Frugal January - shopping sustainably at Approved Food

I may have swerved the traditional setting of resolutions this New Year, but I haven't been able to avoid the annual tightening of the purse strings.  Last year was a more expensive one than usual, not least as both my parents turned 80 and so some celebrating was in order.  So this year, I want to get the spending back down, and get my savings up again. 

One way I save some money on groceries is by shopping at Approved Food.  I usually place an order every few months, and I can thoroughly recommend them.   Before we dive in, I just want to say that I have no affiliation at all with Approved Food - I just enjoy using them, and wanted to share.

If you've never come across Approved Food before, they're an online company who sell food and drink that is past its 'best before' date at a discounted price.  They also seem to buy up discontinued lines, and you can even find items that are still within date. 

If you sign up for their regular email, you'll be forgiven for thinking that they mostly stock junky snack food and sugary drinks.  But dig deeper, and you'll find a surprising number of more eco-friendly and cruelty-free products on their virtual shelves.  Arguably, by consuming any products that would otherwise go to landfill, you'll be shopping more sustainably.   However, these are some of the more 'conscious' products I picked up this time...

1) Fourpure Session IPA (this brand is new to me, but they seem to have good sustainability credentials) 2) Biona organic chopped tomatoes 3) Crazy Jack organic soft figs 4) Village Green Preserves Sweet Sesame & Date Spread (vegan) 5) The Wild Peanut I'm Bananas peanut butter (also new to me - contains honey, so not vegan :( but palm oil free, and the company supports Tree Aid).

6) Dorset Cereals mueslis, including their organic version - I eat lots of muesli, so I bought several boxes. 

7) Dr Kargs organic seeded spelt crackers  8) Suma organic brown rice  9)  Granovita organic vegetable stock cubes  10) Maclean's oatcakes (not organic, but palm oil free).

11) Cliff bars (these are my cycling energy bars)  12)  9 Bars 13)  Deliciously Ella cacao and almond energy balls 14) Pulsin bars (vegan protein bars).

15) Hippeas organic chickpea puffs (vegan) 16) Yushoi baked pea snacks (vegan) 17) Clearspring organic rice crackers & organic tamari roasted soya beans (both vegan).

The average saving is around 50% on the full price, and I have found everything I've bought from Approved Food to be really good quality.  Occasionally, I'll get something that I find I don't like, but that's just personal taste.  I'm planning a no-spend couple of months this February and March, so this lot will keep me going for quite a while!

I didn't buy any toiletries this time, but I have previously spotted brands such as Weleda, Dermalogica, Beauty Without Cruelty and Natracare, so it's always worth a look in the Health section. 

Have you tried Approved Food?  If so, what did you think of them?