Payday...

...is tomorrow. That means grocery shopping. Which also means that I need to come up with my meal plan today, so I know what to buy tomorrow. I've had a few people ask me how I go about my meal planning and grocery shopping to not just have a bunch of random stuff in the house that never gets eaten. So here's my game plan...

Step 1 - See if there are things from the last plan, that didn't get eaten. And what leftover ingredients I have that I can incorporate into my new plan.

Step 2 - I have a list of the meals I make and with very few exceptions, they all leave enough leftovers for Arron and I to eat lunch the next day. Depending on what my schedule looks like for the next two weeks determines how many time consuming meals I put on the list versus how many quickie meals I choose.

Step 3 - Just start jotting down the meals I want to make. I have found that trying to plan specific meals for specific days just doesn't work. Inevitably, whatever is planned for that night won't sound appetizing in the least bit.

This pay period, I need 16 dinners and 16 lunches. So here we go. Oh and I cheat at least one night a week with a planned pizza night. But we just stick to frozen pizzas instead of going out. In a pinch though, Little Ceazars is only $5 for a medium cheese or sausage or pepperoni pizza. So if you're on your way home from work and just can't get excited about cooking ANYTHING, it's okay to cheat. Just grab a bag of salad too and then you feel less guilty about the pizza. ;)

1. Unstuffed Peppers
2. Enchiladas
3. Chicken Fried Rice with Eggrolls
4. Chicken and Rice Soup
5. Steak and Twice Baked Potatoes
6. Homemade Mac n Cheese w/ham (I'll also buy a ham steak and brown it, cut it into strips and add it to the mac n cheese.
7. Pizza night!
8. Spaghetti
9. Sloppy Joes
10. Pork Chops w/ garlic mashed potatoes
11. Chili
12. Pizza night!
13. Easy Beef Stroganoff
14. Cheeseburger Pie
15. Tater Tot Hotdish
16. Chicken and Rice Hotdish

viola! I now have my menu. Next step is for me to create a grocery list of every ingredient I'll need for these recipes (except spices, since I likely have all of them on hand) Then I take it to the kitchen and cross out anything I already have on hand. This step is crucial it makes sure that I don't buy more of something that I don't need. It helps reduce wasteful spending and helps keep my cupboards from being cluttered with things I don't use.

Now, I'd be kidding myself if I said that I stick only to meals on the meal plan. I certainly deviate from time to time. But there are a few things I do, to make sure those skipped meals can just roll over to the next plan, even more than that though, it helps me save money.

I buy my meat in bulk. Not always at costco though. Fred Meyer often sells their "family packs" for cheaper by the pound, than the normal size packs. I have a food saver, and if you don't, I recommend you invest in one. Even a used one from Amazon, a basic one goes for about $60. Which I know, when you don't have an extra $60, is a lot of money. But maybe get with a friend or family member and buy one together. This helps you to be able to store your ground meats flatter in your freezer, and keep everything fresh longer. It really does pay for itself pretty quickly.

My average grocery bill for all 4 of us for about 2 weeks is $150. I do keep fishsticks and tater tots on hand. Along with Kraft Mac N Cheese. But this is one way that I have really reigned in our spending on groceries. Not to mention the amount of food ending up in the garbage can.

Anywho, hope this helps somebody save a few pennies or a little bit of stress over their kitchen and their groceries. :D