Monday, May 11, 2009

Monday Money Musings

MEAL PLANNING

Meal planning is probably the biggest money saver I have ever done. When you plan your meals you are doing less spur of the moment shopping which we all know is what adds up in a week. Who really runs to the store for just ONE item? OK, our men do.
I use different methods to plan. Mostly I use the ads in the paper and see what's on sale and what I can pair the sale item with in my pantry to make a meal. I plan 8-10 days ahead and really stick to it.
Take the ad to your favorite store, get your coupons out and match them up. OR there are SO MANY on-line resources that do that for you! moneysavingmom.com , thegrocerygathering.com and thecentsiblesawyer.com all do that for you. They all have great resources for coupons and freebies too!
(I could probably start putting those on here, but I don't want to take away from their cool sites! They do such a good job, and I want to keep my blog for friends and family.)
The main point I have is STICK TO THE PLAN with few exceptions. You will be amazed at what you are not buying and what you can live without.
One of my favorite budget friendly recipe sites is 5dollardinners.com She offers meal plans based on sale items and the food is SO YUMMY!

Ok, my brain is not working right yet. I need some coffee! I hope you get the gist of this :)

6 comments:

Rachael Neal said...

ok, so this is the biggest area i struggle with! we love to eat out and budget for it...but i would love to eat at home more, if i knew what to cook. would you mind posting or emailing me a sample 8-10 day meal plan?

Liz K said...

You are right Pam! I have found that since I have to plan for a WHOLE MONTH we have saved on things. I get a basic month list of meals and figure out what we need from there. I don't have to make what the calendar says, but it sure helps me get an idea.

Pam said...

A whole month Liz??? I'd love to see your meal plans!
Rach, I'll post one later today for you.

Jenny LaBo said...

I would love to see samples too. Great idea Racheal. I did this about a month ago and loved it. THEN fell out of the habit. It's so hard when I get out at 5. But that's okay. All it takes is planning.
Thanks for the encouragement Pam

chris k said...

Waiting for that sample 8-10 meal plan. This is an area that I totally struggle with.

Wendy said...

Great advice Pam! This is what I am really working on right now. I already see a difference on my grocery bill! I am finding that if I jus have my meals planned out we are less likely to just go out to eat. Keep the ideas coming. I am also using my crockpot a lot more which is so easy.