Mum reveals how she halved her food bill with these shopping hacks – including always buying a whole chicken

A MUM has revealed her top money-saving tips for food shopping after she managed to halve her own grocery bill.

Lara Joanna Jarvis is known for her budgeting tips and tricks, sharing them on her YouTube channel where she boasts over 44,000 subscribers.

And in a recent video she shared her nifty tricks that helped save her hundreds on the family food shop.

Speaking in the video, she said: “Sometimes produce is so unachievably expensive that it’s not available to everyone which is a real shame.

“Groceries are so expensive and we’ve managed to cut our bill by hundreds every month.”

Here we share her top tips for money-saving meals…

Yellow sticker meat

At the end of the day and sometimes at the end of the week supermarkets will do yellow stickers and cut costs in half.

People will go in every day at that time to buy their shopping, but this way could mean you’re tempted to spend more so I don’t recommend going in every day.

If you’re a meat eater buy it when it’s on the yellow stickers and chuck it in the freezer until you need it.

Doing the basics

I’m talking potatoes, rice, kidney beans, chickpeas, lentils all of these things are really good to have in the cupboard because you can whip up a meal.

They are very affordable and bulky as in they’re going to keep you full up as well as including lots of protein.

Buy a whole chicken

Buy a whole chicken rather than chicken breasts because you will get four or five meals out of that one bird.

With a chicken breast you may only get one or two.

You could do a roast dinner on the first day, chicken pasta the next day, chicken noodles, chicken salad, chicken soup – you can do so much with a whole chicken.

Use chickpeas and oats to fill meals out

If you’re doing a stew for example, chuck a load of pulses in and it’s going to be so much more filling.

The protein is there, it’s healthy and it’s going to be so much cheaper to cook.

Check if your kids can get free school dinners

Check your citizen’s advice bureau to see if your child is entitled to free school dinners, don’t feel afraid to try and get this help.

There is no shame in that, if you need the support it’s there for you.

Free school meals can save you £2.40 a day which is around £40 a month.

Look for waste-not boxes

I’ve heard that Lidl do a waste-not box that is 1.5kg of food for £1.50, which is just fantastic.

And don’t be afraid to choose veg that doesn’t look “normal” because it’s going to save you money.

Know your prices

This is key because if you are buying a deal that turns out not to be a deal because you’re not saving money.

It may be that the product is a deal because it was priced higher the week before – so just do your research.

Shop around in different stores to get the best price.

Look for your local food bank

Don’t be ashamed if you need to do this, they are there for a reason.

Supermarkets are throwing away food left right and centre – if you can get to your food bank the food is there to be taken.

Go vegetarian

This is a huge money-saver! Meat can be so expensive.

You could even do a couple of days a week meat-free, such as meat-free Mondays or just eat meat for one of your meals a day.

Doing that could save you so much money.

Fill your freezer

Stock up on freezer goods so that you’ve always got bulk.

Shop at Iceland or Farm Foods when you get paid and do bigger shops so that you can then freeze stuff.

As the month goes on you don’t have to keep going in to buy fresh because you’ve got it there in the freezer.

Grate veggies into meals

This really bulks out meals. Grating courgette or carrot into meals is a really good way to get those hidden veggies into children.

Whizz it all up and make a pasta sauce or a pizza sauce while using up veggies.

A bag of potatoes goes a long way

Jacket potatoes, chips, wedges, mash, fried potatoes – you can do so much with a bag of potatoes and it’s so expensive.

It’s a really easy way of bulking out meals and feeding your family.

Grow your own

Grow your own veggies guys. Has a friend, relative or a neighbour got an allotment because they are always giving food away.

Even if you don’t have a garden you can grow things like tomatoes or herbs or chillies on your window ledge and it will be a much cheaper way of feeding yourself.

While this mum revealed how she cut her weekly food shopping bill to just £16 – and here's how she did it.

Plus this thrifty mum shares easy meal planner which has saved her family-of-five £360 a month on food.

In other news this mum shared a nifty hack for saving the crusts from your fussy kids’ sandwiches & it will save you cash.

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