Six Ways To Target Your Spending On Food & Energy

Happy 2023 everyone, and welcome to the longest month of the year. Financially the past few months have been tough, everything is getting more expensive, and for most, wages aren’t rising at the same rate. While there’s no way to eliminate the rising cost of living, there are some ways to target your spending which may help.

The cost of living crisis affects every aspect of our lives, from food and fuel bills to travel and entertainment. And as a result, the money in our bank accounts is buying us less.

Target your spending on food

After our mortgage, food is probably the next most significant expense in our household. And it’s the same for most households. We all need to eat, but there are things you can do to target your spending on food.

Meal plan & batch cook

When we lived in our old flat, we didn’t meal plan very often, and we used to throw away more food than I want to admit. But as soon as we started to meal plan that waste was reduced.

Going shopping and knowing exactly what we needed for what we were cooking made a huge difference. And before you go shopping, check your cupboards and freezer, so you only buy what you need.

When you meal plan, consider batch-cooking meals and having leftovers for lunches or extra meals to freeze. It’s cheaper to heat up a meal for a few minutes in the microwave than cook from scratch. And it can help you avoid takeaways.

Buy own-brand products

Pretty much every supermarket makes a selection of own-brand products, from chopped tomatoes to ready meals.

Next time you go shopping, try some of the own-brand products to work out what you’re happy to switch to. For example, we’re happy to get own-brand pasta and chopped tomatoes, but not ketchup and fruit squash.

Every swap you make can save you money. And for a lot of things, you can’t really tell the difference in the taste. For example, we used to spend £1.15 on garlic bread from M&S but now spend about 42p on one from Lidl, which we prefer.

Use a loyalty card

If you shop in a supermarket that has a loyalty card scheme, make sure you’re signed up, even if you don’t shop there regularly. You can save plenty of money with the Tesco Clubcard, and the Lidl Plus app is another one I use.

With most of them, you don’t even need to remember a physical card, you can use the app or a digital card.

Target your spending on energy

Energy is probably the area we’re all noticing the biggest difference in spending in. For us, it’s the gas prices, as we’re fortunate to have gotten our solar fitted at the right time. But there are a few ways you can target your spending on energy.

Limit appliance use when there are alternatives

Certain appliances use quite a lot of energy, so think about alternatives.

Instead of using the tumble drier every time, consider drying items naturally. I’ve started doing this with our underwear and denim that I’d usually have tumble dried.

Use an air fryer or instant pot instead of the oven or hob, as this uses considerably less energy, especially over longer periods.

And where possible, try and naturally dry your hair, even if you use the hair dryer for a small amount to start it off.

Limiting the use of any appliance can help save energy.

Switch off devices when not in use

Research from British Gas showed that 23% of our energy usage comes from ‘vampire devices’. This is when things are using up energy when they’re on standby mode.

So when you’re not using your laptop/ phone/ TV/other items, switch it off at the socket.

Deal with draughts

The last thing you want to do is spend money on energy and that to go straight out of the window. If you have draughts, then the hot air heating your home can escape, and more cold air can come in so your heating has to work harder.

You can target your spending on energy by dealing with any draughts you have. Make sure to check all around your windows, doors and letterboxes are sealed. If you have large gaps under your doors put a draught excluder. This is especially important if you only heat certain rooms in your home.

And check the insulation in your loft, as it can save you money in the long run to add more insulation.

How are you planning to target your spending on food and energy?

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