Repsol YPF

According to data provided by the Spanish Statistics Institute, between 1991 and 2005, between 13% and 21% of Spanish homes became homes with a single resident, an increase which featured young people of between 25 and 34 years of age particularly. Despite the fact that this evolution has slowed down due to the economic crisis, it has nevertheless caught the attention not only of sociologists, who have identified a new trend in the population’s habits and interests, but also of companies, especially in the food sector, which have targeted this group as a new niche market. It is a profitable sector, since those who live on their own spend up to 65% more on food than the rest of the population. 

Saving in the supermarket

The fact is that in most cases, living on your own, especially in times of financial crisis, requires people to control all aspects of spending, starting with food. People who do not share their property with anyone else have often had to get used to throwing away food that has gone off. However, supermarkets such as Alcampo, Carrefour and Mercadona have started to offer an increasing number of products which are “single servings”, as they are often labelled, containing individual portions in order to make them easier to store and keep. 

These are generally processed and pre-cooked foods which often make up the diet of people who live on their own, given the fact that they show less interest in cooking, either due to a lack of time or because they think it is not worth spending too much time on making a meal for one person. However, there are other products which due to the fact that they are non-perishable goods, should feature in their larder. This is the case of oil, salt, sugar, pasta, rice and tinned pulses. 

In addition to buying products in individual portions, there are other simple food tips to follow in order to avoid blowing the budget, such as going shopping with a list, without an empty stomach (which leads you to buy more food than you really need) and sharing larger products which cannot be consumed by one person with a friend. Likewise, making some purchases on the Internet can also work out cheaper. 

Saving at home

Once you are at home, it is worth cooking for several days at a time and freezing the portions. You can use this time to save energy, by covering saucepans when you cook, always trying to make sure that the pans are bigger than the ring they are on; and in the event that you have a glass-ceramic hob, another tip is that you turn it off a couple of minutes before the food has finished cooking, which will enable you to make use of the residual heat. To defrost foods, it is better to leave them in the fridge  instead of using the microwave. We should use the microwave instead of the oven wherever possible, since the latter consumes much more energy. 

Where other household electrical appliances are concerned, it is advisable to buy those which are more energy efficient, since although they may be more expensive, in the long term they work out cheaper; they should also be unplugged when they are not in use or be connected to an extension lead with a switch. That way, you can avoid the cost generated by what is known as “standby energy”. 

It is also recommendable to use the dishwasher rather than washing up by hand, since although it may seem strange to us, you save more water (especially hot water). When using the washing machine, it is best to do so when the drum is full, or to use the half-load setting if your machine has one. Instead of using detergents, a much cheaper option is to use what is known as an ecobola (eco-ball). 

 
Related articles:

- Energy efficiency in the home

- Learning to save energy