Frugal Living - How I'm Trying To Save Money (Part 1)

Credit: Eduardo Soares

The cost of living crisis has meant frugal living and one of the ways I'm trying to save money is by reducing my grocery bill. 

The three main ways I'm doing this are:

1. Doing most of my shopping at a cheaper supermarket
2. Ordering more basic foods
3. Doing less regular shops

I've always enjoyed regular supermarket shops. There's nothing like a full fridge. Lately I've managed to stretch it out to 10 days. I think this might result in saving about £20 each month. 

For the first time, I'm trying a 2 week gap between grocery shops. It means less fresh food towards the end of that period. I am running low on some staples, like apples, bananas, milk and eggs, but I think I can manage. It's six days until my next shop.  

I'm thinking outside the box more. Some ideas I have are:

1. Baking bread 
2. Making my own pizza from scratch with homemade pita 
3. Hummus is easy to do too
4. Doing a batch of energy balls for snacking
5. Aside from pasta which will likely feature, meal ideas include fried rice and a bean soup.

I feel nervous trying about holding off on my grocery shop like this. It does mean being more flexible with my diet, but I think I can still be pretty healthy. 

We'll see if I end up picking up a few things on the weekend. 

I'm eating my last grapefruit now and making a smoothie with my second last carrot this afternoon. 

The secret to saving money is to make it a priority. It means sacrifices are necessary and enjoying what you do have as much as possible. A frugal life can still be a happy one and saving money just means doing things differently which can be bring about new discoveries.