It should be no surprise that when you’re on a budget it really pays to plan your meals. Otherwise you’ll find yourself in the store choosing convenience items or the first thing that you see which is not always the best value (or best for you!) In our current economic times, you may find yourself looking for ways to spend less without sacrificing taste with the meals you make for yourself or family.
Where to begin? One idea is to shop the grocery ads. It’s not a new idea but I am so often surprised by how many people never look at the ads or even know when they come out (in our area it they come out on Wednesdays–either mailed or in the newspaper)! Let’s say chicken is on sale and so are cucumbers and tomatoes. Stock up on the chicken while it’s on sale and you can make it for dinner one day this week and freeze the rest. Or make up a bunch of it–say as fajitas or your favorite baked chicken recipe–portion it out, label and freeze. Tomatoes and cucumber? Slice them up, add a little vinegar and dill and you’ve got an quick and tasty side to go along with your meal–and for less since it was on sale!
How do you know if you’re getting the best deal and that the item your looking at won’t go on sale for a cheaper price at a different store? Or say you’d like to start buying organic meat or produce (or whatever) but you’re not sure if shopping at the local health food store is the way to go or if your local grocery store or wholesale club can provide what you need at a better price. It’s hard to keep track of all those prices in your head. You know I like to WRITE IT DOWN and one way to start learning where to get the best deal is by Making a Price Book. This can seem overwhelming at first but in the end it can add up to real savings! Start small at first and begin tracking those items that you use regularly each week. Then you can start adding other items to your list and before long you will know which stores to shop in regularly for the items you need.
Think that saving money means ho-hum meals? Think again! Check out the $5 A Day blog for tips and ideas of meals that can be made for your family for less than $5 A Day! Or for more money saving ideas, head on over to this blog for the Frugal Friday posts to get all sorts of tips! I haven’t even talked about couponing as a way to save money on meals and how it works with meal planning…maybe in a future post!
How do you save money with your menu plans? Post your ideas in the comments below.
As always, happy cooking!
I find that by simply having a plan, there is a lot less waste so that is strategy number one for saving money, but beyond that I try to think in terms of food that will go a long way such as rice, legumes, corn tortillas, oatmeal and plan a few super cheap meals into every week. I like to splurge on produce things that taste interesting and out of the ordinary so I have to spread out my splurges to fit within the budget!
Lastly, I have cut out a tremendous amount of pre-packaged convenience foods to save money. cooking from scratch really isn't hard if you have recipes handy and all the ingredients on hand–which you will if you follow a meal plan.
Your blog is fun! I also have a meal planning blog….http://www.kitchymamameals.com
Keep up the great work!