Basics on Starting a Meal Plan

I know everyone out there is trying to stretch their dollars these days, and when it comes to the grocery bill, we are squeezing blood out of every penny!  As outlined in former posts, I am definitely NOT a couponer, I can barely remember to look at a stores circular.  But, I am a meal planner.  And that alone has saved us soooo much money it's ridiculous.  In case you haven't really heard about meal planning before, or you've thought about it but couldn't decide how to get it in motion I've laid out a few basics that you can build on and make as extensive as you like.  Try it just for a month and see how much sanity and money you save!

Start by making a meal plan for just one or two weeks.  I personally like to just make meal plans for dinner and keep simple things for other meals on hand like cereal, sandwhich and salad items, bread milk and eggs.  You can either plan out a different meal for every day of the week, or do like I do and plan out only 3 or 4 meals that can double as leftovers or freezing and have simple things like vegetables and rice or chicken and salad on a day with no meal plan or if you don't want leftovers.

Take stock of your kitchen and pantry after you have made your meal plan and see what you already have, better yet take stock before and see what you can make with what you have and shorten your shopping list even more! Make sure to only put exactly what you need, resist the urge to get the 'goody' food, at least for the first 2 weeks to get a sense of how much you save.  When shopping make sure to eat before hand and try to go when you aren't super rushed so you aren't tempted to buy a lot of frozen crap which is terrible for you. Stick exactly to your list, and use coupons, if applicable!



Remember also, meal plans are just guidelines, you don't have to stick with it exactly if you don't feel like having what is on the plan for dinner that night switch it out, or have a stand in meal.  We did this one time and ended up pushing back our shopping by 2 1/2 weeks lol! After you get comfortable with it, you can start planning meals around what's on sale in the circulars as well as in the pantry, and doubled with coupons who knows how much you guys can save!  I know I know, yes I'm a part-time housewife so this is partly my life.  But my husband and I have been marveling that we can actually keep a decent budget doing this when back in Oklahoma we were spending upwards $200 every 1 1/2-2 weeks for just the two of us! Now we are spending on average between $85-$105 every 1 1/2-3 weeks!!!! And that's without couponing or planning around the circulars!  So get to it, try it out and let me know how it works out for you! I recommend www.mealsmatter.org to get you started, it's free, you can browse recipes, start a cookbook, transfer meals to shopping lists and read articles on everything from cooking techniques to healthy living!  Get to it and good luck!



Peace y'all!