Jack Monroe is famed for her money-saving hacks and budget cookbooks. While some of her tips and tricks can come under scrutiny, she swears by her shopping list hack that can see families 'save an absolute fortune'.
The anti-poverty campaigner started her recipe blog 10 years ago with recipes for feeding her and her son for £10 a week. Over the years she says she's got her weekly grocery shop perfected in order to not over-buy and save money in the process - and a lot goes into it.
She has shared the lengths she goes to before each food shop on Twitter in the past, explaining that she splits her shopping list into proteins, vegetables and fruits, carbohydrates and snacks to ensure a balanced diet.
But the most important step she takes is doing a detailed stocktake of what is already in her cupboards and fridge before writing what she needs for each meal.
"I talked about this on Twitter and hundreds of people got in touch to say they had saved an absolute fortune on their food shop, been more creative in the kitchen, eaten better, and really enjoyed the sense of control it gave them in increasingly uncertain times," Jack told Metro.
She added: "It may seem daunting but it takes just a few moments, gets quicker every time you do it and could save you hundreds of pounds a year – or even a month – on your food shopping."
Sharing a picture of the extensive list on Twitter, she explained: "I've got this down to under 20 minutes now - now to make the 'gap filler' shopping list" - which she says is step two following the stocktake.
"Step 3 is to go on the supermarket website and check the prices and add them up so there’s no nasty surprises in store when you get there.
"Step 4 is the ‘final lists’ - adding things in order of priority and adding them up as I go along, stopping when I hit the budget line. (Then quick check to make sure nothing glaring is missing - you’ll notice I binned off about half the list!)
"Step 5 - going to the supermarket with big backpack and hoping everything’s in stock… (using an old diary for this - easier than carrying around a massive A4 hardback stocktake book, and suspect it may be a handy reference point for the VBI food prices in years to come…)"
Encouraging others to do the same, she added: "Start with a piece of A4, split it into the four columns, root around in your cupboard and start writing".
Jack explained that she starts taking stock with proteins first as a priority, to make sure she doesn't end up stocking up on starchy carbs.
One Twitter-user responded: "Yas I do this all the time now after seeing one of your tweets! So satisfying writing everything down".
Another replied: "We started stocktaking at the beginning of lockdown due to shortages and it’s revolutionised our shopping and meals!"
"Another wrote: "I am in awe. I need to do this!"
However a few others commented that they were surprised at how much she already had in her kitchen, with one saying: "Gosh do you really have all of that as stock?"
Do you have a shopping hack to save money on your food shop? Please get in touch at webfeatures@trinitymirror.com
