Food bills can creep up through waste, unplanned purchases and missed discounts. Here are 15 targeted ways to reduce your weekly spend.
Quick-Win Changes (First 2 Weeks)
1. Switch to own-brand for 5 products Start with: tinned tomatoes, pasta, rice, cleaning spray, washing-up liquid. These categories often have similar quality at a lower price. Taste-test and expand the list.
2. Use the Tesco Clubcard app weekly Before any Tesco shop, open the app. Filter by Clubcard Prices. Cross-reference with your shopping list. If a product you regularly buy is on Clubcard Price, buy it this week.
3. Set a budget before you go Decide what you will spend and track it on your phone. The act of tracking changes behaviour.
4. Never shop hungry Shopping hungry can lead to more impulse purchases.
5. Shop to a list If it is not on the list, do not buy it unless it is a genuine need discovered while shopping (not an impulse).
Medium-Term Changes (First Month)
6. Start a freezer inventory A list of what is in your freezer reduces waste and allows you to plan meals around what you already have.
7. Buy frozen vegetables Frozen vegetables are often cheaper per portion than fresh, and less likely to go to waste. Frozen peas, broccoli, spinach, sweetcorn and mixed vegetables are common examples.
8. Buy meat in bulk, freeze in portions A large pack of chicken thighs, minced beef, or pork shoulder often costs less per kg than small packs; check the unit price. Portion, label, and freeze on the same day.
9. Reduce meat frequency by 1–2 days/week Replacing two evening meals per week with vegetarian alternatives (bean chilli, lentil soup, pasta e fagioli, egg fried rice) can lower the weekly food bill because meat is often a costly part of a meal.
10. Use yellow stickers Most supermarkets mark down short-dated items with yellow stickers (reduced to clear). These appear mainly in the afternoon and early evening. Freeze marked-down meat, bread, and dairy on the day of purchase.
Structural Changes (1–3 Months)
11. Do a monthly Aldi or Lidl shop for staples Once a month, buy a month’s worth of non-perishable staples from Aldi or Lidl: pasta, rice, tinned goods, oils, condiments, cereals, coffee. In Which?’s September 2026 comparison, Aldi’s 93-item basket cost £159.48 against £193.45 at Tesco.
12. Grow one or two things at home Herbs (basil, mint, chives) on a windowsill can save money against buying fresh-cut herbs weekly. Salad leaves can be grown in a window box.
13. Learn to cook 5 inexpensive meals very well A repertoire of cheap, satisfying meals (bolognese, lentil dal, bean soup, egg fried rice, pasta bake) gives you go-to options when you’d otherwise resort to a takeaway or ready meal.
14. Use food waste apps Too Good To Go, Olio, and Karma allow you to buy surplus food from local restaurants, bakeries, and supermarkets at a discount to retail price. Useful for fresh bread, bakery items, and prepared food.
15. Review subscriptions and delivery passes Calculate whether your Ocado Smart Pass, Amazon Fresh subscription, or Deliveroo Plus membership is paying for itself in genuine savings vs convenience.
For more see: How to Save Money on Your Food Shop UK and Meal Planning to Save Money UK.
What Not to Do
Some “money-saving” behaviours backfire:
- Buying in bulk on items that go to waste — a 5kg bag of potatoes is only cheap if you use it all before it goes off. Buy bulk on non-perishables (pasta, rice, tinned goods), not fresh produce you might not use
- Shopping at multiple stores in a single trip purely for savings — if the extra fuel and time cost more than the saving, it is not worth it. Two store trips work if the stores are genuinely close together or on your route
- Ignoring unit prices and just buying the “promotional” pack — multi-buy deals are not always the cheapest option per unit. Always compare the unit price shown on the shelf
Tracking Your Progress
The simplest way to know if your food spending is reducing:
- Note your current weekly average (add up your last 4 weeks’ grocery spend from bank statements)
- Implement 3–5 changes from the list above
- After 4 weeks, compare your new average to your baseline
- Identify which changes had the most impact and double down on those
Changes can take a few weeks to show clearly in the numbers as new habits settle.
See also: Meal Planning to Save Money UK and Own Brand vs Branded Food UK.