Stick strictly to the shopping list and take your own food to the office – these are just two of five tips that can save you up to 400 euros a month. FOCUS Online shows simple tricks that you can implement immediately and bring monthly savings of several hundred euros.

A large part of the monthly income goes on groceries. These five tips leave more money for other things.

Employees spend five to ten euros a day for lunch in the canteen or at the Italian restaurant around the corner. At an average price of 9.00 euros per meal, you could save almost 200 euros a month by bringing a lunch from home instead.

If you don’t want to pre-cook in the morning, you can prepare an extra portion the night before and take it with you the next day. Homemade sandwiches or layered salad in a jar are also a tasty and inexpensive alternative.

From now on you should no longer go to the supermarket without a shopping list. Think about what groceries you really need and what dishes you want to cook. This means that you only buy what you really need and avoid useless spontaneous purchases.

Another advantage: You can be sure that you have bought all the necessary ingredients for your dishes.

The savings: With a shopping list you save a lot of money per purchase. You only put the groceries and drugstore items in your shopping cart that you really need. That can easily amount to 50 euros a month.

Be it vegetables, meat or sweets, many groceries are cheaper if you buy them in bulk instead of individually. Don’t need that much? No problem. Vegetables or meat can be portioned and frozen. Sweets keep for several months – at least in theory. Here, too, a saving of at least 50 euros would be possible.

A lot of money can be saved if you buy the cheap own brands of the supermarkets instead of the branded products. The no-name products are often made by the same manufacturer as the expensive branded products. This saves an average of 30 percent. On average, you can easily save 50 euros per month.

Shortly before closing time, some supermarkets give discounts on fruit and vegetables, as well as on sausage, cheese and meat. You can also use this trick to save up to 50 percent at the bakery or at the weekly market.

Don’t be afraid to ask the sellers directly about special offers. You can even freeze meat. Don’t forget to label the freezer bag accordingly.

Potential savings – with the currently very high meat, vegetable and fruit prices? At least 50 euros a month!

Supermarket prices are skyrocketing, but furniture, clothing, shoes and other consumer goods are also becoming more expensive. As a retail expert, I know the tricks of the trade and tell you how you can save money for you and your family every month when shopping. Would you like to talk to me about your savings tips and tricks? Did you notice anything while shopping? Then send an e-mail to Konstantinos.mitsis@burda-forward.de with your name and phone number

The original of this article “With five tips you can save up to 400 euros a month on groceries alone” comes from chip.de.