I'm sure you have all been told money
saving tips from an accountant or even gone searching on the internet. But a
lot of them seem unrealistic. These tips may not help you tuck away a fist full
of cash into your savings account. But it might just give you a little bit of
breathing space.
1. MEAL PLANNING
You have seen it plastered everywhere
like a new fad and probably thought "Christ, that's a lot of work"
but I promise you it is worth it. By meal planning you can cut your grocery
shopping down drastically.
I've broken it down a little, step by
step to make it a bit easier. In time you won't even need this guide.
1. Firstly look in your freezer,
fridge and pantry. Write down what you have. Now with that list what meals
could you make? Do you have your "go to meals" that you must have to
have weekly? Like spag bol? Write these down on one piece of paper to commence
your "meal plan".
2. On another piece of paper write
your "shopping list".
3. Then write on your "shopping
list" what ingredients you will need for the meals already written on your
meal plan.
4. Hop on websites for your local
supermarkets and browse the meat categories. Write down on a separate piece of
paper what meat is the cheapest, base this off per kilo. You will find that the
cheaper meats are Mince, chicken breast, chicken Legs, whole chook, Sausages
and chuck/gravy steak. Check what the price is of the meat at the competition.
Which ever has the cheapest meat is where I shop. I do this because really the
most expensive part of grocery shopping is the meat.
6. Now that you have all the cheap
meat written down on a piece of paper start brainstorming what meals you can
make of it. You can also type in what meat and ingredients you already have in
google and it will come up with suggested meals.
7. Once you have all your meals
written on the "meal plan" ensure you have written down all other
ingredients needed on your shopping list.
8. Go shopping!!! Or if you feel that sometimes
you often impulse buy or you get worried about keeping it under your budgeted
amount how about you do online order, for delivery or click and collect.
9. With online orders you can bring
the specials up within seconds rather than walking around searching the store.
You can also see your total as items are added so this makes it a lot easier to
stick to a budget.
10. If you have a local market how
about checking their prices up against the supermarket, this may be cheaper for
some.
11. Repeat all above steps for a meal
plan for lunches and snacks.
Here are some meal planning ideas for dinner, lunch and snacks;
2. PREPARATION AND STORAGE OF FRUIT
AND VEG
Let's face it, we all know how awesome
Tupperware containers are and how they do help food last a lot longer, but not
everyone can afford them!
With the tips I have given you can
basically use any containers you already have.
- Carrots and Celery sticks stored in
water to keep fresh for longer. Having it cut up makes doing lunches snacks so
much easier
- Cut watermelon and rockmelon. Place
grapes and strawberries in one container, as well as cut up watermelon and
rockmelon. Ensure there is a layer of paper towel to bottom and top. This way
the paper towel absorbs any moister, preventing the fruit from fermenting and
keeping it fresher for longer. Change paper towel when it is moist.
- Scoop out the seeds from your
pumpkin as soon as you can. Your pumpkin will last a lot longer
- Potatoes last longer in the
fridge
3. LOCAL MARKETS
You will often find that fresh produce
is cheaper and fresher from your local markets. I would suggest you check
online or in store for what you would normally pay per kg for the produce you
normally buy. Then when you are at the market you can assess if it is cheaper
for you.
4. ONLINE GROCERY SHOPPING
You have probably seen adverts for
this or heard people talk about it and possibly thought it is for time poor or
lazy people. I say it's a smart move and here is why;
- When ordering online you can easily
search and see what the specials are for that week, so much easier than a quick
glance over the shelves in store.
- You can take your time.
- You don't have to drag the kids in
and deal with tantrums
- No waiting in line at a
checkout
- You can still use fly buys or reward
card
- You can see your tally as you go, allowing
you to stick to a budget easier.
- It’s harder to impulse buy
- Often free delivery slots. Which
works out cheaper than driving and using your fuel
- You don't have to lug all those bags
inside, the delivery driver does (ok, this may sound lazy but for someone with
health problems it's a godsend)
- You can save your shopping list and
use it time and time again or amend it
- Can be done or mobile, tablet or
computer
It can take a while to do your first
order and get use to navigating around the website, so allow yourself a bit of
time.
4. CHECK OUT THE CHEAP STORES
Shops such as the reject shop or $2
shops often sell feminine hygiene products, soaps, washing power, fabric
softener, detergent, shaving products, cleaning products & toilet paper in
the brands you love and know at a fraction of the cost.
5. BUY IN BULK WHERE POSSIBLE
I know this can be hard sometimes with
the initial outlay of cost to buy in bulk. Maybe team up with a friend and
split cost/product.
6. PREPARE AND FREEZE SANDWICHES
As soon as you purchase bread make and
freeze a couple of loaves of sandwiches. This makes packing lunches so much
easier and saves on wastage. You will also find that it will cut down on
purchasing lunch for yourself or the kids.
Check the attached video of what
fillings can be put in sandwiches that you are freezing.
7. FREEZE BREAD AND MILK
Do you find yourself popping up to the
shops every couple of days or milk and bread? Would I be right in guessing that
you would often walk out with more than just these two items? Freezing milk and
bread will help with those impulse buys. Even if you don't have a large freezer
and can only store an extra milk and loaf of bread you will still be saving a
little each week.
