So today I'm going to talk a little about something I know I am always interested in. Ways to plan meals, save at the grocery store, and stick to a budget. We have a new baby and are still recovering from them months I went without pay and are still fighting on many levels to get some of the money we should have (but that's a long story that should probably stay private), so money for groceries isn't exactly abundant. I came across a thing on Pinterest that linked to a blog that planned all their dinners for the entire month and then shopped for the entire month all at once and just picked up fresh needed ingredients like extra fruits, veggies, milk, etc as needed during the month. I liked this idea for many reasons, but one of the main reasons was that if I just devoted a couple days to prepare for the trips to all the stores (for us it'll be 4 stores to get everything), and then spent two evenings going to the different stores, that in the long run it would save me the time from my weekends when I either have to go in the evening each week OR I have to haul my daughter between feedings to each store and get her in and out of the car, not exactly ideal for me.
So I took this idea and ran with it. I printed 3 copies of a December calendar from Microsoft Publisher because I wanted to have a menu not just for the month for dinners but for lunches and breakfasts as well. Kagun and I often have lunches separately and so I wanted to make sure to plan to have enough food for us both to have a lunch that we can take and/or make wherever we eat our lunch. I then started filling in the calendar with meals, trying not to repeat anything or have similar items too close together. I also try to vary when we have chicken and beef. I also wanted to have some fun and have breakfast at least once for dinner. Kagun loves waffles so I decided to celebrate the last day of his first semester for dinner we would make waffles.
(Sorry for the bad handwriting)
You may also notice that I have some dates where I have family coming into town and my mom will be doing the menu planning and cooking. I also have date nights on the menu that we will either be eating out for one reason or another.From there I created my grocery list going day by day and meal by meal to see what ingredients we would need and putting them on a master list. To make my life a little easier and to make it clearer to read, I then separated it out by store. (I will be shopping at Sam's Club, Target, Kroger, and a local small market.)
I've also then gone item by item looking for coupons online to help save money. Another good thing to do while you're making your meal plan and grocery list is find multiple meals that can share ingredients. For example: I'm making Burritos one night for dinner which can turn into taco salad for lunch the next day, and if I buy the 2 pound chub of hamburger, I can use the other pound to make meatballs for spaghetti. We will do a lot of leftover revamping during out month so that we can really stretch our products to their fullest.
A lot of these ideas were found on various sites and blogs but also some are just things we have been doing in the small when I would plan a week at a time. The next two days will be my first attempt at buying for the entire month and I can't wait to talk about how it goes.
Before I go shopping tonight, I plan to clean out my fridge and freezer to make room for everything and when I get home I will be dividing it into sections by meal and making sure everything is dated for what meal it is used for so we can find everything easier.
Bonus tip: When you bring home things for your pantry, write the expiration date on the front of the package so you can easily see when things expire so you don't end up keeping expired things in your pantry taking up space.
Hope this inspires someone else. Look for the follow up to come this weekend some time.
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