Day: February 9, 2019

Just starting making my meal plan for the week. I started the month with a budget of $300 and currently have $121.93 left to spend. Eek! I have almost 3 full weeks of meals left to make, plus gas to put in my van and whatever else comes up! But this girl is not giving up. She’s getting creative!

So if I divide it up, I have about $40 a week left. A tank of gas is $40. I’ll need at least one of those which means I only have about $25 a week left. I should be really cautious not to spend that all on groceries, especially this week when I have so much month left. It’s always wise to leave a little wiggle room.

In order to keep my grocery bill under $25 this week, I’m in desperate need of a plan!!So how do I make my meal plan?

1. Find a system that works

I like this little magnetic notepad that my friend gave me. It’s simple and straight forward and goes right on my fridge next to my oven for easy access when cooking. It’s not necessary to spend a ton of money in this area. Just find something that works for you. It could be as simple as a piece of notebook paper or you could keep it in an app or calendar on your phone.

2. Determine the week’s schedule

I keep most of my activities in my calendar app on my iphone but I also write them on a simple paper weekly calendar that I also got from a friend from the dollar section at Target. (See, this planning stuff doesn’t have to break your budget.)

I look over my schedule to see if there are any nights that we won’t be home and able to eat dinner together. Since our kids are so little, we don’t have any after school activities yet and we typically eat meals at home together. Especially since I started this budget, we try to not just run through Chick-Fil-A if we can help it. If I know we will be out at night, I try to plan a meal that is easy to take on the go.

3. Check the current pantry, fridge, freezer status

This is probably the most important thing I’ve learned since meal planning on a budget. I typically have a pantry, freezer and fridge full of food and then make a meal plan using little to none of these ingredients! It’s just silly. So I’ve started surveying all my food storage areas and I meal plan accordingly. I typically just make a mental note of what food we have on hand but you could also jot down a list if it’s easier for you to see that way.

4. Plan 4-5 meals

I only plan 4-5 meals each week and 5 is usually too many. There seem to be left-overs all the time so instead of planning a meal for every night, choose a night to eat left overs.

I used to go on pinterest to meal plan and choose crazy new recipes where I had to buy all of the ingredients, often times even down to the spices. I’ve changed my tactics now. I still use pinterest but I start with ingredients we have. This week I have almost a full 10 lb bag of potatoes so I could search potato recipes. Then I choose recipes that I could make today with the things I already have on hand.

I don’t always stick to the specific days on my schedule but I do use the 4 meals I’ve chosen. So I might have written down hamburger soup for Monday but Monday comes and roast sounds better. No big deal. I just flip flop them. Sometimes this doesn’t work because the roast might not be thawed out yet but typically it’s not a big deal to change the dates of meals. As long as you’re not running to the grocery store for extra ingredients every day!

5. Make a grocery list and stick to it

Then I make my list using my reminders app in list form. That way I just check things off as I go. I head to the store and I only buy the items on my list. This was a really hard skill to learn and I still fail so often but I’m getting better the more I practice and you will too.

So what are you waiting for?! Grab some paper and start making a plan 😁