Every journey looks different. However, there is a general trend in many couponers’ adventures. Come along as we take a closer look at Angie Erickson’s story.
As I shared last week, it is important to have a purpose when you shop. The four main tips to keep in mind are
1. Don’t go to the store without a list.
2. Stick to the list you’ve prepared.
3. Start simple.
4. Consider all factors.
This week I will share how to use meal plans to stay within your grocery budget.
We’ve all been there. It is 4:00 p.m. and you search your cupboards and refrigerator only to find that you do not see anything you can make for supper. You pile the kids in the car and head to the store for a “few” ingredients to make the meal you have in mind. As you walk out of the store with one bag of groceries (which isn’t even full), you feel an overwhelming guilt for spending $22.73 on this one meal!
Ask me how I know this story so well! After feeling this guilt multiple times, I’ve learned that if I put a little time into planning ahead, I stick much closer to my list and in turn, my grocery budget, while shopping. The following is a simple meal planning system I use that has helped me cut down on those last-minute trips to the store.
- Create a calendar for the month on the top half of a sheet of paper and a list of all of the meals and sides your family regularly eats on the bottom half of that paper. The list of meals will cut down the time it takes to compose your meal plan because you will not have to remember the meals you can choose from each week.
- Post it on your refrigerator.
- Fill in the meals for the week. Some people like to match up their meals with what is on sale. I sometimes look through the ads before I make my list, but I do not sit and plan just according to sales.
- Check to see if you have all of the items you will need for your meals. This is a very important step.
- Add any needed items to your shopping list for the week.
I do not always stick exactly to my meal plan, but when 4:00 p.m. rolls around at least I can check my calendar instead of asking my children for ideas for supper. In other words, my meal plan is not constricting; I do change my meals around if it makes sense.
There are also many great meal planning websites out there. Some are free and others are offered for a fee. You can search the Pocket Your Dollars website (just type in “Meal Planning” in the “Search This Site” box on the upper right-hand corner of the website) to see different articles and suggestions for meal planning, as well.
In my opinion, to successfully menu plan you have to figure out what type of plan makes sense and is easiest for you to use. Like me, you probably don’t have hours available in your schedule to spend on meal planning each week. I have given you an option of a simple system, but feel free to search the Internet to find what will work the best for you. Happy Meal Planning!
Join A Money-Saving Journey next time as Angie talks about how to cope in the midst of “Surprise Expenses!”
Angie is a Pocket Your Dollars team member who teaches Pocket Your Dollars grocery-saving classes to mom’s groups, Community Ed programs and other civic organizations in Carrie’s stead. Angie also compiles the bi-weekly Co+Op Deals shopping lists and helps update the shopping lists with additions and changes noted by readers. When she’s not doing those things, she is a stay-at-home mom to two little ones. If you are interested in having Carrie or Angie speak to your group, please contact us.
Your turn: Do you plan meals for your family? If so, what system has worked well for you?
About Carrie Rocha
I found an excel spreadsheet online for meal planning. It is Sunday-Saturday and Breakfast/lunch/dinner/snack (I changed "snack" column to "Still Need" as in any items that need to be purchased that I don't have on hand like fresh produce/meat/cheese). I plan out 2 weeks worth. I will print it out and stick it on my fridge. So anyting in the "still need" column like fresh produce is a thing I buy no more than 2 days in advance. So far so good, I usually stick with it.
How many meals do you plan? I find we eat leftovers quite a bit so I don't actually have to cook full meals each night. Curious about other people's experience with that.
I forgot to hit "reply" to you so my answer to your question is below Laura's comment. WOOPS!
Us too. We use them up for work lunches too & I try to not give dh a lunch that was his supper the night prior (variety!) But we do have nights where it's basically "I have 1 brat, 1 burger, 2 pcs chicken, 1/2 a steak & a slice of pizza — what are each of you claming?"
Another thing we do is "eat with the weather." ie this past week I probably would have planned for roasts & other "inside" food. However, the awesomely nice weather prompted us to do more chicken, burgers & brats on the grill.
Also, I sub so I never know until morning if I'm working, how far away, what my hours are and what food will work w/ my time parameters.
I need to figure out a way to have a list of meals I can throw together quickly so I can just look and say "pull out the chicken thighs b/c we can do grilled chicken tonight" rather than having a set schedule for each day. Structured chaos? :-)
I recently indulged my inner nerd and set up a Google Calendar for my meal planning (one for breakfast, one for lunch, one for dinner, one for snack). I want to completely automate the process so I don't even need to think about it. (Can you tell I am NOT a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants kind of person?)
Here's how I have it set up:
*Breakfasts* I picked seven basic breakfasts that we can eat and assigned one to each day of the week depending on how busy our mornings usually are. Saturdays are Pancake Day, for example. I picked a few pancake recipes I liked and plugged them in to repeat every few weeks and included the link to the recipe in the "Description" field.
