.4 percent in the 12 months to June, down from 16.5 percent in May. As the cost-of-living crisis continues to take a toll on household budgets, the Daily Mail picked the best cost-cutting advice from a selection of consumer experts and then asked the Boyce family to give these tips a proper road test. As the cost of living crisis continues, any extra cash could be vital for families on low incomes (Image: EXPRESS) After just one week, Sarah has taken on enough new shopping skills to save an impressive £57.81, slashing her weekly food bill by a third and potentially saving her family £3,000 a year. She said: ‘I used to find the food shop tedious and frustrating, but I feel quite empowered now. ‘I can’t believe how much money I was spending unnecessarily, and it’s great to know I can play the supermarkets at their own game occasionally.’ Tips to cut the supermarket shop With some food and drink products more than doubling in price, Britons are constantly looking for ways to cut costs so they can afford their weekly shop. Sarah explained crouching down revealed a ‘whole new world of options’. Experts explain most expensive brands will be placed at eye level so people can find cheaper versions down below. he family were spending around £100 a week on food (Image: GETTY) They also recommended carrying a calculator so people can be forensic about comparing unit prices. Potential saving: around £30 per week Sarah’s savings: £6.62 per week Researchers at Manchester Metropolitan University found families could save 30 percent on their food costs by digging deeper in the freezer aisles. Sarah had never bought frozen meat, so they asked her to try chicken (fillets £4.67 per kg vs fresh chicken breasts £6 per kg) which she said she would use again. Potential saving: around £30 per week Sarah’s savings: £6.33 per week A canned food lobbying group, Love Canned Food, has declared that families can save £73 a month by switching some of their fresh food to tinned. After just one week, Sarah has taken on enough new shopping skills to save an impressive £57.81 (Image: GETTY) Sarah browsed the canned aisle and tried a few cost-effective alternatives – however, none of them were a fit for her. Potential saving: around £17 per week Sarah’s savings – zero According to MoneySaving http://Expert.com , the advice site set up by Martin Lewis, downshifting on label choice (from big brand to supermarket ‘own label’, or ‘own label’ to a budget line) can cut grocery bills by 30 percent. Sarah admitted her family were ‘proper brand snobs,’ but after doing blind taste tests, no one was any wiser so she is ‘definitely sticking with those changes’. She explained she is permanently switched to lower-cost tinned tuna (55p a can vs £1 a can), tinned tomatoes at 35p rather than her usual mid-range favourites at 59p and the cheapest dried pasta (41p for 500g vs 75p). Potential saving: around £30 per week Sarah’s savings: £3.87 per week Consumer specialists at http://MoneySavingExpert.com have created a free app called Trolley which claims to be able to save people 30 percent on their weekly grocery bill by telling people which supermarket is selling their shopping list items most cheaply. Sarah explained Alsi is consistently matching the lowest prices for the foods on her shopping list, so she’s going to do more of her big shop there with a top-up at Co-op for items Aldi doesn’t cover. Potential saving: around £35 per week Sarah’s savings: around £10 Other tips included stocking one’s store cupboard with dried pulses such as chickpeas, lentils and beans, dried fruit, and whole grains such as couscous, and nuts. People can also shop close to closing time when stores can cut the already discounted prices by 75 percent. It has also been suggested to ditch convenience foods and lastly never miss out on reward points.