Emma’s a meal prepping master (Picture: Jam Press/@emmawill2014)
A British influencer and mum-of-six has shared her best tips to help other families cut back on spending.
As the cost of living crisis worsened, Emma Williams, 29, from Telford, knew she had to start planning.
The mum, who has more than 468,000 followers on TikTok, uses her platform to share hacks and bargains with fellow parents and others who might be struggling.
In a recent post that has garnered more than 1.2 million views, Emma revealed how she meal preps for her large family.
She currently lives at home with her partner Dave, 32, and six children: Amelia, 9, James, seven, Liara, six, Evelyn, four, Charlotte, three, and Thomas, six months.
‘The cost of living has affected how we shop, food prices have gone up and as a large family we can really feel the increase,’ Emma said.
‘I currently suffer with anxiety and the stress of the cost of living crisis does have a strain on my mental health.’
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The savvy mum has had to be more strict and tighten the pursestrings, switching to supermarket own brands and making meals in batches to save time any money.
Alongside meal prepping, Emma also has some other tips, including starting Christmas preparations early and making the most of sale buys.
She said: ‘I meal prep which cuts the cost and the time I use up. For example, if I am making pancakes, I’ll make some for now and double my batter to make some for later, this way I know we have a breakfast in the freezer.
‘Another thing I like to do is batch cook meat, separate them into bags, freeze them and then use them to make meals which has saved us so much money in the past.’
Emma with husband Dave and children James, Evelyn, Charlotte, Amelia, Liara and Thomas (Picture: Jam Press/@emmawill2014)
As for getting through festive season with her bumper brood, Emma said: ‘We are very cautious about Christmas too; I start very early in the year and get all the deals as they pop up.
‘I find it gets way more expensive the closer we get to Christmas, so hitting those sales and buying the wrapping paper after boxing day to use the following year is always good.’
She claims the key to saving cash is all in the planning.
‘Best tips for families are plan ahead, I use a weekly meal planner which helps us keep on track,’ she added.
A family dinner in January 2022 (Picture: Jam Press/@emmawill2014)
When it comes to food shopping itself, Emma urges people to always buy from a particular place in the supermarket.
When you are shopping always look at the bottom shelf,’ she said.
‘The food down there is just as good as the branded stuff just without the price tag. Pasta is a great example of this – £1+ for the middle shelf or 32p at the bottom.’
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Emma, who runs her YouTube channel alongside being a stay-at-home mum, is hoping that by sharing her advice online she will be able to help families who are struggling this winter.
She said: ‘I am aware that the increase has been devastating for a lot of families and it really does shock me that these companies are making people choose between eating and heating their homes.’
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Always look on the bottom shelf.