Five ways to lower your food shopping bill as families waste £730 a year

FAMILIES will want to know how to slash the cost of their grocery bill as the average household waste hundreds of pounds a year on food.

Households are facing eye-watering hikes to bills across the board, including trips to the supermarket.

Supermarket staples - including milk, cheese, eggs and meat - are going up in cost, driven by inflation.

But while Brits are forking out more for their grub, they're also wasting cash on their fridge essentials go bad.

The charity Wrap has estimated households are wasting £730 a year on letting food go to waste.

As the average shopping bill racks up to £88 a week for two adults and two children, that's the same to over eight weeks' worth of trips to the supermarket families are wasting.

But there are ways to make sure your hard-earned cash isn't going down the drain.

We explain how you can save hundreds on your grocery bill, by making sure you're not letting food go bad to using secret hacks in supermarkets to get your grub for less.

Use food waste apps

If you find yourself chucking food in the bin on a regular basis, you might want to try out a food waste app.

There are many that can help you keep track of food nearing its sell-by date and plan meals accordingly.

Kitche, for example, will let you know which items in your fridge you should start cooking now before they turn bad.

While there are other food waste apps that can help you track down leftover food at chains and supermarkets including Greggs, Morrisons and Costa.

You can use Olio to bag free food that would otherwise have gone to waste from Tesco.

You can sign onto the app and collect the food from people in your local area who have signed up as volunteers, who pick up the food from Tesco and dishing it out to their communities.

While Too Good To Go means you can buy a bag of "mystery" food and treats at rock bottom prices from big chains and stores that would have otherwise been thrown away.

Plan in advance

Before you head out to the shops, make sure you plan your meals in advance.

If you stick to a list of ingredients you know you'll need to make for each meal on your list, then you are less likely to pick up treats you don't need - which can all add up.

If you only buy what you need, then it will also stop you from throwing away excess food you haven't eaten.

Reduce your shopping trips

Taking less trips to the shops can save you cash.

If you go only once to the shops instead of taking multiple trips per week to get your groceries, then you are less likely to pick up items you don't need.

The Sun spoke to one savvy saver that went less times to her local supermarket to help her save up for her first home.

She was spending £100 on buying non-essential items she didn't need popping to the shops when she felt like it.

But going for just one big shop helped her bank £400 a month.

Shop at cheaper stores

Shopping at cheaper stores can help you buy food for much less than rival supermarkets.

Last year's cheapest supermarket was named by Which? as Aldi.

You'll be forking out around £10 less buying your grub from here than at other supermarkets like Waitrose, Which? said.

The supermarket recently promised to keep prices low as inflation ticks up and other stores pass on rising costs to customers.

Shop for yellow-sticker food

Look out for yellow-sticker food the next time you go to your local supermarket.

This is food that is nearing its use by date that shops want to shift in order to avoid food wastage.

You can get up to 75% off products in some cases, so it's worth hunting for these deals if you're on a budget.

It can mean you can pick up your essentials for much less than what you were bargaining for - but there's no guarantee you'll pick up what you're looking for.

It all depends on what stock is nearing expiration when you go shopping.