Ten ways to slash your supermarket spend

Sainsbury's have an excellent half price offer on beef joints at the moment - I've just cooked one up (left a bit in the freezer) and it's deliciously tender - will definitely buy some more tomorrow to cube and stock up on.

I use a lot of spices, so I've found the cheapest Indian store at my local shopping centre where I can buy dry spices in bigger bags and way cheaper than those little boxes of tasteless dust you usually find on supermarket shelves, then roast and grind them to make my own curry powders - infinitely tastier than anything you can buy ready mixed from a shop.  After a few trials with smaller amounts, you realise that variety in the mix is the key to avoid samey-ness!

And the £15 I spent on a replacement (coffee) grinder (old one died after 9 years) for my spices has more than paid for itself over the past 5 years.  It's in constant use, if only for regularly grinding small amounts of black peppercorns, which loses taste really quickly.

That's only 9 ways, after all 3) and 4) are mutually exclusive.

Our (large)Tesco's store has a considerable range of Asian spices and other dry goods in large, economical packs, tucked away at the back of the store; great and convenient if you get through a lot of these, so look beyond their named brand spice section.

Where products are available in different sized packs, Tesco and Waitrose do price ingredients by smaller units (e.g. per capsule for vitamins or per 100 mls for cooking oils, etc).  Despite being in smallish print, these enable you to make easy comparisons as to which size packs are best value and, as already stated, biggest is NOT always cheapest

I have an on-going little game I play with myself. How long can I last before I need to go shopping? My cupboards are well-stocked as is my freezer and fridge. My garden is producing loads, so do I really need to shop??? And the outcome of my game is that I can cut out 3 out of 4 shopping trips, by looking properly in the cupboards/fridge/freezer/garden. This saves loads of money as average shopping bill is £30-40 for me.

And of course always have a list and walk determinedly through the shop to get the items on your list, as soon as you have your items, run to the check out with blinkers on and get out of the shop as fast as you can!

it was better when prices were written on the goods, how many remember the price of everything they buy in a trolley?, not me.

But Tesco have a cunning plan of giving you a voucher of £7 off - next time if you spend £50. This tempts you to buy more there, than elswhere at a better price. Also , having spent the £50 stocking up , the till spewed out another £7 voucher for the following week. But I think I'll stick now, rather then keep on their conveyor belt of transferring their goods to my house and my money to their bank.

Good tips. However, there is no mention of ethics at all here; surely providing food for you and your family is not all about saving money? So-called "cheap" food provided by many supermarkets can come at a huge cost to both animal welfare and environmental factors that have an impact on human health.

Mass-produced meat is typically full of antibiotics, heavy metals, additives, preservatives and extra water, and causes widespread pollution from animal effluent. A lot of it is produced in countries (in Eastern Europe, for example) where standards of food production and animal welfare are much lower than in the UK.

It is arguably better to buy a smaller amount of UK pork, or a cheaper cut, for example, then a 2-for-1 pack of imported bacon. The price difference is likely to be about the same most people would spend on a pint or 2 in the pub, and it means you don't have to tell your kids that the animal you are feeding them was raised in a crate too small to allow it to turn around, in a barn where it never sees daylight, fed modified animal parts and trasnported hunderds of miles in squalor to be butchered.

Save money, by all means, but think about the provenance of your food too.

just one gripe:Why do some super markets deliberately uninform shoppers when they are trying to compare products? The other day 2 different types of cabbage were being sold next door to each other in my local (generally) excellent Sainsbury super store one was priced per cabbbage the other per 100g.

 HstG

One suggestion I have with cooking is to use Quorn instead of chicken breast in everyday dishes.  I am no vegetarian but mass produced, factory farmed chicken is not produced humanely and results in low quality meat from birds that were often crushed to death knee deep in their own waste.

Quorn is cheap, and is perfect for things like curry where you wouldn't want to waste free range chicken breasts anyway as you would not taste the meat just the curry.  A bag for less than £3 makes enough curry for four people especially if you use some veg as well.  Use some spices and some passata (or blend up a cheap tin of tomatoes yourself) and hey presto.

If you do want to use chicken breast, buy free range chicken thighs instead of bog standard breast.  The cost will be the same or slightly cheaper, and the meat has much more flavour (although the texture is not even like breast they arent usually gristly especially the free range ones)

If I buy chicken I splash out on a proper free range chicken and just roast it.  You could always buy a big one and get as many meals out of it as possible (cold chicken legs etc all the way down to stock/soup from the carcass if you were feeling very frugal....)

A warning about Sainsburys meatfree "Quorn" imitation - its horrible and only a bit cheaper than Quorn.  And no, I don't work for Quorn!

Another supermarket tip is to take great care in buying the basic things you just pop in the trolley because you have to have them

Milk is a classic. At our local Tesco milk is at least £1.50+ for a two litre bottle depending on brand. However they sometimes have a discout brand - Fresh and Low for around £1.10 for 2 litres but hise it away sometimes behind the more expensive milk.

I have watched people put 3 or 4 bottles of the more expensive stuff in the trolley without even a glance at the price. I pointed out to a friend I encountered doing this that she could save over a pound just on the milk, she was stunned. Then decided there must be something wrong with the cheaper milk and bought the Pure Filter at £1.79 anyway.

It is cheaper at our local shop which is supplied by a local dairy - 2 litres is £1.30 at the moment.

Free Range Eggs are the same - Cheapest this morning at the supermarket were £1.52 for half a dozen, I have just paid 90p at our local butchers for half a dozen free range large eggs from his brothers farm.

 I never buy supermarket meat, using the local butcher all of whose meat and poultry is locally produced to higher welfare standards, the pork is from outdoor woodland pigs and the chicken from free range flocks slaughtered by a mobile slaughterer on site thus avoiding the traumatic journey and head stunning held upside down by the legs on a conveyor belt. I have discussed the provenance of the meat and been offered the chance to check it all out on farm if I want to.

The less popular cuts such as chicken thighs and pork shoulder are a similar price as the 'luxury cuts' from the supermarkets such as boneless breast or loin steaks. Guess what, done in the slow oven on the Aga they taste much and I mean much better. Likewise lamb shoulder or even better mutton if you can get it.

If you want/need quick convenience food for evenings after work etc - create your own use your freezer and reheat, use a slow cooker and come home to a delicious meal - not just casseroles the variety of slow oven cooked meals is vast - pastas, curries, etc as well as traditional pot roasts.

Of course as is pointed out in this article the rip off price on these basics is achieved by utilising the ploys described as supermarket traps.

The biggest tip of all I think is be prepared to make an effort and cook - you don't need an Aga a cheap slow cooker does the job for the cheaper cuts of meat and uses a fraction of the power of a standard oven.

If you have a farm shop or greengrocer who sells sacks of potatoes it's great especially this time of year.  Baked, mashed, roast, soups, and you can be even more adventurous. Especially considering baked spuds mean you alway have an easy meal to hand, without having to resort to the takeaway

Why not save money on writing your next article by simply republishing an old one!

Anyway, the Aldi special offers link doesn't work.

Be very careful when going to Tesco's restaurant, a friend of mine was fined 70 pounds for overstaying their two hour car parking time limit. Not the best Christmas present to receive and hardly welcoming!

To Mdavies007

 "A lot of it is produced in countries (in Eastern Europe, for example) where standards of food production and animal welfare are much lower than in the UK"

Sorry, but do you know any European Country where the food quality is so low as here in the UK?Because I dont and I know a lot of Countries...

If their Standards are lower explain me why the UK has the highest rate of obesity in both children and adults??

Before saying anything people should think a bit.....