Meal Planning or Bust! 7 Steps That Work AND Lower Your Grocery Budget

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Family meals. Meal planning for said family meals. Totally my nemesis. I know a lot of moms have this down. Or if they don’t, they can throw something together in 10 minutes that serves their family well. Not this mama.

When it comes to meal planning and all things involved in that (recipes, shopping, cooking), boy, do I get overwhelmed. But lately, I’ve had a reason to go all out in this area. I’m working on eating healthier and feeding healthier foods to my family. I’m also all about keeping that grocery budget within reason! Here’s how to lower your grocery budget with healthy meal planning!

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Why is it so important to lower your grocery budget?

See, here’s the thing: I know that food is our biggest household budget buster. So I have worked on this. Tweaked it. Planned better. Shopped more efficiently. Tracked food expenses more closely.

I have spent hours searching and searching for resources to help me not only plan better but to save money over the long run. Because even running through a fast food drive-thru costs way more than cooking a basic meal at home.

This meal planning thing got MUCH more serious when my husband began talking about returning to work. He stayed at home for over three years after our twin boys were born, so I got a little (okay, maybe a LOT) spoiled.

Erick cooked most of the meals, with me just filling in here and there on my days off work. Usually what he cooked wasn’t my favorite meal (or the healthiest), but it was food. And it was on our dinner table at 5:30 pm most days of the week. I am soooo grateful to him for keeping our family fed!

 

Then, the month of August appeared. And school started. (Erick’s a teacher.) So I needed to—no, HAD to—step it up! Unless we were going out to eat each night, which was a surefire way to spend all we made every month on keeping our family of 5 fed.

In case you’re one who struggles with meal planning as well, need to get your grocery expenses down, or if you’re just needing some ideas to make family meals go a little smoother in your household, this article is for you!

**Also sign up for the monthly Penny Steward Mama BUDGET CHALLENGE if you need to create your very first budget or evaluate if your current budget is as fine-tuned as you would like!!

#1) Clean Out & Organize All Food Storage Areas

Since I basically started from the ground up in this area, I will approach it as if you are too.

So, first things first. Clean out and semi-organize all your food storage areas.

Go through your pantry, fridge, deep freeze, and whatever other food storage areas you may have.

Throw away anything that is expired or that you don’t ever plan to use. (In my case, I decided to purge some of the less healthy stuff too.)

I had to get rid of several things that were expired, and I found some surprises that I didn’t even know I had! Like canned artichokes. When on earth did I buy those? No idea, but they are still in date and I’m definitely using them in a recipe later this week 😉

The good news for this task is that you only have to do it once every now and then.

You’re going to be more organized after taking the following steps, and will be able to keep everything more organized!

#2) Print Your Recipes

I have tried so many times to cook using my phone or laptop screen to show me the recipe. Not very efficient. The screen shuts off or a notification pops up while I’m waiting on something to cook. Of course, I decide to check that notification, and before I know it, I can’t get back to or it takes way too much effort to go back to the original recipe.  Plus, I’m likely to get food on the device. Yuck!

So if you’re using recipes off of a device, take the few extra seconds it takes to print what you plan to cook.

Keep it in a binder or folder if you decide it’s a keeper.  It’s so much easier in the long run to find it again. No more searching your device and trying to remember where on earth you found it to begin with (or even what the name of it is!)

Need some new recipes or starting a new, healthier way of eating and not sure HOW or WHERE to start? Eat at Home has you covered! If you’re ready to save money, time, and sanity when it comes to meal planning and shopping, check out Eat at Home! Also, take advantage of their free Instant Pot School here! Talk about a time-saver in the world of meal prep!! 

#3) Sit Down With Your Recipes to Start Meal Planning

 

Now that you have paper copies of your recipes in hand, it’s time to actually plan your meals. On a sheet of paper, dry erase board, calendar, or whatever you want to use to keep track of your meals, go ahead and write down the meals you’re planning for each day. (I still say paper, rather than digital, is best when it comes to this!)

Tip: My meal plans go straight into my daily planner because there is a section specifically for that! It’s called the Living Well Planner and saves my sanity in all areas of life! Plus their new floral design for this year is super cute! You can check out the Living Well Planner right here! 

