Welcome back to another week of The Teacher’s Salary series.
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Click HERE to see links to some of my previous posts from this series.
Last week, I talked about 7 ways we save on groceries. Some of those concepts I mentioned may be completely obvious, but I thought I’d unpack a few of them in case some of these ideas are new or if you are just curious about how we implement them into our real lives. Like you, I am juggling the demands of life and I have to make things work for us in way that is reasonable for this season of life.
Today, I’m going to go a little deeper into menu planning.
The What
Menu planning is pretty self explanatory. Simply put, it’s the idea of planning your weekly meals ahead of time. When you hear of menu planning, you might think mostly about dinnertime, but you can also plan out your breakfasts and lunches. I don’t typically do that because I just know to keep breakfast and lunch items on hand and we decide each day what we’ll have. But, if you are working outside of the home or want specific things for those meals, then you might want to consider planning out every single meal.
The When
Menu planning can be done as often or as little as you’d like. I typically plan my menu out a week at a time, since I tend to shop weekly. There have been weeks when I will do two weeks at a time and that has worked too. On those occasions, I shop for two weeks at a time and then just pick up a few perishables as needed in between.
If you live further away from the store or simply like to plan things out further, you can certainly do this monthly as well. If you are just getting started, I’d recommend doing it once a week so you can get used to it and make tweaks. You may find that you have too many leftovers and are planning more meals than you need. Or you may realize you aren’t planning for enough meals. It might take some time to find your rhythm.
I prefer to work on my menu-plan on Sundays, as I like to do my shopping on Mondays if possible, but pick whatever day/time works for your schedule. I personally like the idea of starting my week off with a full refrigerator, but I know some people who prefer to start their weekend that way. It’s totally up to you!
The How
When I sit down to plan my menu, I start by looking at what’s already in my pantry and/or freezer. If there are meals already frozen, then I will typically include at least one of them in my plan.
Since our grocery budget is pretty lean {about $50-60 per week}, I also build my menu plan around the ingredients I already have on hand. This is where the stockpiling concept is really helpful {which I touched on in THIS post and I’ll dig a little deeper into later}. That way, you can build your meals around ingredients you already have that you purchased when they were at a rock bottom price. The savings grow exponentially in that case!
If your grocery budget isn’t as tight, then by all means pick whatever meals you know your family loves. If it’s helpful, you might want to pick “theme” nights so that you can rotate your meals and not always eat the same thing every week {which is something I struggle with}.
Here’s an example of what categories our meals typically fall into:
Monday: Italian or pasta
Tuesday: Mexican-themed
Wednesday: Chicken or Beef
Thursday: LEFTOVERS
Friday: Homemade pizza {or sometimes Little Caesars}
Saturday: Seasonal {soups/chili/chicken salad}
Sunday: Breakfast for dinner
Feel free to stick with your old tried and true recipes, but I like the idea of trying at least 1 new recipe each week. Sometimes this happens and sometimes it doesn’t, depending on how much time I have to explore new recipes. I always leave a night or two for leftovers. I decide that based on the meals I’ll be making, since I’ve learned which recipes will go further for our family. I also plan on something fast and easy like a homemade pizza on Friday nights since that’s when we have small group Bible study. If we are eating out or have plans with friends, that is obviously factored in as well. I love something easy like breakfast for dinner on Sundays.
The Why
Menu-planning is beneficial for many reasons, but here are my top 3.
1. Saves money
As I mentioned last week, we save money on our grocery bill by only purchasing what we need to eat for the week. I am far less impulsive when I have our menu-planned out and can be strategic about choosing our menu based on what is on sale or what we already have on hand.We are also much less likely to eat out. When I know I’ve worked hard to plan my meals for the week and shop for the ingredients on my list, I am less likely to justify the costs of eating out on the fly. We still do it on occasion, but it’s much less often when I have sat down and worked up a menu-plan.
2. Is healthier
Just like eating out is not good for our budget, it’s also not good for my waistline. I’m one of those gals that has to keep tabs on my diet, or I will gain weight. Making my own meals at home doesn’t mean we eat perfectly, but it certainly increases the odds that we will eat more healthy. It’s also nice to know what ingredients we are using and we can make healthier choices more easily.
3. Simplifies dinner prep
I don’t know about you, but 4 o’clock is usually when my energy is dwindling and I am ready to start winding down for the day. Unfortunately, dinner still needs to get on the table. My menu-plan takes the thinking out of dinner prep. I know what we will be having and I have already {hopefully} taken out anything that needs to be thawed. I can just start pulling out my ingredients and get to work knowing that I have what I need.
If you are interested in menu planning, but think you would benefit from a meal planning service, then you should consider eMeals*. I tried it during their trial period and was pretty impressed. They deliver the menu-plan to your inbox and help with your grocery list as well as tell you what sales are going on at the store. It might be worth investigating if something like this might fit within your budget!
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Do you menu-plan?
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Yep Sarah, that has helped us a ton, making menus that is. You're doing a great job! Way to be that Proverbs 31 wife & momma!
Thanks for the encouragement, Robyn! 🙂
I need to do this more…our biggest problem is that we make large dinners and then we also come home and eat lunch at home and usually have lunch leftovers…so for instance I made a pork roast for pulled pork sandwiches…after 3 days of pork for lunch and dinner I am sick of it! 🙂 But I know we save money because we don't eat out either…I just need to be better about bringing in some variety once and awhile!!
I know what you mean about getting tired of eating the leftovers!! I try to cook different meals early in the week and then eat any of the leftovers later in the week so that I don't get tired of them. But, there are some nights I just have to make myself eat leftovers {either that or we opt for eating out)!! 🙂
Or maybe after eating the leftovers once, you could freeze the rest for another time?? Just a thought!