One of the ways that I’m trying to get organized and save some money in the process is by meal planning for a full month at a time. I think that by doing this I can make one BIG grocery trip each month, and three smaller trips. The big trip will buy all of the things for the month that will hold for the month – basically pantry items and things that can be frozen. The smaller trips each week will buy produce/dairy items. In other words, things with fairly quick expiration dates.
My main goal with this is to try to bring our food bill for the month to under $300.00. If I don’t go to the grocery store often, and if I have a definite list when I go, I can avoid some of the impulse purchases that I tend to make. I’m not much of a couponer, and indeed, as I started working on my meals and my plan, I found that a lot of the foods that we eat aren’t the type that lend themselves to coupons (we tend to cook from scratch, minimal processed items). However, I am going to use coupons wherever possible.
I plan on putting everything up here on the blog, including prices, so that others can see what I’m doing, offer suggestions, etc., as well as to keep track of the spending. I know that I might not get under my $300.00 limit this first month, but that’s ok! I’m learning as I go and I expect there to be some type of learning curve. I’ll see what works and what doesn’t. I’ll also put up the recipes that I’m using. Most of the meals are quick meals, under 30 minutes, because that’s about all of the time I have to cook dinner in the evenings. Working all day and having a toddler in the afternoons before John gets home does not make for gourmet cooking! Fairly health and tasty are what I am going for.
The first step in this plan was to meal plan for the whole month. That’s a big undertaking. I didn’t want to eat the same thing too often. However, by using Excel, and being able to cut cells and move them around, I was able to rearrange meals to be sure that I was utilizing like ingredients and minimizing purchasing. I also had to plan around things like Pizza Day at Daycare (let’s face it, sometimes John and I want pizza too!). It also made it very easy to come up with a main shopping list and four small lists that correspond to the needed weekly items.
If anybody wants to see the Excel file, it’s not super pretty, yet, as it is a work in progress, but I’m more than willing to share. Just let me know.
Here’s the meal plan for the month of September.
Week 1
T-Chicken and Mushroom Bake
W-Slow Cooker Pulled Pork
Th-Open Face Turkey Sandwiches
F-Scallop and Corn Stew
Sa-FestivALE
Su-Turkey Stroganoff
Week 2
M-BBQ Pulled Chicken
T-Cassoulet
W- Fajita Style Beef
Th-Bucatini with Shrimp and Cherry Tomato Pan Sauce
F-Pizza (semi-homemade)
Sa-Meat Pie
Su-Chicken and Mushroom Pasta
Week 3
M-Mushroom Pork Chops
Tu-Beef, Sweet Potato, and Lentil Stew
W-Chicken Fingers
Th – Meatballs, Peppers, and Onions
F-Spaghetti and Meatballs
S-Roast Chicken
Su-Chicken Soup
Week 4
M- Italian Beef Sandwiches
Tu-Cheese Manicotti
W-Garlic Parmesan Chicken and Noodles
Th-Tuscan Baked Beef and Beans
F-Pizza (semi-homemade)
S-Chicken Parmesan
Su-Chili
The Shaky Octopus 