Save money when shopping for groceries: bulk packs and tips for proper storage
Created: 03/23/2022, 14:52
By: Maria Dirschauer
Buying certain foods in bulk and then freezing them can save you money.
The best foods to buy in bulk and how long they keep.
Inflation, the corona pandemic, poor harvests, war in Eastern Europe: for a variety of reasons, food prices have been rising continuously for years.
This is becoming more and more of a problem for many consumers – especially for low earners who have to provide for many people.
According to calculations by the ifo Institute,
groceries could become seven percent more expensive this year
, according to
Tagesschau.de.
Wheat, corn and vegetable oils in particular will become even more expensive in the future, as the editorial network Germany (RND) reports.
There are several ways to
save
money when shopping :
Write a shopping list and only buy what is on it
Take advantage of offers and discounts from discounters
resort to own brands instead of expensive branded products
switching from sunflower oil to cooking and baking alternatives
Compare prices per kilogram
Bake bread and cakes without flour*
Buy bulk packs
Store food properly so that it lasts a long time
Grocery shopping: Save money by buying in bulk and stocking up properly
If you buy large packs
directly when buying in bulk
, you will almost always get a better deal than if you buy small packs more often.
This is not a problem for foods such as
pasta, spices and preserves
because they can be stored for longer periods without any problems.
The situation is different with fruit, vegetables, meat and dairy products, which naturally have an expiry date that is not too far in the future.
It helps to preserve the food, which in many cases can be done simply by freezing.
Shop, but don't hamster
Bulk buying and bulking does not mean the infamous hoarding that started with toilet paper during the early days of the pandemic and is being watched for flour and oil this year.
Experts see no reason for buying hamsters
- on the contrary, they only lead to retailers rationing certain products and skyrocketing prices, according to the
RND
.
The best groceries to buy in bulk and to freeze in stock
The online
electronics retailer AO.de
has investigated how long different
foods can be frozen
.
For this purpose, a list was drawn up of which foods consumers ask most frequently: Can this be frozen?
This overview helps you to assess which groceries you can
buy in larger quantities in
order to store them long-term when prices rise.
Food | How long to freeze? |
|---|---|
ground beef | 1-3 months |
bread (sliced) | 1-3 months |
cheese | 2-4 months |
mushrooms (cooked) | 3 months |
soup | 3-6 months |
cake | 4 months |
meat (pork) | 4-7 months |
yeast and yeast dough | 6 months |
Eggs (raw, white and yolk separated) | 8-10 months |
beans | 9-15 months |
asparagus | 10-12 months |
zucchini (raw) | 12 months |
arugula | 12 months |
potatoes (boiled) | 12 months |
Follow our tips on which foods are easy to freeze and which ones should be left alone, for example because they would change their consistency.
Bread
, for example, can be frozen in slices and thawed in the toaster if necessary.
A good tip if you can't use up fresh bread quickly enough before it starts to go moldy.
This also counteracts the problem of
food
waste, because the food does not have to be thrown away.
Storing food by freezing
can also save you time and money on
meal prepping
and keep
ingredients on hand.
For example, by chopping larger quantities of onions, freezing them and then using them for cooking when needed.
What can also be very useful: an emergency supply of food for crisis situations.
This checklist will help you with information about what and how much you really need.
(mad) *Merkur.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA.