‘I’ve cut my food bill in half with simple kitchen change’

One clever mum has been splitting her grocery bill in half, offering hope to many as they battle the relentless surge in prices.

Nicola Richardson, a full-time educational worker, is extolling the virtues of penny-wise grocery shopping after halving her once hefty food bills.

The mum-of-two spills the beans on nurturing the family budget on her YouTube channel.

From crafting minutely detailed shopping lists to weighing food portions and hunting down ‘yellow sticker’ discounts, she’s mastered the art of frugality.

Speaking to LatestDeals.co.uk, Nicola said: “Life is busy! I feed [myself] and my two children on £45 a week. At one point it was nearer £100 so I’ve pretty much cut our food bill in half.

“I plan all my meals every week, shopping from what I have in already. I write a list so that I don’t buy things I don’t need. This really helps with impulse shopping as well!”

Her regime extends to embracing less expensive meats and vegetarian meals, as well as portion control through weight measurement to ensure not a gram is wasted.

Yellow stickered groceries, signalling markdowns, are also in her crosshairs, although she cautions, “Only buy it if you will actually use it though.

“Definitely meal plan and write a shopping list – planning on what you’re eating and then writing a shopping list means you are less likely to impulse buy and buy things that you don’t need which end up being thrown away.”

Nicola, a savvy shopper, has shared her top tips for keeping food costs down, including the strategic use of yellow sticker discounts and free food apps.

She explained: “If you can manage to time this, yellow stickers can be a really good way of saving money on food. I also use a couple of apps, such as Olio, that give away free surplus food which has been very helpful, especially towards the end of the month when money is tight.”

She’s also a staunch supporter of batch cooking, which she believes not only saves time but also money.

Nicola elaborated: “Batch cooking can save a lot of time, especially when work schedules and home life can be so busy. It can also be a lot cheaper – things are often cheaper in bigger quantities so it makes more sense.”

Moreover, she finds great value in having a stockpile of homemade meals ready at hand. “Plus, I have a stash of homemade ready meals in the freezer so when I’m tired after a busy day, the meals are already there.”

Nicola also highlighted the benefits of using a slow cooker for preparing large batches of food economically: “One of my favourite things to use when batch cooking is my slow cooker. It means I can make bigger quantities, use cheaper cuts of meat where appropriate and it is so simple.

“I just add all the ingredients on the slow cooker and leave it to work its magic. One of my favourite recipes is goulash – I have a recipe for this on my blog. I like making chicken fajita wraps with rice in – people don’t realise you can freeze cooked rice!”

“They take 30 seconds to heat up in the microwave and so are such a great thing to have in stock for tea time. You could do chilli and rice in them too.”