Six ways to save money on . . . bread
The increase in bread prices hasn’t been as dramatic as that for pasta and rice but it’s still 20% up over the past year which makes many loaves over £1. In my local health food shop some have breached the £2 barrier.
How do you cut back the amount you spend on such a staple though? Here are a few suggestions:
Freeze it
Bread freezes really well and it’s a great way to avoid wasting it. Once it gets to a stage where it’s getting stale slice it (if it’s not already sliced) and put it in the freezer so you can take out individual slices for toast as you need them. In fact if you’re living on your own it makes sense to divide it up and freeze portions as soon as you get it home. Even stale (though obviously not mouldy) bread can be whizzed into breadcrumbs for meatballs, gratin toppings and puddings. So long as you buy a loaf with some texture
Shop at the end of the day
Bread is often reduced particularly at the end of the weekend. Again you can freeze it.
Find a Polish baker
They seem to sell bread more cheaply than other bakers do. We can get a huge Polish country loaf in ours for £1.40 which lasts for days and makes great toast. Of course you can buy bread more cheaply in supermarkets (Tesco is currently selling its ‘value’ sliced bread for 37p according to the price comparison website My Supermarket) but if you’re after ‘real’ bread Polish bakers are the biz.
Change the type of bread you buy
This particularly applies to specialist breads such as flatbreads. French stick breads such as baguettes or ‘batons’, for example, are much cheaper than ciabatta. Mini pitta breads cost more than normal-sized ones (75p for 10 in Tesco compared to 47p for six). Give up expensive flavoured breads (cheaper to make yourself - see below) and wraps.
Eat less bread
Sounds facetious but if you cut thinner slices or buy a thin or medium-sliced rather than a thick-sliced loaf it’ll obviously go further. Try open sandwiches too. No good, obviously, for lunch boxes but if you’re eating bread at home just cut one slice and top it, Scandinavian-style with the filling. Cuts down on carbs and calories too!
Bake your own
There’s been quite a lot of chat on discussion boards lately about the amount you can save if you bake your own bread. Certainly if the members of your household are big bread eaters it could save money. On the other hand home-baked bread is so delicious you may end up eating more!
Unless you’re going to make and shape your dough by hand (enjoyable but time-consuming) you also have to factor in the cost of a bread machine which will cost in the region of £30-50 for an inexpensive model (compare prices on Amazon) and the cost of heating up your oven. However 1.5kg of flour - enough to make 3 loaves - costs as little as 48p in Tesco at the moment*. I'll be posting an easy bread recipe later this week.
* That’s for strong white flour. Wholemeal costs 89p. Makes sense to mix the two for a healthier, tastier loaf.