Meal Planning

We're (I'm) trying to stay within our budget. M is pretty awesome at it. Me...not so much. But after a couple months of settling into our new groove of life...I'm ready to crack down and start saving. The one, easiest place for us always to start at is the column labelled Food.

It's so easy to get caught up in easy meals...i.e., picking up something that is fast, unhealthy and that adds up (calories and $$). So when we aren't meeting our budget, that's one of the first places I look to. Cracking down on my menu and picking up only what I need. What are my tips and how do I do it?

First off, I bought me a recipe book, I compiled all of our favorite recipes and kept them for safe keeping. (Also great for sharing with friends and family!) Then I started pouring over recipe books, bugging my mom and gramma for old favorite family recipes, picking M's brain for meals that he enjoyed that my MIL cooked, traded recipes with friends and scouring the internet for good recipes. (All Recipes is by far, my favorite)*

* Note: I always found that watching the Food Network and other popular chef's recipes were a little out of my budget.

Once I had a handful of favorite recipes, it made it a million times easier to grocery shop. When we had two car payments & insurances, credit card bills, rent, and all the other living necessities, our budget was much stricter. Meaning we absolutely, in no way, could go over X amount of dollar a month. I made sure we stuck to our budget by collecting grocery store ads and planning my meals around that. And whenever our local grocery store had a good deal, I stocked up as much as I could. This was especially helpful with canned goods.

But now that we are debt-free we have much more leeway in our budget which makes everything so much easier to plan around.

So how do I do it?

1) First I balance our checkbook every couple days and keep track of EVERY penny we use towards Food for our budget. Excel and Mint.com are great for this and it's especially helpful when the 15th and M's 2nd paycheck rolls around. That way I know exactly HOW much I have to work with. And I do NOT allow us to go over the X amount allocated in our budget.

2) After knowing how much of the food budget is or isn't used, I go through my recipe book and make a list of meals for the next two+ weeks. I list out a main dish, a starch and a veggie. Rice is a staple in our household so this is easy and helpful and always remember a basic good meal if ever our budget is stretched thin is grilled chicken, rice and veggies. SO easy and there are millions of different ways to marinate and season chicken. I also keep in mind easy lunches and snacks as well but my main meal planning is dinner, which many times produces a plethora of leftovers for the next day's lunch.

3) After I have figured out my list of meals, I figure out what I need to complete the meals and make my grocery list. I look over grocery ads and figure out what's on sale and if there are things I can stock up on as well. For example, a lot of stores have rotating sale items. i.e., canned soup usually goes on sale every 3-5 weeks. So that's a perfect time to stock up and easily saves you $$. I also use grocery store sales to stock up on my meats and poultry. Like if chicken thighs are on sale for $1.97 / lb or cheaper, I am sure to buy a couple extra trays to freeze. I also, at this time, am sure to pick up my fruits and veggies based on what's on sale. (More to come on this in a later post) The key to saving the most money is knowing your prices. I know that my local Stater Brothers market has some of the cheapest prices around which helps save money. But that sometimes if I frequent the aisles of the 99 cent store or local Big Lots, I can find even CHEAPER prices on snacks and some canned goods that I buy at Staters. Also remember that every store has a marked down section. Be sure to find it and hit it up every time you go to the store. Many times you can find popular marked down items that you frequently use.

4) Next, I comb thru my list a couple times and go through coupons. If there is anything I can use, I cut them and pack them up for the trip then I head off to the store. Don't be intimidated when your cart starts filling up quickly. Remember your meal planning is meant to feed you for however many meals you have planned for which usually means a LOT of food.

5) Then when I get home I tape my list of planned meals on the refrigerator and cross them off as I make them. It's always important to keep in mind what you buy. For example, on my list of 16 meals is stirfry which uses a lot of fresh veggies. It wouldn't be smart for me to keep that til day 16 to cook because my fresh veggies won't keep that long. So that's something that needs to be cooked within the first week. So keep mental note of what you have and when you need to use it by. Also freeze whatever meats you can and don't forget to take them out the morning you plan to use them so they can defrost.

And there you have it...one of the easiest ways we save money.

This past week I planned out enough for 16+ meals which will take us through M's next paycheck. My cart was overflowing and the total came to $280. That comes to less than $20 a meal for three of us!!!!! And the amazing part is that I didn't even use coupons or wasn't strict on scouring my ads. I also picked up great meats like rib-eyes, a few trays of chicken, fish and huge shrimp to marinate and grill.

The key is to be patient and know and work with what you have. Don't get discouraged and experiment. There are some great recipes that I have that when I read thought, "Boy, that does not sound good at all" but turns out we love them. And on the flip side, remember that not all recipes will be great as well. Just work with what ya got!

Happy Planning!

Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with any of these companies, blogs, organizations or sites, nor have I been approached, asked or compensated for the information or opinions shared in this post.