It these tight times there are many things you can do to reduce your weekly expense.

Lets start with the shopping trolley.........

Buy in bulk.

Buying everyday items in bulk will reduce your trolley expense. Basic items such as flour, sugar, rice, pasta and oil are

often provided in big bags or bottles / containers. I buy 3kgs of sugar which lasts me @ 2 months or more. I store it in a sealed container to perseve the quality. Rice and pasta tends to get used quicker and I find I purchase them @ every 3 to 4 weeks.

Purchasing bulk toliet paper also reduces the expense. Although in my house I have to buy the bulk packet every week, I usually have 4 or 5 rolls left over at the end of the week, which results in one week, I don't have to make that purchase.

Shampoo's and conditioners can also be bought in bulk, I purchase Tres emme which comes in 900ml costing me @ $12 a bottle. Not a saving you say, well, I generally purchase it when it is on sale (2 bottles for $15 or when it is @ $9 a bottle) As I only have to purchase it every 6 to 8 weeks, it's a huge saving. (It's also great product!)

Watch for sale items that come in bulk or multi buys (a number of different varities of a product or products that are made by the same companies). It can be cheaper to purchase the bulk package rather than one of the item. Heinz is currently selling bulk packs of spaghetti and bake beans (Yick!) in bulk packs of 3. Same with Mac and Cheese by Kraft, it is a couple of dollars cheaper to buy the big bulk pack than the box of 4. Just watch though sometimes the make the boxes cheaper!

If you use large amounts of spices, buy them in bulk and store them in sealed containers to make them last. Salt is another item I purchase in bulk. It last @ 18mths / 2yrs. As it is a natural preserver it last a long time. Always buy idosized salt for the table and including it  in at least 2 meals a week. Idione is an important mineral for growing bodies and a crack of salt is all that is needed!

Buying cheap

Some items can bought on the cheap, such as your homebrand, select or store brand. Items such as flour, sugar, rice, pasta, oil etc are packaged by the name brand companies. You can usually tell which company produced it as the package or container is very similar to the brand name. A bottle of olive oil large last about 2/3 weeks depending if I make cakes etc or use the BBQ. I buy homebrand olive oil at $7.99. Rice, pasta, sugar and flour are usually @ half the price of brand names.

There are some items that should not be purchased on the cheap such as frozen veg. The quality is poor and is made of stems and seconds and thirds. Brand name is best when comes to frozen veg as well as frozen oven fries. In my experience cheap frozen chips do not cook as well, have little quality and no taste. Tin foods also come in this catergory. They are made up of left overs or rejects from name brands. Again there is little quality and taste to it.

Toliet paper is something else I won't buy cheap but I won't expensive either. I buy mid range bulk, which means I get a lot at an average price and I get quality. Nothing worse than sand paper for the bottom!!!!!

Panadol is a personal choice and also a need basis. So choose carefully, but also check out your chemist! Ladies items are also personal choice so don't skimp there ladies or on tooth paste. (Cheap toothpaste taste terrible!!!!).

You can shop on certain days and at certain times. Supermarkets have mark down days or times. At my local supermarket mark down begins at 5pm. You can buy the days bread and some meat products for half the price. Just watch for the best before dates.

Alternative Shopping

Supermarkets aren't always the cheapest so it pays to look around. Chemist or pharmacy's can be alot cheaper. For instance I have had to put Chomper on to allergy formula. In my woolworths suppermarket it cost $28 but at the chemist it cost a little under $24. Thats a significant saving. So it pays to check out your chemist / pharmacy for all your baby needs. Bulk nappy's are often a $2 to $3 cheaper as well as baby's bottles, dummies and teats. Watch out for sales though. Make up and hair products can also be cheaper along with nail polishes, sunscreens, skin care and vitamin tablets.

Pain relief is also cheaper and you can often buy them in bulk. You can get professional advice for particular pain relief. So have a chat to your pharmacy.

Some pharmacy's also have customer loyalty schemes, which can give you huge benefits. I paid $8 for Nude by Nature, after I redeemed all my points. Not bad for product that cost $40 at leading pharmacies and chemists.

