I have been on a mission to whittle down my monthly grocery budget. I use the term 'budget' loosely here because I really didn't have a budget at all. Around 3:00 or 4:00pm I would start thinking about what I wanted to make for dinner that evening and then I'd hop in the car and go buy the ingredients.
You know how that goes, eight other things manage to hitch a ride in your grocery cart and the next thing you know you are handing over $50 for that evening's meal. Multiply that by four or five trips a week and you can see where this is headed.
I sat down a couple of weeks ago and counted all my trips to the grocery store, and how much was spent, over the past six months. I was horrified at the amount I spend on average in a month.
I've come up with a plan. On Wednesday morning I sit down and figure out the meals for the rest of the week (Wed-Sat – I'm usually down at my Dad's on Sun-Mon and Tue is a forage for dinner night). Then I figure out my grocery list and then I head to the store.
The hard part is coming up with a list of meals for the week. I try to be practical about it and pick meals where I can duplicate ingredients. Poach some chicken for two meals. Steam some rice for one meal and make enough to throw into the soup for the next meal.
I decided what I needed was about 30 meals that I could have in rotation. I thought I would print them on recipe box sized cards and include the grocery list for that particular meal on each card. Excluding staples like salt, pepper, oil….
Now each week I can go through my box and select a handful of meal cards, write up that week's grocery list and go. I can be judicious in my selection, still picking meals where I can utilize ingredients more than once.
If anyone would be interested in the Word template I created, leave me a comment and I'll email it to you. I created it so you just have to fill in the blanks and then print it.
If you are MS Word savvy you can play around with different fonts, colors and even add your own graphics. I use a font on mine that I downloaded so the template will have a more universal font.
I'm still fiddling with the size of the cards (so they fit in a standard recipe box) and I'm thinking I'll come up with a matching grocery list template to go with it and I'll include it in the email to you. Note: I see your email by default when you leave a comment so no need to include it in the body of the comment for all the world to see.
I'll email them out on Saturday.
oh me me. those are gorgeous.
You sound very organized! I would love to try out your new system – thank you!
I love the way you’ve come up with a workable plan! Please send me the templates – I need to do the same thing. Thanks for the inspiration.
~Adrienne~
I would love your template! What a grand idea. Do you type the recipe on the back of the card?
I would absolutely love the template! My DH got a pay cut last week and I’m wanting to whittle down my grocery bill!
jscrappy(at)cox.net
I would love to have your template, I have been wanting something like this to organize my recipe cards. Thanks!
Count me in, thanks so much. I have the opposite problem, I do not like going to the grocery store and put it off until we are out of all our staples, and I mean all. Just being of milk doesn’t justify a trip to the store for me! We eat pretty much the same food every week, having 30 different cards would be a nice change of pace. This requires some work up front but would save me time in the end. Plus, you’ve made it seem like fun, having the cards!
How did you talk your husband into a forage for dinner night? I can’t get my husband to agree to a “he brings food, any kind of food” night.
Thanks Andrea!
Cool…love the template, pls. send it over!
Great idea…really great! I would love to have the template….thank you so much!
I would LOVE a copy of the template. Thanks.
I am new to your blog and it is wonderful! I have started making menu( (again) but this is a super idea. Would love your template…
They look very pretty, so yes please can you send me the template too.
Oh thank God, I thought it was just me!!! Last week I decided to retire (very scarey thought) and through this process the dreaded word “budget” came up. What budget? My husband asked me what I spend on groceries for the two of us in a month. I told him roughly the amount. After I had to reach over and help him close his mouth (it was hanging open), he “budgeted” considerably less. Bless his heart. Two can play at this. He’s eating rice and beans until we turn into them. ~LeslieMichele
One very good way to save money is if you can afford to buy meat, etc. that is on sale and put it in the freezer or cupboard and you will have it on hand when that recipe pops up. I know this is hard to do if you are on a strict budget and cannot afford to buy extra meat, chicken breast, etc but if you can you sure save that way. I have been doing it for years and hardly ever eat anything that wasn;t bought on sale. We are retired now and can afford what we want but the old habits still linger.
Also now that the kids are gone I still cook a large pot or dinner item and either freeze or put in fridge for another night. Sure helps on the nights you don’t want to cook.
Hugs
FredaB
All our meals are made for two nights. So I make 3 meals on Sunday – for instance, from ground beef: spaghetti sauce, mini meat loaves and chili. Since there is just two of us, the spaghetti is good for two nights as is the mini meat loaves. Chili works for lunch and/or dinner. I add 3 types of beans to it. So I am basically done for the week. Same goes for chicken. Bake or buy 2 deli chickens:one meal and then added to fettuccine and white sauce another night. The other chicken can be cut up and added to steamed veggies or in soft tacos. So if the Sunday meals are at least 4 nights of the week, we have soup with french bread and cheese during the week to break it up. So any leftover chicken can go in a pot of soup with frozen veggies. Easy! Of course I am lucky enough to have an easy husband who will go along with this plan. 🙂