Meal Planning Saves Money

Would you like a way to save money easily, with or without using coupons? Well, meal planning is it. Planning your meals can not only save you time during the week, but also save you money. It also helps keep you from walking into the kitchen and searching for half an hour trying to figure out what are going to make for your family.

Menu planning does not have to be an elaborate thing. It doesn't have to be complicated or look fancy. You can use a blank calendar that you buy from the store, or that you print off the Internet or Microsoft Word. You could also use a spreadsheet and just list the days in a single column. Or, you could also just use a scrap piece of paper (to save on paper).

I usually just list mine on a piece of paper or in a spreadsheet. It is easier to do it in a spreadsheet because you can move things and delete things easily. It really is about your preferences though.

After you decide what kind of format you would like to use for your meal planning, you need to check your schedule for that week. Is there something going on a certain day. Is there a picnic or other event where you will be eating? You won't want to schedule a meal for that day then. Is there a day where your kid has a game at 6 pm? If so, you will want to plan on making something easy and quick.

You will also want to check your cupboards and freezer and see if there are meals that you already have most ingredients for. You can also meal plan around the weekly sales at your local grocery store. All you need to do now is fill in which meals you would like to make each night. Just remember, you can always change meals around if you'd like.

After filling in the week's worth (or you can plan for more than a week if you would like), make a list of ingredients you will have to buy to make those meals for the week. When you go to the store, just buy the stuff on the list. You will save a lot of money doing it this way. If you stock up on things for your stockpile when you get great deals, and then plan your menu around your stockpile, you could possibly have very little to buy each week for your meals.

As I make the meals each night I cross them off my list, that way I know I made the meal and the ingredients are not available anymore. What I also did to help myself menu plan, was to do a list of all the meals I make on a regular basis. I posted it on the inside of my cupboard and use it for meal planning and for when I have not had time to meal plan. These are the meals that I always keep ingredients in my stockpile for.

I hope this helps you plan your meals and saves you lots of money. Let me know if you already meal plan or if you are going to start. How do you plan your meals?

Tops Deals

I went shopping at Tops Friday evening and was able to get some really good deals. The sales are still on today so if you would like to take advantage of the sales and coupons, you still have time.

• 36oz 8 O'Clock Coffee beans. On sale for $9.99 with a $1 coupon = $8.99
• 3 boxes of General Mills cereal. On sale for $2 each with a $1 coupon = 3/$5 or $1.67 each
• 2 boxes of Betty Crocker supreme brownies. On sale for $2 each with a $1 coupon = 2/$3 or $1.50 each
• 4 boxes of Mr Clean Magic Erasers. On sale 2/$4 and had 2 coupons for Buy One Get One Free. $8-$4 = $4 or $1 each
• 2 bags of salad mix. On sale Buy One Get One Free. 2/$1.99 or less than $1 each
• 2 packages whole wheat wraps. on sale Buy One Get One Free. 2/$2.99 or less than $1.50 each
• 6 boxes of Aunt Jemima waffles. On sale for $.99 each. Used 3 coupons for $1 off 2. Ended up getting them 6/$2.94 or $.49 each
• 12 Breyers yogurt. On sale for $.66 each. Used 2 coupons for $1 off 6. Paid $5.92 or 49 cents each.
• 2 CoffeeMate creamers (flavored). On sale for $1.67 each. Used coupon for $1.50 off 2. Paid $1.84 for two or $.92 each
• Tops american cheese. On sale Buy One Get One Free. Paid $2.89 for two or $1.45 each

Total Before Savings: $80.90
Bonuscard Savings: $27.76
Coupon Savings: $13.50
Total after savings including tax: $40.28
Saved 51%

More Tips from Frugal Dad

I was reading through the list again on Frugal Dad's website and found some more tips on saving money on food. I thought I would share them with you.

• Taking lunch to work or school everyday saves a fortune. If you feel you need to go out once in a while, you can plan to eat out once a week, for instance on Fridays.
• When a recipe calls for a pound of meat, use 3/4 of a pound instead. You will never know the difference and be saving money. If you do this for three meals, you will have enough extra for another meal.
  
• Eating out should be a special treat. Maybe limit it to once or twice a month. Not only will it save you money but also save your waistline.
  
