Secret advice to make you a grocery store master

Stretching the food budget doesn't mean stretching the waistline. Here's some easy ways to save money on food while still serving healthy, delicious meals.

• Shop by yourself: Taking the children around a supermarket will inevitably add items to the bill you wouldn't have bought if you were alone. So leave the children at home if you can — 24-hour supermarkets make this possible for many families.
• If the prospect of a late-night supermarket run is too much to contemplate, shop online. You'll follow your list far more closely and may even save the delivery charge.
• Be sure to make use of the many money-off vouchers sent out by grocery stores in their bid to win new customers.
• Fill the freezer: Stock up your freezer once a month at a good-value freezer store. The same items are often cheaper than at the store, and you'll cut the weekly trip down to just fresh items.
• Support your local market: Save on fresh fruit and vegetables by buying at a local market. Eggs may be less than half the grocery store price, too.

• Food producers love to offer small sizes of a product to entice parents — and children — with miniature portions. Don't be fooled by cute packaging — you're paying extra.
• Always buy the largest package of raisins, crackers, cookies and so on, but then transfer the contents to small plastic containers or bags that can be brought out when needed.

There are ways to feed your children morsels that match their size and still hold down food costs. Here's a few examples:

• Blocks of cheese are less expensive than cheese sold in slices, but your children will enjoy the cheese more if you cut it into sticks or cubes.
• Baby carrots — less expensive when bought in big bags — look friendlier than big carrots. Alternatively, you could cut larger carrots into sticks yourself.
• For no-cost fun, cut sandwich bread with cookie cutters or roll narrow strips of bread spread with a filling into pinwheels.

• While you may not always have the time to make meals from scratch, doing so will save money, and it's healthier, too.
• Make it easier on yourself by thinking ahead. Whenever possible, make double the quantities and freeze half for future use. After staying late at the office, you will be grateful that a good, home-cooked meal is just a step away from the microwave.
• Take a tip out of your grandmother's book and have a baking day. Cookies, cupcakes, muffins and tea biscuits are all quick and easy to bake, and cost a fraction of store prices.
• If you combine your baking day with cooking a roast, you'll use your whole oven and save on electricity.
• Involve the children in order to develop good food habits.

The best way to save money on food when you're out is to take a packed lunch, but you can also go to a bakery or grocery store for tasty rolls and a fruit store for something fresh. You'll fill your children up with healthy food and save money compared to eating at a restaurant.

With these few simple tricks, you can save money on food while still keeping the whole family happy, and well-fed.

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