GIVE UP TAKEAWAY FOOD

I have to be blunt – you’ll never save money if you buy food someone else has cooked. End of story.

For some people, the idea of having to spend more time in the kitchen is scary – we’re so used to fast-food giants on every corner, and aisles of packaged meals in our supermarkets.

And I totally get why we succumb. When we’re knackered and have to pick up the kids from sport or music or whatever, it’s so tempting to pop into a takeaway place on our way home. But this is where you really waste money.

I kept my takeaway receipts for a year and, when I added them up, it was frightening. The average burger, drinks and chips for the four of us was nearly $40! And we were doing this at least twice a week, also with the occasional takeaway breakfast when we were driving somewhere on weekends.

Plus, all that takeaway was expanding our waistlines (especially mine!), so there was the added cost of buying new clothes, as well as the incalculable long-term cost to our health.

If your family only has takeaway as an occasional treat, this will be easy. But, if you have it more than a few times a week (I’m including takeaway breakfast, lunch and dinner here), it’s going to be more of a challenge. But don’t be too hard on yourself. You are changing habits built over a lifetime, so give yourself a break. If it’s too hard to ditch takeaway all at once, wean yourself off slowly. Reduce it by one meal a week, or whatever works. To make this easier, make sure you have soups, pasta sauces, casseroles and other premade dishes ready in your fridge or freezer to help you resist any takeaway temptation.