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When I was working full time, I would take a quick look at what was in the fridge, freezer or pantry and whip something up on a day to day basis. Most of the time, however, I'd go to the grocery store after work to buy food for dinner that night. I'd make the same meals over and over. We ate lot of the same food, it was getting expensive and making a grocery list was not easy. My list was normally comprised of items that we were out of and occasionally it would contain items I saw on sale in the flyer. It was a really bad and frustrating system.
After having my daughter and becoming a full time stay at home mother, I wanted a way to use my time efficiently each day AND save money. I'd wanted to that for years but kept putting it off, thinking I didn't have the time. The time for excuses passed and I made the change instead of thinking or talking about it.
I turned to something that my mom has done successfully for years. She has done meal planning for over 40 years, well before it became a popular topic on the internet. She took a calendar and she penciled in her meals for the upcoming week. She told me that this allowed her to sit down and figure out her grocery list. She knew what she would be making, and what she needed to buy AND she could shop the local grocery store circular (flyer) for sales on some of those items. If she saw different items on sale in the flyer, she could also create a meal with those products to save money.
I started to do this for myself and I made a blank calendar that I printed out monthly and wrote in the month and dates for that month. Then I sat down and planned my meals for the next week. Just like my mom, even though we use a monthly calendar, I chose to fill in my calendar weekly. This is mainly because I wanted to base some of my meals off what was going to be coming up on sale.
This was a really big help to me, but I decided to go a few steps further than what my mom did.
The next thing that I did, was to create inventory sheets. I did not have a system in place to keep track of what food I currently had in the house. I'm sure we have all gone to the store, thinking that we need something, so we buy it, and then realize we already have several of them! We just spent money we didn't need to spend and then needed to find a place to put that extra item.
I created inventory sheets for the refrigerator, the freezer and our pantry. The sheets list the item, the quantity and the use by date. It also has a space to put the date you are taking inventory.
When I took my first inventory, I was amazed at some of the items, that I didn't even know I had on hand! I also realized how many food staples I didn't have, but needed to make basic meals. I took inventory of my spices and seasoning too!
I organized the food on each sheet by type. All of the meats were listed together, all of the vegetables, bread, etc. Having these sheets helped me when I created my grocery list. If I wanted to make a meal for the following week, I knew what I had on hand and what I needed to purchase to create that meal. I could create meals based on JUST what I had on hand.(Especially if there were no good deals at the store) I could also create meals based on just deals at the store. As an example, one of our local stores recently had a deal that if you bought 3 lbs of ground beef on sale, you received sour cream, chopped lettuce, taco seasoning and taco shells for FREE! I spent $11 on 3.3 lbs of beef (which I could make 3 meals out of. Tacos, burgers and American chop suey) and I got $7.49 of products for free! I got two meals out of making tacos alone and several meals out of making american chop suey. The lettuce was also used in our burgers.
I've worked on stock piling our freezer with meats and veggies so that I can make different meals whenever I want, without needing to run to the store. This is really helpful in the winter when it snows a lot! Most weeks when I grocery shop, I only need fresh items such as milk and fresh veggies or fruit!
Talk about a game changer! I was not running to the store almost every night after work, as I did in the past. I instantly started saving money and time! I began shopping the flyers regularly for deals that I could buy, not only for meals for the following week, but beyond! This saved even more money!
Just before the pandemic, we set up a new upright freezer and after talking with my sister about vacuum sealers, I purchased one for our family. This is a topic I will go into further detail about in a later post, but this method of buying on sale each time and sealing and freezing food, has saved us SO much money.
Using my meal planning sheets made creating a weekly meal plan so much less stressful. I pay attention to upcoming events, (a party where we're eating out) and holidays as some of these are nights off for me, and others inspire a cooking frenzy with the leftovers!
Another thing I did differently than my mom is that I also created favorite meal and favorite sides sheets. I organized the sheets by protein type, and sides by veggie, pasta or misc. Filling in the meals and sides that we like the most made filling in my meal plan even easier! I keep all of my sheets in a 3 ring binder in sheet protectors. They are all together and easily accessible. I put all of my favorite and most used recipes in a 3 ring binder too, and I'll talk about how I find and store my recipes in later post.
This is my favorite 3 Ring Binder and Sheet Protectors.
I kept my meal planning system simple but it can be adapted for those that like a little more flair. You could buy or make your own stickers, such as leftover stickers, protein stickers etc. You could use highlighters and markers. The sky is the limit!
I've created a video touching upon my system of meal planning on my brand new YouTube channel, This N That. There I will be creating and sharing videos about favorite products for children, the home or kitchen. Arts and crafts projects, frugal shopping, tips and much more! I hope you'll consider subscribing if you enjoy the video.
My printable meal planning sheets are also available for download.
Printable Meal Planning Bundle.
As always Stay safe and be well!
Corrie -
** I am an Amazon affiliate so I may earn a small commission on sales of items purchased from my links. Buying these items does not cost you anything, it helps support my family. I only share products that I use and like myself!
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