In these times of rising food and fuel costs, belts are tightening. This is not a bad discipline for anyone, even if they are bringing in enough money to pay the bills, to get into. Perhaps the week before pay-day is the time period to put this into place.

Those people struggling financially right now are probably putting this kind of regime into place every week, but even for those of you who can manage financially, this is a great idea to make sure you stay that way, and can continue to afford luxuries that you have become accustomed to.

Reduce Waste

Look at the contents of your refrigerator and freezer. There are bound to be items in there that without careful husbandry will end up rotting and being thrown out. The organisation WRAP recently reported that 19% of waste in the UK stems from waste food. That is food that goes off, or food that is cooked and then not eaten.

Have a look at your portion sizes? Are you throwing away a lot of food at the end of the day. Now, having a small boy myself I am aware that judging the food requirements of someone who doesn't know themselves until they come to eat how hungry they are is very difficult. However, the rest of your family are old enough to inform you if they had a snack at a friends, sneaky burger on the way home from work and are not as hungry as you would anticipate them being.

I promise you, your family won't starve with you reducing the portions a little. You can always put things like cheese, bread-sticks or fruit on the table so that if you really have under-estimated there are options to fill them up.

The other area is rotting food. Force yourself into taking stock of what is available and trying to menu plan around what you have, not what you quite fancy eating. It's not as much fun I will grant you, but it will reduce the amount of wasted food, and save you money.

Double-dip

What I mean by this, is that if you buy a number of bulk items, for example, frozen kidney beans, peas, sweetcorn, tuna, tomatoes, pasta and rice you have in front of you a veritable cornucopia of menu possibilities using the same basic, and economical, ingredients. Tuna and Pasta Bake, Vegetable Chillli, Tuna Risotto, it goes on and on. With careful presentation and spacing out of the dishes, you can serve similar ingredients every night without getting too many moans.

Farm or Butcher Shop

If you can do this the chances are you will be able to buy the correct amount of meat or vegetables for your family, without having the waste associated with pre-packed items from super-markets. Butchers are also great ones for having conversations with about recipe ideas for cheaper cuts of meat that you may not otherwise have considered.

Bring Lunch from Home

In the great turmoil that may be morning in your house, you may struggle to get your kids lunch-boxes ready and forget all about yours. During the day you might pop out for a fancy coffee from one of those shops, and add a muffin or cake to the pile. That is several extra pounds every time you succumb. Buy yourself some cereal bars or fruit or something you like, plus take some left-overs for lunch or sandwiches.

You will really save a lot of money. It takes a bit more time and requires a bit more organisation, but it will get you through that last week before pay-day or allow you to save a bit for an upcoming birthday or holiday without the trauma of putting the family on a bread and water diet.

Learn more about this author, Lesley Rigg.
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