Grocery Shopping & Meal Planning Family Made Simple-Style!

It’s 5:00, I just got out of work and guess what? I know exactly what we’re having for dinner. The chicken is either defrosting in the fridge or already in my trusty lil’ crock-pot.  No stress here!

This wasn’t always the case. At the end of a very long day, I’d realize that I didn’t have anything defrosting, had no idea what to cook and thus found myself at the supermarket strolling the aisles filling my cart with unnecessary items. (Note: do not ever go to the market when you are tired, cranky and famished!) I’d leave the market having spent $70 on nothing noteworthy!

I had to come up with another plan. Not only was I tired of my almost daily trips to the market, but I was spending way too much money.

Money-Saving Meal Plan:

• The last Saturday or Sunday of the month, take inventory of what is in your cabinets, fridge and freezer. For example, 4 chicken breasts, 2 boxes of pasta, bag of frozen spinach.

•  Peruse a cookbook or two looking for recipes you want to try.

•  Add the ingredients to your already started inventory list.

•  On a monthly calendar (I like a magnetic, dry erase board), jot down the planned meals for the month. Be sure to include LO- left over days. (BBQ chicken breast one day, bbq chicken pizza the next). Don't feel like it is set in stone; if you have ham on the menu and just don't feel like it, make something else! Instead of my planned philly cheese steaks for today, I made crock-pot beef stew. Instead of pasta and chicken tomorrow, I made bbq chicken in the cp.  

• Head to the market with your handy-dandy “monthly meal” list in-hand. You may have to make a weekly trip for extras like milk, bread, eggs but that’s about it.

You will find that by taking a half hour to an hour each month, you can save a lot of money ( I’ve nearly cut my supermarket bills in half), will try different recipes and will no longer have that dreaded “ah, what to make for dinner” feeling again!