It seems that everyone is clipping coupons and bargain shopping these days. While that is a great way to save, it can be time consuming and getting started can appear overwhelming. There is one simple and relatively quick way to start saving money at the grocery store: menu planning.
Sitting down once a week with a simple menu that can be created in your computer’s word processing program can net consistent savings at the grocery store. Just a simple planner created with boxes for lunch and dinner for each day of the week is all you need to get started.
Menu planning saves you money by allowing you to:
Plan ahead for busy nights
Taking time to plan meals for the week based on your family’s schedule helps to avoid those costly and unhealthy trips through the fast-food drive-thru by allowing you to plan ahead for busy nights.
If you know ahead of time that you aren’t going to have much time to prepare dinner, you can plan for a meal with little prep time, such as soup and sandwiches, or utilize your crock pot or freezer meals to get dinner on the table quickly.
Avoid unnecessary purchases
Making a menu, then planning your grocery list based on those meals ensures that you’re only purchasing what you really need from the store. It also cuts down on impulse buys that can occur as you wander the aisles trying to mentally plan for meals without a list.
Avoid multiple trips to the store
Knowing all the ingredients you’ll need for your week’s worth of meals cuts down on the likelihood that you’ll forget a key ingredient, resulting in extra trips to the store. This not only saves you time and gas money, but it helps to avoid more impulse purchases. You know how good those candy bars look when it’s dinner time and you haven’t even started cooking yet.
Keeping a running list of any items that need to be restocked can also add to the effectiveness of menu planning and eliminate return trips to the store. We keep a magnetic notepad and pen on our refrigerator so that family members can jot down items when they use the last of something.
One caveat: You may have to remind your kids that this list is for things you need, not a wish-list for noting all the things they’d like to have.
Utilize what’s in your pantry or freezer
Menu planning is a wonderful money-saving tool when you use it to plan around foods that you might already have in your pantry or freezer. Take into consideration meat or staple goods purchased on sale, freezer meals prepared ahead of time, or products purchased in bulk.
If you can plan these items that you already have into your menu for the week, you’ll be avoiding spoilage while saving money by purchasing less at the store. You can also put the money that you’d save toward the purchase of foods currently on sale to restock your pantry or freezer for later at better prices now.
Do you utilize menu planning to save money on groceries? How has it helped you to spend less?
My husband had gotten used to almost daily trips to the grocery store (get it fresh!) and/or eating on the fly before we got married – but as our family grows and budget gets tighter he’s been much better about at least coming up with a “if we have _____ I can make _____ or ______” Shopping list for me. He’s a really good cook and a wonderful asset because he can take what we have on hand and whip up something really awesome. We’ve been stocking up on meat and freezing it and will prepare a few longer-cooking meals on the weekend so they’re heat and eat during the week. Much better for our diets this way too!!
You are absolutely right. Meal planning is vital to being successful at staying within your grocery budget. Having a back plan with freezer meals is another fab point you make. Great post!
I agree about staying out of the stores although it is difficult when you eat a large quantity of fresh produce. My solution is to go to a special store that sells just produce. No distractions. Just the healthy stuff.
And I am the queen of trying to use what’s on hand instead of shopping. If you just postpone that trip another day or two, think of the money you save in the long run.
Hi Kris,
I’ve been lurking around your blog for a while and subscribed today. I’m anxious to read everything when I have time. I’ve been homeschooling 3 years and I have 2 daughters, 9 and 4. My 9 yr old has Turner’s Syndrome and homeschooling has been quite a challenge at times!
Here’s my two cents about meal planning. Planning a menu like you suggested and shopping off a list works great. I actually do much better shopping for a few days at a time instead of shopping once for the whole pay period and buying in bulk. I tend to overestimate the amount of food I need. So I buy with a week in mind. I’ve started cooking two big dishes a week and that means leftovers for the days after. Then I fill in the other days with cheaper smaller meals. It works well for us. My 9 yr old daughter also has Celiac’s Disease so buying gluten free food is pretty darn expensive.
If you live rurally, like myself, you can save yourself some petrol by ordering your groceries online. The problem with this is you often miss instore discounts and price write downs. Out of the supermarkets I find that Morrisons offer decent value for money. Alongside menu planning, it can help to double check what you do have in the fridge and cupboard and freezer. A number of times I’ve found stuff I’d forgot I’ve got hidden at the back of the fridge etc.
These new companies have streamlined the procedure to make getting
a cash advance very much easier. Not much effort
is involved, and you are able to be approved to get a quick loan in a very very short amount of energy.