Jackie Gower - How you can cut your food bill in half

If there is one question I get asked more than any other, it's 'how can I save money on food?'  With food prices constantly rising, it's hardly surprising!  The good news is, there are still some tried and true tactics you can use to keep your food spend to a minimum.  I hope these tips help you as much as they help me!

Become a Destitute Gourmet.  A great way to start making a difference is by lowering the cost of the meals you cook.  Sophie Gray has been helping people slash their food bill for over a decade with her 'Destitute Gourmet' range of recipe books.  When I began using her book 'Stunning Food from Small Change' to cook for my family of four, my food bill literally did reduce by half.  A fantastic variety of delicious, filling meals to suit all family members, with plenty of savvy money saving tricks thrown in.  I can't recommend her highly enough!  Ask your library if they have a copy or for more information, check out Sophie's website www.destitutegourmet.com.

Know your prices and set a limit.  When in the supermarket, most of us tend to shop by simply putting whatever we want to eat and drink into our trolleys, rather than taking too much notice of the cost.  However becoming well acquainted with the prices of things can really make a difference to your bank balance.  If you like you can keep a little notebook to write prices down but it won't be long before you will be able to automatically spot a genuinely great deal on almost everything you buy - or whether advertised 'specials' are actually cheaper priced elsewhere.  It also makes you more dedicated to seeking value and you unconsciously begin to set stricter limits on how much you are willing to spend.  Think of it this way, if you could find a way to save just a dollar on everything you buy, imagine how much money you would have left in the grocery kitty each week!

Be flexible.  Everyone has a weakness or favourite treat.  You don't have to go without to make some big savings – just find the smartest solution!  Don't be afraid to think outside the square or experiment with brands. For example, our household are big soft drink guzzlers.  Changing my tipple from the top brand Diet Coke ($3.50 - $4.00 per 1.5 litre bottle) to the generic brand (99c per 1.5 litres) was a big difference in taste to begin with but at a saving of over $20 a week the switch was well worth it!  

Buy in bulk where you can.  Not everyone has the space or the budget to buy many items in bulk but if you can even squeeze in a couple of extra loaves of bread or litres of milk into your freezer when you see them at a good price it will save all those emergency trips to the supermarket or service station where you inevitably end up buying half a dozen other things you never planned to at the same time.  Any item which you know you use a lot of and always run out of during the week is always worth simply buying in greater quantities when you do your main shop if money will allow.

Bake, bake and bake some more!  Good old fashioned home baking is the cheapest and yummiest way to keep kids and burly blokes' bellies contentedly full.  Cheaper than any bought lunchbox snacks and most likely healthier too!  If you think you don't have time to bake, weigh up the time and cost of driving to the supermarket, navigating the shopping aisles, grabbing a pack of muesli bars, queuing at the checkout and then driving home again against spending half an hour in your own kitchen whipping up a whole week's worth of yummy snacks.  Keeping the baking tins full will always help to keep your food bill low.  Give it a go and see!