Menu Planning

So, I have addressed this before, but I love menu planning. I LOVE MENU PLANNING. It is weird of me. I enjoy going through cookbooks and finding recipes that I want to try. I enjoy finding recipes that use items that I regularly have in my cupboards. It is especially gratifying when I find a recipe that fits the above criteria AND my kiddos will eat! But mostly, I love menu planning because it is the answer to a lot of prayers in our family. I love being a stay at home mom. I love being the person to raise my two little monsters and I look forward to raising more kids as they join our family. The problem arises in the fact that our grocery budget is extremely small. My husband is a school teacher and doesn't make a ton of money (okay, let's be honest, even that is an overstatement). We have bills like every family. So we live frugal. Part of living frugal is menu planning. When I plan a menu, I find that I spend about $100 to $150 less a month than when I wing it.

I go grocery shopping once a month. I go grocery shopping following my menu. I don't buy extra's. I don't buy much in snacks. I save money for produce for the rest of the month. But the majority of our grocery shopping occurs in one fell swoop. I take my husband with me to make sure that we are on the same page. It sounds odd, but when either one of us go alone, we spend more money. Suddenly, that bag of chips looks really good. Those cookies are on sale. We really needed that soda. So we go together. When we have the list and both of us are on the same page, we can keep on track. I also do a TON of canning in the fall. I haven't purchased canned tomatoes since we got married. I can salsa, peaches, pears, juices, vegetables, jams, and as many other items as I can lay my hands on. It is a lot of money at one time, but I can get better quality for a lot less money. My kids love it. I love it. I always know that I have those things in my pantry. I plan a huge garden, too. If I can grow what I need to can, I didn't have to buy it. I currently have 36 tomato plants growing in my garden. They are the most expensive item I can, so if I can grow it, I just saved myself a ton of money!

Will I ever go back to the type of cooking I did before? No way. I enjoy making a menu. I enjoy not having the added stress every night of trying to figure out what's for dinner. I enjoy knowing that my family has a nice, home cooked meal every night. I even enjoy knowing that if I can't cook for some reason, my husband knows exactly where to go to find out what is for dinner. Here is how I do it:

I have made a list of recipes that I enjoy or want to try. I add new things as I find recipes that seem good. On this list, I include where the recipe is or I print out the recipe and attach it to my list. They are all together. Then, when I am ready, I pull out my spare calendar and figure out what nights I want each thing. I try to mix things up and not have too much hamburger, chicken, or any other meat all together. I take into account weekends, when sometimes I don't want to spend as much time cooking. I take into account holidays, birthdays, or church events. Those all impact my menu and budget. For example, my Handsome Hubby had his birthday last week. We had steak. That is not something I normally buy. Way too expensive for our little budget. But it is his favorite and sometimes we have to budget things like that into our menu. The same can be said about going to family events. When we go visit Grandma and Grandpa, the majority of our meals are things that I don't buy. But I do have to take into account things like taking a salad to a church party or taking a meal into someone that is sick or just had a baby. I build in two extra meals a month for that.

After I plan out my menu, I go through all the recipes and my cupboards with a fine tooth comb. I mark very clearly what I need to buy to make those meals. I also mark down anything that is getting low that I may need to replace. At the end of the shopping, if I have extra money, I will pick those up. It makes it a lot easier to make sure that I don't run out of the staples. I hate going to the store to pick up one or two things. I have never walked out without purchasing several extra items, even if it is the candy bar that I used to bribe my son into good behavior ( I know, I know. That's a whole different blog entry. I also plan out anything that I need to buy from a big store that isn't close by. When I go down to Salt Lake City, I take my trip to Costco to get the things that I can only get there. I make a list for everything!

I can't guarantee that this will work for everyone. It is a lot easier for my family right now. I have two little kids who don't eat much. When I make a meal, it usually lasts for two nights and I usually have enough left overs to send the Handsome Hubby with a nice lunch every day. Someday, this won't be the case. Someday, my kids will eat every single thing I put on the table. There will not be leftovers. But I am hoping that by making and keeping these habits now, we will be able to keep our budget reasonable. If I could convince people who are tight on money to do one thing, it would be menu planning. Try it. You might learn to like it as much as I do!