Family HALVES their food bill and saves a massive £6,500 a year after BBC show Eat Well For Less? steps in to help
Presenters Greg Wallace and Chris Bavin helped the Taylor family cut down costs by switching some branded products with own brand ones
A FAMILY who were finding it difficult to cut costs on their food bill have been able to HALVE and make savings of £6,500 a year thanks to the BBC show.
The Taylor family, from Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, managed to shave off £126.18 a week just by switching some branded products with the supermarket's own.
Baking and brand lover Lindsey and her husband Jason appeared on the BBC's Eat Well For Less? with foodies Greg Wallace and Chris Bavin in a bid to slash shopping costs.
After quitting her job as a teaching assistant, Lindey's baking obsession became a daily routine and it was sending the family's food spend sky rocketing to £230 a week.
She made the major life choice so she could spend time with her kids and ensure that they always had enough food.
"I just want them to grow up happy," she fondly said of her kids "I just want to do the things that I didn’t have."
But the wake-up call that her baking obsession had become too much came when she was told of the unhealthy impact her cakes were having.
Host of the programme Greg Wallace said: "You must know you can love children without feeding them unhealthy."
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During the show Lindsey addressed her shopping habits, saying: "I think I have an obsession with buying food. I don’t necessarily use everything - but I'll just buy them again the following week."
And speaking of her love of expensive brands, she believes: "You get what you pay for. I think brands are tried and tested. If I don’t buy the brands the children enjoy then I’ll end up throwing it away.
"Ketchup has to be Heinz, snacks and cereal has to be Kellogg's or Nestle and biscuits have to be McVitie's," she explained.
Before the presenters took over the Taylor's kitchen, the family's food bill was £230 a week, which is almost three times more than the national average for a household of five at £91.
The shopping list also revealed that a whopping 13 per cent of their money was going on baking products, another 13 per cent on sugary foods and just 12 per cent on fruit and vegetables.
In a bid to help them cut costs, the show replaced Lindsey's branded favourites with supermarket own branded products.
While the family could tell the difference on some products, like teabags, they were able to make savings of £200 a year by switching to own branded breakfast foods.
Other changes that proved successful was the swap to different brand of chips, tomato soup, baked beans, cheese and sauce.
And the they were also able to make smart savings by cooking main meals from scratch and if Lindsey only baked once a week she could save £1,250 a year.
By switching a few brands, making homecooked meals and cutting back on baking, the family were able to make a £126.18 weekly saving, which works out to be £6561.36 a year.
Eat Well For Less? is on BBC 1 Wednesdays at 8pm