10 ways to cut your grocery bill

There's no denying our weekly supermarket bill is going up and up, but before you despair about never being able to eat cheaply again, help is at hand.

A recent survey by the UK-based department store, Littlewoods, revealed that parents who take their children shopping with them spend an extra £435 (Dh2,504) a year on top of normal bills thanks to the "pester power" of their offspring, who will shout and scream to get what they want. With four in five parents surveyed giving in to their children's demands and buying them inexpensive treats, you can see why, perhaps, the best advice to help you save on groceries should be to leave the kids at home when you hit the supermarket.

With that in mind, here are 10 tips to help you reduce your supermarket bills in 2012:

2. Plan ahead

Knowing what you are going to eat every day for the next week is one of the best ways to reduce your supermarket bill. By checking what you already have in the cupboards and planning exactly what you need for the meals ahead, you can make sure you buy just the right amount of food and ensure you don't end up throwing anything away.

3. Buy local By buying UAE-produced fruit and vegetables over imported produce, you will make a huge saving. Locally grown fruit and vegetables can be up to a fifth of the price of imported items and locally manufactured juices, nuts and crisps can also dramatically reduce the bill.

4. Eat before you shop Shopping on an empty stomach is a proven way to increase your grocery bill because you will end up loading your trolley with impulse purchases to satisfy your appetite cravings. So, have a light meal before you head to the supermarket to ensure you focus on the meals you need in the future rather than what you want to eat that second.

5. Steer clear of clever marketing Your children don't need plasters with pictures of Disney princesses on them and you don't have to have your porridge in individual sachets when a standard box is cheaper and just as effective when it comes to breakfast time. Also avoid squeezy bottles. They may seem easier, but they are generally more expensive than their glass counterparts and less recyclable. And anything in snack packs will always give you appalling value for money, so avoid mini boxes of raisons, cereals or biscuits.

6. Grow your own It may be hot out there, but some herbs and vegetables will grow very well in your garden or in a pot on your balcony, so it might be time to take the green-fingered approach to cooking. It might seem like a lot of effort - but spending Dh9 on a fresh basil plant every couple of weeks that then dies seems a little pointless, particularly if you only need a few leaves for garnish. Better to pick it from your garden and spend nothing except the initial bag of seeds.

7. Make more and keep the leftovers Cook double portions of the evening meal and use the leftovers for lunchboxes the next day. Alternatively, freeze any leftovers for another meal. Sometime it pays to make more if it means saving on costly school and office lunches.

8. Leave the kids at home Grocery shopping is expensive enough without an extra pair of little hands loading up your trolley with unwanted treats. Younger children are quite happy to throw a tantrum to get what they want, often forcing parents into submission. Save yourself the stress and some dirhams and leave them at home.

9. Don't overbuy Yes, looking for two-for-one deals and discounts is a good idea, but there is a case for overstocking the cupboards. Buying enough mozzarella cheese for the next three months may seem like a good idea, but it's not if you end up throwing most of it away because it has gone off. And all that happens is that you have bulging cupboards and a grocery bill that never goes down because you are forever stocking up.

10. Keep a record Keep tabs on how much you are spending at the supermarket and what you are spending on. A quick scan of your receipt will flag up any ridiculously priced purchases. Alternatively, download a spending app to help you tot up how much you are frittering on groceries every month. A good example is last week's App Of The Week, Spending Log.