Cheap stores are also a good place to have look around. Often they sell products that are deemed unfit for supermarkets because of packaging errors or the product is written in a foreign language. It's a great place to buy hair brushes, hair ties and decorations, cheap towels, face washers and even food products. Also all your christmas and Easter decorations too. I have bought many items from cheap shops, such as Cunninghams Warehouse, Reject shop, Ned's etc. Just watch for the best before dates. There is a shop thats like a supermarket but sell's short best before dates, dent or damaged products, or packaging errored products but the name escapes me!

Green Grocers, Butchers and Bakeries

Try shopping at your local markets and green grocers. There are some great deals around specially on fruit and veggies. They also last longer as they are fresh and not fridge stored months prior like in supermarkets. Supermarkets put pumpkin, onion, potatoes, carrots and other veggies into cold storeage until they are needed on the shelf. The veggies shelf life is half that of a green grocer or local market. So only buy fruit and veg at the supermarket if you intent to use it immediately.

Butchers are another great place to make savings. Some butchers do meat packs and if you have the money, you can get bulk meat which can last many months. (My parents use to grow their own beef and have it slaughtered. We ate prime beef every night and it would last @ 12 mths in the deep freeze.) But as I was saying butchers prices can quite a lot lower than the supermarket as you pay for convenence. The meat is fresher and will last longer than that from the supermarket.

Bakeries are also a great place to shop. Their prices are often lower than the supermarkets and like supermarkets you can go there at the end of the day and get mark downs and even freebies. So check them out!

Junk Mail

Yep, I'm gonna go there.......Junk mail is a great way to find out where the savings are! So before chucking it in the recycling bin, have a look through and make note where you can get bulk items for the cheapest. It always pays to shop around. If you are as lucky as I am, you'll even get the ones from the phamcists/chemists! You can save serious dollars by browsing thru your junk mail.

Gardening

Growing a garden is a great way to make a saving. Seeds are cheap and you can often buy all your fertilizers from stables. They often sell it for a couple of dollars a bag. It's also a great family activity and learning experience. Buy a gardening book and your set, just remember to plant your seeds in the right season. You may even be able to trade with others for their items such as farm fresh eggs, fruit and veggies. Bartering with farms, friends and neighbours is a good way to make a saving. Many years ago we were able to sell fresh milk from the vat. We often traded for potatoes, eggs and fresh veggies. Unfortunately the practice is illegal even though we cleaned equipment and cows properly to avoid E coli and other nasties. You can even get a couple of chooks, which aside from the fresh eggs which taste totally amazing will help reduce household waste (fruit and veggie scraps) and you could start a compost pile for the garden reducing even more household waste.

Trading

As mentioned you can often barter or trade for produce. So it pays to check out your local farmers, orchards and other producers. Some producers are happy to sell there products from the door as they get more than selling to the big companies. Just remember to trade fair, producers and farmer are often ripped off by the big companies and are in finacial difficulties themselves (as we are in drought conditions (aust) you may have to pay a little more then in non drought years.

Storing

How you store items will also go a long way to reducing your expenses. Invest in good tupperware (no pun intended!) and you can get more life out of your food. Tupperware have a great range of long store containers. I have two of them and they really do give you a couple extra days out of food. You can also buy the jars that have the rubber seals, which is great for flour, sugar, herbs and any dry foods. It keeps weviels, moulds and any nasties out. You can also pre cook veggies like carrot, cauli and broccoli and freeze it in bags in meal size porptions. When buying bulk meat, split up into meal size proportions and freeze. Freezing bread will also get the most out of your bread. I buy Bakers Delight bread (it doesn't contain preservative 282 in it) and it freezes well. It is as fresh as the day I bought it.

Making the most of meals.

