When I married Josh and realized how much I actually had to cook I was spending so much money on groceries!
I wasn't planning out meals and I didn't really know how to save money on groceries!
Eventually I started to plan out a week of meals at a time and that was so helpful. But I was still spending so much on groceries!
Eventually I started to plan out dinners for the entire month!
I've had a lot of people ask me how and why I do it that way.
My whys:
I love planning
I save a ton of money (see below)
It's fun for me!
We don't waste food
I never have to wonder what I'm cooking that night
My how:
1. I start by printing out a blank calendar of the month. I really love the printable calendars from http://www.imom.com. They have a ton of other stuff on their site too, but I just think their calendars are so dang cute!
My mom's side of the family gets together every 1st and 3rd Sunday of the month so I add those right away.
3. I go through my recipes and start adding (strategically)
- I try to make 4 new recipes each month so I add those first so I don't run out of room
- I try to pick 2-3 10/10s that Josh loves and make those each month. I kind of put those through a rotation so we don't have the same ones over and over each month
- Then I just start flipping through recipe cards and my binder of recipes. Like I said, I try to put these all through a rotation so we aren't eating the same things.
- While I'm adding the recipes to the calendar I keep in mind which meals take a while to make or require a lot of prep. Those meals I keep to the weekends or my day off during the week. The meals that only take like 10 minutes to make I like to have on Mondays or my longer work days. (Because who wants to cook after a long work day?) That way I'm not lured into the idea of going out to eat when I could throw together a super easy meal.
- I also like to add a little CP in the corner of the day that is a crock pot meal. That way I can prepare the night before to get everything ready or just set my alarm earlier to get it ready in the morning.
(Josh's mom put together that big box of recipes for me! She made one for all of there sons. In the box are their favorite recipes! So each boy has some different recipes based on what the liked. Isn't that such a cool idea?!)
4. I always take a picture of this so I have it with me on my phone. Sometimes when I'm at work I completely blank on what I'm planning to make that night. So it's nice to have on hand to remind myself!
I even have a couple of friends that always want me to send my month to them!
5. How does this help me save money?
- We aren't eating out all the time just because I don't have anything to make for dinner
- I buy in bulk! I try to do 1 big grocery trip each month where I buy everything in bulk that I can. Then I have smaller grocery trips every 1-2 weeks where I buy the produce or dairy products that just won't last all month.
- I can plan freezer meals ahead of time. That way if we are short on money for the month I can just use freezer meals so I don't have to buy ingredients for other meals.
- We have found what recipes make for good leftovers so we are able to prepare in advance our portions of leftovers or making a separate meal for lunch the next day.
Guys. I'm telling you, plan out your meals this way! It is so much more efficient than just going day by day. And it is so much fun!!
Also, if any of these meals sound good to you... let me know! I'd love suggestions of what recipes to post!
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