Save $4000 A Year By Quitting Alcohol
A recent article in Fairfax caught my attention. It was the story of Kate Robertson who saved $4000 a year by quitting alcohol. Forced to quit because of medication, Kate recalls “after a few dry months, I realised there was a benefit I hadn't considered – I had a lot more money.” 
We all know how much you can save by cutting out the daily coffee, but cutting back on alcoholic beverages? Surely that's just un-Australian?
The Bureau of Statistics estimates Australians drank more than 1.74 billion litres of beer and 543 million litres of wine in 2014. In 2012 Australians spent $14.1 billion on alcohol, meaning the average spend for a single person under 35 was $24 a week or $1248 a year. Given that's averaged across the whole population and more than one in five people do not drink at all, it means the typical drinker is spending far more.
Natasha Janssens, Financial Educator Natasha Janssens and founder of Women with Cents said we should stop focusing on the big tickets items when it comes to saving money and instead keep an eye on the small, cash purchases we do daily.
Natasha told us this week on the Daily Drive that because we don’t track those smaller purchases we often don’t realize how much they add up to.
The key is to understanding where your money is going is to track it. I use the ASIC MoneySmart app to log those coffees and casual spends like junk food.
If you try and save money by agreeing to never eat out again, you’ll soon tire of this and give up. Instead, include a night out in your budget but make it an inexpensive restaurant and maybe only go once a month?
Another great idea we came across this week was meal prepping.
Sydney-based mother of 4 Christi Plumridge have proven just how easy - and cost effective - meal prepping can be.
Recently, Christie spent one day cooking up more than 200 meals and snacks for the month ahead - and each one cost less than $1.50 per serve.
Christie told the Daily Mail she started meal prepping shortly after she started her weight loss journey following the birth of her fourth child. She has lost 17 kilograms in a matter of months.
The shop at Coles cost $300 all up and beforehand I was spending $250 to $300 a week on takeaway and groceries - now all I buy each week are staples like milk and bread.'
What did Christie cook?
10 serves of Mexican Lasagna
26 serves of the slow cooked Porcupine Meatballs
16 serves of Lemon & Rosemary Chicken Drumsticks
12 servings of Beef San Choy Bow
12 servings of Chicken and Tomato Penne
16 Ricotta and Spinach Sausage Rolls
3 serves of Tomato and Broccoli Omelette
20 serves of Tamari and Chicken Fried Rice
16 serves of the Sausage and Veggie Bake
6 servings of Mint Choc Bubble Crunch
40 servings of the Choc Peanut Butter Crunch Slice
12 serves of rice
24 serves of veggies to add to meals
12 Choc-Vanilla Puff Pastry Rolls
Christie's budget meal prepping tips
* Buy all meat on sale
* Buy seasonal and frozen veggies
* Pick recipes that have similar ingredients or the same meat
* Chop up all your fruit and vegetables and put them in the freezer as soon as you get them
* We make sure we can cook some meals in one pot to have multiple pots on the stove, two meals in my two slow cookers and a few meals in the oven
* Read blogs about other preppers
* Do it with someone - it's more fun!
* Always have rice cooked and ready to go
* Only make snacks you can freeze
Sources:
http://www.smh.com.au/money/saving/giving-up-drinking-saved-me-4000-a-year-20170528-gwez3y.html
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-4619936/Single-mum-daughter-cook-200-meals-1-50-each.html
