I have read heaps about menu planning but found it all just so overwhelming. Choosing a menu for a whole month seemed like a lot of hard work but I have found a way to help even the most disorganised person.

Starting on the first day of a new month, and using a calendar or diary, write down what you have for dinner each night of the month. You will soon see what meals you eat on a regular basis. You can then transfer this information to the next month in your calendar or diary, and there is your monthly menu plan!

Instead of adding up when you do your shopping, why not deduct? This hint explains all.

I no longer use a calculator when I do my grocery shopping. Something to do with always pressing the wrong button and clearing my calculations!

Now, I simply write how much I can spend on my shopping list and when I put something in my shopping cart, I subtract a rounded amount from the total. For example, if I have $100 to spend and I buy milk for $3.89, I subtract $4.00, leaving me a total of $96 to spend on the rest of my groceries.

By making these deductions with every item, you always know how much you have left to spend. Makes it easier to budget and certainly beats using a calculator!

For many people juggling work, family and study, time is the most important saving they can make. I work four days a week, have a three-year-old and studied part-time for a diploma for a year. I got by with these time-saving tips:

1. Lowering my expectations for the house. I don't need a spotless house, but a tidy and lived-in home.

2. Doing my housework little and often, rather than spending huge amounts of time tidying up. I do things like:

- put my little one's daycare bag together for the next day as soon as we get home in the afternoon.
- cook my lunches (pasta and sauce, muffins and so on) once a week and freeze them.
- put my lunch box together from the freezer in the evening.
- clean the toilet by putting a teaspoon of Napisan in it each night. It soaks overnight and the bowl is clean with the next flush.
- do laundry when enough for a load accumulates so we don't have a sudden clothes drought, then an avalanche of laundry to do and put away.

3. Exercising on a stationary bike in front of the TV in the evenings after my little one is in bed.

4. Programming our DVD recorder once a week (Sundays when we get the new TV guide) so I don't miss my favourite shows.

5. Filling cereal bowls with water if I am rushing and have to leave the breakfast things. This makes them easier to clean later and stops ants.

6. Trying not to double handle things. Rubbish goes straight in the bin, meat is put in meal size portions in plastic bags and frozen as soon as it gets home, magazine subscriptions go straight to magazine rack when they arrive in mail.

7. Leaving rooms better than when I arrived, so the need to tidy doesn't build up. It only takes five minutes to put laundry from the floor to the hamper, make the bed, wipe a bench, replenish the toilet paper.

8. Recruiting my little one to help - she's only three but she can put dirty dishes in the sink, put toys away in her room, dirty clothes in the hamper.

9. Shopping for groceries by myself in the evening so hubby can watch his TV shows in peace and I am not tempted to go to other stores as only the supermarket is open. Also many things are marked down at that time.

10. Trying to do three things for myself that make me feel happy each day, like listen to podcasts while I do the housework.

11. Writing the shopping list progressively through the week so I can pick it up and go when it's time to do groceries.

12. Storing the bedding in storage containers under each bed so it's quick to make the bed, especially when changing my little one's wet sheets in the middle of the night.

13. Shopping for presents at sales during the year (online or in stores) so I don't need to go to crowded stores during the Christmas rush.

14. Not beating myself up if I find lifestyle changes tricky at first - I am afterall human!

A few simple lifestyle changes have helped me lose 26.5kg AND slash my food bill by $35 a week! Over the past six months I have developed my own healthy eating and exercise regime. I began by pushing my one-year-old for an hour a day to the park and around the shops at a brisk pace, using our $20 eBay running pram. I also invested in some second hand hand weights and after extensive research on the Internet, I started my own regime of weight training exercises.

Food-wise, I began buying in bulk and made my own nutritious meals, rather than relying on 'ready to eat' microwave health meals. This way I knew exactly what was in each meal and there was never any waste. I started making my own meal plans and eating smaller portions, going from a 3000 calorie-a-day diet to 1500-1600 calories per day.

Under my new regime I soon began to lose the weight, but the real bonus for me has been in the savings I have made. Changing the way I ate and my portion size has resulted in me saving $35 a week over the past 26 weeks! A win-win situation all round. No personal trainers, fancy diet shakes, pills or supplements - I simply used what I had. I feel fantastic and have the energy levels of a teenager! If I can do it, anyone can!

I am on a very, very low income, so I budget for every bill and expense. I put away bill money every fortnight and that way I have all my bills covered as they arrive, and we seem to just spend the rest. Last year I decided to pay me as a bill, so every pay day I pay me first, just $50. I now have over $1200 in savings. I can't believe how easy it is; just pay yourself before everyone else. The first couple of pays it was an effort not to touch it, but as soon as I saw it mounting up, I got very excited. I tell myself all the time that money is power. While $1200 is not much to some people, to me it's a fortune. Try it - it empowers you.

