Meal planning can take some time. There are several areas to consider when planning out meals. Figure the amount of time you want between grocery trips, this will determine how many meals you need to plan for. Figure you budget for this period of time you are meal planning for. Take an inventory of your freezer, pantry, and refrigerator. Decide on any special events you have coming up that will require a special meal, any extra days off or guests, and being budget conscientious; I try to find meals that average about $5 total, and a meal or two that is new.
In my household, I plan for 30 days at a time. This allows me to shop, just once a month for the supplies I need. This is not only a time saver but a big money saver! I'm not going into actual budgeting today, but the less time you spend being tempted by marketing in stores, the less money you spend on unnecessary items. Shopping monthly, takes time to adjust to. The end of your 30 day meal plan, has the pantry/fridge/freezer looking pretty bare.
Starting your meal plan, look to meals that your family loves, meals that are fairly easy/fast, meals that are healthy, and meals that allow for extra - either for lunches the next day or to freeze for a meal in the future. Make a list of meals to fill the time frame you are meal planning for; whether that is a week, every 2 weeks or monthly. In my world of lists, notebooks, and a paper trail; I will use a sheet of paper to list meals that sound good. This typically includes meals for Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner and Dessert.
The next step, get those sale ads, your prior grocery receipts, or whatever resources you can get your fingers on to compare prices, and get prices for the meals you want to cook. Most stores now offer online delivery of sale ads, so you won't even have to set foot in a store before your planning is finished. I highly recommend keeping all your receipts for comparison as you learn to meal plan, budget and organize. These may take up a little space, but they will help you tremendously! Keep in mind when meal planning, even if one store offers a cheaper price; is it going to be worth the extra time/money spent to drive to another store.
Once you have your sale ads, receipts, and are ready to start your grocery list; do not forget the little things. Things like spices, fresh produce, flour, sugar, etc. will add up on your grocery bill if not figured in. Since I make most recipes from scratch, my spice/staples/produce list is usually longer. (I will be doing a set on my favorite from scratch recipes too.) Learning to meal plan will also include learning to find the best price; not just by package, but by weight/size too. Sometimes an item weighing 16 oz. will have a price of $2.50, but the item weighing 32 oz. will be $3, and you will enough left for another meal...that time and money saved. I've learned it's best to figure a price by weight, then find the true, most cost effect product. We are able to purchase many items in bulk, typically for half to third of the cost of just doubling up the item. A large canister(food service size) of peanut butter at WalMart is $13.86. We buy a 25 lbs bucket locally, for $26.95. The same goes for flour and sugar. Locally, we buy 50 lbs bags of each for flour-$17.95, and raw evaporated cane juice - $29.50. By purchasing our main staples in bulk, I buy them only a few times per year. However, not all bulk items are cheaper! This is wher you have to take the time to figure the cost per ounce/pound, and find the better option. A 5 lbs. bag of egg noodles locally is $8.99, however, if you go to Aldi, you can buy 1 lbs. bags of egg noodles for $.99 each.
Once you decide on your time frame for meal planning, and your meals; then you venture into the grocery list and cost comparisons. This is when your ads and receipts, will help tremendously! I try to keep all meals to $7 or less for a family of 4. This means on average, spending $1.75 per person, per meal. Doesn't sound like a lot, does it?! You would be amazed what you can make for even $4 per meal! Here's a great example: one of our favorite meals - Tacos/Taco Salad - Grocery list: 2 lbs. hamburger($8), flour shells($2), Taco seasoning($.50), refried beans($.69), Shred Cheese($2.69 lbs.), Lettuce($.99 head), Sour Cream($1.99 16 oz.), Tomatoes(when available $.99 lbs), Franks Hot Sauce($6.99 64 oz.). Now, you look at these prices and say that is more than $7 for a meal. Yes, it is. However, the items listed above will be for 2 meals. Dinner one night and lunch the next day. It also includes items than will be used for other meals. The cheese will have at least half left, the lettuce too, the sour cream will still be almost full, and tomatoes(when available) is purchased sparingly. So, a taco night in our home, averages about $7 per meal. We are fortunate to raise our own beef and pork, so the are large expenses 2 times each year and not figured into our monthly grocery budget. Back to our taco nights, The total cost for that list is $25.83. Now, you can figure out that you still have about $1.34 in cheese left, $.90 in lettuce, $1.60 in sour cream, and $6.80 in Franks. That amounts to $10.55 in food left to go towards another meal, and $15.28 spent for 2 meals or $7.64 per meal, or $1.91 per meal per person. That's a big savings when you compare to an $6 combo fast food meal, per person. With the items left over, you have partial ingredients for baked potatoes, or side salad for another meal. That is a win in not only meal planning but budget planning!
When I meal plan, I include many of our regular favorites, but try to institute some new dishes as well. This spices up a dull routine, and boredom when it comes to food. I always look at the ingredient lists of new recipes before including in the meal plan. IF the ingredient list will include too many, 1 time use products, it doesn't get put in the mix. I also keep binders of recipes, and tons of cookbooks; to help spice up our meals. There are some amazing tried and true, old time recipes that you can alter, add or delete things from to liven up the dish.
Meal planning is beneficial to anyone that eats. Period! Choosing to place your hard earned wages into something, must be done so with thought, knowledge and caution. I don't care if you are set for life financially or get help with food stamps...budgeting, meal planning, and getting the most for your money is a common sense approach! For Part 1 of Meal Planning, here is a quick break down, until we dive deeper next time:
1. Decide on the length of time you want to plan for - 7 days, 15 days, 30 days...you decide. I recommend starting small as you learn this frugal technique.
2. Go online and sign up to receive the sale ads from your local stores. Aldi, WalMart, HyVee, etc. all offer online sale ads.
3. Keep ALL your receipts! This allows your to have price comparisons.
4. Decide on any special meals, or guests you plan to have during the time frame you decide to meal plan for.
5. Make a list of meals to fit your time frame...include breakfast, lunch, dinner, and desserts.
6. Begin making a list of ingredients you will need for each meal, a list of staple ingredients, and spices.
In the next Meal Planning Blog, we will dive deeper into the plans, breaking down costs, and assessing the time/money it costs to shop.
As promised, this year is a fresh year to get organized from the start. With Budgeting, meal planning, recipes, and other cost effective blogs, I hope you find the benefits I love to share about living a frugal life!
Salli
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