Healthy eating on a budget

Tips to buy and eat healthy food without breaking your budget
Watch out for special offers that aren't all they seem to be
Advice on how to save on fruit and veg and ready meals

Checklist

Plan your meals ahead to avoid costly impulse buys
By sticking to a list of what you ‘need’, you’ll be less likely to by extra products
Try to buy food when it’s in season
Check out store’s own brands, which may be cheaper than well-known ones
Try canned fruit or frozen vegetables, which can be cheaper and just as nutritious as fresh
Buy starchy foods in bulk
Nutritious and cheap store-cupboard foods include dried beans and pulses and tinned tomatoes
For omega 3, try tinned salmon and sardines instead of fresh
Try to make meals from scratch rather than buying processed foods
Make double and freeze the extra
Find uses for your leftovers – see www.lovefoodhatewaste.com for suggestions. It also gives practical tips on how to keep food fresher for longer
Think carefully about buying foods on special offer – for example, if you need to send off for your discount, consider whether you will really get around to claiming it
Look for the cheapest prices rather than the largest discount
Regularly check the use-by-dates of the foods in your fridge, so you can use up items before they go out of date.

Go budget with fruit and veg

You don't need to buy top-of-the-range products to get the nutritional benefits of fruit and veg. Buying from supermarket budget ranges is a great way to save, as the main difference between these and standard fruit and veg is usually only their appearance.

Budget fruit and veg are usually categorised as class 2, whereas a premium line such as Tesco Finest would be class 1.

Class 2 produce tend to be smaller and less uniform in size or shape and may have some minor defects, such as skin blemishes.

Budget ready meals

Check out supermarket budget ranges for other foods too – they can be a healthier option. When we checked out ready meals in January 2008, we found that often the premium ready meals we looked at were the highest in fat and saturates per 100g, while the budget meals were the lowest.

Pricier premium meals tend to have larger portion sizes, so that’s more fat and saturates for your money. However, this does vary depending on the product, so check the labels.

Beware special offers

Don't assume that a product is good value just because it's on offer. Our research shows that not all offers are as good as they seem and can even be misleading.

Between June and August 2008 we found several offers that broke government guidelines. For example, foods shouldn't be on offer for longer than they have been sold at the higher price.

We found wine that was at the higher price for only a week in two months and blueberries sold at half price for six weeks when they had only been at the higher price for only two weeks beforehand.

Buy one get one free

Buy-one-get-one-free, or Bogof, offers can also seem good value, but unless you know how you're going to use all of the food it may end up in the bin. Three in 10 Which? members said that buying Bogofs caused them to waste food.

Save money by only buying what you need, rather than being seduced by special offers. Special offers can encourage us to spend more than we would otherwise. Just because a food is on offer, that doesn't mean it’s cheap, so shop around.

Our research

In August and September 2007, we surveyed 2,645 members of the Which? online panel about which supermarket ranges they buy. We scrutinised the labels of 54 ready meals from Asda, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s and Tesco to compare the ingredients and nutritional content.

We tracked the price of a basket of food items between June and August 2008 in Tesco, Waitrose, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Morrisons and Marks & Spencer, and more than 100 wines online at Tesco and Sainsbury’s in July and August.

We asked 3,039 Which? online panel members their views on special offers in April and May.