This step–where pen meets paper–is truly where the magic happens to lower your grocery budget with healthy meal planning.

Go through each recipe for each meal, and write down the ingredients you need. Don’t forget to plan for the sides!

What works for me is writing down EVERYTHING the recipe needs, not excluding what I think I already have on hand. After making my entire list, I check the fridge, pantry, and freezer to see what I already have. I even double-check what I THINK I already have, because without this step, I have a bad habit at the grocery store of forgetting the most important ingredient in the recipe.) As I verify I DO have certain items, I mark them off my list. Then I either rewrite the entire list to make it shorter or just leave it as is.

My husband and I also use the Cozi app and keep a running grocery list on there. I prefer to shop from a paper list, so before leaving for the store, I add the things on Cozi to my paper list. There are so many ways for adapting to whatever you prefer! 

 

#4) Shop Smart to lower your grocery budget with healthy meal planning

Now that you are armed with your list, have your meals planned knowing what you already have on hand, you can go shop! Or to make it even easier, you can sit down with your phone or computer and take advantage of grocery shopping online. Many stores now offer that option. You order your groceries online and set up a time for pickup! Easy peasy and done!

If you’re wanting to shop at different stores (or NEED to due to wanting to spend the least amount of money on groceries!), there are so many options. I walk you through this and how I approach it from a budget standpoint in my last post Simple Tips for a Healthy Lifestyle on a Budget.

#5) Meal Prep to Save Time

Now that you’re home with all your groceries, you can begin your meal prep. I am learning to have a general idea in my head of what I can go ahead and prep for the week.

For example, I browned a couple pounds of ground beef at the beginning of this week and went ahead and chopped up some veggies to use throughout the week. This saved a ton of time later when I was in more of a hurry!

The more prep you can do ahead of time, the less time you’ll spend later. I am slowly figuring out ways to do this more efficiently so I’m not spending time cooking after 4 pm when my family is home. I love spending that time with them rather than at the stove!!

 

#6) Refer to Your Meal Plan Frequently

What I love about having my meal plan in my Living Well Planner or displayed in the kitchen is I can view it often. I always have an idea of what meal is coming next, so I can prep ahead or at least think about it before it is dinnertime.

This keeps me ahead of the game and way less stressed when it comes to meal planning!

 

Don’t forget about the Healthy Meal Planning Bundle! It includes 30+ ready-to-use meal plans for your convenience along with shopping lists and prep notes!! Grab it now! 

#7) Keep a List of Leftovers to lower your grocery budget with healthy meal planning

For my family, something that has caused us a lot of food waste in the past has been not utilizing leftovers efficiently.

We forget about leftovers! And then they have to be thrown in the trash. Talk about wasteful! All that perfectly good food we could have eaten! And the money spent that we basically threw away with it!

Leftovers may have to be thrown away because I don’t remember when I made it (again, my planner helps with this by looking back at meals cooked), so now I try to remember to date the container it’s stored in.

Clearly, by doing some planning and prepping ahead, mealtimes in your household can be much less stressful, as well as cost less money and time. I am still working on making this more efficient, but just these small steps I have begun are making a HUGE difference!

Using those 7 steps, it is very possible to lower your grocery budget with healthy meal planning! 

Beginning with an organized pantry and fridge, I use my printed recipes to make a shopping list on paper and menu plan for upcoming meals. I then shop at the most budget-friendly places if possible, come home and prep what I can, staying mindful of and being prepared for the next meal. Keeping a list of leftovers works wonders for the food budget as well as having healthy, ready-to-eat food on hand at all times.

What tips do you have regarding meal planning to keep grocery expenses low? Have you succeeded in being able to lower your grocery budget with healthy meal planning?

Share your tips with us on Facebook in the private Penny Steward Mama  Accountability group! Join us there to share the things you’re working toward with your money, as well as your life!

And as always, steward your money, and your life, intentionally.

Heather

By the way, if you’re working on your finances as well as your health,  grab my FREE Savings Tracker and Bill Tracker Organizers here by signing up for the Penny Steward Mama email newsletter!

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