MEAL planning is the way to save money on your food shopping every month.
But you do not have to go it alone as there are some handy tools to help you budget.
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Whether you are a student or shopping for a big family, get organised with these ideas.
FUSSY EATERS: I love Asda’s simple meal-planning tool that can be customised to your family’s likes and dislikes.
See groceries.asda.com and press the “meal planning” tab to add your own meals and search for items to put on the shopping list.
SPECIAL DIETS: Tesco provides its own featured meal plans as well as customer plans so you can see what other people are cooking.
At realfood.tesco.com/meal-planner.html you can customise the time period (five-day or seven-day plans).
It’s also good if you have a specialist diet, such as gluten-free, because you can make sure those products are included.
BUSY PEOPLE: It’s great when a company thinks about the little things, such as how much washing-up you will have left to do after dinner.
Sainsbury’s has a planner for “easy all-in-one dinners” at recipes.sainsburys.co.uk/meal-plans and it delivers just that.
You can add all the week’s recipe ingredients to your online basket, or it will just create a shopping list for you to take into a store.
HEALTHY EATERS: I like the MyFitnessPal app, where you can give the meal plan section a free seven-day trial.
If you do not want to commit to that, use eatthismuch.com. It allows you to create a customised plan based on your calorie goal.
You can plot three meals a day and refresh to find some new dishes if the ideas are not to your taste.
GO LOW-TECH: If you prefer to use pen and paper, download a free meal plan PDF from Pinterest.
There is also a website called onplanners.com where you can download calendars and meal-planning tools to fill in yourself.
Deal of the day
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LEGO fans will love the Lego Friends Magical Acrobatics set, for ages six-plus. Usually £17.99, now £13.99 at B&M.
SAVE: £4
Cheap treat
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GET six Mr Kipling cherry bakewell tarts half-price at Tesco with a Clubcard, down from £1.70 to 85p.
SAVE: 85p
What’s new?
TO mark ten years of its Brakes4Life guarantee, Halfords Autocentres will let customers who are signed up to any similar rival scheme join free of charge until October 29.
Simply book in for a free brake check at halfords.com, bring proof of being in another scheme for the free sign-up and if your pads need replacing, they’ll sort it without charge.
Top swap
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ADD a touch of glamour to your home with this heart ornament from Next, above, for £16 – or head to Primark, where this gleaming gold ornament, below, costs just £2.50.
SAVE: £13.50
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Giselle’s little helper
DINNER is sorted if you buy Co-op’s big £10 pizza meal deal.
Get two 12in Big Five Cheese And Meat Supreme pizzas, a side of mini garlic pizza breads and cookie dough pudding for dessert . . . all for just a tenner. Amazing.
Shop and save
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ENJOY a weekend beer for less at Asda. A four-pack of Camden Pale Ale is £5.50 but you can get two packs for £9.
SAVE: £2 when you buy two packs
Hot right now
TAKING a late break? At debenhams.com, the 70 per cent sale is on, with bargains on gear for men and women.
- Prices on this page correct at time of going to press. Deals and offers subject to availability.
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