Here’s my little Happy New Year gift to you. Each day in January, I’ll bring you a simple, concrete and easy to put in place tip to fuel your efforts to Save Money, Pay Off Debt, and Be Awesome this year. Looking for a quick plan? Well this might not to be the right place for you. Most things down well take time. But that doesn’t mean you can’t begin to implement systems in your life that will help you achieve your goals. I’ve said it many, many times before. Paying off debt isn’t complex. It’s just not easy. You have to punch the clock daily and do the hard work. Here’s another way to make that happen.
Day 5: Plan Yo’ Meals
As a young mother, I attended a wonderful MOPS group. I’ll never forget the week a speaker came to talk about home organization. I left feeling AWFUL. I never knew there were so many things that I was doing wrong in the management of our household. The sweet, well-meaning woman instructed us to have a healthy marriage, we needed to inform our husband by 10:30 am what he would be having for dinner that evening.
I must admit when it comes to planning meals, I’m not *quite* that extreme. However, planning meals was certainly one of the many ways we were able to pay of over $127K in debt in just under four years. Please hear me well, Money Saving Lords and Ladies, there is no need to inform your spouse of their menu for the evening’s meal midmorning. However, in order to succeed at making the most of your resources, you need a written plan.
Meal planning is far from complex and doesn’t need to take up hours of time. In all reality, it’s an exercise I use weekly to be sure we are:
- Using the food we have before it expires.
- Not making duplicate purchases at the grocery store.
- Limiting our purchases at the grocery store.
Here’s my crackerjack method of meal planning in a nutshell:
- Print out a FREE Menu Planter from Queen of Free. I actually printed out several and had them bound for $0.50 at Office Depot. Then I put a magnet strip on the back of the pad to hang it on the refrigerator.
- Find a Good Pencil. My meal plan is always flexible. It isn’t my aim to force everyone to eat whatever is on the meal plan, regardless of outside circumstances. The plan is meant to be changed, rearranged, and altered. You can use a pencil so you can erase or keep some White Out on hand and use a pen. Just remember to be flexible.
- Consider the Week Ahead. What activities do we have on which evenings? A successful meal plan is built around the ebb and flow of life. You cannot spend 45 minutes preparing meal on a evening when you don’t even have 45 minutes to consume it. Busy nights need 10 minute meals. Nights with less hustle and bustle can be used to prepare meals that take more effort, and perhaps be an opportunity to get “ahead” by chopping or pre-cooking foods for other evenings.
- Open the Fridge, Freezer, Cabinets, Pantry, and Any Area Where Food is Stored. The first meal I plan is always one I already have all the ingredients necessary to prepare it with. I promise you have 2-3 meals hanging out in your home right now. You just need to open your eyes to what you already have.
- Begin to Look For the Missing Piece. Once you’ve planned a meal or two based on what you already have, begin to think through what items you have that would need only 1 or 2 further ingredients to make a meal. i.e. you already have pasta and sauce but no protein source. Build a grocery list based on those missing piece ingredients.
- Glance Through the Ads. This is one of those “if you have time” sort of steps. Grocery stores send out weekly circulars with current sales on Wednesdays and Thursday. Glance through the paper ad or get on the store’s website to see what items will be sale before building your remaining meals. You might notice the Free Printable Menu Planner has two columns for your grocery list. Typically, I shop at ALDI and one other grocery store (Meijer or Target, depending on what’s on sale and my best coupon match ups). The columns help me keep my head on straight so I know what I’m buying where.
- Switch Things Around and Relax. The point of meal planning is not to make sure you can tell your spouse what’s for dinner at 10:30 AM. Meal planning is a safety net, allowing you to know that you can prepare 5-7 meals without a random money sucking trip to the grocery store. Your strategic plan has flexibility. Swap out a side dish or switch days altogether. It doesn’t matter. Having the items necessary to prepare those meals will give you peace. You don’t have to follow the plan to a “T.”
- Plan on Dining Out. If you have the dollars budgeted for dining out, then place that experience on your meal plan. Go ahead and decide where you will go. Check out the menu online and choose what you will order. Instead of a frazzled selection at the spur of the moment, you’ll anticipate a delicious meal. Let’s be honest, if you have debt, you should be eating at restaurants on a very limited basis. We are out of debt and we’re still endeavoring not to eat at restaurants during the month of January. However, if you do have the dollars to spend, make sure you make the most of them.
Meal planning shouldn’t be an exercise in drudgery. It should be a joy that gives you release and breathing space. Take a few minutes today to jot down what your family will have. Every Monday, I share what’s for dinner on the Royal Table. It’s not an invitation to dinner, but it might spark an idea for your plan!
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I’m so looking forward to sharing this month of challenge and inspiration with you. Together, we can show debt who’s boss and give it a swift kick in the teeth this January and throughout the year in 2014. Away we go!
Gain inspiration to pay off debt! Check out Inspiration to Pay Off Debt: 30 Days of Encouragement from the Queen of Free
This post contains affiliate links. That means when you get a great deal or maybe even something for free, you also help our family pay off our mortgage early. And for that, we royally thank you!
This is a great post. I thought about writing my own, but after reading this, I’ll just direct people to you! I do all of these things except for looking at the ads. We are flexible with the meal plan but only to the point of saying “Okay, we don’t have time/desire to eat this, let’s eat something ELSE in the house.” We are bad at disregarding meal plans to go out instead. Did I tell you how close I live to Sahm’s Place? 😉 My question for you – do you plan weekly or bimonthly, or monthly? I’ve been thinking that if we go every two weeks we may spend LESS money, but it’s hard to tell.
Can I just tell you how encouraging it is to have your feedback on all of these posts. So nice to actually know someone is reading. Seeing analytics isn’t nearly as much fun as answering clarifying questions. 🙂 I plan weekly. It’s what works for me. However, because of what you do, you might require a more intensive planning system. I might “creep” into the next week on my planning calendar (I use my free printable & then had them bound at Office Depot for $0.50 and put a magnetic strip on the back) if I know I have some items I want to use up or want to make my life easier. You’re right on the money. It’s not about forcing yourself & others in your house to eat what’s on the plan. Instead, it’s the freedom of knowing you have 5-7 meals in the cabinet with the ability to mix & match those meals. Thanks so much for sharing this post. I really appreciate you!
I’ve been trying to do a meal plan for the past couple of weeks and I’ve been getting discouraged, so I googled it and @solidgoldeats:disqus’ G+ post about this post came up in my search. It seems I’m doing things right, I just need to be vigilant! This is some great advice though, and I hope I can figure out a system. Also, can I just say that $127k in debt paid off in four years is amazing?! I’m stressing over my $35k.
Hang in there my friend. I always say that paying off debt isn’t complex, it’s just not easy. Meal planning is the same. It does take daily vigilance but you can do it. 🙂 Let me know if I can encourage you in your journey of paying off debt. Be sure to pre-order the book. http://amzn.to/1d5rlL1 (affiliate link)
Thanks! I’m sure you know how it is, but some days I think “I’ve got this!” and others … well, not so much. I appreciate the encouragement, I think we always can use it. I’ll definitely check out the book, as well! It looks like you’ve put a lot of effort into it. 🙂