A MUM-OF-TWO is saving more than £1,000 a year on her food shop after swapping out fresh produce for frozen alternatives.
Natalie Ahmed, 38, started stocking up on frozen food as a way to reduce costs after noticing her family’s monthly expenses had risen by around £150.
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She now buys 50% of their weekly shop from the frozen aisles, which has reduced the cost from £60 on average to between £35-40.
Natalie lives with her husband Nick, who works as a marketing manager, and their two children Lucas, six, and Scott, 21 months, in Nottinghamshire.
“I first started buying frozen alternatives at the start of the year due to the rising cost of living,” she told The Sun.
“My husband is obsessed with blueberries but they’re so expensive, so I tried to work out how I could get them for less.
“Then I spotted a pack in the freezer section that was a lot cheaper – I’d completely forgotten all the frozen stuff you can buy until then.”
Natalie’s family are just one of the millions feeling the sting of inflation as shoppers have been hit by the biggest food price rise on record, with annual grocery bills now £811 higher than a year ago.
Food inflation shot up to 17.1% in February and supermarket prices are now the second biggest worry for people, after soaring energy bills, according to Kantar.
Previously Natalie, who works part-time in internal communications for a weight loss company, would buy around 20% of her food shop frozen and says this was usually limited to “normal” frozen goods like peas.
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“I’ve really upped the slightly different things and I’d say around 50% of my food shop is now frozen,” she said.
“I buy lots of fruit like bananas, raspberries, blueberries, strawberries – my six-year-old now loves a frozen banana.
“Things that I previously would’ve gone straight to the fridges for – like all my meat and fish – I’m now buying frozen instead.
“You get the same meat content percentage in the frozen aisle, it’s just much cheaper.”
At Tesco, 150g of fresh raspberries or blueberries cost £2 but you can get more than double the amount – 350g – of frozen raspberries for £2.40.
Meat is also cheaper frozen.
Shoppers can get 1kg of frozen chicken breasts for £3.99 – while 650g of the fresh alternative would set you back £4.50.
Natalie also said you can find great clearance deals in the frozen section – something a lot of shoppers may not be aware of.
She added: “Not many people realise but most supermarkets also have a reduced section in the freezer – we’ve picked up so many frozen clearance bargains in our local Co-op.”
Natalie said she hasn’t noticed any difference in the quality of meals her family are eating since switching to frozen – and said it has made life a lot easier for them.
“Frozen food sometimes has a bad rep because of all the processed frozen food, but some of it is actually healthier,” Natalie said.
“Frozen veg is actually a great buy, because it’s frozen at its freshest, and is often fresher than veg that’s been left at room temperature.”
Working from home has also meant it’s been an easy switch, Natalie said.
She added: “It’s easy to get things out of the freezer to defrost ready for teatime – you used to have to remember before you shot out the door to work, otherwise your dinner plans would be scuppered.
“We’re also trying to do a lot more batch cooking, so using the oven for less time and being more efficient with energy.
“We then freeze portions to eat at a later date.
“It works quite well as I try to make food we can all eat, which makes life a lot easier.”
Natalie said she is so pleased with the change she can’t imagine ever going back to fresh goods and said the only downside is the family now need a new, bigger freezer – which will cost between £600 and 800.
“The only problem I have is that I need to put the money I’ve saved towards a new full height freezer – it’ll save us loads in the long-run,” she said.