• When you do order out, have your younger children share a kids' meal or share your food with them.
  
• Buy meat when you can find it for less than $2 a pound. Stock up and freeze it when you get a good price. Buy a nice steak for special occasions.
• Practice portion control. Actually eat the recommended serving of a food. This will not only save you money, but also keep your weight down.
  
• Plan your meals for the week or the month. This helps when you do your shopping list and helps with making dinner each night. It doesn't have to be followed exactly and mine usually gets shuffled around quite a bit. Just cross the meal off when you make it so you know you have used those ingredients. This also helps you stay away from take out.
  
• Buy meat in bulk (when it's cheaper) and portion into 3/4 pound portions. You can either freeze at that point, or what I do is I cook it up and then freeze it. Then when I need to make dinner, I just throw the meat in the micro to defrost and then throw it in the meal. It's quicker and easier and helps you avoid eating out.
  
• Drink water from the tap (or get one of those filtering pitchers). Cut down on soda and coffee. This will save you tons.
  
• Making coffee at home is cheaper than buying it at a coffee shop. Even if you buy really expensive coffee beans, you will save money doing it this way.
  
• The less you are in stores, the less likelihood you will overspend. Consider buying the bulk of your foods every other week or even once a month.
  
• Take only cash when you shop. Whatever you have budgeted for that shopping trip is what you take. Leave credit and debit cards in the car. This will make you have to be more aware of how much you are spending. Take a calculator or use a scrap paper to write a running total.
  
• Buy generics when they are cheaper than buying a name brand with a coupon. Many are of superb quality and are made by companies that make the name brands.
  
• Try to run all your errands on one day. If this isn't possible, what about stopping on the way home from work to run your errand?
• Make a list. Making a list of the things keeps you on track. It keeps you from buying things that you don't need and you make sure that you get the things you do need.
  

*Tips in purple are the ones I added.

Blog of the week

Each week I will be posting a blog that I find interesting or informative. I will add the link and talk about things I find particularly interesting. Please feel free to add your comments.

This week I chose 5 Quick Ways to Save on Money on Groceries on The Daily Dish blog.

The first way she says you can save money is to cook from scratch. This is so true, especially if you have a family. If there are 5 people in your family and you each eat a frozen dinner at $2 a piece, that is $10 for one meal. Many times I can make a dinner that will feed all us plus have leftovers for a day or two for around $5. I have heard that 90% of your food should not have any ingredients, they should be ingredients. My family is currently working on this, though I do sometimes resort to using a box of macaroni and cheese or a can of soup. An added bonus to cooking from scratch is that you know what's in it and you can control the amount of salt or sugar that is added.

The second way she talks about saving money is by using coupons. Coupons are great and in the past I have saved a lot of money. I would go from having to pay like $50 down to $30 or even less. Lately though, the amount of coupons in the Sunday paper have been decreased dramatically. Last Sunday I think there were 10 actual coupons in the paper. You can print coupons online but not all stores takes these, so you will need to ask them. Also with coupons you need to look at how much other brands cost. Sometimes it is not worth it to use the coupon, even when doubled. Lately we have been buying generics and shopping at Aldi's.

Buying in bulk is the writer's third way to save money. This is true sometimes. You have to be careful though. Just because it's a bigger box, doesn't mean it's a better price. I have noticed a lot lately that buying several smaller boxes/cans can often times be the same price or cheaper than buying in bulk. Check out the unit price on the shelf or use your calculator/cell phone calculator to find out if you are actually getting a better deal. To figure the unit cost all you have to do is take the price of the product and divide it by the ounces or pounds that are in there. I also sometimes divide it by the number of products if there are single things in there, like granola bars, oatmeal packets, etc.

Number four is 100% correct. Shopping on an empty stomach is just asking for trouble. If you're hungry, all those packages of chips and cookies are going to be really tempting.

Meal planning and making a list will save you quite a bit of money, especially if you can stick to your list. I meal plan for 2 weeks, since this I shop every 2 weeks. I take my list and next to each product, I write down where I want to buy it and an approximate cost of that product.

So, what do you think? Do you agree or disagree with what the blog says or with what I wrote? Let me know what you think.