I have recently been cooking from scratch, something I have never done before (I was always a stir fry with a jar sauce girl etc!!), and I have been BLOWN AWAY by how much we save, and we are eating much, much better food. I make a huge risotto that gives us about 2 dinners and probably 2 lunches too and all it costs is about $6 to make....and it is so so yum!! I have been making cakes instead of buying biccies, and DH and DD love it! When I make spag bol I always mix the pasta in so that we get a lot more meals out of it. I have also been making a HUGE batch of Vegie Soup and freezing it in lunch size portions, it probably costs about $5 to make, and I get about 10 lunches out of it!!
I have realised that a bit of Menu planning is the way to go, but also the majority of the recipes that I am using have a similar ingredient base, so by buying the basics such as vegies, eggs, fresh herbs such as garlic and parsley and things like tinned tomatoes etc, I usually have what I need in the cupboard anyway. I also had a Tupperware party and got $150 to spend for free, so I bought heaps of the Fridgesmart Containers for my Vegies, and I cut them up as soon as I buy them, and they last for weeks and weeks, so no wastage.

As far as having overdue bills, I was always the same, I was never in front on my phone bills etc, until I worked out how much it cost me per week, and now I have set weekly payments to be automatically transferred out of my bank account to my ulitity bills, and now I don't even worry about my bills at all because the weekly payment always covers them. I even do that with my rates too. I kind of feel like I don't actually have bills anymore lol! Plus, no more late fee's! Because if you get say a $15 late few on a couple of bill each month, it certainly adds up! My payments come out the day after pay day, and I don't really even notice it too much now. I think because you are being paid monthly, and proper budget would be essential. Sometimes even a good old pen and paper and calculator is a good way...just to have it all written down in front of you.
I have to say that I find it much easier having the payments automatically done each week, because I am the biggest procrastinator when it comes to paying bills, because I hate parting with my money, so I would always have good intentions of making manual weekly payments my self each week, but i would NEVER stick to it! It took about 5 minutes to set up in my internet banking, and as opposed to actually setting up direct debit with a company, I have full control of when it comes out, and can also stop a payment if I need to.
Good luck with Bubba!