Lately, I've been more interested to save money at the supermarket (because it's hard to save it elsewhere at the moment like at the pump or the mortgage!!!).
Here is what I do:
1. go shopping after receiving the local supermarket's catalogue, so I know what is on sale when I plan my meals and the overall shop. My local is woolies - you can view their specials online if you don't have the catalogue.
2. I also take a look in my fridge and pantry at what I have that needs to be used up, and try to think of recipes based on that - in light of which I just found a website for USING LEFTOVERS - punch in 3 ingredients and find recipes to use them up. You could also use this by typing in ingredients on sale that week.
3. work out how many nights I need meals for - and sometimes I deliberately plan for one meal less as this allows for those nights where something came up, or forces you to use up leftovers in making a meal - I usually plan for 5 dinners a week - allowing for one takeaway (Fri night before I go to work - cheap like sushi) and one easy meal like soup/eggs/cheese on toast/leftovers (usually Sun night after big day and often eating out during day with people from church).
