Sharing her tips with The Healthy Mummy, Katie said the first thing you should do before a visit to the supermarket is a pantry stock take, checking both the contents of your pantry, fridge and freezer.
A stock take will allow you to see what you already have so that you don’t double up on any items.
She said:”try and incorporate the items you have into your meals to save money, reduce wastage and save unnecessary trips to the shops”
2. Use similar ingredients
Katie suggests you choose recipes with similar ingredients as this helps you to save on time preparing and it also keeps the cost down.
Using mince as an example, the 29-year-old says you make several dishes, including bolognese, San Choy Bow, chilli con carne and Mexican lasagne.
Also, it takes the time out of trying to work out what to make with more complex ingredients.
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3. Bulk out your meals
When it comes to deciding on what to cook, Kaitie said she loves making mince-based meals, for reasons other than what’s listed above.
With mince, the thrifty mum says you can often bulk up the meals with legumes or vegetables – and the kids don’t even notice
She suggests adding: “Lentils, kidney beans or chickpeas and grated, tinned or frozen vegetables help to spread the meals further.”
4. Repeat meals
While eating the same thing might be a bore, Katie says repeating meals or even snacks will save you valuable cash.
If you’re happy to, she says there’s nothing wrong with eating the same snack between five and seven times each week – and doing so will mean you don’t need to buy multiple options.
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5. Freeze everything you can
To help reduce the cost of new items, and to make use of what you already have, Katie says freezing everything is the way to go.
“Bananas going soft and don’t want to bake with them just yet? Freeze them for smoothies or homemade ice cream,” she said.
You can also freeze any fruit or vegetables that are starting to go soft, by chopping them up and storing them in zip-lock bags for later use.
The mum even suggest freezing unlikely items such as leftover herbs, tomato paste, stock, sauces, curry pastes and coconut milk.
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