If you had to cut $100 from your grocery bill this month, how would you do it?

Is beer a grocery item? If so, easy. I’m done!

No, damnit! Why should I be the only one in the house to suffer? Let’s share the pain around. Maybe even more slanted to the DebtKids, as they are non-contributing leaches. (Too harsh?)

I have a bigger problem many dads will understand. The only time I grocery shop is when I’m playing bachelor – stuck in town working while the family is away.

And every male knows what happens then. What’s shopping? Greens are largely forsaken for meat and carbs, save for that little bit of salad that comes with the chicken parma at the pub and diced capsicum on a delivery pizza.

So, at the risk of starting World War III, here’s how I reckon Mrs DebtMan could shave some bucks from the shopping bill.

Lazy convenience food. We buy too many little packets of convenience rubbish. For example, small packets of ham, instead of shaved deli ham.

The same goes with those pre-packaged salad leaves, diced casserole meat (cut it up yourself) and the little “treats” that go into the kids’ lunchboxes.

Junk food. Sure, we buy wheelbarrow loads of in-season fruit. And our kids, generally, plough through it. But there’s still too much junk enters via a shopping bag. And what are kids going to go for if they get a choice?

But Mrs DebtMan and I agreed on something years ago. She could go nuts in a supermarket. Whatever you buy there, if you cook it at home, will inevitably be cheaper than eating out. And, thankfully, she can cook.

Bruce Brammall is the principal adviser with Bruce Brammall Financial (www.brucebrammall.com.au) and author of Mortgages Made Easy.