How to stay on top of your food bills over the Holidays

We know that Christmas is only round the corner and with all the present demands from the family, our pockets are only getting deeper! Did you know, around the holidays, families end up spending 3x more on their food shopping? We understand that holidays can be expensive so we have put together some amazing tips to help you stay on top of your food spending this Christmas!

Draw up a budget for your Christmas food spending – yes it’s not just the gifts and socialising that needs to be budgeted. Christmas is all about bringing people together and a great way of doing that is with food! Christmas might be a few weeks away, but creating a food spending budget now- will help you stay prepared and place money aside for the big costs.Creating a budget also gives you a realistic forecast so you are prepared for the amount that you are going to spend and helps you keep on top of your spending by referring back to your list! Create an online list on your phone that you can mark off and amend when needed, plus, with an online list you can always pop it out on your phone, that way it’s with you wherever you go.

Bonus Tip: Get the kids involved in writing the list and the budgeting, making it a fun activity for all the family and less likely for them to throw a strop if they see something in the store that they want.

Have you checked out the frozen aisles recently? Frozen aisles have a lot more than they used too! As the  holiday season is drawing near, it’s best to stock up in places where you have more space- the freezer, the great thing about frozen food is that it often comes up cheaper than on shelf ingredients and you have the assurance that it will remain fresh throughout the holidays, so you don’t need to worry about having day old carrots on Christmas day!  Ingredients like garlic and onion are great and practical to buy from the frozen aisles.

Avoid this at all cost because you will end up paying for what you cannot eat, at a time like Christmas there are so many different and delicious food options out there that we haven’t seen on the supermarket floors for months, it’s only right to say that we will be more tempted to buy the luxury mince pies, mulled wine, red,white and the new finest edition of cranberry cheese… now imagine that on an empty stomach? you see what I mean? At a season like this it’s best to make sure you are not just shopping endlessly but with an intent of getting the best out of your money, so eat before you step into the store!

This may be a rather obvious option but you’d be surprised at how many people don’t take advantage of choosing a cheaper supermarket for Christmas food shopping. Whatever it is that you need to buy, going to a cheaper supermarket such as ASDA or ALDI rather than Waitrose or Marks & Spencer’s would be hugely beneficial when food shopping without having to sacrifice on quality. If you have the time, it can also be worth shopping around for a range of prices, quantity, and ingredients.

Most supermarkets now have a fast track system in store which not only saves you time but allows you to keep an eye out on how much you are spending on your shop rather than at the till and receiving a shock. The internet is everywhere so take advantage of it! You can now go online to various supermarket stores like ASDA and LIDL and see what they have on offer before you do your shop! Check out websites like mySupermarket to see if you can reduce the cost of your shop without stepping out your front door. Comparison sites will tell you the cost of your shopping basket should you choose one supermarket, compared to another.