Yesterday I did a Pantry Inventory. Today I was actually out of the house all day. We went to The Children's Museum of Indianapolis, returned some gifts and went to Aldi. So, except for a few misc. items I need (I forgot yogurt and diapers) I am ready for the challenge.
I picked up a great wipe-off calendar at Wal-Mart (in the stationary dept.) I used this to plan out our dinner meals for the month. I also was able to note my Husband's days off and the days I will be holding classes. I taped a few flat magnets to the back of it and it will now hang on the fridge. It also has a place for notes at the bottom. This will be good for noting grocery items I need to get.
I now have a whole month of dinners planned and have all the groceries I need to prepare these meals on-hand. I will need to pick up milk, maybe eggs, salad and fruit a few times in the month - but I can make a quick trip around the corner to Aldi or CVS for those and should be able to spend less than $10 a week for the extra things we will need.
2 comments:
I have often wondered if I would save money each week by planning a week's worth of meals ahead of time. I'm usually thinking around 4:30 or 5:00 in the afternoon what are we going to eat tonight. Sometimes, I have thought ahead and have the bread machine and/or the crock pot going. Did you have a lot of stuff in the pantry/freezer that you have been saving up for something, and now you are going to use them up? I would love to know what some of the dinners you have planned are!
It seemed like I had a lot of this and that stuff, things I had gotten on sale or free. So I made a list of all the food I had - I did a Pantry and Freezer Inventory. (See earlier post on Stay-at Home Challenge)
Then I looked at what meals I could make from that stuff and wrote them on my meal planner and crossed off the items on the list.
I also made a grocery list at the same time and wrote down anything I needed to complete the meal.
Now I have the whole month's meals planned out - but I have to say I will definitely not be sticking right to the list as far as the order! I will change the meals around and just cross them off the planner as I make them. If I don't feel like what's planned for that night I'll just make another night's dinner!
At least I figure I know what meals I can make! It does help me.
Give it a try for a week - even if you just make a list of that week's dinners and then decide that day which you'll make.
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