MONTH ONE
So back in September I decided that I wanted to do a better job of staying within my budget for groceries. I was spending over $400 a month for the 3 of us (one of which, Tate, hardly eats). And we were throwing so much food out every week which is such a waste of food and MONEY! Then I started doing some research on it and found out that you should spend no more than $100 a person per month. So I was way over what I should be spending a month. And there is no way that I should spend $100 on Tate for food a month... He eats mac and cheese, pizza, hot dogs, sausage links, grapes, mandarin oranges, and veggies. Oh and he drinks milk and a lot of it.
On Pinterest one day I came across a Pin for a month long meal planning blog post. I read it and I liked it. My family is obviously way smaller than hers was but I decided to try a version of it. I printed off a calendar for the month of October. I filled in days in which I knew we would be eating out for dinner. Example: my birthday, our anniversary, Jeff's Dad's birthday, etc. So that occupied about 6 nights when we would be eating somewhere other than home. (Now we try and only account for 4-5 nights when we get to eat out because that can get expensive quick but a lot of times when we go out to eat it is with my parents so we don't end up paying.) Then I wrote in a leftovers dinner night for each week of the month. I do them now usually on Thursdays because that is when Jeff plays basketball so we eat at different times. Then I put in 3-4 times when we would eat breakfast food for dinner (pancakes, eggs, sausage links, etc.) Breakfast food nights are cheap cheap cheap meals so this REALLY helps stay within budget. So if you do not like breakfast food for dinner I suggest finding a different cheap meal that you don't mind having 3-4 times a month.
So now my calendar is ready to fill in meals for the remainder of the month. I usually need to plan to make anywhere from 15-18 meals (sometimes more and sometimes less). (I will upload pictures of my calendar, shopping lists, "steps" in a couple of weeks when I plan March's meals.) I pick out some favorite recipes that we love to have often like homemade chicken and noodle soup, baked potato soup, chili, tacos, and fajitas. I put those on the calendar first. Then I immediately write out every single ingredient I will need to make each recipe (even if I know I have it in the pantry or fridge). Then I think about if there is any new recipes that I have found that I want to try. I add those to the calendar and write out those ingredients as well. For February I wanted to make these Chicken Caesar Burgers. They called for half a pound of ground chicken. Well I do not have any other recipes that I know of that call for ground chicken so I got online to allrecipes.com and put in ground chicken. I found a recipe that called for 1/2 a pound of ground chicken so I was able to by the main ingredient for 2 different dinners for $7. I always like doing this. I find recipes that have similar ingredients so I can cut some of my meals in half and use the other half of some of the items (i.e. peppers, chicken, ground turkey, etc). Some meals though that I know will freeze good I make the normal serving amount (6-8 usually) with the plan to freeze the leftovers.
After I have all my ingredients listed on paper I go through them one by one. (I should probably stop and say that once I have an ingredient listed let's say chicken breasts I start putting "Tally marks" next to the item showing me how many chicken breasts I need for the month. That way I do not have chicken breast on my list in 5 different places. This will all get less confusing once I upload pictures. Please stick with me I promise you will be thanking me after you save tons of money! Anyways so I go through my list item by item and physically check to see if I have enough of it for ALL the recipes I am using it with. I cross out stuff I do not end up needing. I then recopy my list by organizing it on a different piece of paper. So I keep produce in one section, fresh meat in another, canned goods in another, etc. I just like it nice and neat and organized. It helps me not get too overwhelmed when I am at the store.
Now it is time to cut out coupons. Most my ingredients (as I am sure yours are too) are fresh so most my coupons go towards toilet paper, dishwashing soap, toothpaste, etc. But I do use coupons for soups that are required with some of my recipes, cream cheese coupons, stuff like that. (If you get really good and have tons of time plan your meals around what coupons you have... I do not do this but have thought about it) Once everything is ready I get someone to watch Tate and go to the store BY MYSELF! Taking husbands and children will only add to your final bill. Get only what is on your list. I REPEAT GET ONLY WHAT IS ON YOUR LIST!!!!!
After getting home make sure to divide up the ground beef, chicken breasts, or whatever other ingredients you bought in "bulk" to cut down costs. So if you bought the 3 or 5 pound of ground beef for 3 or 5 different meals cut them into pound or half pound portions so you can freeze them easily. This gets hard for me because I try and buy pretty lean meat. But I do the best I can. Which is working for us!
Once I make a meal that was not cut in half (so I have tons of leftovers) I put a serving into a small container for a lunch or leftover night and the rest (which is usually 2-3 servings) into a freezer friendly container. Write what it is and when it was frozen and pop it into our freezer in the garage. Then I IMMEDIATELY write on a paper I keep up in the kitchen what the frozen meal was... This is the start to my next months "Meal List".
END OF MONTH ONE
So at the end of the month I print off another calendar page and pull down my "Meal List" paper and I mark days that we will be eating out. One day a week for "fresh" leftovers and our 3-4 times a month for breakfast food. THEN I look at our "frozen" leftovers list (which I usually have anywhere from 4-8 meals on it) and write those down on the calendar too. So now instead of needing to buy food for 15-18 meals I need to buy food for 11-16 meals. Which cuts down the next month's grocery bill!! So then just start the whole process again. Write out meals you know you want to make that your family loves and any new meals you want to try. The thing to remember is that if you are trying a new recipe don't make a ton so you have a ton of leftovers. Because if you don't like it then you won't want the leftovers next month. So new recipes cut in half that way you don't lose a lot of money or food if it doesn't work out.
The first month I did this my "big" grocery store run was around $150. This included stuff that I normally do not buy though like extra foil (for breakfast and lunch burritos I made and froze for us) and extra freezer containers that I knew I would need. I was really surprised when I saw this because honestly I had no clue how much I would be spending because I used to spend $100 easily in a week! I obviously go back to the grocery store every week for milk, fresh fruits, fresh veggies, and juice (if we need it). This is usually around $25 or under. So I do usually spend under $250 and for sure under $300 a month.
Now some things to keep in mind when you are grocery shopping and planning. Jeff and I do not drink a lot of pop and so we do not keep any pop in the house at all. So that saves a lot of money for us there. I know some people go through a case a week. Well that adds up pretty quickly. We drink Iced Tea or get those Mio things that you put into water. We buy juice and lemonade but only usually need to buy it once maybe twice a month depending on if other people have come over and drink some of it. We also buy stuff for lunches and I will post some things that I make for lunches to freeze another day. We save a lot of money doing that. But we also eat some leftovers for lunch too. We never leave enough leftovers in the fridge for more than 1-2 servings though. We freeze it. We won't eat it so it will be a waste. That is just us some people make a meal and eat its leftovers until gone then make another. That does not work for us. I also buy a lot of frozen veggies when they are on sale because I always have a coupon for them so I stock up so these are things that I do not have to buy tons of every month. Also Jeff and I are dieting so we do not eat very big portions of our main dishes. We fill up on stuff that is lower points (like fresh fruits, veggies, and salad) since we do Weight Watchers. So that might make a difference in how much we are able to save to freeze for leftovers for the next month.
I know this is confusing and I apologize please ask me questions if you have any. My mind is just racing a hundred miles an hour when I am thinking about this because i know I am leaving out details for you. And like I said this next week I will be planning for my next big shopping trip so I will take pictures and upload my documents for you to see. Hoping that will help it make more sense. Let me know if you have questions, comments, or suggestions!
Happy Planning!
