Meal Planning 101 - 10 Tips to Success!

Did you know that current statistics show that the average American (each one of us) WASTES about a pound of food a day?

 A.  Day.

That equates into billions of dollars of wasted food just for our country alone.  For you, that can equate into a monetary value of $2200 per year/per person, or about $43.00 per week multiplied by the number of mouths you feed.  It may not seem like much, but think about where you could really use that money.

Like paying down college loans, saving for a car, donating to charity, Christmas cash, family trip, or... about 2+ deep tissue massage sessions a month.  (wink, wink)

No matter how you save or spend your money, do you really want to literally "throw away" $2200 per year?

How do you avoid this?

Easy.
Meal planning.
Period.
Plain and simple.

My Five-Star Freezer Inventory list, my Menu Planner book, and the current coupons from the newspaper.

Meal planning is not hard.  In fact, it's one of the most cost effective, easiest things you can do.  Even if you don't really care to cook MOST of us have to cook at least some of the meals in our home.  Meal planning can make that seem less of a chore and actually get every family member involved in the process of preparing and cooking food.  

At our home there are 2 people.  I know that many "retired empty-nesters" eat out, and we're no strangers to this.  However, I do enjoy preparing our meals, so I've developed 10 tips for meal planning that I'm going to pass on to you.

Tip #1 - Use a notebook or some organized system (can even be electronic) to plan your meals.  I like the disc systems so that I can create my notebooks; but really, a 3-ring or a Dollar Tree spiral will work just as well.  It's important to write it down.  You can keep your past plans here as reference, you can make notes on what recipes worked and what didn't, and you can also keep coupons in pockets or page protectors.  

Having all your planning stuff in ONE PLACE is the key.  It will make it easier for you to have everything at your fingertips.  

Tip #2 - Decide what meals you want to plan and how often you want to plan.  I plan every Sunday and we typically shop Sunday afternoon.  You can plan weekly, or every two weeks, or monthly.  Try different options to see what works best for you.  I do not plan for meals other than dinner.  Hubby and I get out of bed at different times so we usually don't eat breakfast together.  Some days we might have a late breakfast at a local restaurant, but it's not a planned event.  The great thing about eating breakfast (or lunch) out is that it's one of the cheapest meals you can buy when compared to dinner menus.  If you have a busy family, you can plan for the other meals, but for us it's easier to have breakfast foods and lunch foods always available in the frig or pantry.

Remember too that eating out is meal planning as well.  Just because you didn't cook it you did "plan" to go out.  You can use eating out as a treat for your family.  One night a week, even at a local pizza place, is a great way to have family time as well as teach your children how to eat and behave in public.  It is a learned skill people!

Tip #3 - Use a food program or buy in bulk if that works for your family.  We use a food service program through Five-Star Foods out of King of Prussia, PA, which provides us with top quality meats and veggies delivered every 6 months to our home.  We have a commercial grade freezer where it is all kept. The food is phenomenal.  We pay a monthly rate each month which is LESS than what we were paying monthly at the grocery store for the same products.  Our grocery trips are now for general things like milk, bread, dog-food, salad fixings and fresh fruit.

Buying in bulk can be great for those with larger families, especially if you need to always have certain staples on hand like pastas and peanut butter.  It can be more cost effective per serving as well.  Large bulk stores like Costco, BJs, and Sam's Club are great options.

Tip #4 - Think convenience and ease.  I use the crock pot A LOT!  I can start the meal in the morning and by dinner time it's ready to go.  Saves so much time and effort for me in the afternoon when I'm likely to "bail" on cooking. Over the years I've collected several sized crock pots.  The largest one is great for roasts and making large batches of soup that I freeze for future meals.  The smallest one is used mainly for our RV trips of Beanies & Weenies.  Insta-Pots are another great option although I've not really used mine other than once.  It's on my list of winter meals to try though. 

Here's how I plan...

I start by using my freezer inventory (provided by 5-Star) and my pantry inventory, my favorite cookbook, my Pinterest EAT! board, and some recipes that I have saved because they are easy as well as delicious.

Then I look over our week in my calendar.  When will be eating out?  What things are going on during the day that will affect the time I have to cook in the evenings?  What do I think we might be in the mood for regarding dinner?

I use this pre-printed menu planner which also has a fillable grocery list on the back.  You can purchase these or make your own.  Figure out what's best for you.

I fill out the nights were either eating out or unavailable for dinner at home, and then I start filling in my dinner selections.

Tip #5 - Take stock of what you already have in the way of meat, veggies, and dry goods in your cabinet.  Physically look into your pantry and cupboards and use them first!  This way you won't have things expire or go bad before you have a chance to use them.  If you have a pantry, make sure it's organized and you can see what you have.  If you have cupboard storage, make sure that it is organized by like dry goods.  For example, all soups should be grouped together, all pasta should be grouped together, and all sauces should be grouped together, and so on.  When things are hibbity-jibbity, too many things can get "lost" in the back of the cabinet and expire before you use it up.  This is a great waste of food!

