Mum shares how she spends just £50 a month on food for her entire family

A mum-of-one has revealed how she spends just £50 a month on food shopping, through cashback apps, couponing and bargains.

Sammy Hancock – who started her frugal spending habits in 2014 – now regularly uses cashback apps that also supply freebies such as dishwasher tablets, nappies and yoghurts.

The 34-year-old retail assistant, from Alton, East Hamps, also scours yellow sticker reductions for meals that she can batch cook.

She’s even managed to bag herself several freebies from Facebook Marketplace, such as bags of second-hand baby clothes – cutting the cost of having to constantly buy new garments for her two-year-old son, Jimmy.

Sammy said: ‘I try and budget £20 a week for a food shop for me, my partner Darren and my son.

‘In total, with all of the savings I manage to get, it ends up being just over £50 a month or less.

‘An average family of three spends just over £500 a month on food, and that usually comes with a lot of waste.

‘I look out for the yellow sticker reductions for anything that can be frozen, as well as my cashback apps to see if I can get anything cheaper or my money back.

‘I also go to a local community shop a couple of days a week that receives food past its sell by date from local supermarkets and gives it away for free.

‘Some of my best supermarket finds include a 47 pack of pampers, pack of Johnson’s wipes and an Ella’s Kitchen meal for my son that I only paid 15p for.’

Sammy says she’s previously managed to get four loaves of bread for 10p each from Morrisons, which she then put in the freezer.

She also found 12 bottles of reduced Heinz burger sauce for £3 (25p each) from Iceland, which usually cost more than £1 per bottle.

‘I don’t like paying full price for any items, so if I can get the same product for five pence cheaper, I will,’ she adds.

Sammy also bulk cooks to make meals last throughout the week.

She said: ‘We eat a lot of pasta dishes, a 3kg bag of pasta from Tesco is £3.30 and that can last up to a month or more.

‘By looking at the yellow sticker sections, I have been able to bag a lot of fresh fruit and vegetables for less than 20p each to add to meal times as well as big packs of mince and chicken for under £2.’

The savvy shopper has even gone to the lengths of contacting companies about their products.

This attitude extends to her home too, as her refurbishment involved discounted and free second-hand appliances from Facebook Marketplace.

‘We managed to get two sofas from there for £50, a free gas oven and even a washing machine for £15,’ she continues.

She adds: ‘I’m quite an impulsive person, so became obsessed with trying to collect as many coupons as possible in order to cut down on shopping.

‘When coupons were more popular in the UK, I’d use a website called CaringEveryday that offered coupons for toiletries and medicines which was really useful.

‘Some newspapers still do coupons for days out, so once Covid restrictions are calmed, it would be nice to go somewhere like Legoland.

‘Even though there aren’t really that many UK coupon sites now, there’s a whole community online which will share voucher codes and freebie offers which is basically the same thing.’

Sammy believes the best way to get free items is to send feedback to companies.

She explains: ‘In doing so, I’ve actually managed to get a free Yankee Candle worth £13 and a Lush bath bomb box, with three different bombs in it, that was worth £16.’

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