Each Thursday I clean the fridge, review what I have in the cabinets, review the weekly sales, match up coupons, and make my menu for the following week. Then I make my shopping list. Menu planning helps me avoid impulse buys at the grocery store because I have a list, and I stick to it. Of course I leave enough room in my budget that if I find in great deals or clearance items I can pick those up too. Speaking of budget, my grocery budget is $100 per week. Eight or nine months ago that seemed unrealistic, but now I easily stay within that budget. Another thing that helps me stay within my budget is stocking up when things go on sale. If you've read my blog lately, you know that I have LOTS of spaghetti sauce and peanut butter! A few weeks ago I found Kraft mac and cheese on sale. By using coupons, I got the mac and cheese for .37 cents a box so I bought 15 boxes. Everything goes on sale. The trick is to buy enough of the items when they are on sale to last you until the next time they go on sale. Obviously this only works for nonperishable items.
Here is this weeks menu.
Friday - salsa chicken and veggies
Saturday - Tacos with chips and salsa
Sunday - Baked chicken and veggies
Monday - Dominoes pizza ($4.99 each Monday)
Tuesday - Chili nachos
Wednesday - Veggies or leftovers
Thursday - Spaghetti
I also calculate the cost of meals and try to keep the cost per meal as close to $5 as possible. Erin at
www.5dollardinners.com has lots of recipes that cost under $5.
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Menu Planning
2 comments:
Which meal does your menu reference? breakfast / lunch / dinner?
I only post my dinner menu. I keep several breakfast and lunch items in the pantry so I do not plan those meals in advance.
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