One of the most important things I do each month, for both my sanity and my budget, is menu planning.
There are a couple of things that I have found over the years to be of the biggest assistance when planning my family’s meals each month.
- Planning monthly saves me time and money. I can cook in bulk and freeze saving me cooking time and having meals prepared ahead saves money on expensive and unhealthy take-out options
- Having a deep freeze saves me money
- Using the weekly flyers saves me money
In
my early 30’s (yes I am well beyond that now), I was given the book Once-a-MonthCooking by Mimi Wilson & Mary Beth Lagerborg and it completely changed the
way I thought about cooking and planning meals. It may not be for you and it does indeed
leave you locked in the kitchen for a day BUT it is one day a month and
then you are free as a bird the rest of
the month.
When checking out the link for the book - I stumbled across this quick YouTube Video that talks about the cost savings and family benefits to using this method.
Planning Monthly Menus.
I personally have found it helpful to plan my menus by the month. If making a pot of spaghetti sauce, I would
slot that into the menu twice in the month and ensure that I make enough
in one batch to not only cover serving it twice in the month but also twice in
the following month. Same would apply
with a soup…. I would ensure that there were enough prepared for dinner twice
that month or one dinner and two lunches, again I would likely make enough to
cover a meal or two for the following month as well.
Where do I find the time to make
meals in advance? It really does not
take a lot more effort to cook a meal in bulk than it does to cook it for one
dinner. A few more minutes chopping
perhaps but other than that, it does not cost any negligible time and in the
long run, you will gain time back into your life having the meals already
prepared.
Using Weekly Flyers.
Weekly
flyers can be a blessing or a curse. If
you use them to purchase items your family uses and needs, they are a blessing. If they are hanging around becoming clutter
or you purchase items you do not need and will not use, then they are obviously a curse.
When using flyers, I would
recommend stapling a list to the front of each flyer indicating what you wish
to purchase from each particular store.
Take the flyer to the store with you so you have the price and the
package size and then leave the flyer at the store so you do not have the paper
clutter to deal with later. If there
is an item on sale that you use often, like peanut butter or butter, stock up
when it is on sale and then do not buy more until the stock is almost
depleted. Do not buy more than you have
storage space.
Our family loves butter and it is
usually quite expensive. Our freezer
often holds 6-10 pounds of butter at a time.
Right now, our butter stash has been depleted since butter has not been on sale for a
while. We do the same with meat and buy
in bulk when it's on sale. I then
check my freezer when preparing my menu each month and plan around what's in
the freezer and what is on sale that week.
It is a rare week that we buy meat that is not on sale.
Having a deep freeze saves you money.
Buying in bulk when items are on sale
and freezing homemade meals in advance is a major factor in having well planned
healthy menus ready for your family.
A few tips from our family to yours
when menu planning
- Plan left over night the evening before garage pick up. Haul everything out and serve a wide variety to clear out the fridge
- Serve an egg dish once a week to save dollars. Omelets, Frittatas, Quiche are great ways to use up left over vegetables and meats as well.
- Plan a pasta dish one night per week
- Plan a fish dish one night per week
- Make one, freeze one. It takes no extra time to double each recipe. Make a meal for dinner and freeze one for later in the month.
If you would like a copy of our free monthly menu planner,
please email us and put Free Menu Planner in the subject line, we would be
happy to send one out to you.
Adventures in Organizing can help you
with your menu planning, household management, home filing systems and time management systems.
Sign up for our Minute-By-Minute program today! For just $5.00 per week
you will have your own customized organizing program.
