WITH the cost of everything going up and up at the checkout, many of us wanting to save on the weekly food shop.
One mum has gone viral for her hack that has helped her groceries go further – after she spent a staggering £12,000 per month on bills.
Like many of us, influencers Jess and Mike have been determined to cut back on their bills.
However, it was only when the content creators sat down that they realised how badly they’d gone over budget each month.
As part of a series on their TikTok page, they broke down their various bills and revealed that they spent £2,000 on the mortgage alone.
Factoring in other items, like a £330 family gym membership, multiple cars that needed paying off and a £1,600 monthly grocery bill – their outgoings had soon started to spiral.
In fact, they quickly worked out that they spent an eye-watering £12k per month on bills.
In a recent video, Jess told fans: “We spent £12,025 a month on our outgoings and we wanted to claw it back and make some big changes in our lives.”
Mike then chimed in: “It is just extortionate. We can’t be spending that amount.”
Realising that most people spend that amount on mortgage deposit, the couple decided to make some changes – starting with their shockingly high food bill.
“One thing that we have found is that we want to combat our food waste,” the mum-of-two explained.
Continuing, she added: “A lot of our food waste is veg.”
With fresh fruit and veggie going to waste, the parents were determined to make it easy for their kids to enjoy a healthy snack.
Grapes were often leftover as the family would regularly buy the pre-made made bags from the supermarket – despite having an entire punnet at home.
Fed of this, Jess decided to make her own fruit bags for the kids.
“They [the kids] will easily go to Tesco and they will easily grab one of those already packed fruit bags,” she explained, adding: “So we’ve made our own little fruit bags.”
Using small plastic bags, the mum was able to create an easy snack for the kids without too much effort.
Even better, the hack cost them less than 50p per bag – a steal compared to what most supermarkets will charge for prepacked fruit.
This is because the parents had been able to make the most of deals and picked up two punnets of grapes for just £2.50.
Instead of just doing this with leftover fruit though, the couple also decided to try this with items that rapidly disappeared from their fridge.
“Another thing, Chloe is demolish a whole punnet of strawberries,” complained the influencer, adding that her daughter will regularly eat them all while sat in her bedroom.
Fed of the fruit constantly disappearing, Jess decided to portion out the berries into little bags too.
“We have again made bags, so we knows that she can’t eat the whole thing,” she added, revealing that the strawberries could cost up a fiver in the supermarket.
While it might not save them thousands at the checkout, these little hacks will soon add up.
How to cut the cost of your grocery shop
SAVING on your shop can make a big difference to your wallet. Here are some tips from comparison site Money.co.uk about how you can cut the cost of your shopping bills:
- Write yourself a list – Only buy items that you need. If it isn’t on your list, don’t put it in the trolley
- Create a budget – Work out a weekly budget for your food shopping
- Never shop hungry – you are far more likely to buy more food if your tummy is rumbling
- Don’t buy pre-chopped veggies or fruit – The extra they’ll charge for chopping can be eye watering
- Use social media – follow your favourite retailers to find out about the latest deals
- Be disloyal – You may want to go to different stores to find the best bargains
- Check the small print – It’s always worth checking the price per kg/lb/litre when comparing offers so you’re making a like for like decision as a bigger box won’t necessarily mean you get more
- Use your loyalty cards – Don’t be afraid to sign up to them all. They all work slightly differently – work out what bonus suits you better and remember to trade in your points for additional rewards