Meal Planning

For me meal planning has been a very effective way to save money. I make once list with everything that I'll need for the week and then a large grocery shopping. It stops me from making mid-week trips to the store or asking my hubby to pick something up on his way home.

Meal planning is pretty easy. At first it'll be a little time consuming, but stick with it. The more you do it, the easier it'll get and the faster you can do it.

When making my weekly menu, my first step is take stock of what I have in my fridge and cupboards. I try to make recipes that I have some or all of the ingredients for and by starting with your cupboards to help plan the menu you won't buy something you already have. For example, we had BLT's on Thursday last week and had some left over bacon. So the first meal we had this week was Bacon Pizza.

Once you've taken stock of what you have in your cupboards, look through the sale flyer(s) of your local store(s). I use the sales meats and produce as the main ingredients for all my meals. Like this week you'll see my menu has 2 recipes with broccoli, because it was on sale for .99/lb.

After you've taken a look at what you have and what's on sale, it's time to make your menu. I usually have 3-4 tried and liked meals, 1-2 new recipes and a left over day. Make sure to vary your meals or you'll get bored and not stick to your menu.

A few pointers when you're making the menu:
1. If you are finding recipes online, make sure to note where you found the recipe.
2. Think about your week and plan your meals around your activities.
3. Prep like items together. If you're having chicken in 2 dishes and both dishes need it to be chunked- cut it all at once.
4. Have the menu written down and posted somewhere. You don't want to have to search for what you're making that night, and if your husband is as awesome as mine, he'll start dinner if he gets home first.

To save time, when you're making the menu also make your shopping list. By writing down everything you need for each recipe as you decide on it, you'll save time. You won't have to go back to each recipe later.

Once you have your list, it's time to search your coupons for the items on your list and match up the deals.

Frugal Things That Stuck

As I discussed in my prior post, I fell off the frugal/thrifty wagon, but there were some frugal things that I started that just stuck. I'm going to discuss some of them here and how easy they are to do.

1. Cutting dryer sheets: Because I have super sensitive skin I only use Bounce Free and Clear sheets. After a few rashes from other brands, I won't switch because I know that this brand will not give me a nasty surprise. One way to save money is buy them when you have a good coupon and cut them up. Dryer sheets are to reduce the static in your clothes from the dryer. Using a whole sheet isn't necessary. I cut them into thirds, tripling the number of loads I can do. For my photos I used an 80 count box, so, instead of 80 loads I'll have 240 loads. Be aware that in the winter you may need to use 2 pieces because it's so dry, but even with this you'll still get extra bang for your buck.

2. Not being brand loyal. Now, I know just above I said I only used Bounce, well that is just about the only brand that I'm 100% loyal to. I can usually use an item as long as it is fragrance free for sensitive skin. I always compare prices to all the brands on a shelf for the product I want. I do not buy name brand unless its on a great sale. Most store brand items are just as good. 

3. Shopping the Clearance racks! I know most people will skip right over these because they feel there is something wrong with the product, especially food. Well, in most cases that's absolutely false! Two weeks ago I found boxes of Rice A Roni for .85 per box. Why, because the boxes were banged up. It looks like they something fell on them but none of the boxes were open, so even though they were dented the food was still good. Keep in mind if you use coupons, bring them with you to the store. Most stores will allow you to still use coupons on clearance items, making it an incredible buy. 

4. Asking yourself, why do I need this. When making a purchase I always ask myself this, even with food that's not on my grocery list. If you can't answer it with something like, I just remembered I'm out or it's something that my family uses a lot and its on a surprise sale, or on the clearance rack and I can stock up to save money in the future, then you probably shouldn't get it. Now, I'm not saying don't treat yourself or splurge occasionally, what I'm saying is don't buy lobster or steak at the highest price while wandering thru the store trying to find dinner. It will kill your budget. 

5. Making a weekly meal plan and doing all your shopping at once. I've tried to keep up with this but fell off for a while during the last part of my pregnancy. I've recently got back into it and can already see the payoffs again. Meal planning isn't all that hard, look at what you have in your house, check the flyer for the local store and come up with meals you know you like. If you want to be adventurous pick 1 meal you haven't tried before, don't do all new meals with large ingredient lists that you have to buy all or most of. Once you have your menu, confirm what items you already have in your cupboards and refrigerator, put together a shopping list and stick to it. Make sure you take into account breakfast, lunch and some snacks too. To help with my menu, I purchased a small magnetic white board for my fridge. I found it on Amazon for $18.95.  This menu is GREAT, it keeps me on track with what I'm cooking, helps me remember if I need to grab something out of the freezer and lets my husband know whats for dinner. If he knows whats for dinner, he's great about getting dinner started.