Tip #6 - Vary your meat and meatless choices throughout the week.  For instance: here I've planned chicken, pork, baked potatoes, shrimp, and pasta with ground beef.  Our dinner out will probably include steak, so I didn't want to include steak anywhere else on the menu.

From here, I used my Pinterest pinned and printed recipes to find new ideas or staples for meals.  

Notice that there is NOTHING fancy here.  

The chicken is coated with egg and crushed French-fried onions.  The Carolina Pork roast is just a roast in the crock pot with a jar of Carolina BBQ sauce that I got 2 weeks ago with a coupon at the grocery store.  The fajitas I have as well as the rice and the meat sauce is a jar of sauce (again a coupon purchase) plus the left over meat from burgers that we had on Sunday night.

We also LOVE LOVE LOVE to have just baked potatoes (or sweet potatoes) for dinner, loaded with whatever we have on hand.  Of course butter, broccoli, lettuce, tomatoes, black beans... it can be specific, or not.  You can choose how to load your taters with what you have left over from previous dinners.  If we want a meat added, we can have some of the left over bbq pork roast.  Large baking potatoes are pretty cheap and a great way to have one meatless meal each week.

The trick is to think about what you have and utilize that for each meal.  This includes crossover meals - like the pork in your potatoes or the meat in the meat sauce from the hamburgers.

Once the menu is planned, I figure out what needs to be purchased from the grocery store.  Here was my list.

YES...this was all I needed to buy at the store.  We had the rest, and I was using many items that were already staples in my pantry like rice, spaghetti sauce, and pasta.

I then take the time to go through the coupons and see what we can use from them.

Tip #7 - Try to use coupons when you can. I am NOT a mega coupon shopper.  We don't use much of the dry good coupons like shampoo and dish detergent because I buy those products through Young Living.  However, I will use a coupon for all our paper products like toilet paper, tissues, napkins, and paper towels because they are expensive.  

I will also purchase items like spaghetti sauce, soups, BBQ sauces, taco kits, and dairy products.  I keep these staples in our pantry along with the regular things.  It's sometimes hit or miss with coupons, especially if I don't use the product.  However, I typically can save anywhere from $5 to $20 dollars depending on the size of the grocery trip by using coupons for what we do use.  

Read your coupons carefully.  They are usually pretty brand specific as well as total specific.  For instance, it might declare that you have to buy the Brawny Mega-Roll towels in the 12 pack bundle.  

You will need space to store 12 rolls of paper towels, however, look around and see where you have spaces that are under-utilized.  Look at top shelves in closets or under your bed.  If you get an especially great deal but don't have the storage room, split the final cost with a friend and then split the package.  It will save you money per roll.

I love The Pioneer Woman's cookbooks.  The directions are all accompanied with a photo.  I struggle to cook from a recipe where I can't see what the outcome is supposed to look like.  Do you have this same struggle?

Tip #8 - Have about 15 to 20 "Favorite" recipes that are your foundational meal choices.  Be realistic, you are not filming food episodes for Food Network.  You don't need to have something new all the time.  In fact, right now, if you created a list of the meals that you and your family really liked and ate, you might find that there are about 10 or more meals that can always be easily prepared and are sure crowd pleasers.  

Keep a LIST of these meals and simply rotate them from week to week.  Trust me, they will not get old because they are delicious and trusted.

Tip #9 - Teach others in your family to prepare the meals as well.  My hubby can prepare the baked potatoes and slip them into the oven an hour before.  He also makes a great spaghetti sauce from the jar with added ingredients, as well as a killer chili.  Teaching your children how to prepare food is a beneficial life-long skill and can also build their self-esteem.  If you make it a family project it becomes so much more fun and less of a chore, plus it adds up to quality family time!  Do some internet research to see what chores and responsibilities to give to children at different ages.  Make sure you or a trusted adult are there to supervise possibly dangerous tasks like cutting and stove usage.

Tip #10 - Keep an up to date inventory of what you have in your freezer.  It's not hard to write down what you have it just takes some time.  This is another great chore to give to children.  It helps them with their reading and writing skills along with counting skills if there is more than one of that item.

An inventory is especially helpful when planning so you know what you have on hand and don't need to purchase at the store.  This can be especially beneficial if you are trying to save extra money during a particular week.  Use what you have and you won't have to spend more at the store.

So, let's review the tips:

1 - Have a written or electronic system.

2 - Set a timely day to plan and follow through.

3 - Try a food plan or buy in bulk if possible.

4 - Use convenience appliances when possible.

5 - Use what you have first.

6 - Vary your menu by meat/meatless choices.

7 - Use coupons when possible.

8 - Have a set of foundational meals.

9 - Make it a family affair.

10 - Keep an up to date inventory.

Give yourself this gift and give yourself some grace when starting to meal plan.  Figure out what works for you and run with it.  You will love meal planning and you will save money; which is always a win-win!

Bon Apetit!