HOW MUCH ARE YOU SPENDING?

Before I began living frugally I would just 'throw' things in the trolley

The first thing you need to do is work out how much you are spending on groceries. Grab your receipts for the past couple of weeks, sit down and add up all the food items you’ve paid for, including takeaway lunches, dinners, snacks and drinks, and work out what you spend on average. If you don’t have any receipts, then just do your normal grocery shopping for the first week and keep receipts for every food item you buy (including takeaway). Don’t try to save money or do anything out of the ordinary – just shop as you usually would.

Before I began living frugally, I would just ‘throw’ things in the trolley with a vague plan about what I might do with them; I didn’t bother looking at the price.

When you look closely at the receipts and actually see how much particular items cost, it can sometimes give you that extra jolt you need to keep track of where your hard-earned money is going.

But again, please don’t despair or feel like the world’s biggest tool – everything is fixable.

So, how much are you spending? Is this an average week for you?

Now work out what you would ideally like to spend on your weekly grocery bill, given other financial commitments and whatever you are saving money for. If that figure looks scary, don’t panic! I didn’t do it overnight, and I don’t expect you to either. You just need to break it down step by step. That’s what will get you there. That’s how you get anywhere!

If you are spending $200-plus just on food per week, aim to spend 10-15 per cent less for the next shop. How you do this is really up to you, but some simple and effective ways I can suggest to reduce your spending include giving up takeaway food, avoiding readymade meals, buying genericbrand staples and avoiding fancy value foods.

Once you’ve followed those basic principles for a couple of weeks, you’ll have the confidence to bring out the big guns – planning your meals, shopping for the best deals, reusing leftovers, making your own staples and growing your own food – all of which will help you reduce your spending until you reach your goal.