Cutting down our grocery bills has been at the top of my financial goals for the past several years and it's never been more important than now, when food prices are higher than ever and the dollar doesn't go as far.
The number one thing that saves me money is staying out of the grocery store, and making a menu plan helps with that. In addition, having a plan in advance has eliminated the frustration that comes from trying to decide what to make with what we have on hand at 4PM when I'm tired and the kids are cranky.
I've heard many people say, "Menu plans don't work for me, what if I don't feel like making spaghetti and meatballs on Thursday?" but the trick to making a menu plan work for you is tweaking the process to suit your needs. A menu plan can be as flexible or as rigid as you want it to be, as detailed or as vague as you want it to be. For example, you could say one meal will be spaghetti and meatballs with some sort of steamed veggie and maybe salad or bread, OR you could plan for spaghetti and meatballs with steamed green beans, fresh Italian bread and green salad with tomatoes and sliced hardboiled eggs. Every extra dollar I save on groceries means more money in the bank or to spend on my family or a new fabulous purse for myself, so I think menu plans are worth considering. Here are some things to keep in mind when making your own.
Figure out how many meals you need to plan for. I generally shop every 7-10 days and my menu plans are usually for dinner only, but don't forget to shop for breakfast and lunch as well! If you shop less often, you'll need to eat your fresh foods earlier in the week/month and plan later meals with items that keep longer. Check out Jen's post on once-a-month shopping for guidelines on produce.
Consider how much time you have to cook. For example, if I'm working, I want a meal for that night that is quick and easy. Better yet, a crockpot meal that's ready when I get home. I save more labor-intensive meals for nights when I have more time. I try new recipes often as well, but I try to save those for nights when I'm not in a rush, in case things don't go as planned.
Take a peek at grocery store circulars and coupons. If you don't get the paper, most stores have their sales posted online. A couple of weeks ago, eggplant was on sale at Safeway, as were bread crumbs. So we had Eggplant Parmesan that week, because I already had all the other ingredients in my pantry. Weekly coupons are often printed with the store sales in mind, so you can pick up some items for super cheap when you combine the sale and the coupon.
Inventory your staples. It helps to keep your cabinets and pantry organized, so you can see what's missing at a glance. Add anything you need to your list.
Make sure you don't have any items that need to be used before they spoil. Not throwing food away is the easiest way to save money.
After that, decide what you feel like cooking! I usually ask my husband if he has any requests, then I look through my recipe file for ideas.
In the winter, I usually make homemade soup once a week. In the summer, I plan for sandwiches or meals that can be made mostly using the microwave to avoid heating up the house. And I plan two to three meatless meals per week.
For this week, my first meal was chosen because I had a half jar of Alfredo sauce left over from last week that needs to be used. I did a search for Alfredo sauce on Mommy, What's For Dinner? and came up with this recipe for Authentic Cannelloni to try. The only thing I needed to buy was manicotti shells. We'll have it with salad and Italian bread.
We also had bacon and chopped pepper in our freezer, so I chose Chicken-Bacon Crescent Ring to make for my parents on Saturday, and we had leftovers to eat on Sunday.
Also in the freezer is half a can of solid pack pumpkin, so we'll be having Pumpkin Corn Soup on Wednesday. It's Ash Wednesday, so the meatless meal is appropriate, not to mention easy to prepare after a day at work.
Last week, I read a piece on female Iron Chef, Cat Cora, in Parents magazine, so I decided to try her Curried Lentils and Squash. Cora says that "even picky eaters like curry," and lentils are super cheap (not to mention a great source of fiber), so I'm looking forward to seeing how the dish turns out.
We should have enough leftovers to have "clean out the fridge night" one evening, and I also picked up a bag of Perdue Perfect Portions seasoned chicken breasts on super sale (with coupon), and a bag of potatoes. These single packaged chicken breasts are pretrimmed and don't have to be thawed before baking, so should we not have any leftovers, we can easily have Italian seasoned chicken with baked potatoes if need be.
Once I have decided what to cook, I make a list of any ingredients I don't have, as well as the usual purchases like eggs, lettuce, fruit and milk, then organize my list by area of the store. I only go down the aisles that contain items I need, and I rarely stray from my list, unless something is a really great sale. We also rarely throw away food.
The number one thing that saves me money is staying out of the grocery store, and making a menu plan helps with that. In addition, having a plan in advance has eliminated the frustration that comes from trying to decide what to make with what we have on hand at 4PM when I'm tired and the kids are cranky.
