Lots of super ideas.

The first thing I'd do (which you may already be doing) is to keep a budget, accounting for every cent - when it goes in, where it gets spent.

I don't have MYOB or anything like that, but from the say I moved out of home at 18, I set up some excel spreadsheets with a "journal" which had all my ins and outs, and then separate sheets for categories, and fortnightly planners.

So for money coming in, I would allocate it (food, rent, bills, medical, uni, clothes, slush, entertainment, etc) and those figures were based on a 26th of my annual projections.

Then when I spent anything - and I mean anything - it would get put on the budget. Everything from a 30c phonecall to my $700 contents insurance.

And I updated my projections every quarter to make sure I was on track.

When I got DH to start doing it too (back when he was DP, and then DF!) he sharpened up really quickly and noticed those $3 coffees, $3 hamburgers, $25 CDs and whatever else - because our food budget was $50 each a week, and one month he spent $191 on MacDonalds!! Now I'm sure you don't do that, but I found that the absolute accountability meant that when he went to buy a magazine or even something perfectly good - but not accounted for - he stopped short, because he knew he'd have to come home and put it on the budget.

Now you're not 19 years old and earning $7 and hour - and maybe you're already doing a budget - but I thought I'd stick the idea out there anyway



PS: Costco has super cheap meat. If you do get a deep freezer, find someone who is going to costco and see if they can pick up some meat for you and drop it around