Today’s tip is probably the easiest, most applicable, start doing it today sort of money saving tip of the entire series. There’s no reason you shouldn’t get right at it, Money Saving Lords and Ladies.
Day 14: Meal Plan
Greetings, Money Saving Lords and Ladies. Thanks for continuing along with me on this debt slaying journey. Today’s tip is practical, easy, and even can be fun.
One of the quickest and easiest way to get a good handle on your grocery and eating out budgets is to plan your meals on either a weekly or monthly basis. It’s the best way for you to use what you already have in your cabinets, too. And it’s the best way to avoid throwing out fresh produce because you’ve forgotten about it.
Here’s what it looks like in the Queendom.
Step #1: Open the cabinets, refrigerator, and freezer. Take mental note of what we already have. Where can I make a meal with what I already have? What only needs one more ingredient to make a meal?
Step #2: Make a plan based on the fewest items necessary.
Step #3: Make a shopping list on the items I need to complete the plan.
It’s just that glamorous folks. Sometimes I meal plan online, sometimes on a piece of paper, sometimes on whatever random scrap I can find in the house.
Other tips:
- You can buy books
on meal planning
, there are blogs devoted to planning, there are websites that
charge you a small fee to plan (which might be a good investment for some but most of you are capable of it on your own).
- You can plan by the week. You can plan by the month. You can even plan the entire year.
- You can schedule eating out nights (even down to where you’ll be dining if you’d like). And if you don’t eat out as often, you can choose to eat something a bit nicer than drive thru fare.
- I also always like to keep chopped veggies on hand so that I can easily throw together a pizza, soup, stir fry, fajitas, salad, or merely munch on them raw as a side dish.
- Try to make sure each meal has a fruit and a vegetable so you are well balanced.
- Check out some other Frugal Eating 101 Tips. Or see some of our past meal plans.
