One of the most significant expenses in any household is food. Whether you are feeding a family of five or you live alone, buying your meals is an outgoing that you need to budget for. Meal delivery services and frozen ready meals are becoming increasingly popular as more households begin to realise the value they can bring. But when it comes to your food costs, are pre-made frozen meals going to set you back more than a home-cooked dinner?
Are Frozen Ready Meals Cheaper Than Home Cooking?
Ready meals and frozen foods have had a bad reputation over the years, with many people believing they are a more expensive choice than home cooking from fresh. The exact cost comparisons will always depend on the meal in question, but one thing is for sure, when you cook from scratch, you need to buy every ingredient. In some cases, the cost of each individual spice, vegetable and meat for a recipe will outweigh the cost of frozen pre-made meals. On the other hand, some frozen ready meals might work out slightly costlier than the ingredients on their own. The real money-saving comes in when you factor in food wastage, cooking time, and additional spending in supermarkets.
Reduce Your Food Waste
When your meals are delivered straight to your door and stored carefully in your freezer until dinner time, there is no room for any wastage. Buying fresh ingredients often leads to something going to waste, as using every last scrap of food before it goes out of date can be a challenge. Those meals, which cost slightly more than the ingredient counterparts, are guaranteed not to send any produce to the bin. Spending your hard- earned pennies on ingredients that go to waste is essentially throwing money down the drain. Frozen meals mean all your cash is spent on delicious food for you and your family to enjoy.
Time Is Money
One of the biggest benefits of frozen meals is the amount of precious time they can save. The time you would usually spend cooking will now be yours to do as you please because you know your tasty dinner is waiting for you in the freezer. You can spend more time with your family, get those last bits of work finished at the end of the day, or just use your free time to relax and unwind. Not only that, but frozen meals mean you don’t have to spend as much time at the supermarket. Perhaps you can save some cash on childcare by picking your little ones up early instead of popping to the shops or cut down your fuel bill by not driving to the supermarket.
No More Unplanned Spending
Frozen ready meals can help you stay on budget with your food shopping. We’re all guilty of picking up some extra bits when wandering down the supermarket aisles and being surprised at how much we’ve spent when we get to the till. By having your meals delivered straight to your freezer, you will cut out all this unplanned spending. You can set your food budget and know exactly how much you are spending on your frozen ready meals delivered with Hey Fresto.