Meal Planning Saving You Time and Money

_{Spending too much time planning dinner each night? Busting your food budget? Meal planning and shopping once a week or monthly based on your family’s needs will save you time and money!}

Woman Chopping vegetables on cutting board - meal planning

Meal Planning Saving You Time and Money

Menu Planning is another option that can help drastically reduce your weekly grocery expenses. If you have a small budget, it’s essential to know how to meal plan properly so that you can save money and still feed your family.

Most don’t even think twice about it and a menu plan to help organize their busy days. For me, it eliminates the “what is for dinner” question and helps to reduce our grocery budget.

Aimlessly wandering down the grocery store aisles and grabbing whatever looked good at the time is not a good way to shop. We have to start with the basics.

Becoming a Better Planner

Without a plan, you could be spending more than you bargained for at the grocery store. Even worse, grocery shopping before eating meals lowers your impulse control so you spend even more. A simple grocery trip can easily blow your budget, especially when you are hungry.

Creating a shopping list will keep you better prepared.

Lists are great when you can stick to them. I like to write a list of the items I need for that week’s meals. I also keep a record of the items we are getting low on. This helps plan for the week and keeps my stockpile up to par for our family’s needs.

Start by looking through the food you currently have. You’ll be able to make sure you’re not buying duplicates of food you already have plenty of. Overall, each month, I would save an average of 70 to 90% off our grocery bill by shopping loss leaders, using coupons and meal planning.

Even when money is tight, you want to enjoy the food that you’re eating. Check out this meal prep cookbook.

Become A Super Saver

Who doesn’t like to have a little extra in their wallets at the end of the week? I found that by planning our meals; I spend less time at the grocery store. I try to shop at one store a week.

However, sometimes those loss leaders will pull me to a few different stores (not often does this happen). Plus, one store a week means less travel time and gas savings.

Loss leaders are marketing tactics that grocery stores use to get you through the door to shop.

The weekly grocery flyers are a great way to see the weekly store specials. Entire recipes can be planned around using only the items that are on sale. It pays to menu plan based on weekly grocery store flyers.

Why everyone should be meal planning red text over dinner plate picture

Become a Better Cook

Menu planning has forced me to be a better cook. My meals taste better because I put more time into planning them out in advance. I have learned many new dishes to cook and I even have fun doing it.

YES, I said fun while cooking! I usually try to experiment with a new recipe twice a month to change up the menu a little. This has made me a better cook, and it makes me enjoy cooking.

Save Time

By planning my menu for the following week, saves me many hours of planning. It is all done in one day. I love that meal planning will eliminate the “what’s for dinner?” question every day.

If you end up having a busy day and don’t have time to cook that week’s planned meal, I keep three fast meal ideas and the items I will need in my pantry. My fast meals are quick dinner ideas that I can make in 15 to 20 minutes.

Such as taco night, spaghetti and meatballs (I make and freeze meatballs ahead of time), etc Freezer cooking is a great time saver and will help with meal prep. Here are some tips to getting you started.

Save Your Sanity

I have little patience when I am starving. All I can think of is, “What can I eat right now?” It feels like I am wearing horse blinders and I can’t see past the moment of starvation. Planning my menu has saved my sanity.

You can always count on dinner being served at 6 pm (In our house). Do you know why? I have become organized. I know exactly what I am supposed to cook on any given day.

This is a great benefit when you have a million and one things going on in that brain of yours. The more you meal plan, the easier it becomes.

To Read More About Menu Planning

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Meal Planning Saving You Time and Money