If you’ve noticed the cost of your food shop go up in recent months, you certainly won’t be alone. Thanks to rising inflation, many families are concerned about how to save money on food and are changing their shopping habits as a result. This might be through shopping in the cheapest supermarket, switching to own-brand products or using a supermarket loyalty card.
In a bid to see exactly how much I spend on my two children’s lunches each day, I started a money diary for the first week of the Easter holidays. As I get a weekly delivery from Tesco, I’ve used Tesco for my cost comparison.
By keeping a diary, I hope to be more mindful about how much I'm spending on food and see where I might be able to cut back or shop smarter to save money. By sharing it with you, I hope it either gives you some ideas on how you might be able to make some savings too, or help you realise just how well you are doing at keeping your costs under control.
Something I feel is important to note - unless my kids have school dinners, they tend to have their hot meal in the evening.
Saturday - £3.56
Today, my son had leftover pizza from the night before, while my daughter had a cheese and ham toastie for lunch. Neither of my kids likes squash, preferring water (even though my daughter has a massively sweet tooth), so at least I save a few pennies that way.
Sunday - £2.93
On Sunday, my son had a ham roll, while my daughter had another cheese and ham toastie. Both had crisps and other bits.
Monday - £4.66
I made a packed lunch for both of them today as they were off on adventures with Nana. They had rolls (one ham, one cheese), crisps and other snacks.
Tuesday - £3.82
Jacket potatoes were on the menu for lunch on Tuesday. Cheese and beans for my son, tuna and cheese for my daughter.
Wednesday - £3.09
Back to toasties today, and both opted for tuna and cheese. They also had some carrots and houmous.
Thursday - £4.85
Thursday saw the return of the jacket potato.
Friday - £2.84
On Friday, both children had a fish finger sandwich and more carrots and houmous.
Total cost for week
When I tot everything up, I've spent £25.75 this week on lunches for the kids.
What I've learned from keeping a money diary
Seeing how much I’ve spent on lunches this week has been a little scary, especially as this doesn’t include the endless snacks I need to supply. However, it’s enabled me to see where I can reduce costs.
Using up leftovers from the night before is certainly one option, but I can also save money by making my own bread rather than buying it. I have a bread maker, so all I need to stock up on is yeast and bread flour (which I often do), and this will make several loaves. My son actually prefers this bread anyway, and I know it’s not packed full of preservatives. The downside is it doesn’t keep as long. I also need to start using my bread maker for pizza bases, as not only will they be healthier, they should also save me a few pennies.
Looking at the above has also made me realise I need to swap to more own-brand products, rather than buying the big brands. Buying items such as Yoyo Bears also pushes up the price of my shop - however, getting fruit into my daughter any other way is sometimes a battle.
Because I am often pushed for time, I also tend to spend more on convenience - for example, I often buy McCain frozen jacket potatoes and sliced cheese, rather than opting a standard bag of jacket potatoes (that take no longer in the microwave) and a large slab of cheese that I cut myself. So perhaps it’s time I stopped this.
If I’m better at planning ahead, I’ll also be able to buy more in bulk - eg. using a large tin of tuna split over a couple of days, rather than buying lots of smaller tins.