We had the chance to travel overseas several years ago but had to save $1000 to make it happen. On one income with two small children it seemed impossible. Then I had the brainwave - I didn't have to save $1000, I had to save $1.00 a thousand times! This was so much easier - a generic brand product at the grocery store, a chocolate bar at the petrol station and so on, soon added up and the savings contributed to a great family holiday.

Our family is living proof that with a sensible outlook and good, honest hard work anything is possible. Our 'ugly duckling' house has gone from being the worst house to the best house in the street. Unfortunately the cost of renovating and extending it cut into our interior design budget. However we discovered that we could still furnish our dream home beautifully on a reduced budget by settling for second hand items.

For example, our curtains are fully lined and are gorgeous! One window was not a standard size and the quote for its curtains alone was $1500. Instead I found a perfect set at the op shop to fit our huge window for only $40! We have now finished the curtaining for a total cost of $250, saving us $5,000 on the original quotes. We have also bought stunning soft furnishings such as cushions, throws and floor rugs, again from op shops. Furniture we have picked up either second hand, from op shops or passed on from family. We have painted and scrubbed these pieces and now have a very up to date 'beach/country chic' look, all for little cost. The house is now finished and it looks stunning inside and out. We have Edwardian steamer chairs outside on the balcony bought for $2.00 each from the op shop. What a bargain! Our friends and family are amazed.

We now go to op shops first for all of our clothes. Our teenage kids really appreciate their 'brand name' bargains, such as polo shirts for $8 where the normal price would be $100 and many other items. I recently bought my husband a brand new dinner suit on "half price day" for $7.50! When you buy from op shops you pay cash - no credit card debt for us!

Every spare cent goes into paying off our mortgage and the house is almost paid off. We have worked hard doing a lot of building and landscaping work ourselves, as well as the interior, to save money. We live like kings but our outgoings are carefully calculated. We have taught our kids the benefits of hard work, and sensible spending. We are very proud of our lifestyle and the happiness it has brought us.

For a super, low-cost, personal and heartfelt gift, why not give someone a Happy Bag? All you need is a plastic 'loot bag' such as those given away at children's birthday parties, and fill with the following:

*An eraser - so that you can make your mistakes disappear.

*Five cents - so you can never say that you're broke.

*A marble - in case someone says you've lost yours.

*A rubber band - to stretch yourself beyond your limits.

*A piece of string - to tie yourself together when things fall apart.

*A bear hug (cut out teddy bear picture or motif) - to remind you that someone cares.

I saved the price of an expensive handbag organiser by using three $2 pencil cases instead. I have two handbags that I swap depending on whether I am working or with the kids, and always found it a pain to transfer essential items like my wallet and make-up and to quickly find what I need in a big bag. Now my colour coded pencil cases make it easy! The green one holds my full make-up, for the days I have to dash off and do make-up on the train. This stays at home when I'm not in a hurry. The black one holds pens, business cards, USB sticks and so on, and the blue one holds lip gloss, band-aids, paracetamol and post it notes. My items are now easy to swap between bags and I don't have to dig around for smaller items. All for $6.00 and a hunt through the bargain bin at Officeworks!

I moved to Perth a couple of years ago with very few possessions, two young children and a dog. I stayed with friends for a couple of weeks and really liked the area they lived in.

I set my rent limit to $150 (cheap for city living - but necessary for the budget) and put my name down on the huge waiting list for government housing. I looked at many places - most out of financial reach. The ones I could afford looked (and smelled) bad. I decided I could 'change' the appearance and the smells - but not the budget.

So, I rented the 'worst house in the best street'. I went through a real estate agent and asked if I could meet with the owner. When he came around (which most don't do regularly with managed properties), he was the first to admit the place needed work (mostly cosmetic).

I suggested to him that I would spruce the place up a bit and in return my rent would not go up while I lived there, plus we agreed that I would be entitled to two weeks rent free over Christmas!

I have painted the entire inside of the house for about $200 (including feature walls, and old laminated cupboards) by buying mis-tinted paints and laybying paint specials. I ripped up the old carpets and polished the floor boards (about $150 in equipment hire and food for my 'helpers') I also got second hand carpet for free from the local paper and replaced the old stuff in the kids bedrooms. I got curtains and blinds from the op-shop and sale tables (about $50 in total)

As for the outside - my place looks better than most of the privately owned homes now! A few boxes of lawn seed (about $3.00 from supermarkets), a bit of hand watering and weed pulling and I have a great front lawn.

I built flower beds with bulk seedlings ($0.45c per punnet from the local nursery - discontinued or 'sick' stock). People in the street are always telling me how great the house looks and they can't believe its the same place!

I work and go to university, as well as look after my children - so all this has been achieved over the last two years. My landlord is happy, we are happy and the money I save weekly in rent (between $50 - $60 per week) allows us to go on holidays once a year and have a few extras!