Saving left overs for another meal is a great way to reduce your food bill. For example; I made hot dogs (sausages in bread with the lot), I had a lot of sausages left over, so I used a Maggi quick meal packet and made a meal the next night using the left over BBQ'd sausages. One packet of sausages, two meals. When I make lasange, I make a large one and a smaller one. I have 2 meals out of one packet of mince. You can do the same with spaghetti bolgnese, quiche (all though that is not freezeable!) fried rice which can become a side dish for the next meal, and a lot of other meals which I'm sure you all have suggestions! Feel free to add them. From your christmas ham you can make pea and ham soup, or buy a whole pumpkin for pumpkin soup! (eww gross, says my kids!!) You'll get a lot of soup for very little effort or cost and freezes well if stored in a proper container for up to 6mths. Another tip is buy whole chicken and cut it up and use it. It cost less then buying pre cut chicken. If you cut out the carcass you can make chicken stock. Saving your boiled veggie water makes a great base for soups.

Meal Planning/Shopping lists

Plan ahead what meals  you going to have and make a list of all the ingredients you will need. This way you will buy only what you need. Some ppl have a menu rotation plan. Basically a menu for every day of the month and rotates monthly or weekly which is more managable. Keep at least one family favourite on the menu each week.

The dreaded lunch box.......

This one area I hate. My kids change their minds every few days. I no sooner find something they like and they don't like it! Home baked items go well, buy a packet of muffins  and make it up. Kids tend to eat it if they have helped to make it. Buy bulk packets when possible, many companies supply lunch box items in big packs, so if you have big family as I do, you can make it go further or last longer. Things like muesli bars, rollups are great alongside fresh fruit and sandwich. Watch out for multi buys specially on fruit boxes (woolworths SA currently has a 3 for $6 deal on fruit boxes). Buy bulk packets of chips and/or home brand or store brand chips, there is very little difference in taste. There are also a lot of healthy lunch box ideas, check out the health food aisle and the dried fruit aisle for healthy alternatives. As well as the packet cake and biscut aisle. You can add healthy things to many of the packet mixes.

Recipe ideas

There are number of books on the market to help reduce costs and provide healthy alternatives. 4 Ingredients is a well recommended book as well as Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfled who also provides cost cutting methods to providing healthy meals for kids.

Food Schemes

There are number of companies who do food schemes such as Chrisco (my personal favourite as it has the less amount of peanut products in i!t), Castle Hampers, Hamper King to name a few. By signing up you can make a small saving around christmas time on all your christmas food, leaving finances free for christmas present shopping. It is simple, you pay all year and just before christmas your hamper arrives. The longer you are in it, the more savings you make. I have been a member of chrisco since 2003 and I am on their 52 week plan, which simply means I pay less each month and my payment plan continues until I order my next years hamper. These companies also sell other products such as kitchen appliances, bedding, electrical and electronic goods, outdoor products, kids toys etc all on a lay by like plan. A great way to get the things you need or want. Just don't over extend yourself, a hamper and one other item is more than enough. For example today I order the Mega holiday Hamper, which covers all my christmas food and holiday food plus I splashed out and order a slow cooker which I will recieve this time next year total cost $25 a week less the 52 week plan which brings it back to @ $23. There are other schemes to help over christmas as well. Some banks provide a christmas savers account, where you sacrifice so many dollars per week or per pay check. The money is kept safe and released in the first days of December. Definately worth looking into if you struggle around christmas. It's saved me a fortune and on some items, such as coffee, which I never have buy as a jar lasts me a whole year, my ham is cheaper than that in the store and I have the convence of not having to rush around getting all my christmas food and finding that it's sold out or over priced!!!

My very last tips for reducing the shopping trolley cost goes like this.........

Never go shopping on an empty stomach, you will impulse buy based on your hunger and packaging appeal.

Always  ask if you really need that item, impulse buys add the most cost to your trolley.

Try to go shopping without the kids or learn the word NO.......Children also significantly add to the cost of shopping, the power of pestering and temper tantrums. I spend less when I don't have my kids with me!!!!!!

Use a calculator while shopping to help keep the cost down. If you know how much your spending before you get to the check out you will be in control of how much you actually spend. Plus there will be no suprises at the check out.

Cheers and happy controlled spending!!

Raven