Plan Your Meals and Plan to Save

Feeding your family can consume a large part of the household budget. With prices for everything from gas to groceries going up and paychecks not keeping pace, your food expense is one area you should pay particular attention to if you are looking to make your paycheck go farther. By investing some time in planning meals, you can avoid last minute trips to the local take-out or drive-through, which will save you a tremendous amount of money and most likely provide more nutritious meals for your family.

Get Organized

If necessary, start by cleaning out and organizing your refrigerator, freezer, and pantry, so you have room for supplies and ingredients, and so that you are always aware of what you have to work with and what needs to be replenished. You may find it helpful to post an inventory list on your refrigerator or pantry for this purpose.

First, make a list of all the meals that you know your family is willing to eat on a regular basis. Once you have a list of meals, you can determine which ones can reasonably be worked into a menu rotation, both from an ease of preparation and cost perspective. Your family may be willing to eat filet mignon or lobster, but it's not practical for either to make it into a regular meal rotation!

Once you have a list of meals, you need to gather a collection of menus and the necessary ingredients, so you can plan your shopping trips for one or two weeks in advance. You can do this either electronically on the computer, or on paper in a notebook or binder. By having an inventory of menus to choose from you can also plan your meals around the weekly specials advertised by grocery stores and take advantage of any coupons published in the Sunday paper or on the Internet. For more tips on saving at the grocery store you can refer to the article: The Supermarket on a Super Budget, in the CareOne website's article library. You should keep your meal selection fresh by introducing new dishes to your family. The easiest way to present these new foods, on kids especially is to incorporate them into meals they already like. You can get plenty of ideas and detailed instructions for simple to make, low-cost cost recipes on the food sections of sites like www.allrecipes.com,  www.realsimple.com, www.msn.com, and www.aol.com.

Meal Planning

The most effective and efficient way to plan your meals is to have everything mapped out at least a week in advance. Using a calendar is helpful, because you can also make note of any scheduling issues for the upcoming week. It wouldn't be a good idea to schedule a meal that involves an hour prep time if you are getting home particularly late one night because of a sports practice or meeting. Also try to be flexible and anticipate that there are going to be last minute schedule changes, so that if something unexpected comes up, you can fall back on something you have stashed in the freezer, and save tonight's meal for a later date.

Make sure that you aren't just planning dinners. Have a strategy planned out for lunches to bring to work. For the cost of one lunch out at a delicatessen or restaurant, you could purchase ingredients for a week's worth of lunches. Although many school cafeterias have reasonable prices, you'll still save money if you pack lunches for your children, and at least you'll have more control over their diet.

Keep Staple Ingredients on Hand

Ordering out, because you have nothing to prepare for dinner can really take a toll on your budget, so you should try to always have reserve ingredients in your pantry to whip together a quick healthy meal. Stocking up on staples like rice, beans, pasta, canned or bottled sauces, and canned or frozen vegetables will allow you to be creative when you get home unusually late, or have something else unexpected occur.

Cook Ahead

Try to set aside some time on the weekend to review the menu for the coming week and ensure you have the necessary ingredients. You might also prepare some meals in advance and freeze them so you can just pop them in the microwave and/or oven for an easy weeknight meal after a hectic day.

You'll need sufficient freezer space for storage if you plan to prepare any meals ahead of time. Some people feel the cost of an extra freezer for this purpose can more than pay for itself. But before making this investment, make sure you factor in not only the cost of the unit, but also the cost of the extra energy expenditure. There is usually an "Energy Guide" sticker on appliances that will tell you the estimated cost of running it for a year. Depending on your storage needs, you may be fine if you just organize your current freezer to make room for the frozen meals you plan to prepare.

Slow Cooking

Another good way to make healthy meals is to use a slow cooker, often referred to by the most common brand name "Crock Pot." You can assemble your ingredients the night before, or before leaving for work in the morning, and have a delicious meal waiting for you when you get home. There are plenty of books available with month's worth of slow cooker recipes. The most cost effective idea is to borrow one from the library and copy down the recipes that appeal to you. You can also purchase an inexpensive book on www.amazon.com. A search on "slow cooker recipes" turned up over 2000 entries. Many of those are entire books devoted just to slow cooker recipes and many are priced under $10.00.There are also plenty of recipes for slow-cooking on the sites previously mentioned.

An added benefit to slow cooking, in addition to the convenience, is it allows you to purchase less tender (and less expensive!) cuts of meat, and the slow-cooking process tenderizes the meats by breaking down the tough connective tissues without affecting the texture of the meat.

Meal Planning may seem like a lot of effort, however once you get the hang of it, you will find that you're saving money and time because of the added efficiency. As an additional bonus, by having your meals scheduled in advance, you and your family will also be eating healthier, better-balanced meals than when you relied on take-out menus for those hectic nights when you didn't have time to cook. So try meal planning, you just may find a little more in your bank account and a little less around your waistline!

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