8. BAKING FROM SCRATCH AND IN
BULK
Baking is not only cheaper than buying
pre-made but you know exactly what is in it. I will often bake in bulk and
freeze. This makes snacks and packing lunches so much easier. If you are
heading out and about grab some of those home baked goodies and you will save
on buying food whilst out.
Here are some links to some cheap bulk
baking recipes.
9. SAVINGS ACCOUNT
Don't set yourself an unrealistic
amount to save per week. Start low as $5 if that is all that your budget will
allow.
Every night check your bank account.
Visually seeing what your balance is, how much abs and what you have spent that
day is good to keep you on track.
When you check your account balance
each night put the left offer cents over into your savings account. As an
example, if your account balance says $82.75 transfer the 75c into your
savings. Once you have mastered this then starting rounding down and
transferring the dollar amount also. As an example, if your account balance
says $82.75 transfer the $2.75.
You will be surprised how this can
quickly add up without you noticing.
10. PAYING BILLS BY DIRECT
DEPOSIT
For as long as I can remember I have
payments for my bills come out on a fortnightly basis. Mobile, electricity and day-care
are just an example. I have a small amount set up as a periodic frequent
payment per fortnight. This means that I NEVER have a big bill and often am in
credit.
This can be set up direct with the
provider/business for them to deduct from your account, you can call them to
get their bank account details or set up via pay.
Ultimately you would want to aim to be
in credit. This way when your car rego or any other unplanned bill comes in you
can call or log on line and see how much you are in credit on those accounts.
You can then forgo a payment that fortnight and put towards one of those
unexpected expenses.
11. CHRISCO
At the start of every year I place an
order with CHRISCO. Now I'm not a huge fan of the meat hampers as I prefer to
choose my own. I also find that the food/pantry hampers can be often full of
products I don't use or brands I don't particularly like. So I use CHRISCO
purely for their gift cards/vouchers. They have a huge range such as;
-
Accor Hotels
-
BCF
-
Big 4 Holiday
Parks
-
Coles
-
Country Road
-
EB Games
-
Goldmark
-
Harvey Norman
-
iTunes
-
JB HI-FI
-
Jetstar
-
Kmart
-
Lowes
-
Mitre 10
-
Myer
-
MyLayby.com
-
Rebel
-
Supercheap Auto
-
Target
-
Just Group
(Dotti, Just Jeans, Smiggle, Peter Alexander, Jay Jays, Jaqui-E & Portmans)
-
Ticketmaster
-
Toys R Us
-
Woolworths
-
Zing
I will purchase a whole ton of gift
card that I pay off fortnightly. You can choose weekly, fortnightly or monthly.
They are usually delivered at the start of November. I will then use these gift
card to purchase all my Christmas gifts, or if unable to find a particular gift
for someone just give them a gift card.
If you find that Christmas saving
accounts don’t work for you then this may just be your answer. I have now been
doing this for 7 years and works well for me and my family.
12. GIFTS
Buy gifts throughout the year to help
prepare and save you money for birthdays, Christmas, Mother's Day and the next
size up in clothing. For this you will need 4 storage tubs. Best to get the
sort with kids so the kids can't easily see in and they stack better
also.
1. Birthdays/Mothers & Father's
Day/Christmas;
You already have a pretty good idea of
whose birthdays you have coming up throughout the year. So whenever you see an
absolute bargain think about who that gift could be for. The best way to keep
track of this is just simply creating a "note" in your phone. List
all family or friends you would typically buy for. Whenever you find a gift
write it down next to their name to be able to keep track of who you have or
haven't purchased for, what you got them and I like putting the purchase amount
and RRP so I can tally up my savings. It's great to visually be motivated and
inspired. Tuck them away in a tub in the cupboard.
2. Children birthday party gifts;
You know your child will be invited to
a few of their friends birthday parties throughout the year When shopping and
you come across cheap gifts that you know your child would like, chances are
their friend will also. Tuck them away in a tub in the cupboard. I also always
have colouring books, craft items and pencils in there. They help to "bulk
up" a gift. This helps for when your child gives you that birthday
invitation that has been sitting in their school bag for the last week and you
now only have 2 days’ notice. Head to your birthday party present tub and have
your child select out a gift for them. You have now saved money, time and
sanity!
3. Rewards or activities;
I will also have a tub hidden away for
my children. So any gifts I know that have specifically wanted that I have
gotten super cheap. Craft kits can be purchased cheaply and be pulled out as a
surprised for a rainy day or when their friends come for a sleepover.
Additionally these items can be used for birthdays, Christmas or even as a
reward for that awesome report card.
4. Clothes;
We all know our kids grow like weeds
and often seems to be that they will go up a size overnight. When there are end
of season sales I will buy the next size up. You will find most stores
especially big w, Kmart and best and less will drastically discount their
clothing at the end of summer or winter. I will often pick up items of clothing
from $3 to $10 a piece. You will then have a head start on the next year, if
they have a growth spurt or the weather suddenly changes.
13. LAY-BY
There are 3 times in the year that I
will ALWAYS lay-by. Winter, summer and my children's birthday.
Winter clothing; I will place a lay-by
for each kid in March-April.
Summer clothing; I will place a lay-by
for each kid in September- October.
I do the children's birthday lay-bys approx.
2 months prior to their birthday.
If you have any questions, don't be
afraid to ask!
