Meal Planning

Planning is a huge part of saving at the grocery store! For me, the first step is having a "Master Dinner List". A list of all the meals we enjoy. Some will be seasonal or meals that we wouldn't have on a regular basis, but I include everything we eat on the list.

Some examples from my list:


Rotel Chicken & Rice
Chicken Cordon Bleu
Brown Sugar Chicken
Sweet & Sour Chicken
Souvlaki
Tomato Basil & Spinach Soup
Tortellini & Chicken Salad
Enchiladas - Beef or Chicken
Black Bean & Rice Burritos
Cashew Chicken
Meatloaf
Steak
Pizza
Hamburgers

I have over fifty items on the list and I try to add a new item at least once a month.

I collect all the local ads and see what meat items are on sale for the week and try to plan my menu around that and what I have stockpiled in the freezer. I also try to plan at least one meatless meal per week.

Before I developed my Master List, I would look at the ads and draw a blank. As a plus, I can give the list to DH and ask him what he would like next week. It adds a great deal of variety to our dinners. Studies show that without prior planning, most people eat the same ten meals 80% of the time. I know I would make spaghetti several times a month before the List. Now the only thing we have that frequently is pizza. Since I started making homemade pizza, we have instituted "Pizza Fridays".

I don't plan what day (except Friday) we are going to have particular meals so we have some flexability.