I've heard many people say, "Menu plans don't work for me, what if I don't feel like making spaghetti and meatballs on Thursday?" but the trick to making a menu plan work for you is tweaking the process to suit your needs. A menu plan can be as flexible or as rigid as you want it to be, as detailed or as vague as you want it to be. For example, you could say one meal will be spaghetti and meatballs with some sort of steamed veggie and maybe salad or bread, OR you could plan for spaghetti and meatballs with steamed green beans, fresh Italian bread and green salad with tomatoes and sliced hardboiled eggs. Every extra dollar I save on groceries means more money in the bank or to spend on my family or a new fabulous purse for myself, so I think menu plans are worth considering. Here are some things to keep in mind when making your own.
Figure out how many meals you need to plan for. I generally shop every 7-10 days and my menu plans are usually for dinner only, but don't forget to shop for breakfast and lunch as well! If you shop less often, you'll need to eat your fresh foods earlier in the week/month and plan later meals with items that keep longer. Check out Jen's post on once-a-month shopping for guidelines on produce.
Consider how much time you have to cook. For example, if I'm working, I want a meal for that night that is quick and easy. Better yet, a crockpot meal that's ready when I get home. I save more labor-intensive meals for nights when I have more time. I try new recipes often as well, but I try to save those for nights when I'm not in a rush, in case things don't go as planned.
Take a peek at grocery store circulars and coupons. If you don't get the paper, most stores have their sales posted online. A couple of weeks ago, eggplant was on sale at Safeway, as were bread crumbs. So we had Eggplant Parmesan that week, because I already had all the other ingredients in my pantry. Weekly coupons are often printed with the store sales in mind, so you can pick up some items for super cheap when you combine the sale and the coupon.
Inventory your staples. It helps to keep your cabinets and pantry organized, so you can see what's missing at a glance. Add anything you need to your list.
Make sure you don't have any items that need to be used before they spoil. Not throwing food away is the easiest way to save money.
After that, decide what you feel like cooking! I usually ask my husband if he has any requests, then I look through my recipe file for ideas.
In the winter, I usually make homemade soup once a week. In the summer, I plan for sandwiches or meals that can be made mostly using the microwave to avoid heating up the house. And I plan two to three meatless meals per week.
For this week, my first meal was chosen because I had a half jar of Alfredo sauce left over from last week that needs to be used. I did a search for Alfredo sauce on Mommy, What's For Dinner? and came up with this recipe for Authentic Cannelloni to try. The only thing I needed to buy was manicotti shells. We'll have it with salad and Italian bread.
We also had bacon and chopped pepper in our freezer, so I chose Chicken-Bacon Crescent Ring to make for my parents on Saturday, and we had leftovers to eat on Sunday.
Also in the freezer is half a can of solid pack pumpkin, so we'll be having Pumpkin Corn Soup on Wednesday. It's Ash Wednesday, so the meatless meal is appropriate, not to mention easy to prepare after a day at work.
Last week, I read a piece on female Iron Chef, Cat Cora, in Parents magazine, so I decided to try her Curried Lentils and Squash. Cora says that "even picky eaters like curry," and lentils are super cheap (not to mention a great source of fiber), so I'm looking forward to seeing how the dish turns out.
We should have enough leftovers to have "clean out the fridge night" one evening, and I also picked up a bag of Perdue Perfect Portions seasoned chicken breasts on super sale (with coupon), and a bag of potatoes. These single packaged chicken breasts are pretrimmed and don't have to be thawed before baking, so should we not have any leftovers, we can easily have Italian seasoned chicken with baked potatoes if need be.
Once I have decided what to cook, I make a list of any ingredients I don't have, as well as the usual purchases like eggs, lettuce, fruit and milk, then organize my list by area of the store. I only go down the aisles that contain items I need, and I rarely stray from my list, unless something is a really great sale. We also rarely throw away food.
The night before, I take a look at my meal options and decide what I feel like eating/cooking, and then pull out anything that needs to thaw in the refrigerator.
Do you menu plan? Does it work for you? Any additional tips to make it easier?
Do you menu plan? Does it work for you? Any additional tips to make it easier?
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2 comments:
This was SOOOO helpful! I am hoping to start menu planning soon. I need to get an inventory of what i have on hand and when it expires. Thanks for all the good tips!!
I'm going to try menu planning again. I try very hard to decide what we're going to have ahead of time but usually end up winging it at the grocery store. I almost never go with a list. Growing up my parents went shopping almost every single day for that night's dinner and it drove me nuts. I vowed that I wouldn't do that and I don't. We go to the grocery store once a week and make whatever we got work for the week. I could definately do a lot better though. Thanks for the great tips.
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