*Lunches* Ditto with seven different meal ideas, one for each day of the week. One day a week is "New Recipe" day and that's where I actually change the "What" field to the name of the recipe. We eat the majority of our leftovers for lunch or I pack them in my husband's lunch.
*Snacks* Is it totally anal-retentive that I plan snacks for my son? (Probably.) I picked ten snacks that are healthy and simple and plugged each one in to repeat every 10 days. Done.
*Dinners* I picked a theme night each week (Mondays – Crockpot, Tuesdays – Mexican, etc.) and plug in recipes to repeat every 4-6 weeks or whatever, depending on how many recipes I have. One night a week is leftovers night.
So with this system, I can just look at my upcoming menus on Saturday/Sunday to make my grocery list; I don't even need to think about the recipes because they're already there and already varied. I can revisit the menu plan as frequently (or infrequently) as I like if I want to take out or add in a recipe.
Is this something you just found online Laura for free? That sounds really awesome, I'd love to hear more about it. It's not like meal planning is that difficult. But it's just that one more thing to think about. I ask my hubby for any meal ideas (cause he gets burnt out on certain things unlike me I could eat the same thing all the time no problem). It would be nice to just plug in some ideas and have it automatically do it for you. I pretty much stick with the same meals, once in a while I will find a new recipe and try it out. So this would work well for me to "rotate" my meals around for me.
Love, Love, Love this idea and will be adding it to my Google calendar!!
It is my husband and I with 3 kids under 5 years of age. So I cook enough for 3 adults. The kids share an adult size meal between them. Depending on what's being made anyways. Sometimes the older two just want sandwiches lol. I am off Mondays/Tuesdays/Thursdays. And the other days I'm home in time to make whatever for dinner, so time is no big deal for me. I don't make enough for leftovers (unless I cook a big pot roast/turkey/chicken or something). If I do make a bigger meal I make them on Sundays than my hubby takes a meal to work Monday. I make meals every day (wednesday is a toss up, my mom comes over for dinner to visit so she picks something up on the way over or makes something for us). A pound of hamburger (unless being made into burgers) is two meals for us. I buy it usually in pound pkgs and brown it up with onion, use 1/2 for dinner that night and freeze the rest for a quick meal later that week or next. I wrap chicken individually with freezer paper so I pull out what I need for that meal. I have learned over the years that too much food was being made and wasted in our home. So I try to make just what we need. I know as the kids get older I will be making more at meal time, so for now I am cutting costs by making just enough!
Planning meals for the whole week saves me time and energy. I hate thinking about what dish to prepare for lunch or dinner, and doing it everyday! I have a stuck on the door of the fridge so that it is easy to check what will be prepared for the day.
I have been trying to meal plan for a long time. When you have a family member with allergies, there is no way to fly by the seat of your pants. I seem to go between being really organized and being in complete chaos here at my house. I love idea of what Laura has done. I'd love to know more about that too! I use Cozi's calendar, and I bet I could set something up for that! I was just thinking about writing what I made down for dinner every night for a month so that I could repeat it on a regular basis. The only thing that has really stuck is crock pot night. I use my crock pot every week on the nights that my kids have practice so that when I pick them up, we can sit right down to eat dinner. I also try to use the planned-over meals too. For instance, I made a roast in the crock pot on Monday. I shredded the leftover meat that was left. Last night we had hot roast beef sandwiches. There is just a little leftover with some veggies. I'm freezing that to throw back in the crock pot in a week or so as soup. That seems to keep everyone from getting sick of the food and it uses up the food.
Angie, I am enjoying this series that you are doing.
Every couple of weeks I take "inventory" of my chest freezer, refrigerator freezer, fridge and pantry. I then make a list of complete meals (including a new recipe or two) for which I already have the ingredients. Twice a week, I remove any frozen items I plan to use in the next four days so they are thawed and ready for use. When I get home from work, I simply take out my list and then decide what sounds good and what I have time to make.
Since our schedules vary on a daily basis, I find this system to work well for us. Plus, if I had planned on making a casserole and crave mexican instead, it doesn't affect my "meal plan". Maybe I'll just make the casserole tomorrow or a couple days later instead. I've found this especially works well with two teenagers in the house since they tend to ask for certain foods on a fairly regular basis.
Sherry,
Thanks for the reminder about "inventory"! I sometimes forget about things in my freezer and then can't use them because they are too old or freezer-burnt; then I am sad! :(
Meal planning has definately been our key to saving hundreds of dollars every month! The trick I use (can't remember where I got this idea from – maybe another pocketeer) is little post-it notes. On the front side, I write the meal. On the back (sticky side), I have a list of ingredients needed to make that meal. I throw them all on the calendar, and then once that day is over, I move it down a few weeks. It's easy to remember what meals my kids will eat, and then also make sure we're not repeating too often. Also, it's super easy to swap out days if something comes up.
BG,
I've never heard of that, but that sounds really cool! I'm SO glad you've been able to save so much money by meal planning! It really makes a difference doesn't it?!
