How to Menu Plan Your Meals and Save Money
Plan your meals to save money on your grocery bill each month. With a little effort, you cannot only save money in the grocery, but save time and your sanity in the kitchen as well. Whether you shop once a week or twice a month, planning your meals reduces unnecessary spending and helps you stick to your budget.
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Instructions
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Take inventory of your refrigerator and pantry. Before compiling a list of menu ideas, check the ingredients you currently have on hand. It is easy to forget about food pushed to the back of the refrigerator or pantry.
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Make a list of possible meals in a notebook that you can add to each week or month. Review the ingredients you currently have in your kitchen. For example, if you have black beans, corn, peas, salsa and pasta on hand, come up with meal ideas that use these ingredients and list any additional ingredients you need to complete the dishes. In this example, meal ideas could include black bean burritos (need to buy tortillas) and spaghetti and meatballs (need to buy meat and sauce).
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Consider local sales and coupons before meal planning. If you like to coupon, plan your meals around what is on sale and which coupons you have. Pick up your local grocery flier on the day it comes out. Plan your menus around the items that are on sale at the grocery store you frequent.
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Decide on possible meals. If you are new to meal planning, start out by menu planning seven dinner meals. As you get better, you can add breakfasts and lunches but focus on dinners first. In the notebook, write "Menu Plan" followed by that week's date. Write down your chosen meals. On a separate sheet of paper, create a shopping list. Add the extra ingredients needed to make meals with the food already on hand in the pantry. If you do not have any food in the pantry, then you will have a bigger list. Whenever you think of a favorite dinner or meal idea, write it down in the meals notebook. This becomes your "Master Meals" source you can consult for easy menu planning in the future.
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When you shop, buy only the items on your list. Resist impulse buys.
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Stick with your budget. If your grocery budget is $100 a week, add up the anticipated cost of each ingredient on your shopping list to estimate the total cost. If it's too much, adjust the meal ideas in your menu. You will eventually be able to approximate the total cost of your grocery bill with relative precision.
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Go by the menu plan. Post the menu plan for the week on the refrigerator. That way, everyone in the household can see it and make decisions based on it. If you do not like the idea of planning out each day's meals, then choose from a list of seven possible meals each day to allow freedom in the kitchen while still sticking to your meal plan.
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Tips & Warnings
Remember to account for anticipated events where a meal at home is not necessary. For example, if your family attends a church dinner on Wednesday, only plan for 6 dinner meals that week.
Whenever you think of a new meal idea, write it down in the "Master Meals" notebook so you don't forget.
Use coupons and sales to save more money at the grocery store, or buy store brands
