Every Saturday or Sunday, my husband and I sit down and plan our meals for the upcoming week. This simple activity saves us hundreds of dollars a month. We used to go out to eat multiple times a week as well as visit the grocery store several times weekly. This all added up very quickly, so we decided something needed to change. Therefore we started planning our meals each week and visiting the grocery store only once a week with a plan and list for the week. It takes a *little* bit of effort, but with the amount of money you save, it is well worth it.
This post is going to take you through my exact process of planning our meals for the week. These meal plans feed my husband and I for the week (all of our meals). We use the leftovers from dinners we cook as our lunches in the days to follow. Packing a lunch for work will save you a ton of money. Lunch out can cost $10 or more per meal, and you can pack a lunch for just a few dollars. You will eat healthier and save money!
So, when we sit down to meal plan for the week, these are the steps we take.
- Find meals you want to eat. I use Pinterest (check out this link for my meal plan board). If I am craving a certain food or recipe, I’ll just google it and sometimes I do a hybrid between recipes. I am not a structured cook – I just go with what sounds good. If you aren’t a skilled cook, stick to the recipe so it turns out correctly!
- Keep a list of the recipes you’ve chosen (I use Wunderlist)
- Next I look at the recipe, and have my phone open with my grocery shopping list. I use Wunderlist for creating this list as well. I read through the ingredients in the recipe I’ve chosen, and anything we don’t already have, goes on the list for the grocery store.
- Go to the grocery store (we try to go just once a week – occasionally we forget something and have to go back but only for an item or two). Going to the grocery store just once a week will also keep you from making more impulse purchases!
- We don’t do this, but you can decide ahead of time what recipe you will make on what day. We just decide each day what we feel like eating (and sometimes that is decided by what meat/ingredients are already thawed).
After grocery shopping, I always like to check Ibotta to see what rebates I can get on the items I purchased. Ibotta gives you cash back for your purchases. You just have to select the item and then upload your receipt.
Check out my related post about what to do with receipts before throwing them away.
There are services out there for meal planning if you don’t feel like doing it yourself. The one I would suggest if you don’t want to look for recipes and ingredient lists yourself is $5 Meal Plan. Try $5 Meal Plan Risk Free! $5 Meal Plan provides the shopping list and recipes for you so you don’t have to do it yourself.
Do you plan your meals? If you’re just starting out, try to replace one or two meals eaten out at restaurants with a meal made at home. Any small changes you make toward eating out less, will add up to big savings in your pocket. Just think of the things you could buy with an extra $100 or more a month! You can go to more horse shows or buy a new saddle – just by taking time to cook for yourself.
Give meal planning a try, and let me know how it goes!
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