Has anyone ever used Once A Month Mom? It is a free service that does all the prep work (before cooking) for cooking once a month.
There are 5 different menus to choose from depending on your diet. Pick a menu and download the grocery list & recipe spreadsheets. You type in the number of people you are serving (I put in extra "people" so I have leftovers for lunches) The grocery list and recipes automatically change to the correct measurements for your number of servings! (Tip: Double check the recipes with the grocery list…sometimes it is off in some places)
There is a chopping list so you know how much of each veggie you need to cut up so you can do it ahead of time and save tons of time. (Tip: Also cross check this with your recipes. There always seem to be too many onions on the list.)
The recipes say exactly how to freeze them..at what point, in what kind of container. There are also labels you can print off that say what it is and how to reheat/cook it on serving day.
I do 4 servings and it is myself, my husband and my 2 year old. This lasts us about 4 weeks and we usually have leftovers to eat for lunches. Besides dinners, there are a few recipes for breakfasts and lunches as well! It costs me about $200 to buy all the ingredients and that is WITHOUT buying anything on sale or coupons. (I've been in my summer non-couponing mode) I shop at Aldi and Cub.
You can do all your cooking on one day or spread it out over a week or so. I prefer doing it all in one exhausting day. Dishes are crazy when you are cooking, but the rest of the month you are basically only washing serving dishes, utensils, etc…
The recipes are tested before she posts the menus. I do the traditional menu and have NO complaints about the flavor and ease of the recipes. I can't think of a better way to cook for your family! Especially when this FREE website has made it SO simple!
Our dinner (Shephard's Pie) is thawing out now for dinner tonight! I'm just going to serve it with some apples…DONE!
Check out the menus here (they change on the 1st of every month) so they're seasonal as well! It seriously can't get any better than this: http://onceamonthmom.com/
I was just checking this out this week. This site seems to be uber-organized! Curious to know how long you've been doing the OAMC sessions? The only thing that gets me is all the pans, labels, etc. that you may have to purchase to freeze things in…So it seems like there is a little up front cost to get going…but maybe not. I currently am a stay-at-home mom, so I do have more time to prepare things, but if I ever go back to work, I would seriously consider this even more!
I've been doing it for three months. Everything is frozen in ziplock bags or aluminum dishes & heavy foil. A few things are in the small plastic glad containers…like individual servings of applesauce. The 8×8 foil pans are about a dollar a piece full price. And you can reuse them if you want.
I’ve been doing it for three months. Everything is frozen in ziplock bags or aluminum dishes & heavy foil. A few things are in the small plastic glad containers…like individual servings of applesauce. The 8×8 foil pans are about a dollar a piece full price. And you can reuse them if you want.
Lindsey,
Wow! Thanks for the great information! I like the idea of one massive cooking day and then mainly coasting out the rest of the month! I have heard about other people doing this, but this does sound really organized and easy to use. I'll have to check into that! Thanks!
I do a "loose" meal plan. I do come up with a weeks worth of meals, but I'm super flexible on when I make them (like for those days I forget to thaw the chicken). I do a couple of "themes" like Soup on Sunday and Pizza on Friday. That seems to take a lot of stress away knowing what a couple of the days will be. I've thought about doing the Once a Month Cooking session, but that seems to overwhelm me. I seem to do smaller batch cooking (Like make my own pizza sauce for pizza and 6x my homemade chili). I've also created a list of "easy meals" that I can refer to if all else fails (I came up with it when we remodeled our kitchen, so that had to be easy and super quick). We participated in a CSA (consumer supported agriculture) this year, so I've had to do some on-the-fly cooking to use our veggies before they went bad, so it's all about balance and being realistic. I'm looking forward to what others have to say!
Cheri,
Thanks! It is wonderful to be able to share my story and attempt to help others, too! :) Thank you also for the Crock Pot reminder! I sometimes forget about that option! :)
I LOVE that you all shared your tips and ideas about meal planning! Thank you to each of you for chiming in! I really feel that it is wonderful to learn from what other people are doing, because as you can see, people are very creative! I can't wait to try these ideas out! :)
Laura,
Great idea! Thanks for sharing! I'll have to look into that! Oh…and I love the "inner nerd" comment because I feel like that sometimes too! :)
These are great ideas. I think good meal planning is the best way to stay within a budget. However, it's not always easy to do. Time can become an issue, and it's always tempting to stray when you find something ready-made in the grocery store.
Thanks for the great tips :)
When I find ground beef on sale at Sam's Club for a quick sale, I buy it up and then brown 4-6 pounds at once, drain it and place into zip lock bags into the freezer. For night when I am not sure what to have, I pull out one 1# package, thaw and make tacos, chili, minestrone soup, etc. The prep at that time is minimal and it keeps from grabbing dinner out. What a great way to prep ahead and save the time that night, when time is critical. Besides, what's the difference in browning a # or 5 #???