Read this 8 tips on How to reduce your Food Shopping Cost. By Adama Aliyu

Okay let me just say this now, this article is not supposed to fuel your stingo tendencies, it's supposed to help you be more frugal with your money, since we obviously spend so much money shopping for food. You may have never thought about it but you could go on an extra vacation, get weekly massages, or even give out more in charity if not for this one costly weekly or monthly expense. Read below please….

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·       Go frozen or dried: Buying fresh produce may seem like the smartest option, but the truth is most frozen and dried fruits and vegetables are just as healthy if not healthier than their fresh counterparts. Plus, they usually cheaper and have lower spoilage capacity. The best part, they can serve as great meal-starters if you are running out of options.

 

·       Mix up your meats: When the prices of beef is sky rocketing, consider other options like turkey, cow leg, goat head, chicken, snails, bush meat and the plenty of other mede mede's Nigerians are well known for eating. The key is to buy cheaper but equally healthy equivalents.

 

·       Bake your own cakes and pastries: It's not so easy to wake up and vex that you are tired of spending money on bread, cakes and other pastry goodies, but you need to learn some basic baking skills, seriously It's not that hard, just invest in a few classes or lessons and you will be glad you did. You may not be able to immediately start making beautiful, yummy pastries but you can save buying every single time you get a cake or donut craving.

 

·       Skip pre-portioned or pre-grated or pre-chopped options: Chop your own veggies, grate or slice your own cheese, pre-portioned nuts or anything else that is supposed to make your life easier is more expensive. So skip them and don't be so lazy.

 

·       Swap colours: That yellow pepper looks great right, and it will look good in your fried rice or stir-fry shrimp sauce, yeah we know, but you know that they are all peppers right? Regardless of their hue, red, green, yellow, all sweet peppers carry the same potent source of metabolism boosting compound, dihydrocapsiate, which is great for weight loss but not all of them have the same price per pound so if you are looking to save a little, stick to the reds or greens, depending on which one is more available in your area.

 

·       Harbor your green thumb: You buy a bundle of fresh thyme, basil or parsley and it wilts away and dies before you can use it up and you end up dumping the rest in the dust bin! So annoying, most recipes call for a tablespoon or two of most of these things. What are we doing? we've all been there, but do you know the simple solution to this? Pot your own, you don't need a large garden space to start planting simple things like these random spices and vegetables in fact, we should all have one or two things we grow at home, if you are even smart about it you can agree to swap things with your neighbour, this will go a long way in cutting down your grocery shopping list and cost.